Movie Review: The Great Gatsby (2013)

The Great Gatsby (2013)
142 minutes
Rated PG-13
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgarton, Carey Mulligan

Grade: B-

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It’s a tricky thing to adapt a beloved book, and in this case an absolute classic, to the screen because let’s face it, expectations are insanely high and the only place to go is down. So how does Baz Luhrmann tackle the big project? He makes it bigger, louder, and grander than the book possibly could’ve imagined. His style breathes through almost every frame full of glitter and glamor. But there’s a moment when all of the shining lights and the sparkling dresses leave and the story takes center stage, and we’re reminded at what a remarkable story it is.

During the jazz age of the ’20s, we’re introduced to Nick Carraway (Maguire) who is speaking with a therapist due to his recent battle with depression and violent outbursts. While this isn’t in the novel, it provides us a reason for why Nick is narrating throughout. Then we’re introduced to the world that Luhrmann has created for us. A wildly exciting one for those East Egg and West Egg folk with money, and a deeply grim one for those who don’t.

The first half hour is bland, as if Luhrmann is barely amused with the importance of separating the new and old money, or establishing the connections between Nick, Daisy, and Tom Buchanon. There’s no doubt that Luhrmann couldn’t wait to provide his take on what Gatsby’s legendary parties would feel like, and he knocks it out of the park. There is music, dozens of dancers, flowing alcohol from every inch of his land, a pool cluttered with attractive people, waiters serving food and beverages, performances, tuxedos and dresses. But the question is, who is Gatsby?

Enters Leonardo DiCaprio, who gives a great performance (doesn’t he always?) as Jay Gatsby, an incredibly wealthy man with a secretive past who dreams of holding on to the past as much as he imagines the future. He is a handsome and charming man who has his eyes on only one person, the love of his life Daisy. He is a dreamer that wasn’t afraid to change his image to change the person he was supposed to be. But now he wants her back, except there are big obstacles standing in his way.

There are many things that The Great Gatsby doesn’t do right. For instance, the portrayal of Daisy played by Carey Mulligan. It is by far not her fault, as she is a fine actor and has proven it from her past accomplishments. But here, Daisy is a soft, almost emotionless woman who is quick to decide but not firm to give reason. She’s not the childish girl who locks her emotions inside herself, allowing her heart to be split from her head. And then there’s Nick Carraway narrating the movie during moments we really don’t need narration. Maguire, another fine actor, is wasted as Nick because he’s just a pawn in Luhrmann’s world.

But when everything is over, it’s an incredibly enjoyable film. The Great Gatsby isn’t great, but it’s full of energy and lively spirits to fulfill all of our senses. It’s an interpretation that creates a different form of art from the literature. We get a love story and it’s one that we are interested in, solely because of DiCaprio’s performance. Whether it’s liked or not, when tackling enormous expectations, Luhrmann could’ve done a lot worse.

How I Met Your Mother – “Something New”

Season Eight, Episode Twenty Four

Grade: A

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In my opinion, the best way to go into a TV show or a movie is completely unspoiled. In this day and age of social media, that’s nearly impossible, but most of the time I make a valid effort to prevent myself from any type of spoilers. I never watch the “what’s coming up next” previews at the end of many episodes and I do prefer to walk into a theater after all the previews are done, though unless someone is saving my seat it doesn’t always work.

That being said, the best way to have viewed the season eight finale of HIMYM last night was if you had no clue what was going to happen. Also, this post is going to contain plenty of spoilers, so if you haven’t already watched the episode I would suggest that you stop reading right now!

Before I discuss the season finale, I have to mention the episode prior titled “Something Old.” It was a standard HIMYM episode: half-bad and half-good. The bad dealt with Barney’s story-line of spending time with Robin’s father while playing laser tag. Just silly throwaway stuff. But the good was Robin/Ted’s part of the episode. Robin buried a locket in the Central Park years ago and needed to dig it back up to prove to herself she’s ready to get married to Barney, but after plenty of setbacks she begins to see them as signs and doubts the idea of marrying him.

