Review 4

GREAT GATSBY(2013)

Director - Baz Luhrmann
Producer - Baz Luhrmann, Douglas Wick, Lucy Fisher, Catherine Martin, Catherine Knapman
Writer - Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce
Composer - Craig Armstrong
Genre - Drama
Release Year - 2013
Country - USA, Australia
Run Time - 143 minutes

Lead Actors:
Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby
Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway
Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan
Joel Edgerton as Tom Buchanan
Isla Fisher as Myrtle Wilson
Adelaide Clemens as Catherine
Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker
Amitabh Bachchan as Meyer Wolfsheim
Jason Clarke as George Wilson
Max Cullen as Owl Eyes
Brendan Maclean as Klipspringer
Jack Thompson as Nick Carraway's Doctor, Walter Perkins

Plot:
In a summer Nick Carraway moved to work as a bond salesman in New York. Nick rented a house in West Egg, a suburb of New York where the "new rich" lived. Nick graduated from Yale and has connections in East Egg. One night Nick went to East Egg to have dinner with his cousin, Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan, a classmate of Nick's at Yale. There, he met Jordan Baker, a beautiful and cynical professional golfer. Jordan tells Nick that Tom had an affair. Returning home from dinner, Nick saw his mysterious neighbor, Jay Gatsby, holding out his arms toward the Long Island Sound. Nick looked out across the water, but saw only a green light blinking at the end of a dock on the far shore. A few days later, Tom invited Nick to a party in New York City. On the way, Tom picked up his mistress,Myrtle Wilson, the wife of George Wilson, the owner of an auto shop. At the party, Myrtle got drunk and made fun of Daisy. Tom punched her and broke her nose. Nick also attended one of Gatsby's extravagant Saturday night parties. He ran into Jordan there, and met Gatsby for the first time. Gatsby privately told Jordan a story she described as the most "amazing thing." After going to lunch with Gatsby and a shady business partner of Gatsby's named Meyer Wolfsheim, Nick learnt one story: Gatsby had met and fell in love with Daisy before World War I, and bought his West Egg mansion just to be near her. At Gatsby's request, Nick arranged a meeting for them. The two soon rediscovered their love. Daisy invited Nick and Gatsby to lunch with her, Tom, and Jordan. During the lunch, Tom realized Daisy and Gatsby were having an affair. He insisted they all went to New York City. As soon as they gathered at the Plaza Hotel, though, Tom and Gatsby got into an argument about Daisy. Gatsby told Tom that Daisy had never loved Tom and had only ever loved him. But Daisy could only admit that she loved them both, and Gatsby was stunned. Tom then revealed that Gatsby had made his fortune by bootlegging alcohol and other illegal meant. Tom then dismissively told Daisy to go home with Gatsby, since he knew Gatsby wouldn't bother her anymore. They left in Gatsby's car, while Tom, Nick, and Jordan followed sometime later. As they drived home, Tom, Nick, and Jordan came upon an accident: Myrtle was hit and killed by a car. Tom realized that it had been Gatsby's car that struck Myrtle, and he cursed Gatsby as a coward for driving off. But Nick learnt from Gatsby later that night that Daisy had been actually behind the wheel. George Wilson, distraught, was convinced that the driver of the yellow car that hit Myrtle was also her lover. In the afternoon, Nick had a kind of premonition and found Gatsby shot to death in his pool. Wilson's dead body was a few yards away. Nick organized a funeral, but none of the people who were supposedly Gatsby's friends came. And even Daisy left the city with her family, she and Tom asked their butler not to tell where they were and when they would return.

To begin with, it's necessary to say that this movie for Baz Luhrmann is a bright returning after Romeo+Juliet, Moulin Rouge. The adaptation itself is vivid images of the 20s, illegal whiskey, jazz, frantic dances. Nick Carraway, a "narrator", became a witness of the lives of several people, he was a observer, and a participant. Jay Gatsby was a man of mystery. Everybody saw him only as a rich man, who arranged exellent parties, but nobody knew him as a real man. Nick Carraway was his true friend.  Daisy remained for him as his meaning of the life.Gatsby was a dreamer, hopeless romantic, who died with the name of his favorite on the lips. For me Daisy was a changeable, amorous woman, she was a image of American society of that time. I was pleasantly surprised with musical accompaniment, especially, the idea to combine the music of 20s with modern hip-hop.My favorite songs Crazy In Love and Back to Black appeared in a new variation. As many other people I didn't understand the usage of 3D format for this movie, maybe it's an advertising gimmick. But I think without it the film is a qualitative adaptation, and a perfect job of the whole film crew.

