WHAT FILMS HAVE YOU SEEN LATELY?

[Robert Regan]

Read it, Theresa! If a movie is any good, nothing in an intelligent discussion is going to "spoil" it. It's time to put today's obsession with "spoilers" to rest.

Brava, Wendy! You did it again! Top drawer!

[CineMaven]

It's kind of interesting, because I think filmmakers do something similar, lying to us, guiding us to find empathy for a character, then yanking that empathy from us by showing an uglier side of the same character. That's modern filmmaking, and it stems from movies like this. There were a lot of layers in that scene and I think it was probably the best acted one in the film.

Oooh wow, an excellent analogy to what movies do to the audience!

Enjoyed reading your review of ”The Killing.” All the men in the movie were like pieces of machinery on an assembly line. They all had their piece of the job to do. As quietly spinning as the whole plot hummed, when Carey finally gets James Edwards out the scene, THAT was like a shot to the face. P0W!!! I loved your reference to ”Rashomon.” And I loved that the movie took its time. No quick cuts and rushing through anything. Let's see how this all unfolds.

Any thought to Jay C. Flippen and Sterling Hayden? Or am I just seeing galloping gay ghosts there?

As bad as Marie Windsor was to Elisha Cook Jr., you knew she was getting it just as bad from Vince Edwards, who I thought was excellent, and really could have had a career as a film noir guy if the genre hadn’t gone out of fashion and he didn't need the steady paycheck that "Ben Casey"r brought him. Also, I liked the tension between Hayden and Windsor when it's found out that she’s been a snoopy dame. Poor Elisha...still trying to think of a way to protect his wife.

"On the periphery"? Nikki is the key to the movie...as a Timothy Carey performance always is.

0hhhhhhhhkay ChiO. Your favoritism is showing.

[CineMaven]

Read it, Theresa! If a movie is any good, nothing in an intelligent discussion is going to "spoil" it. It's time to put today's obsession with "spoilers" to rest.

Brava, Wendy! You did it again! Top drawer!

Oh non mon frere. I need things to unfold for myself. But I will see the movie quick fast & in a hurry. ( By the way...how does "King Kong" end? )

[JackFavell]

You guys are too nice! I just got so excited about this movie that I couldn't go to bed until I got my impressions down.

Hey T! I realized after I wrote my review of The GREAT Gatsby that the version I saw was the regular version, not the 3D version. I didn't even know that it was filmed in 3D when I went! But my guess is that it matters..because many of the reviewers just hated the 3D parts. I think the film was wonderful, but the 3D aspects may be distancing rather than bringing you into the plot. Plus it's probably more expensive.

Oh, and my theatre lady let us in for 5 bucks apiece! That probably helped my appreciation of the movie.

As for The Killing, let me ponder a while on your questions. I have a bit of a headache this morning and need to clear it up before I can think it out and respond. I do thank you for writing it up in the first place, together with ChiO's fondness for the film, your review made me really decide that this was the next movie I HAD to see.

[movieman1957]

I've never seen any version or even read "The Great Gatsby" so it was odd the other day when some program showed the same scene from the three different versions. My assumption was they were going to have a discussion on them. Wrong. They came out of the clips and went to a commercial and never brought them up again.

One of these days I'll get my act together and catch up.

[knitwit45]

Read it, Theresa! If a movie is any good, nothing in an intelligent discussion is going to "spoil" it. It's time to put today's obsession with "spoilers" to rest.

Brava, Wendy! You did it again! Top drawer!

But what about those of us who haven't yet seen the film under discussion ? If I know all the details, or even key plot points before seeing the film, it takes so much away from my enjoyment. If I see "spoilers" in a discussion, I then have the choice of finding out, or skipping over.

[RedRiver]

James M. Cain had a way with spoilers. Have the murderer narrate! Whodunit? I dun it! Any questions?

I've never seen a Gatsby film either. I have read the book. I liked it. But...one of THE very best American novels? I don't know if I'd go that far.

[CineMaven]

“THE GREAT GATSBY”


Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey McGuire & Joel Edgerton

I have a handle on filmmaking and how a director tells a story, but Baz Luhrmann’s “THE GREAT GATSBY” was like Alice In Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and Circus Maximus all rolled up into one. What a spectacle. I don’t have a handle on Luhrmann’s filmmaking b’cuz it’s such a cornucopia of sight and sound and techniques. He uses ALL the crayons in the crayon box. How does he keep all the ideas in his head? How does he put it all together...the music and time periods; mixing and matching in a cohesive way? Selznick wouldn't be able to make hide nor hair of it. It’s insanity. But it works.

