re:View – The Great Gatsby, turned up to eleven*

Naturally, I’d start this review by saying I loved the book. And I went to see The Great Gatsby with very mixed feelings – so mixed indeed that I almost didn’t want to go.

Reason #1: I really don’t like Baz Luhrmann’s work. I actively disliked Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge! and watching the trailer for Gatsby made me fear the worst: A cartoonesque butchering of a literary classic.

So I was quite happy to find Gatsby, overall, to be a fairly faithful adaptation. I love that they didn’t mess with the story or the characters, and stayed true to the book’s spirit and meaning.

That said, it really does annoy the hell out of me that Luhrmann has to constantly turn the volume up to eleven on the cinematography – from the rollercoaster camera moves and the flashy effects to the over-cluttered, glitzy sets – to the point where it all becomes grotesquely cartoon-y and the whole experience loses its emotional impact. (The car scenes actually made me feel like I was in the middle of the Roger Rabbit car chase. Too bloody much.) So, while breathtakingly pretty to look at overall, the film didn’t really move me one bit because there was just too much circus going on all the time.

But maybe that’s exactly what Luhrmann intended, and the over-the-topness indeed cleverly captures the fake, superficial world of the fateful Gatsby and his beloved. But I still found it visually annoying, and it did ruin the atmosphere a bit.

Welcome to my party. We blow the whole place up with fireworks every Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 8pm, 10pm and midnight.

Reason #2: Leonardo DiCaprio playing Gatsby. I was a teenager when Titanic happened, and so utterly annoyed by the hype that I stayed away from his movies until, very recently, I watched Shutter Island, Inception and Django Unchained and realised that he actually does really good stuff these days.

I still get this “Ugh, not him again” reflex sometimes, simply because his face was just bloody everywhere when I first got into movies and magazines and all that pop culture, but I’ll concede that he is a brilliant actor. And he certainly is the perfect man for Gatsby. I mean, wow. He didn’t play Gatsby, he was Gatsby. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an actor play a character so precisely like I’d imagined him when reading the book.

Lovely as Daisy: Carey Mulligan

Leonardo DiCaprio: Actually amazing as Gatsby

Overall I would call this a well cast and very faithful adaptation of a great classic. And parts of the film – the quieter, less flashy ones – were beautifully composed. The scene where Gatsby first shows Daisy around his house pretty damn near broke my heart. It’s just a shame that some of the beautiful vagueness and delicate atmosphere of the book got drowned out by too many sequins, fireworks and a largely horrendous and inappropriate soundtrack.

For that, 3 out of 5 pens.

* If you don’t get this reference you should watch This Is Spinal Tap. Actually, watch Spinal Tap anyway.

That strange thing you British play

“I know that astrology isn’t a science,” said Gail. “Of course it isn’t. It’s just an arbitrary set of rules like chess or tennis or – what’s that strange thing you British play?”
“Er, cricket? Self-loathing?”
“Parliamentary democracy. The rules just kind of got there. They don’t make any kind of sense except in terms of themselves.”

Thank you, Douglas Adams! Finally somebody understands how I felt when I had to study British politics.

Mostly Harmless (Hitchhiker’s Guide 5)

A bit of casual sexism

I don’t know how we even ended up talking about boys older men…

The Lady K [swooning]: “That old guy – he’s such a…er what’s the word?! … He’s a man cougar.”

Girl with a Pen: “?!”

The Lady K: “An older woman is called cougar, but there isn’t really a word for man, apart from pervert :D “

Well, as our friend pointed out recently, “Nothing wrong with a bit of casual sexism every once in a while. As long as it’s directed at men.”

But of course we’re not really like that, so we have concluded that ‘sugar granddaddy’ would probably be the appropriate and politically correct term.

Technology marketing vs feminism

We were about to get all upset about a really stupid technology/gadget marketing strategy: Eurostar’s ePad Femme.

Because apparently women can only handle a tablet if it comes pre-loaded with yoga, dieting, pregnancy and cooking apps. Ya know, because we don’t need to worry our pretty little heads about anything else. (And it’s pink. Obviously.)

But then we founded a new feminist-scientific-religious movement instead. It is based on the gospel according to Kristina:

It’s only because men are not as evolved as women. Even if looking from the religious point of view – God made the earth, the animals then a man and only women last – as you can see the pattern here is starting from the inanimate to the most intelligent. Argument proved in any situation.

We’re not sure what to call our movement yet, but sacrificial Snickers will play a key role.

re:View – Top Hat, white tie & the good old times

My week of musical escapism continued on Saturday with a matinee of Top Hat, the stage version of the 1935 sing-and-dance comedy starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Roberts.

Kristen Beth Williams and Gavin Lee. Image borrowed from here.

 

“They don’t make them like this anymore,” sighed my companion as we left the theatre; and I thought, of course he would say that. He’s in his early sixties. The good old times, and all that.

But actually, he’s go ta point. Top Hat radiates with the kind of elegance that you just don’t find in today’s productions. Whether it’s the dance numbers, the songs, the dresses and suits, the beautifully simplistic story (boy meets girl, mistaken identity causes much drama, all ends with a wedding), the dialog, or even the (endearingly obvious) jokes -everything in this show channels the spirit of a time when gentlemen were courting you properly, ladies were glamorous and admired, and everybody was wearing tap dance shoes at all times, just in case you needed to burst out into a dance routine in the middle of a conversation.