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The article The Lord of the Sings: Sir Christopher Lee, 91, to release heavy metal album written by Daisy Wyatt was published in The Independent on May 24, 2013. It reports at length that the famous actor,Christopher Lee, who played the wizard Saruman in the Lord of the Rings, is making first venture into heavy metal and releases his first album.

Speaking of the actor's biography it's interesting to point out that he has starred in the Lord of the Rings, Hobbit and Star Wars franchises and played Dracula, Frankenstein's monster and the evil wizard Saruman. But Sir Christopher Lee is only now fully exploring his dark side, when releases his first heavy metal album next week.

The author says that the man has already released previous album Charlemagne: By the Sword and the Cross featured symphonic metal music, but this is his first album to exclusively feature heavy metal. The record, which features track names such as “Massacre of the Saxons”, “The Devil’s Advocate” and “The Ultimate Sacrifice”, is likely to appeal to fans of Sir Lee’s fantasy films. Lee appears on the cover brandishing a sword and surrounded by fire. The album was arranged by Richie Faulkner, the lead guitarist for heavy metal band Judas Priest.

It's an open secret that Sir Lee said he had played quite a few parts in his career which have appeared in heavy metal songs, such as “Wicker Man” by Iron Maiden and “The Man with the Golden Gun” by Alice Cooper.

The article draws a conclusion that Sir Lee joins a number of high profile actors, such as Hugh Laurie and Steve Martin, who have released albums alongside their TV and film work. Artists including Zooey Deschanel, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith have established careers as both actors and musicians, though they are yet to release any heavy metal…yet.

As for me, sometimes I like listening to heavy metal songs, and the movies The Lord of the Rings are my favourite ones, and when I read this article for the first time I wanted to listen to some songs of Sir Christopher Lee's album.

Pleasure Reading 6. Chapter 6-7

Maugham met Larry by chance at a play performance. Larry told about his life in Germany, and how he had spent some months in a monastery in Alsace. But he was not satisfied with the answers given to his spiritual questions by the monks. He returned to Paris and then traveled to Spain, where he lived in Seville with a girl. Then he traveled to India. He was fascinated by Indian spirituality and made his way to the holy city of Benares and later to a place called Madura. He absorbed the Vedantic philosophy of reincarnation and liberation. Eventually he became a disciple of the renowned saint, Shri Ganesha. When he had been at the guru's ashram for two years, he had a mystical experience one morning at sunrise. Larry then decided to return to Europe. He told Maugham that he now intended to return to America, got a job as a car mechanic and lived with calmness and compassion. Eventually he planed to settle in New York, where there were lots of libraries, and became a taxi driver. Six months later, Sophie MacDonald had her throat cut and was thrown into the river in Toulon. Maugham was asked by the police to identify the body. Larry is there also. He informs Maugham that he has got rid of all his money and has booked his passage on a ship leaving for America from Marseille. Gray and Isabel were also returning to America. Using Isabel's capital, Gray was getting back into business as vice-president of an oil company in Dallas, Texas. Maugham didn't see Larry, Isabel or Gray again, but he assumed that the Maturins were happily settled in Dallas and that Larry was pursuing exactly the life that pleased him.