In comes Ted to the rescue, who blows off a very important meeting just to help Robin search for the locket. She finds the box, but not the locket, but still is touched by how Ted constantly drops everything for her. They touch hands while the rain pours down on them (if we’re talking about signs, how about when Ted made it rain for Robin?).

Which brings us to last night’s episode, “Something New.” The wheels are in motion for the season finale episode and everything seems to be at stake. After Robin was questioning the idea of marrying Barney, they go out to dinner and thoroughly enjoy themselves by attempting to ruin their night’s enemies. We’ve seen these two get along together well in the past, but their obsessive behavior to destroy someone they hate is something they had fun accomplishing at the restaurant. Sure, Barney and Robin are both awesome and they’re even awesomer together, but there was a sense where (for the first time) we really see how much they mean to each other and that their marriage will most definitely work out. It was touching and more importantly, assuring.

Meanwhile, Lily and Marshall are packing to move to Rome for a year, something that Marshall hasn’t told his mom yet. When she finds out, she demands she sees her grandson before they leave, so Marshall travels up to Minnesota. Lily has a right to be concerned because Marshall’s mom keeps saying hints that she’ll either persuade him to stay or she’ll move with them in Rome. While this was all filler, the hammer finally drops when Marshall gets a call that a judgeship has opened for him. He seems to have taken the offer but hasn’t told Lily yet. Are we going to see TV’s cutest couple divided during HIMYM’s last season? Doubtful! You can’t break up this group of friends!

Now to the good stuff. The show has always been about Ted. It started out with Ted falling in love with Robin and then dealing with the fact that they were in different places with the relationship. Now, we’re back with Ted’s life being the focus but the once-optimistic man is now a sad, defeated one. He realizes that he still would do anything for Robin and how it kills him that she’s marrying Barney. So he’s going to move to Chicago immediately after their wedding to start a new life, hopefully somewhere he can find someone as he sees Robin now. Lily doesn’t take the news well, but she’s the only person who knows.

A montage finishes the episode off with everyone converging on Farhampton for the weekend wedding. As we saw from all the different stories, things are changing for all of the characters. Whether they know it yet or not, everyone’s immediate future will change forever. Fortunately, the somewhat downer of an episode gets a much-needed lift when we see a petite girl (Cristin Milioti) wearing boots, carrying a yellow umbrella and a guitar case, and buying a ticket to Farhampton. It’s the mother! Ted’s wife! Even though he hasn’t met her yet, I couldn’t help but smile that Ted’s long line of misfortunes are all about to change.

It might not have been what everyone thought, but I think it’s fantastic. It’s great that it’s not a girl that we’ve already met. And it’s great that we now have one more season until Ted can get his act together, meet this girl, fall in love and live happily ever after. It’s been eight years of grueling (and sometimes tedious) story-telling until we finally meet the mother. No lie, I got goosebumps as “Simple Song” played and revealed Cristin Milioti. And then I smiled, because we all have a little Ted inside of us. At one point (or still ongoing), we all want to believe there’s a special someone out there in the world perfect for us, but as the years fly by that belief fades away. HIMYM is simply reminding us to keep holding on.

Movie Review: Mud

Mud (2013)
130 minutes
Rated PG-13
Directed by Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland

Grade: A-

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The film begins with two teenage boys, Ellis and Neckbone, who discover a boat in a tree on a nearby island. It’s something that kids like these marvel at as some kind of miracle, but adults would vision it as the result of a disastrous storm or flood. It doesn’t take too long for the kids to realize someone has been living there. This man goes by the name Mud. He’s mysterious but charming, a quality that reels in Ellis even though Neckbone doesn’t trust him.

In the poor Arkansas community, Ellis lives with his parents on a houseboat and helps his father sell catfish door to door. The single most important thing that drives Ellis throughout the film is his perception of love. His parents are going through a divorce and his idea of love is confused and broken. But as Mud reveals more and more about himself, Ellis turns his attention to what he believes is to be true love, something that Mud is fighting for.

