The Film Reporter

Baz Luhrmann (Director of Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge) is known for pioneering modern music in his period pieces like in Moulin Rouge with ‘Material Girl’ by Madonna. What many of you will not know and have predicted is that the novel adaption of The Great Gatsby (1925) regarded as the best American novel of all time and one of the top novels ever written world wide is to be scored by Jay Z himself. ‘The Bullits’ Twitter page was first to release the story when they tweeted “Jay Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It’s too dope for words. 

It’s a far fetched idea that such a genre of music and genre of film would be able to blend but you’ll have to make your mind about that when the film hits theatres May 10th 2013. 

Carrie: I was right… I was right

Sean: So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I’ll bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you’d probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can’t tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You’re a tough kid. And I’d ask you about war, you’d probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, “once more unto the breach dear friends.” But you’ve never been near one. You’ve never held your best friend’s head in your lap, watch him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I’d ask you about love, you’d probably quote me a sonnet. But you’ve never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn’t know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms “visiting hours” don’t apply to you. You don’t know about real loss, ‘cause it only occurs when you’ve loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you’ve ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you… I don’t see an intelligent, confident man… I see a cocky, scared shitless kid. But you’re a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You’re an orphan right? 
[Will nods] 
Sean: You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally… I don’t give a shit about all that, because you know what, I can’t learn anything from you, I can’t read in some fuckin’ book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I’m fascinated. I’m in. But you don’t want to do that do you sport? You’re terrified of what you might say. Your move, chief. 

Just a small tribute to the fantastic script written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck - Good WIll Hunting (1997)

Mel’s drive in, as seen in American Graffiti (1973) whilst the cars from the movie are on show. 

Stand By Me surely has to go down as one of the most beautiful and ‘nostalgialistic’ films of all time. 

“I’ve never had friends like I did when I was 12.

Jesus, does anyone?”

The trailer has now been released for the eagerly anticipated film directed by Stephen Spielberg- Lincoln, scheduled for a January 25th release, click the image above for the trailer.

The film follows Lincoln in the harsh and pressurised civil war over the abolition of slavery.

Aaron Sorkin, famous for his writing of unforgettable screenplays including, Moneyball, The Social Network, A Few Good Men and the hit T.V series, ‘The Newsroom’. A drama about a news anchor who has found a safe niche with his cable show, “News Night”, but his life is stirred up when he is forced to work with a new team of colleagues.

As I’m only up to the 4th episode it’s hard to fully analyse, however I’m drawn to this series for it’s tensions and conflicts in the newsroom, the constant battle between each other whilst trying to deliver the news. A career all feel privileged to behold. Will (Bridges) is one of the most famous anchors in television, however is dismayed to find the new producer of the news is his x-partner, a woman who cheated on him many years ago. 

The Newsroom gets a stunning 8.8/10 on IMDB and I find the rating very close to my opinion. The series DVD will be available on Amazon in a few months time.

*Preview review*

Lawless, is a film set in the prohibition era where gangs and violence is a part of everyday life for some, but is seen everywhere. They are men that aren’t to be fooled with, even by the police. Forrest (Tom Hardy) is the head brother of the famous Bondurant gang, whilst Jack (LeBeouf) is the youngest trying to make a name for himself, always trying to prove his masculinity and power. However their ease of bootlegging from county to county is cut short when new Deputy Sheriff Charlie Rakes (Pearce) comes on the scene from Chicago. 

Pearce really game all guns blazing on his performance and portrayed an authentic hatred for the bootlegger’s in Franklin County. Rakes is a man who’s sight of the law and the importance of it has been blinded by his hatred, and has sought to bring an end to the bootleggers but using the exact same violence. As Forrest once states, “A man is not measured by his violence, but by how far he is willing to go”.

There were periods of time however where I found myself questioning a couple of things during the duration. During the first 20 minutes or so, the narrative seemed very fragmented and accidentally slow, and without giving any spoilers away, I found a few actions a bit unlikely due to the characters. 

Nonetheless, Lawless was a really enjoyable film, filled with bloody violence, love, corruption and alcohol. Before I saw this film, I did question the chances of it being your typical gang violence films, “Is it just going to be a film that we’ve all seen before, where one gang rises to defeat corruption, or where one gang destroys the gang on top? I was wrong, this was a film where there was time to evaluate our protagonist; Jack (LeBeouf) and his constant determination to make his brother proud and rise against the corruption that has beset his county. 

Lawless - 7/10