Box office battle: What was your favorite film of May?

One month is in the books for the summer movie season. What was your favorite? A little note, I didn’t get to see really any of the smaller releases since I don’t live in a major town. But I did my best.

Here’s how I would rank them:

1. “Fast and Furious 6”: This may not be the “best film” in terms of acting and script, but it’s the most fun I’ve had at the movies in a long time. It’s big, loud, completely outrageous and a heck of a good time. Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker and the rest provide one of the best summer action movies I’ve seen.

2. “Iron Man 3”: Erased “Iron Man 2” from my memory (for the most part). I loved the Ben Kingsley twist and, aside from a few misgivings, was an enjoyable romp.

3. “Star Trek Into Darkness”: It’s an uneven film tonally and pace wise. Also, is very emotional in parts, yet glosses over other parts. Still, a solid film, but not the leap forward many of us were hoping for, despite Benedict Cumberbatch providing a great Khan.

4. “The Great Gatsby”: I wanted to like this film. But, as I stated in my review, it seems Baz Luhrmann romanticized the very thing the book sought to de-romanticize. It was a waste of a great performance from Leonardo DiCaprio.

5. “Now You See Me”: Great cast wasted on poor story and poor execution.

6. “The Hangover Part III”: Just god awful.

7. “After Earth”: Even more awful.

I didn’t see “Epic” and have yet to see “Before Midnight”. What was your favorite film of May?

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Baz Luhrmann turned down big movie

With “The Great Gatsby” still doing decent business, director Baz Luhrmann revealed he turned down a huge movie. According to Digital Spy, Lurhmann was offered the director’s chair for “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”, the first film in the hugely successful Harry Potter series.

“The first one came along and they rang me, and while I love the pictures and the books now, then I thought, ‘What’s that?’ And said, ‘Well that sounds interesting, but I’m thinking of doing a reinvention of the modern musical’, and that was Moulin Rouge….So I’m an obvious idiot, because I should have taken Harry Potter,” Luhrmann said.

Lots of people love “Moulin Rouge”, but I can’t help but wonder what a Lurhmann directed Potter film would have been like. Many agree that the first two installments, directed by Christopher Columbus are the worst in the series.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Gatsby exceeds expectations, Iron Man soars in second weekend

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” exceeded expectations at the box office last weekend. The film earned $51.1 million, significantly higher than the low $40s that most had predicted. The lack of competition for women audiences and a strong cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. “Iron Man 3” in its second weekend earned $72.4 million, raising its total above $280 million.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

“The Great Gatsby” review

Baz Luhrmann’s lavish adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel finally hits theaters. Is this another “Australia” or “Moulin Rouge!”?

The Good 

As with most Baz Luhrmann films, this movie is visually beautiful. Except this takes it to a whole new level. For the first half of the film, Luhrmann’s eyes for grandiose, over-the-top, eye catching visuals is on full display. Let’s just say when it comes to the party scenes, it seems like Luhrmann was born to direct them. And, despite lots of worries beforehand, Luhrmann stays true to the book and this is undoubtedly F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”. That might not seem like high praise, but coming from a director like Luhrmann, this is a big accomplishment.

Leonardo DiCaprio shines in this film. He has that perfect mix with the self-confidence and the bravado, but also the self-doubt that it’s all false. It amazes me that DiCaprio has grown into the actor he is today. And he’s clearly the highlight acting-wise of the film. From the music to the visuals, the film gives off a very “cool” vibe, which is no small feat. The film could have easily turned into a silly, campy film.

The Bad 

Full disclosure, I’m not a huge fan of the novel. But, I had some huge problems with this film. The first is the film romanticized the very thing the novel sought to disillusion people about. For a story that really relies on the characters interacting, it seems as though several of the other actors just never felt fully comfortable and Luhrmann doesn’t give them a chance to interact like they should. Carey Mulligan (Daisy) in particular just didn’t cut it for me for the most part. The biggest problem with the movie is that it may be “cool” but it’s not moving. And that’s a fatal flaw for an adaptation like “The Great Gatsby”.

The Final Word

When this film works, it’s fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, too many times the film drags and sacrifices acting for Luhrmann’s love of visual flair. Not as bad as “Australia” but this film could be the biggest disappointment of the summer because of what it could have been.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Box office battle: Will “The Great Gatsby” get lost in the shuffle?

Remember back when Baz Lurhmann’s “The Great Gatsby” was going to be released in December? Remember how we were all excited to see Leonardo DiCaprio in possibly two great movies in this one and “Django Unchained”? Now that Gatsby is set to finally be released and the big question is: Is this the first bomb of the summer?