Pleasure Reading 5. Chapter 5

Isabel persuaded Maugham to take them on a tour of the rougher areas of Paris. In a cafe they met a drunken American named Sophie MacDonald, who was an old friend of Isabel. Sophie had never gotten over the loss of her husband and baby in a car crash. She became promiscuous and took to drink. Some while later, Larry, who had known Sophie since she was fourteen, decided he wanted to save her from the degradation of her life. He proposed marriage, and she accepted. Isabel was distraught at this news, but Maugham advised her to make friends with Sophie in order to keep Larry in her life. Isabel agrees to do so, but she is not at home when Sophie arrives at her apartment for the shopping expedition they had planned. Isabel had left instructions for a bottle of Polish vodka to be left on a tray in the vacant apartment. Sophie was duly tempted and went back to her former dissolute lifestyle. Her marriage to Larry never took place. Meanwhile, Elliott's health was failing, and he was desperately disappointed not to have received an invitation to a grand party given by Princess Novemali. Maugham managed by a trick to get him an invitation, and Elliott died happy.

Pleasure Reading 4. Chapter 4

Two and a half years after the stock market crash, Isabel and her family were living in Elliott's Paris apartment. Once Maugham went to Paris on other business. While waiting for her husband to come back home, Maugham met Isabel and her children. The woman told Maugham that the years after the crash had been difficult. Asked if she regreted not marrying Larry, Isabel told Maugham that Gray was a wonderful husband and very kind to her and their children. When Gray arrived, Maugham was taken aback by the contrast in the way the years had changed him. Maugham continued to see Isabel and her family and enjoyed their company.Once at a cafe that he used to visit as a youth, a bearded, disheveled man said hello to Maugham. Maugham didn't recognize the man, who turned out to be Larry. Gray asked him about the crash, but Larry said that because the U.S. government had guaranteed his money, he hadn't lost anything. Larry said that he had been in India and heard from Dr. Nelson about Isabel's marriage. Larry asked about Elliott and then about Gray, and Maugham told him that Gray was trying to find himself in Paris. Larry said he would like to see them. Maugham told Isabel and Gray that Larry planed to visit them, and they were delighted, and soon Larry went to their home. In contrast to Gary, he looked young and had retained his attractiveness. Isabel asked what Larry had been doing all these years. He said he had spent time in Italy, Spain and the East. Also he said that he had visited with spiritual Yogis and learned Hindu, one of a half dozen languages that he had learned. Maugham noticed that Isabel was looking intently at Larry. Abruptly, Larry got up, said good night and went home. Days after Larry helped Gray using his knowledge in Eastern medicine when Gray was suffering from a migraine headache. Larry started coming over regularly, curing Gray's headaches when they flared up. Maugham asked Isabel if she still loved Larry. She said yes but that she had married Gray because she had to marry someone. Maugham and Isabel then got into a discussion about the true meaning of love. Maugham then reintroduced Suzanne Rouvier, the woman who told Maugham about Larry's war story and brush with death. Suzanne was a farm girl who moved to Paris with her artist lover as a youth. She had spent the next several years moving from one lover to another. Eventually, she settled down and became a mistress to a businessman from Lille. A week after meeting Larry unexpectedly, Maugham had dinner with Suzanne, who met Maugham through a common artist friend. While having dinner, Larry walked past and said hello to Suzanne. He sat down, has a quick dinner and then said goodnight. Suzanne then told the story of how she knew Larry. Six or seven years earlier, Suzanne was recovering from a bought with Typhoid that had left her thin and weak. She ran into Larry, whom she knew through an artist friend, and he offered to take her out to the country where they could spend a long holiday. She and her daughter had spent an idyllic time in the small town, swimming, boating and reading. During this time, Larry unexpectedly told her the story about his best friend dying while saving Larry's life during the war. When Suzanne fell in love with the man, she noted that he never made a pass at her. Once Larry told her he had to leave and kissed her. He also gave her 12,000 francs. Suzanne, like Isabel, said she couldn't understand Larry.

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The article Cannes Film Festival 2013 review: Inside Llewyn Davies starring Carey Mulligan and Justin Timberlake written by Geoffrey Macnab was published in the Independent on May 20, 2013. It reports

about new film - Inside Llewyn Davies - directed by the Coen brothers. This is ostensibly a film about the Greenwich Village folk music scene in the early 1960s. It's necessary to point out that the most impressive detail about the film is the sure-footed way the Coens combine comedy, music and brooding film noir elements.

