The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic American novel The Great Gatsby is my favorite book, so my love for the source material did not increase my anticipation for Baz Luhrmann’s adaptation. As evident from the director’s prior works, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge, Luhrmann is a filmmaker with more of an appreciation for visual congruence than narrative congruence. My feelings were not eased by the fact that Jay Z produced the soundtrack with such contemporary artists such as Gotye (despite my appreciation for his music), Lana Del Rey, Fergie, will.i.am, and more—none of which being appropriate for a film taking place in the 1920’s jazz era. Despite all the red flags, I ended up seeing the film against my better judgment.

Iron Man 3

This isn’t what I wanted, and this wasn’t what I was promised. Allow me to begin by telling you that this film is an elaborate troll. Ever since the promotional campaign for this film began, it has all been culminating to the biggest troll moment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe thus far. We were promised the darkest, grandiose installment to the Iron Man series thus far to conclude the trilogy with a bang. Most trilogies do promise this, and even if the films themselves aren’t good (Spider-Man 3, The Dark Knight Rises), they at least knew not to go out on a whimper.

The Place Beyond the Pines

Derek Cianfrance’s (director of Blue Valentine) latest film, The Place Beyond the Pines, is a tale of two men, and how their personally vices intertwine their families and affect them for years to come. Like Blue Valentine, the story is grounded in a verisimilitude that makes it engaging, from the very first shot of the film which follows Ryan Gosling’s Luke from his trailer, through a carnival, and to his motorcycle, where he and three other bikers proceed to perform their stunts in a confined cage—all in a single shot. There are various strong shots like this throughout the film, thanks to cinematographer Sean Bobbitt.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

I was naturally hesitant to watch this movie, and for self-explanatory reasons. The original film in this series, G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra was pretty bad, and nothing from this film’s promotional material made it seem like this was going to be anything better than your run-of-the mill action blockbuster. It didn’t help that the movie was delayed nearly an entire year. This is never a good sign. For all of my reservations though, this movie was better than it should have been. This does not mean that it was good.

Oz the Great and Powerful

There is a reason that everyone (or, as I have been horrified to recently discover, almost everyone) loves the classic film, The Wizard of Oz. The timeless themes, memorable characters, archetypical journey, and its classic representation of movie magic. While Oz the Great and Powerful is enjoyable in some regards, and is in nearly every regard better than I expected it to be, it fails to live up to the standard set by its predecessor. This is by new means a surprise, but what I did personally find shocking was how close it was to at least being close.