THE GREAT GATSBY - (5)

So, I really like Baz Luhrman's films.  I really wanted to love this one.  It was beautiful and thoughtful and the costuming was marvelous and the sunshine was everywhere and the set design was fantastic and the actors were all excellent and the CGI worked.

However, I didn't love this film.  It was poignant.  It made me think.  It was lovely to look at.  I didn't love it.   And, I think I didn't love it because I didn't love the music.   MOULIN ROUGE is a film I LOVED because the music supported the story.   PITCH PERFECT I loved because the music supported the story.   The music in GATSBY did not support the story.  The music was so obviously changed after filming that every single moment someone was singing or dancing one could see that their mouths and bodies didn't match the sound that was audible.  It upset me because I wanted to know what amazing song was being sung by the speakeasy dancers.  I wanted to hear what the goofy people were singing while dancing like idiots.

Because you just KNOW that's a stuipd song...

And yes, I'm complaining.  Some of the tracks were alright but I really want to hear what Lurhman had already filmed, and to hear the music which matched the lips of the performers.  It really makes a difference.  Here, I'll show you.  In honor of Amitabh Bachchan who was in this film,

"Hello, yes, I am Amitabh Bachchan..."

 I have taken the trailer of GATSBY and replaced the sound with a Bollywood song, specifically AR Rhman-Kabhi Neem Neem.





And, yes, I cut that off early because it's a good song and combined with that video it's terrible.  Okay, now let's watch the same terrible video with a different song, this time "Jeepers Creepers" by the Mills Brothers.

Different, right?  Better, right?   All I'm saying is that I, who has purchased only one DVD in the past three years, would run to buy THE GREAT GATSBY DVD if it contained a directors cut with the original sound.

That said, this Gotye song for the movie is really good...

IRON MAN 3 - (9)

I liked IRON MAN 3 but not for the explosions or special effects (which were awesome), or because Robert Downey Jr looks nice in a tight black shirt (he does), or for the heroics or any of the things one normally looks for in a comic book movie.  I liked IRON MAN 3 because it was low on magical timelines and high on reality.

Well.. it obviously isn't TOO realistic because we are talking about flying space suits powered by magnets.  But it did show that even genius phlanthropist billionaire playboys suffer from PTSD after fighting aliens from another dimension and protecting NYC from an atomic bomb launched by his own government.   In this movie, when people get really hurt, they stay hurt for a long time.  The movie quietly addressed issues of identity, relationships, past errors, and how getting through all of these things means getting help from others.  As Nassim Nicholas Talib says "It is a sign of weakness to avoid showing signs of weakness."

So it's a solid film which has good jokes, some awesome bad guys, Pepper Pots getting really angry,

"WHAT?"

plenty of loud explosions, imperiled people being saved, bad guys,

"I make this look FABULOUS!"

and echos the same emotionally-damaged form of communication our friend Tony Stark has always used.

HOWEVER, as good as it is, I do have a nit to pick and as usual it's a wardrobe complaint.  First of all, Tony Stark is a billionaire.  He would not wear baggy jeans and a blue sport coat he stole from a golf tournament official.

I couldn't find a photo of the hideous coat anywhere on the internet so this book jacket will have to do

Seriously, I know the costumer wanted to show him as being more grounded and honest and healed but this is NOT the outfit to do it with.

Also, when War Machine goes to Afganistan to trap a terrorist he probably wouldn't do it in this outfit:

I am, of course, referring to the chinos and green polo Don Cheadle is supposed to have chosen to wear while flying War Machine to Afganistan for 6 hours.  I know that Air Force guys are the nerds of the armed services but, a polo?  Really?  A respected Air Force Colonel would go into combat wearing something a bit more substantial than this if only to protect against the rattling around he must experience when flying a tin can that wasn't designed to fit him.

Yes, I'm being picky but these two wardrobe decisions were the only things which bothered me which .. is remarkable.   Yeah, see it.  It's good.

TAI CHI ZERO -- (9)

TAI CHI ZERO is amazingly good.   Really.  I loved it so much.  I picked it up from the Redbox last night not expecting anything at all, much less a funny steampunk kung-fu all-star roundup of video-game-like awesome.

However, that is what I got and what this movie is.  Watch it.  TOTALLY worth the dollar!