I love this old stuff. When I get down I shut myself away for a weekend and watch a bunch of ancient screwball comedies and musical films, and pretend that everything is ok in the world.

And what could be more happy-making than a musical bringing exactly this feeling to you live, today?! Especially one that is so well performed as this production of Top Hat. The cast carries the elegance and the mannerisms of the era perfectly, never once breaking the illusion that you’re right in the middle of the 1930s. The singing and the solo dance numbers to Irving Berlin’s songs are equally flawless.

Just one thing really bothered me: The ensemble was woefully out of sync on the tap dance numbers. This may be nit-picking, but watching a major West End musical I would have liked to see the ensemble dancing in razor-sharp perfection. But then, growing up in family of obsessive (tap) dancers has probably biased my expectations a bit.

Overall, Top Hat is delightful. The best kind of escapism you could possibly wish for. And Gavin Lee is divine.

Pens: 4 out of 5

re:View – Rock ‘n Roll! Rock of Ages! Rocks my underpants!

Before we go anywhere with this: I LOVE classic rock. Say what you want. Look at me weird. It’s cool. Because my dad was a drummer in a hair/hard rock band in the 80s, and I started being born at one of his gigs. Which means I have a lifelong immunity against your rolling eyes and your tut-tuts and your Katy Perrys.

So, I have finally been to see Rock of Ages. And, a bit to my own surprise, I had the best fun ever. Well, at least the best fun ever in a theatre.

I expected it to be cheesy, maybe a bit cringe-y, and – having seen the movie – a bit on the lame side. Instead, what I saw was a show so filled with good music, great voices, delicious dancing and great acting, it made me want to jump up, hug people and dance rock ‘n roll moves in my underpants. In short: Incredibly happy.

By the way, when I say great voices, what I actually mean is “jump out of your seat and clasp your hands over you mouth as you breathe OHMYGOD” voices. These guys are amazing.

Built around classic rock hits from the 1980s, Rock of Ages (which hit the London West End in 2011 after being first produced in LA in 2006) probably isn’t the finest piece of theatre you’ll ever see, but I dare to say it’s the most fun you’ll ever have with a musical. It doesn’t bother much with the story – which is a good thing. Let’s face it, we’re all just here for the music and the good time, so don’t make things overly complicated. What this show does is simple and strong: It captures the essence of an era, and catapults you right back into a time when music was honest, rock stars were cool, dreams were wild and chicks didn’t worry whether showing your knickers under your tiny skirt and fainting over guys in studded leather pants was cool with your feminist agenda. (Ignore the fact that I’m too young to even have (consciously) experienced much of the 80s. I have a very clear mental image of the kind of rock chick I would have been, had I been born 20 years earlier.)

Go time travelling. Get on board this rock ‘n roll party ship filled with timeless rock classics, straight-from-the-soul singing, perfectly timed comedy and beautifully detailed production design and styling. Sing your heart out. Laugh until you scream. Have the best time ever in a theatre.

Pens: One million, out of five. Plus air guitars and gold stars. And my bra thrown at it.

******
PS: Whatever you do, DO NOT WATCH THE MOVIE. I know a DVD is cheaper than a night in the West End. But you don’t want to see a watered down, vanilla version of the show that has been dragged through the Hollywood mincer, been drained of all singing talent and style, and stars Tom Fucking Cruise trying to be a rock legend.

Monsieur Plumeus gets hitched

It is the love story of the year. Just a few months after arriving in the universe as we know it, Monsieur Plumeus has already found a lovely bride. Their paths crossed at the grand station of Victoria at 18:05 on a Thursday. Although the lady is rather pale and has not a single feather of purple upon her body, it was love at first tweet. The lovely maiden goes by the name Paulette Prunellie Pascaline (she is French). The Plumeuses got married in great haste beside the tracks on platform 11 and the happy couple instantly left for their honeymoon (on the Eurostar, since the weather wasn’t particularly suited to air travel) and will be enjoying the spring in Paris.

re:View – The 2012 Bookshelf VI:
More favourites

It’s almost March and I still haven’t reviewed all of last year’s reads. But here, finally, is the last batch.

I’ll have to come up with something a bit shorter for this year’s bookshelf to resolve the constant compromise of whether to spend my lunchtimes reading or writing…

Some more books by some of my favourite authors

Continue reading →

The little Scooby monster

I haven’t put any cats on the internet lately, so let me show you some new images of the Scooby. (The cat formerly known as Hunter, formerly known as Steadman, formerly known as Russell.)

(We’re settled on Scooby now, by the way.)

I may have told you that the Scooby used to be afraid of everything. So afraid, in fact, that he didn’t come out of the wardrobe for the first five weeks we had him. Well, he has certainly settled in now. The Scooby owns the flat, he owns the bed and the sofa, especially the boyfriend’s lap for the entire duration of the weekend (and don’t even think of trying to slide out from under him), he is very talkative (especially from your first stir in bed on a Saturday/Sunday morning to the time you eventually give up, get up and feed him), and he is generally the friendliest, cuddliest little fluffmouse we ever could have hoped for.

He’s also just the right kind of a bit special

Response code is 404