Speaking of the main characters of Inside Llewyn Davies it's interesting to say that Llewyn Davis (brilliantly played by Oscar Isaac) is an ambitious but hapless folk singer with a very chaotic private life. He has seemingly made fellow folk singer Jean Berkey (an enjoyably spiky Carey Mulligan) pregnant. She is in a relationship with a friend of his (played in solemn fashion by Justin Timberlake) and is furious at the predicament he has put her in.

The author says that the structure of the film seems partially inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses. The story is set in the dead of winter over only a few days but still has an epic quality. Like Leopold Bloom in Joyce’s novel, Davis ricochets around the city, having misadventures. He loses a friend’s cat. He has nowhere to stay. Needing a gig, he eventually heads off to Chicago on a road trip with a thoroughly obnoxious jazz musician and his Dean Moriarty-like sidekick.

Speaking of the structure and composition of the film it's interesting to point out that there are echoes here of Barton Fink. Like John Turturro’s tormented screenwriter, Davis endures increasingly strange and phantasmagoric experiences as he pursues success. In the early scenes, the tone is comical. The Coens don’t skimp on the satire at the expense of the earnest, hipster folk crowd. At the same time, the music is often glorious. The film is open-ended and deliberately confounds our expectations at every turn. It’s as mercurial as its own lead character, who can seem like a self-pitying, aggressive bore one moment and sing like an angel the next.

The author draws a conclusion that we are never quite sure how talented Davis actually is. The opening of the film shows him singing a beautiful and haunting solo but no sooner has he finished his performance than he is beaten up in the back yard.

As for me, I'd like to say that the Coen brothers are the masters in modern cinematography. My favourite their works are Intolerable Cruelty, Paris, je t’aime (segment «Tuileries»), True Grit and Burn After Reading.

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The article Moscow Becomes a Major Music Festival Setting written by Andrei Muchnic was published in The Moscow Times in April, 29. It reports at length that as citizens of the capital of our country now flock to the outdoor oases to play sports, jog or stroll around the parks of Moscow, it means that in the upcoming months they will enjoy to listen to good music there, because the time of open-air music festivals will start soon.

Author says that these festivals are one of the major draws of the re-imagined parks, and Moscow is quickly turning into one of the main European hubs for festivals. In the past, Russian music lovers typically planned to travel abroad every summer. However, many of the same headliners are now coming to Moscow. This situation was completely unthinkable just a couple of years ago when Afisha Picnic was the only open air event in Moscow worth attending.

The article carries a lot of comment on  just some of the festivals people are excited about this summer. As soon as Moscow finally wakes up from the seasonal slumber and shakes off the remaining patches of snow, Bosco Fresh Fest will open at Gorky Park. It's a part of a two month long Cherry Tree Forest Festival, which also includes theater performances, film screenings, and book readings. This year's headliner is a French musician, Woodkid, who will perform together with Grammy winner Yury Bashmet's symphonic orchestra on May 20. The festival area will center around the Buran space shuttle, close to the embankment. Hermitage Garden, a small green refuge in the middle of the city, has always been a traditional venue for music festivals. This year Ahmad Tea organizes its third festival here.This year the lineup is no less impressive, with critical darlings Alt-J and dance veterans Hot Chip as headliners. Also this summer the first ever music festival will be organized on the All-Russia Exhibition Center's premises. The concerts will take place on the main alley around the famous Friendship of Nations Fountain. First of all the festival is not just one, but two days in length. Secondly, its lineup includes the two most popular Russian rock artists: Mumiy Troll and Zemfira. Also putting in an appearance will be international heavyweights such as The Killers, Justice, and Crystal Castles. Lastly, Park Live is the first Moscow festival to introduce a night program, which will take place on the Chemical Stage in Pavilion #20, usually used to exhibit Soviet achievements in the chemical industry. The night program's headliners are the famous Australians, Pendulum. Open-air music festivals will take place in July as well - they are Subbotnik in Gorky Park and Afisha Picnic in Kolomenskoye.

As for me, I think such outdoor events, actually in parks is a good chance to spend free time in the city, and of course to meet your friends. My friends and I like to visit music festivals, and I'm sure this summer is no exception.

