The Great Gatsby (2013)

Many years ago, a light and frothy Mia Farrow was Miss Daisy Buchanan to Robert Redford’s Jay Gatsby.  I have waited close to a year and a half to see this remake of what I consider to be one of the better versions of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic about the lives of the veddy, veddy rich and the desire to possess what was never theirs in the first place.  Carey Mulligan and Leonardo diCaprio are the star-crossed/class-defined lovers.  The sets, the narration, the music (which is a combination of classic 20’s jazz and the perfectly matched remixes of hip-hop, pop, and crying ballads) and the supporting cast are blended in a nouveau flapper fresco that invokes another time.  It rings in the desperation of crawling out of the craziness that was the end of the Flapper Age and the beginning of the Great Depression.  Yes, folks, this is what excess looks like and the lunacy of love.  Baz Luhrman has created a world just as fantastic as Long Island, the Hamptons, and Manhattan, but did it in New South Wales.  Amazing costumes, make-up, and the cars…yikes…everything is perfect and follows the book to a “T”.   Supporting cast is excellent…if nothing else, it will get nominated for costumes, but I think it’ll take many more of the awards.  Rating:  3.5 stars and the piercing “Eyes of God” looking down upon us all.

Star Trek Into Darkness

If any of you remember, from the 60’s and 80’s, “The Space Seed” episode of Star Trek and the film, “Star Trek II - The Wrath of Khan”, and you can’t stop talking about it for whatever reason (say Ricardo Montalban’s hair, bare chest, and beefy “guns” got you all hot and bothered), then this is not the film for you.  It’s more like “Star Wars, Revenge of the Sith” with stunning CGI futuristic views of Earth, Space, and San Francisco.  Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana, Zachery Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and yes, a cameo, but a very important one, by a pointy-eared Vulcan, are once again on hand and change it up.  So much has been culled from the original story, but it’s all good.  Who are the good guys, who are the bad guys, and how fast will you be able to figure it out?  This is Star Trek, Voyager, Enterprise, and a New Generation all rolled into one.  It’s in the future, but retro at the same time, so “Beam Me Up Scotty” isn’t what you hear every 5 minutes.  Tension abounds throughout the film and some of the outcomes are predictable, but then again, there’s always that underlying element of surprise that keeps you on the edge of your seat in the climatic scenes.  (For those of you who have never experienced The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across The Eighth Dimension or the original Robocop, I suggest you also check these out).  I see this as being a “popcorn tosser” and definitely collectible when the film’s available.  Rating 3 dilithium crystals and a tribble for your thoughts.   

Ironman 3

This franchise just keeps getting more and more inventive and fun.  I didn’t grow up reading the “boy” comic books, but I’m sure if I had, I would have loved this series.  Stan Lee’s Tony Stark is at once infuriating, arrogant, brilliant, sarcastic, and completely wonderful as a weapons monger turned hero/avenger.  We see a really human side of the character and Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow bring their relationship to a new level as Tony and Pepper forge into a new venture involving old wrongs, new technologies, and burnt bridges.  Some things/people to note, Shane Black has taken up the gauntlet from Jon Favreau and has done a crack-up job of directing, Guy Pearce, Sir Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle and Rebecca Hall round out the cast quite nicely.  The whole film made me feel like I was watching a comic book and I liked it.  To paraphrase the Governator—Tony Stark will be back and I’m ready.   Rating:  3.2 stars and a really brilliant way to use a remote control.