What I loved about the coming-of-age story so much was how the teenage boys’ ideals contrasted each other. Ellis is the protagonist who is going through a tough situation during the divorce of his parents, given him a very negative perspective on love. But his youth and good heart keeps his belief strong that love exists. With Neckbone, he never even knew his parents so he’s far past the belief that love is something real. Their contrast blankets the entire movie from the moment they meet Mud to the final scene. Neckbone doesn’t change but Ellis goes through a great transformation.

Matthew McConaughey gives a memorable performance as the hopeful outlaw stranded on an island. Dirty, crass, but with a good heart, McConaughey’s Mud is someone easy to sympathize with, but also hard to trust. He’s never stereotyped with the number of troubled southerners we’ve seen in movies before, and this is because of how deep McConaughey digs into Mud. Going toe-to-toe with him, Tye Sheridon gives life to the movie. Being the teenage protagonist, we’re able to see through his eyes of a poverty-stricken world and the people and ideas he clings to.

Overall, this is a movie that balances drama, suspense, and the central theme of love in a stripped down setting, utilizing its greatest asset: the characters. Nichols does a great job displaying the natural beauty surrounding the community, along with understanding every character’s motivations as we watch the cause-and-effect unfold. This is without a doubt one of the most memorable films in the first half of the year.

Nashville – “Why Don’t You Love Me”

Season One, Episode Nineteen

Grade: B-

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I haven’t written about Nashville in a while, mainly because my Wednesday nights are pretty hectic and by the time I get home I crash pretty hard. But last night I set aside all the live sports to catch “Why Don’t You Love Me,” an episode that continues to explore relationships of old and new. Most recently, the biggest event on the show has been Deacon and Rayna hooking up. It’s something that we’ve all been waiting for and now it finally happened. So now what?

Deacon and Rayna have a very complicated past, but have remained in each other’s lives through it all somehow. Now after sleeping each other once again, the question they must ask is what this all means? Despite the advice given from Coleman (calling her a drug more than a friend), Deacon is simply head over heels for Rayna and decides to break things up with Stacy. It was hard to see Stacy go like this because she really was the right fit for Deacon. He was willing to settle down for her and start a new life. But ditching her for Rayna is just trying to spark up his past life full of chaos and trust issues.

Meanwhile, Rayna is playing things a bit smarter, though to Deacon’s perspective she’s shying away from him once again. Call me cynical but I cannot see this working out. Though they’re in different stages of their lives from where they were years ago, there’s just too much damage between them. Deacon states this in the limo, but is able to sweet-talk Rayna to stay another night. But I’m sure they’re far from being a couple than what Deacon thinks.

As for Gunnar and Scarlett, the once heart and soul of Nashville has become distant and cold, as if they were on the verge of splitting up. Gunnar’s motivations and actions are very confusing and contradicts the character that he was during the first half of the season (hell, look at Avery’s transformation), and therefore their story-line is suffering. It just doesn’t make sense how Gunnar would so quickly turn down a chance to redeem himself and play with Scarlett on Rayna’s record label. For what reason? And during this episode, he chooses to record a single over going to the CMA party with Scarlett. Again, it just doesn’t add up to the Gunnar we all loved.

Finally, we get to poor Juliet Barnes who just had her boyfriend skip out on her with half a million dollars. But to Juliet, money isn’t an issue. The way the show is focusing in on her spending sprees will foreshadow a serious money problem in the near future. But right now, she’s excited because she’s nominated for a CMA award for Best Female Vocalist. Unfortunately, she drinks and drinks her unhappiness away at the party, which results in Deacon quitting the band, Avery stepping up playing guitar and then wisely leaving her after she kisses him. Hayden Panettiere showed off some chops in this episode, but her character is going down a dangerous road.

So what’s left? Teddy has a great scene with Maddy at the father-daughter dance, Coleman resigns as deputy mayor, and Gunnar still hasn’t told Scarlett (or anyone) about Will kissing him. Speaking of, I can’t help but notice the huge swing in personalities for Avery and Gunnar. It’s like they completely switched positions as boyfriend/jerk and single/gentleman. Or maybe Scarlett is just some kind of musician black hole and she’s stealing their powers from everyone to reign at the top of Nashville. Frankly, that probably wouldn’t even be the craziest story-line in this melodrama.