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The article Hop Farm 2013 cancelled due to poor ticket sales written by Daisy Wyatt was published in The Independent in May, 3. It reports at length that an annual music festival in Kent, Hop Farm was cancelled this year due to poor ticket sales.

Author says that even after 8 weeks of heavy marketing and with such a great bill that the sponsors had to cancel, though they were convinced this didn't reflect on the artists, it highlighted the poor economic climate. Promoter Vince Power announced in March that he would be scaling back the festival due to a difficult financial year, but now confirmed Hop Farm would not go ahead. Also the man said that the festival's organizers worked very hard to try to make it work but it proved too much a of mountain to climb and despite fighting hard, circumstances were such that based on poor ticket sales and the forecast selling rate substantial losses would be made.

Speaking of the participants of the concert it's necessary to point out that My Bloody Valentine, The Horrors, Rodriguez, Jimmy Cliff and Martha Wainwright were among the acts announced for the 2013 line-up.

The article draws a conclusion that ticket holders will receive a full refund from their ticket agents

In my opinion, this music festival, Hop Farm festival in Kent, should be an amazing weekend camping event in 2013. It was created by Festival Republic founder, John Vincent Power. After its first year the festival was nominated at the UK Festival Awards with "Best New Festival". 

Review 3

The Legend of Valentino(1975)

Director - Melville Shavelson
Producer - Aaron Spelling, Leonard Goldberg
Writer - Melville Shavelson

Composer - Charles Fox
Genre - Biography/Drama
Release Year - 1975
Country - USA
Run Time - 96 minutes

Lead actors
Franco Nero as Rudolph Valentino
Suzanne Pleshette as June Mathis
Judd Hirsch as Jack Auerbach
Lesley Ann Warren as Lesley Warren
Milton Berle as Jesse L. Lasky
Yvette Mimieux as Natacha Rambova
Harold J. Stone as Sam Baldwin
Alicia Bond as Nazimova
Constance Forslund as Silent Star
Brenda Venus as Constance Carr

Legend of Valentino is a TV-short retelling of the life of legendary silent screen star Rudolph Valentino, here portrayed by Franco Nero. This TV movie was advertised as "romantic fiction," which was just as well since its only nods to the truth are the basic facts of Valentino's enormous screen fame and the national hysteria attending his early death in 1926 of peritonitis. Typical of Legend of Valentino's fabrications is the depiction of Valentino's first meeting with his future mentor, screenwriter June Mathis. In real life, Mathis discovered Valentino by watching him play a string of supporting roles; in Legend, she confronts him in her living room while he's burglarizing her house.

Plot
In this version of the silent film era superstar, Rudolph Valentino, a young and impoverished Italian immigrant, was discovered as he was robbing the house of screenwriter June Mathis, a somewhat older woman who was already a film-world insider. Having forgotten the young man, Mathis soon came to recognize his star potential and leaded him into the world of movies. Eventually, Valentino became the biggest male sex symbol of his time.

Direction
I know Melville Shavelson for his such works as The Princess and the Pirate(1944) and The Great Lover (1949). Melville Shavelson was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Shavelson was nominated twice for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay—first for 1955's The Seven Little Foys and then for 1958's Houseboat. He shared both nominations with Jack Rose. He also directed both films. Other films he wrote and directed include Beau James (1957), The Five Pennies (1959) for which he won a Screen Writers Guild Award,It Started in Naples (1960), On the Double (1961), The Pigeon That Took Rome (1962), A New Kind of Love (1963), Cast a Giant Shadow (1966), and Yours, Mine and Ours (1968). Shavelson was a noted instructor at USC's Master of Professional Writing Program from 1998-2006; he taught screenwriting. Shavelson died of natural causes in 2007.

Acting
Of course, it's necessary to emphasise Franco Nero and his acting in this film. Franco Nero was a more credible Valentino, he even had a genuine Italian accent,besides he looked more Italian,he was passionate and handsome enough to pass as the world's greatest lover.