I know, how could a movie this grand with this much press and boasting a cast including Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan not be successful, right? Well, take a look at the second and third weekends in May. It hasn’t been kind to films (Just look at Tim Burton’s “Dark Shadows”). “Iron Man 3” is fresh off its $175 million opening weekend. J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek Into Darkness” has fans chomping at the bit. A week later, “The Hangover Part III”, “Epic” and “Fast and Furious 6″ comes out. Finally the month ends with ‘After Earth”. What am I saying? There’s a lot of high profile movies that fans are going to be rushing out to see. So where does that leave Gatsby? What would have likely been a hit in December may not even reach $100 million in the summer. There’s just too much hype surrounding all these other movies, too much backlash against Luhrmann because of “Australia” and too many people who aren’t huge fans of the book. The target audience is limited to begin with. Now with so many films coming out, could “The Great Gatsby” fail to crack $40-50 million its opening weekend? That might be tough. And if the film isn’t a total hit critically, it could wind up in the $80-90 million range. This isn’t “Battleship” bad, but with the first reviews of the film very lukewarm on Rotten Tomatoes, this could be the first financial disappointment of the summer.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Summer movie preview 2013: Which May movie are you looking forward to most?

Next week, one of the biggest movies of the summer (“Iron Man 3”) kicks off the summer movie season. May sees the releases of “Iron Man 3”, “The Great Gatsby”, “Star Trek Into Darkness”, “Epic”, “Fast and Furious 6”, “The Hangover Part III” and “After Earth”. Several smaller, but highly anticipated films like “After Shock”, “Before Midnight” and “The Iceman” are all hitting theaters in May as well. Which film are you looking forward to the most?

For me, it’s a tough call. I am absolutely, positively insanely excited to see “Before Midnight” starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy from director Richard Linklater. If you haven’t seen “Before Sunrise” and “Before Sunset”, do yourself a favor and check them out ASAP. They are wonderful films and I’m hoping the third film can live up to the first two. That being said, it’s hard not to get excited for the big movies. “The Great Gatsby” from Baz Luhrmann is the biggest question mark of the month for me. He has an eye for style and loves to use some surprising music in his films. But “Australia” was overly long and boring and frankly this close to release and all anyone is talking about is the soundtrack. What about, you know, the cast? Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan will get me to check this film out, but I get the feeling this is going to be style over substance.

The two films I’m not excited for are “The Hangover Part III” and “After Earth”. For “The Hangover”, the good news is it won’t be the worst in the trilogy, but that’s only because the second film was so terrible. Todd Phillips really didn’t hit it with another road trip comedy, “Due Date” and this one will likely have a few funny moments, but fall flat a a whole. And “After Earth”. All I have to say is this: M. Night Shyamalan. The trailer had the unintended effect of making me laugh. I don’t have high hopes for that film at all.

I am excited for “Iron Man 3”. I think the change in director will do the series some good and Robert Downey Jr. should shine. But part of me does wonder if I’ll get Marvel fatigue pretty soon. “Star Trek Into Darkness” looks amazing. But let’s not forget with expectations sky rocketing, the first film was light on action and if you look at J.J. Abrams’ history, action is not his strongest suit. “Fast and Furious 6”, well there’s nothing wrong with a good action film. “Epic” looks like Fern Gully, but hey, I’m intrigued. “Before Midnight” tops my list of most anticipated film of May with ‘Iron Man 3″, FF6 and “Star Trek” close behind.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Hear a track from “The Great Gatsby” soundtrack

“Iron Man 3” and “Star Trek Into Darkness” may be the highest profile May movies, but releasing in between them is “The Great Gatsby”. From director Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan, the film finally sees its release in a couple weeks. Now you can listen to XX’s original track “Together” from the official soundtrack!

Cinemablend.com brought up a very good point. The focus seems to be solely on the music. The soundtrack features Florence + the Machine and more with Jay Z serving as a music supervisor. But nothing about the actual quality of the acting, which is worrisome. Still, it looks as though fans of the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald will be out in full force.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Big changes to “The Great Gatsby”?

As with any adaptation of a book, things are going to get changed for the big screen. Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” is no exception. But when you take a classic novel like this one by F. Scott Fitzgerald, sometimes that can backfire. Here’s a quote from Life+Times about about the biggest changes that fans of the novel will see besides having to pretty much pick and choose scenes that fit the story Luhrmann and collaborator Craig Pearce were trying to tell:

“Craig and I were looking for a way that we could show, rather than just have disembodied voiceover throughout the whole film, show Nick actually dealing with the writing, dealing with his experience of Gatsby, as he does in the novel. How we do really is the one big difference in the film. I won’t say how. I will let the audience discover that for themselves…”

I’m interested to see people’s reactions. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway and Carey Mulligan as Daisy.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

New trailer for “The Great Gatsby”

Sorry guys got caught up at work yesterday. But I’m back and here’s the latest trailer for “The Great Gatsby”.

From Baz Luhrmann (“Moulin Rouge!”, “Australia”) comes this stylish adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.

Jay-Z scoring a big movie

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby” is already getting buzz, even though it delayed its release from December to next summer. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and more. Now, Jay-Z and the Bullitts will be scoring the film.

It certainly is a neat choice. Obviously, it appears we’re going down the route of “Moulin Rouge” with contemporary music in a period film. Luhrmann, through all his films, has got the style part down. Now he just needs to find consistency in providing substance as well.

Lukas Eggen can be reached at eggen.lukas@gmail.com.