THE BOTTOM LINE: THE GREAT GATSBY

THE GREAT GATSBY

FEATURING:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke,

DIRECTOR:  Baz Luhrmann

COUNTRY: Australia / USA

GENRE:  Drama

SYNOPSIS:  A young man from the Midwest is lured into the lavish lifestyle of his wealthy neighbor during the roaring twenties.

RATING:  PG-13

RUNNING TIME: 142 Mins

THE GOOD: Baz Luhrmann restrains himself; allowing the audience to have a more enjoyable movie going experience.  You won’t feel dizzy like you did when you saw

MOULIN ROUGE!  And you won’t feel confused like you did when you saw ROMEO + JULIET.

Leonardo DiCaprio, just like Robert Redford, has the presence and star quality that the role requires.  Yes, your panties will be wet within seconds.  He will be the reason why you spend most of your rent money on a single movie ticket.

THE BAD:  Visually stunning, the film’s sparkle detracts from the story; emphasizing all the holes and gaps that make you question its believability.

With Jay-Z as one of the film’s producers, it should be no surprise that the film’s soundtrack is composed mostly of Jay-Z and Beyonce songs.  It just seems a little uneven and a little tacky.

And is it me? Or is Tobey Maguire just plain annoying?

THE UGLY:  Originally scheduled for release last year, this film was shelved for six months over the fear that it would get lost in all the competition.

MY SCORE: 

***

(3 OUT OF 5 STARS) 

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY - TRAILER

Director: Dan Scanlon 

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Dave Foley, Sean P. Hayes, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion, Bobby Moynihan, Julia Sweeney, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, John Krasinski, Bonnie Hunt, Beth Behrs, John Ratzenberger 

Ever since college-bound Mike Wazowski (voice of Billy Crystal) was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a Scarer—and he knows better than anyone that the best Scarers come from Monsters University (MU). But during his first semester at MU, Mike's plans are derailed when he crosses paths with hotshot James P. Sullivan, "Sulley" (voice of John Goodman), a natural-born Scarer. The pair's out-of-control competitive spirit gets them both kicked out of the University's elite Scare Program. To make matters worse, they realize they will have to work together, along with an odd bunch of misfit monsters, if they ever hope to make things right.