In conclusion, I'd like to tell you that I chose this film, The Legend of Valentino, because we, the members of MovieClub, I join to, discussed his films and watched them and it was interesting to get some new information about the man. Rudolph Valentino may not be a familiar name to people today, but in the 1920s, he was about as popular as it's possible to be. To say Valentino was the first Superstar and a very handsome man wouldn't be an exaggeration. But once he said: "Women are not in love with me but with the picture of me on the screen. I am merely the canvas on which women paint their dreams." I think it's true. As a main character of Sheikh, he was charming. While he were stealing a heroine (a beautiful romantic scene!), I'm sure every woman wishes to be her. Valentino left cinematography in 1926 when he died of peritonitis-infection, he was 31! The Great Lover was gone, and now is largely forgotten. But Valentino, despite the brevity of his stardom left an impressive filmography. He was the first of his kind, and his success paved the way for all of the other iconic male stars who would follow in his wake.

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The article Hollywood 1930s child star Deanna Durbin dies aged 91 written by Belinda Goldsmith was published in The Independent on May, 1. It reports at length that Deanna Durbin, a singing child movie star of the 1930s who became one of the world's highest paid actresses died at the age of 91.

Author says that her son Peter H. David was quoted as telling The Deanna Durbin Society newsletter that the actress died "a few days ago", thanking her admirers for respecting her privacy. No other details were given.

There is a lot of comments on actrees's life as well. The actress was born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Canada, but moved to California with her British-born parents when she was young. She broke into the movies in 1936, aged 14, when she appeared in Every Sunday with Judy Garland. She made her name playing the ideal teenage daughter in Three Smart Girls in 1936 and in its profitable follow-up the next year, One Hundred Men and a Girl. Capitalising on her fame, Universal cast Durbin in a series of musical movies including That Certain Age and Mad About Music which made the actress with the sweet soprano voice into one of Hollywood's most popular stars. Durbin shared a special Juvenile Award with Mickey Rooney at the 1938 Oscars for their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth".
Spealing of Deanna Durbin's following years of her acting career it’s necessary to point out that the woman found fame hard to handle and, despite trying to move on from her image as the perfect daughter with films such as Christmas Holiday (1944) and Lady on a Train (1945), she walked away from stardom aged about 28.

The article draws a conclusion that from 1949 Deanna Durbin stayed out of the limelight, moving to France with her third husband, the French director Charles David. She gave only one interview in the following decades and rejected all offers of a comeback.

As for me, I've never heard her name and even we didn't talk about this actrees during the session of MovieClub when we discussed famous actors and actrees of 1920-1930s. Having browsed some sites consecrated to Deanna Durbin I've learned that she was really an outstanding woman. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1722 Vine Street. And after actrees's death many people showed respect for her by laying flowers and other symbolic tributes at her star.

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The article 'Don't you know who I am?' - Reese Witherspoon arrested for disorderly conduct written by Matilda Battersby was published in The Independent on April, 22. The article reports at length that Reese Witherspoon  was arrested for disorderly conduct after her husband was stopped on suspicion of drink driving.

The author gives the detailes of that evening when accident happened. The Hollywood movie star, 37, and her husband, Jim Toth, 42, were arrested in Atlanta during the early hours of Friday morning by a state trooper. According to police reports the trooper initiated a traffic stop after noticing that the car the couple were travelling in wasn’t staying in its lane. He reported that Toth had “droopy eyelids, watery, bloodshot eyes and smelled strongly of alcohol”. The report states Witherspoon refused to stay in the car while her husband was breathalysed. Witherspoon repeatedly got out of the car and was told that she would be arrested if she left the car again. Witherspoon was arrested on grounds of disorderly conduct. Toth was placed under arrest charged with driving under the influence.

The couple were released by police just hours later on Friday morning. Witherspoon released a statement on Sunday night apologising for her behaviour said that she clearly had one drink too many and she was deeply embarrassed about the things she had said. The article draws a conclusion that Witherspoon was in New York by for the premiere of her latest film Mud on the next day.

I've read a lot of comments written by readers of The Independent after this article. In my opinion, Witherspoon made a mistake but she deserves another chance. But this accident isn't good for actrees's acting career, especially her fans were surprised at her aggressive behavior.