LEONARDO DiCAPRIO is rising in my estimation as an actor. He’s starting to fill out, becoming a man not staying a boy. He did an excellent performance as a man not comfortable with himself. Not comfortable with simple things. Gatsby, a man hiding a secret; hiding from himself in a tower of Babel. I loved his discomfort in the scene where he finally meets Daisy after five years. I love the idea of Lost Love. He fairly aches from it.

JOEL EDGERTON is Tom Buchanan. Who...are...you?! He was excellent, holding the screen, being the dark side of Gatsby. Philandering, controlling husband. He’s very threatening, and doesn’t like to lose. But there’s something there with his love / lust for Myrtle.

CAREY MULLIGAN an interesting new actress whose been around for a minute, and well-respected in the industry, probably b'cuz she's got acting chops. She’s got the pivotal role of the heart & soul of Gatsby. She’s the Ideal. On a pedestal, under glass, unable to break free even if she wanted to. You can see her struggle, but when push comes to shove...

TOBEY McGUIRE is us; our entree into this other world. I’m not crazy about McGuire, never was. He, again, does the wide-eye boy schtick. But he is good at that. Like he said, he is within and without. McGuire's Nick Carraway becomes a friend to Gatsby. And Lord knows Gatsby needs a friend.

The movie is what, perhaps, a movie should be; a wild spectacular feast for the ears and eyes...and the heart. The telling of the tale is very stylized. I didn’t find that it took me out of the story. In fact I had to quickly accept the way Luhrmann presents this world and settle in with it. Even with all of that, you still have to pay attention so you don’t miss the kernel of the movie; the core: Gatsby & Daisy, and deeper still...Gatsby, Man of Mystery. I liked the anachronistic music. The movie kept me engaged throughout. Cared about the characters? I dunno. I did want to see how it would all play out. I felt bad for Howard Hughes I mean, Jay Gatsby; fixated on lost love, trying to recapture the past. DiCaprio was as fascinating for me to watch as the movie. Luhrmann is a master of spectacle. Will he ever be acknowledged as a good filmmaker?

[CineMaven]

Read your review Wendy. Wonderfully written. And I'm with you on all your points.

Hey T! I realized after I wrote my review of The GREAT Gatsby that the version I saw was the regular version, not the 3D version. I didn't even know that it was filmed in 3D when I went! But my guess is that it matters..because many of the reviewers just hated the 3D parts. I think the film was wonderful, but the 3D aspects may be distancing rather than bringing you into the plot. Plus it's probably more expensive.

Oh, and my theatre lady let us in for 5 bucks apiece! That probably helped my appreciation of the movie.

I didn't want to see the 3-D version. But I wish I could get a break on the theatre price. Whew!

[charliechaplinfan]

I'm not one for watching modern movies but my interest has been raised by The Great Gatsby. I think there's more to Leonardo Di Caprio than a pretty face, I bet he makes a good Gatsby and in Luhrman's hands I have a lot of faith in him as a director, I can't wait to see it.

I got around to watching The Keeper of the Flame with Tracy and Hepburn, sandwiched inbetween Woman of the Year, Sea of Grass and Adam's Rib it didn't do a great deal for me. Spencer Tracy's role wasn't great, he's in support of Hepburn who struck the wrong note with me on her first appearance, I guess she was trying to be mysterious. what it does have is an interesting subject matter at the time that the country was at war. Hero worship of a man who was a fascist it this bit wasn't known to many and explained a lot of Hepburn's behaviour. Nice to see them together but they were better than this material and for me I prefer their comedies.

[CineMaven]

If it is playing in Europe, I hope you do get a chance to check it out Alison. How are you?

[RedRiver]

DiCaprio and Maguire are talented actors. I haven't seen much of Luhrman's work. ROMEO AND JULIET is good...enough. Imaginative, at least. Some people liked MOULIN ROUGE. That doesn't interest me at all. I might have seen STRICTLY BALLROOM. All those dancing movies look alike to me!

[CineMaven]

Red, you can tell the difference between Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, right?

Ooops! I mis-spelled Tobey Maguire's name.

[Sue Sue Applegate]

I can't wait to see The Great Gatsby! All your comments and reviews are tantalizingly beckoning me into the dark...

[RedRiver]

Red, you can tell the difference between Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly, right?

Fred dances with coat racks. Gene with animated mice.