The Great Gatsby

Year of Release: 2013

Director: Baz Luhrmann

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton

When I went to see this film I had absolutely no idea what to expect. I have never read the novel so I must admit I was ever so slightly clueless about what the story actually entailed, despite it being a renowned and well-known classic. I know from my school days that it was often one of the set texts in English, but it turns out I was destined to study Of Mice and Men instead. Although after seeing this film I'm rather disappointed that I wasn't forced to discover it sooner.

     The film is set in Long Island, New York in the summer of 1922. The story is told from the perspective of Nick Garraway (Tobey Maguire), a bond salesman and new arrival in town, who finds himself living next door to the mysterious and notoriously wealthy Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). The plot centres around the passionate and turbulent relationship between Garraway’s married cousin Daisy Buchanan (Carey Mulligan) and Mr Gatsby, which is reignited following Nick’s arrival. The story is certainly not devoid of drama and I found myself completely caught up from the beginning right through to the end. From the extravagance of Gatsby’s home (which would be better described as some sort of palace) in the village of West Egg, to the rural suburban outskirts of New York, to the glitz and glamour of Gatsby’s weekly parties, I thought the spirit of the roaring 20’s was captured perfectly.

     The acting in the film was performed well. DiCaprio, who manages to impress me in every film I see him in, conveyed the mystery and charm of Gatsby perfectly. Tobey Maguire also did an excellent performance as Nick Garraway, although it did take me a little bit of adjustment to stop imagining him as Spiderman. The only criticism I can really offer is the overuse of the phrase ‘Old Sport’ which seemed to be uttered at the end of every sentence that came out of DiCaprio’s mouth. By the end of the film it did start to grate a little! But that minor criticism aside, I have to say I thought the film was fantastic and I would definitely recommend it.

Favourite bit: The scene where Gatsby throws all his shirts down over the stairs to where Daisy is standing below. The joyous and carefree look on his face simply can't fail to make you smile!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I'm going to pop out and buy the book!

My rating: 9/10

The Brothers Grimm

Year of Release: 2005
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Matt Damon, Heath Ledger, Peter Stormare, Lena Headey

This is a film that I just happened to randomly stumble upon whilst moseying around DVD aisles. I've always been a fan of fantasy type films so I thought this would be very much up my street. The film is based on the fantastical fairy tales written by the legendary storytellers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The Grimm brothers, played by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, are a pair of con artists who travel from town to town promising to rid them of terrifying monsters and demons in exchange for large sums of money. But their good deeds are not all what they seem as the brothers use cunning trickery to stage these attacks from all kinds of ghostly and mythical creatures. Following the defeat of these non-existent creatures, the unwitting town is left feeling joyous and safe whilst the brothers leave as victorious, slightly richer heroes. But their reign of trickery is brought to an abrupt end when the two find themselves in a real enchanted forest wherein a number of young girls have gone missing. Unsurprisingly, the forest proves to be no match for their tricks and traps and so the brothers must learn how to fight against real magic in a desperate bid to find the missing girls before it’s too late.

     I have to say, I thought this film would be much better than it was. I'm a big fan of fantastical, magical movies but this one really failed to impress me. The visual effects in the film are probably its strongest point. It is very visually entertaining and it has a lot of impressive special effects, such as the moving trees in the forest and the ageing queen. The effects do look quite realistic and so you can happily sit and watch it without having to sit there and exclaim “well that didn't look real!” I always find that if things look too unrealistic it’s hard to really get into the story. But visual effects aside, I felt that the plot just wasn't strong enough. The scenes in the enchanted forest and the rescue of the village were drawn out for far too long that towards the end I found myself rapidly losing interest. I also found that some scenes were just far too absurd that they were almost laughable. The scenes in which a young girl is captured in a sticky spiders web type substance hanging from the mouth of a horse which then promptly swallows her whole was one such ridiculous example. But nothing compared to the part where a giant blob of muddy water, complete with beady eyes and a devilish grin, captured young girl in the village who then turned into a rather psychotic version of the gingerbread man. Whilst this did give me a bit of a laugh, it was just a bit too daft to ever find believable. With its promising storyline and strong cast, including highly acclaimed actors Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, I was expecting this film to make much of an impression than it did.

My rating: 6/10

Back To Blogging

Movies and music are things I absolutely adore. The past five years of my life have felt like they revolved solely around school work, essays and exams and the almighty pressure to do well. Whilst battling these stresses, movies and music have become my ultimate form of escapism. Having just recently finished my final year of Uni studying English Language, I wanted to write about something fun that I really love as opposed to something that has frequently made me want to put my head through a wall. I will mainly write about movies, both old and new, my favourite actors and movie quotes and many Top 10 movie and actor based lists!

In addition movies, I am also a massive music lover. Over the years I have been lucky enough to see some amazing bands and I’ve stumbled across some great albums. Sadly, barely anyone I know has the same music taste as me (punk rock lovers anyone?!). So I’m hoping this blog may lead me to more likeminded people who are equally as enthusiastic and excited by the same things as me (Well, here’s hoping!). I will write about my favourite bands, new albums, recent tours that I’ve been to and other music related things I think may be of interest.

I may also write about books and travel destinations/points of interest that I might happen upon.

Hope you enjoy!

I do have another blog which is still up and running (at clairelaura.blogspot. com). Unfortunately, due to the demands of Uni work it has become a bit neglected. But I occasionally write for a magazine called The Motion Online and I always post these reviews onto this blog, so I may still post on there from time to time but it will mostly be music reviews. Feel free to have a gander if you fancy!