Game of Thrones – “Kissed By Fire”

Season Three, Episode Five

Grade: A

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Was this the most emotionally charged episode from Game of Thrones yet? I think so. It’s not too often we got to really feel for many of these characters who are off either fighting wars, training dragons, or manipulating kings and lords. But in “Kissed By Fire” there is a lot to sympathize for that will warm your heart with something other than Hot Pie giving Arya a bread wolf.

First and foremost, the action-packed opening scene between Beric and the Hound during their trial by combat to see if the Hound is guilty of murder through the Lord of Light. You know, because it’s always way cooler to have a fight to the death than a trial with a judge and a jury… duh! The Hound wins the battle by almost slicing Beric’s body in two, but Thoros and the Lord of Light somehow brings Beric back to life. My jaw dropped as low as the Hound’s and Arya’s, but apparently this was the sixth time Beric has been brought back to life.

This brought us to our first sentimental encounter. Arya converses with Thoros and Beric about the death of her father for the first time that we’ve seen and it’s exactly what we could expect from a young girl. She would do anything for her father to come back and ever since the event she’s been on the run, which is why she’s heart-broken when Gendry tells her he’s going to stay with the Brotherhood Without Banners. He relays to her that he’s never had family and the Brotherhood could be like family to him. When Arya cries that she could be his family, a piece of my heart was ripped from my chest. Poor girl, searching for her purpose in a world ruled by greedy men as she clings to anyone who’s nice to her because she’s been away from her family for so long. It’s impossible not to root for Arya.

Meanwhile at Dragonstone, we meet Stannis’ wife and daughter. Yes, he has a daughter and she’s quite adorable, but has been caged up like Rapunzel because of some facial scarring. Stannis seems to care for her as much as he’s able to show, but when she asks about her friend Davos, Stannis reveals that he’s a traitor and is locked up in the dungeon. But when his daughter visits Davos in his cell, there’s a real connection between the two. Davos is gentle and kind towards the girl and she repays his generosity by teaching him to read so he has something to fill the time. It’s a great “aww” moment in a show that seriously lacks any.

Then there was a hot tub scene between Jon Snow and Ygritte, like we didn’t know they were going to hook up eventually. Snow proves that he’s really not a part of the Wall anymore by breaking his oath, but this wasn’t all that interesting. Believe it or not, there was an even more compelling hot tub scene between Jaime and Brienne. Jaime reveals his side of the story for becoming the “kingslayer” and it’s a doozy. The Mad King planned to set a town on fire with his obsession with wild fire, but Jaime got in his way because he couldn’t see the merit to killing innocent men, women and children. So he killed the Mad King when Ned Stark appeared. Boy, GoT sure knows how to turn our opinion around at the flick of a light switch, don’t they?

Meanwhile, Lord Karstark loses his head at the hands of Robb because he slayed the two Lannister boys out of mad vengeance. But in doing so, Robb has lost a portion of his army who backed Karstark, but has a new plan to meet with Walder Frey for assistance. Yes, this is the Walder Frey that Robb was supposed to marry his daughter. Slowly, Robb is losing his grip on the throne because of his decaying army.

As one army is getting weaker, one is getting stronger. Daenerys meets the appointed leader of the Unsullied named “Grey Worm” and advises that everyone pick their own name that they can be proud of. She seems to be doing everything right so far, first freeing the Unsullied and now respecting them. They’ll surely fight for their new leader stronger than ever, but will it be enough to take King’s Landing?

Speaking of, the episode ends with Tywin giving orders to his children. First, Tyrion is to marry Sansa so the key to the North stays within the Lannisters. As we know, the Tyrells were planning to set up Sansa with Loras to give the key to the North to the Tyrells. At the same time, Tywin orders Cersei to marry Loras, which she deeply speaks out against, but as we know, Tywin will get his way out of his children. It was quite a twist at the end of the episode, but one done with words rather than a sword. Oh what a complex world Game of Thrones is!

Overall, this was a fantastic episode and I know I said this already, but I was surprised at how sentimental it got. From Arya, to Jaime, to Stannis’ daughter, there was plenty of moments where we actually felt for the characters. There are always greater parts of telling this gigantic story that sometimes the human element can be lost, but it’s good to see that GoT can even do sappy on a high level. Is there anything this show can’t do?

Mad Men – “The Flood”

Season Six, Episode Five

Grade: A

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While everyone will remember this episode being the one where Martin Luther King, Jr. dies, the title hints at the central theme throughout, which is how the characters on Mad Men pair up. Just take the beginning scenes where Peggy is searching for an apartment with Abe, and where Don and Megan bump into Dr. Rosen and Sylvia. While we frequently see these couples apart, “The Flood” concentrates on them together, plus others.

Like I already mentioned, the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. is the main event that occurs during the episode. The news spreads during an advertising award ceremony after a distant Paul Newman announces he’s supporting Eugene McCarthy for president. Someone shouts out that Dr. King is dead and chaos ensues. I particularly liked how everyone was in a panic to make a phone call and waited in line to call their loved ones. I still remember of a time that existed before cell phones came about and it just increases a chaotic situation when you can’t reach that certain someone instantly.

Back to the advertising awards, it’s important to note how Don avoids Peggy in the beginning when Megan walks over to say hi. The Heinz pitch was a week ago, but it’s still fresh in Don’s mind and he’s still not very happy about it. Even more importantly is Ted’s obvious crush on Peggy (can’t wait for that spark to kindle soon). When the news of Dr. King gets out, Abe leaves the awards on a job for the Times. This provides us with my favorite shot of the episode, with a scared Megan in Don’s arms alongside Peggy all by herself.

Being the fifth episode of the season, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Ginsberg. Here, he’s set up with a lovely young girl, Beverly, from their parents and go out on a date. Ginsberg is blind-sided but his father didn’t think that would matter much because when he refers to the Biblical flood, would Ginsberg want his father to be with him or a young woman. But their date is cut short when the news of Dr. King is broadcasted over the television at the diner.

Another couple that the news affects is Pete and Trudy. As Pete attempts to mend things (temporarily) by offering his comfort during the upsetting times, Trudy is able to decline his presence. This surely doesn’t look good for any chance of those two working things out, but the bigger problem is that this probably means we’ll see less of Alison Brie.

Finally, Don takes the news as tragic and troubling as anyone else, yet he deals with it much more internally. He didn’t engage in a yelling match like Pete and Harry did at the office. He didn’t offer a hug like Peggy and Joan did to their African American secretaries (though while Peggy’s hug was meaningful, Joan’s hug with Dawn was just awkward). While Megan takes his children to a vigil in the park, Don takes Bobby to the movies to see Planet of the Apes. Sometimes, the movies is the best place to go to just escape from the real world. Even Bobby suggests that people to go the movies when they’re sad to the African American usher. I’m not exactly sure how much of a role Bobby is going to play for the rest of the season, but he certainly had more to do with the plot in this episode.

We end with Don giving an explanation for his distant behavior towards his children during a time when they need him.

“No. I don’t think I ever wanted to be the man who loves children. But from the moment they’re born, that baby comes out and you act proud and excited, hand out cigars. But you don’t feel anything. Especially if you had a difficult childhood. You want to love them but you don’t. And the fact that you’re faking that feeling makes you wonder if your own father had the same problem. Then one day they get older, and you see them do something and you feel that feeling that you were pretending to have, and it feels like your heart is going to explode.”

Jon Hamm delivers this monologue perfectly and it’s the show-stopping moment of the episode. Don is more concerned with the safety of Sylvia than he is with Megan and his children and he cannot function when he is this distracted. But overshadowed by the events of Dr. King’s assassination is Don’s inner demons breathing life into his guilt as a father, and the suffering of his own childhood. We know Don’s going to keep on fighting because that’s all he’s ever done, but Don is a man who doesn’t like being in the passenger seat. He needs to be in control or else his bad luck could strike him down again.

Mad Men – “To Have and To Hold”

Season Six, Episode Four

Grade: B+

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Mad Men mixes things up this week and allows an episode to really update us with some characters we haven’t seen all much of this season (Joan, Harry) and to push forward the plot-lines concerning with the Heinz account and Don and Megan’s marriage. “To Have and To Hold” presents characters to question what they currently have and things they’ve done to get to where they are now. It’s a popular topic that Mad Men loves to explore, but here it’s the central focus.

Let’s start with Megan, who breaks through with the soap opera by landing a love scene and time extended screen time. She’s concerned as to what Don is going to think about her kissing another guy on the show, but she’s an actress for crying out loud! To calm her nerves, her boss, Mel, and his wife invite her and Don out to dinner so they can put everyone at ease. But the dinner ends up being quite confusing for Don and Megan, who are asked to follow Mel and his wife home to smoke some grass and see what happens after. This allows Megan and Don to laugh at the whole situation. He seems fairly okay with Megan’s new role on the soap, but this is only at the beginning of the episode.

Next, we see Joan at home who is enjoying a visit from an old friend, Kate. She’s a rep for Mary Kay who is planning to move to Avon because Mary Kay doesn’t have the growth opportunities. Since the pilot episode until now, plenty of characters have changed, but no one has progressed as much in the working-world as Joan did. From secretary to a partner at SCDP, she’s at the top of the company, yet it still doesn’t seem that way and she admits it to Kate. Kate responds by telling her it doesn’t matter what it feels like, all that matters is her title.

Back at the office, Joan busts Harry’s secretary, Scarlet, for leaving work early and having Dawn clock out for her. But Harry drags Scarlet back to the office and reprimands Joan for firing his own secretary by basically saying he deserves to be a partner more than she does. We all know how Joan got to be a partner in the company, but even without that she’s been an important component to making SCDP run. Harry does have a point, though, because he’s always on the wrong side of the joke and has been carrying his weight since the beginning. But if he’s suggesting he’s more important than Joan, he’s be packing his things before he can cash his next check.

The episode meanders until it gets to its main event: the Heinz Ketchup pitch. Don pitches an ad showing large food images with the words “Pass The Heinz” written on top of it. There’s no image of the ketchup bottle. They don’t even mention the word “ketchup.” Don insists that the client’s imagination will fill in the blanks and the ad will remain on their minds long after they see the ad. It’s a bold ad but that’s the work that Don’s been spitting out lately. To everyone’s surprise, as they leave they see Peggy and her team waiting outside ready to give their pitch. She has a different and more simpler approach. She shows the Heinz ketchup bottle and uses the word “ketchup” in big letters. It’s everything that Don’s pitch isn’t. While Don listens in, Peggy uses one of his quotes, “If you don’t like what’s being said, then change the conversation.” It was like Don being slapped in the face by his protege.

Neither of them land the deal, but the damage is done. Ken storms into the bar they’re all sitting at and says their secret pitch cost them the Heinz Baked Beans deal. Don and company took a risk and it bit them in the ass. As for Peggy, she lost Stan as a friend for using his information to try and land Heinz. This might not lead to a feud between both companies, but this is definitely a sour moment for two ad agencies and former friends.

With the bad taste still in Don’s mouth, he watches Megan’s scene at the studio. He doesn’t approve and Megan even questions why he’s there. They’re both right and wrong in the moment. Don’s recent interest to appear at the studio is only because of Megan’s steamy scene. But as for Don, it’s better that he actually sees what’s being done rather than let his imagination run wild, the exact opposite message he was trying to sell to Heinz. At the end, Don is spending another moment with Sylvia. What’s so interesting about these two is how Sylvia understands the damage within Don. She tells him that she prays for his happiness and peace. She’s not the first one and it seems like she won’t be the last.