Eleanor Reviews

*** F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is a classic, written with a precise poetry arguably unrivalled in the genre. The novel has survived the years and become a routine text in the school curriculum, imbedded into the consciousness of the contemporary. The 1974 interpretation starred Robert Redford in the iconic role of Jay Gatsby, the love-sick and mysterious American famed for his large parties and massive wealth. Now, in 2013, Baz Luhrman reunites with his Romeo, and places Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role. The scene is set in New York, 1922, and Nick Carraway has come to the city to make his money in Wall Street. He moves in next door to the mysterious Gatsby and is soon lured into his alcohol-fuelled parties and the summertime madness. The first problem is that when the characters are put on screen, they instantly become unfavourable – all are morally reprehensible. This comes across in the novel, too, but somehow the screen exacerbates their faults, and cer...

***** For the record, I am not a ‘Trekkie’ – I have seen a few episodes on TV and watched two of the films, as well as J.J Abrams’ excellent first chapter in the reboot of the classic franchise. Despite not being a follower of the Enterprise and all its various missions across time and space, it is still possible to enjoy this film, although apparently there are numerous references that simply passed me by. It’s hard to discuss the film without giving too much away, but there is an excellent blend of action, schmaltz, threat, lens-flare and heroism throughout. Chris Pine (Kirk) and co. are back as the crew of the Star Ship Enterprise, this time battling the one-man-army that is Benedict Cumberbatch, on pitch-perfect form as a super-human who has discovered an alarming truth. Credit goes to the script writers for giving each character adequate time on screen for the audience to reconnect with them – there are essentially eight main characters to contend with, and only the ra...

***** After the painfully mediocre ‘Iron Man 2’, Shane Black stepped aboard to take on, what appears to be the final part of, the ‘Iron Man’ franchise. The ‘Iron Man’ films have always been the better partners, in my opinion, of the other Avenger’s films, and this is mainly down to Robert Downey Jr., an actor who can take on both the comedic and tragic angles of Tony Stark, and this film is no different. Set in the aftermath of ‘Avengers Assemble’, Stark is sick with anxiety that he can no longer protect Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow) as much as he would like after becoming aware of the presence of aliens and something much bigger than himself at the end of the aforementioned ‘Avengers’ film. This is how we meet Stark – sleep-deprived, obsessive and experiencing anxiety attacks when ‘New York’ is mentioned. But the world, more specifically America, needs protecting once again, this time from terrorist lord, The Mandarin, who is strategically blowing up key bases throughout the worl...

**** The first thing to say about ‘Oblivion’ is that it is completely unoriginal, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. Jack is one of the last drone repairmen on dystopian Earth, which was destroyed seventy-odd years ago by invading alien forces. The remaining humans are on board the Tet, a huge space ship readying to leave for Titan, and at the end of two weeks, Jack and his teammate and lover, Victoria, will join them. However, Jack is haunted by dreams that he cannot fathom because his, and every other human, had their memory wiped after the invasion, and begins to doubt both himself and the missions he is sent on. Yeah, you can already see the links to other sci-fi films… Despite this, however, I did find the film enjoyable. The first half is based entirely on the relationship with Jack (Tom Cruise) and Victoria (Andrea Riseborough) as they live alone on a secure base in the clouds awaiting missions from Sally (Melissa Leo), their advisor from Tet. Cruise is perfec...

*** Having avoided all of the ‘Twilight’ films after enduring the first, I wasn’t keen to sit through another cinematic translation of Stephanie Meyer’s work. However, ‘The Host’ has a far better overall premise than all of the vampire books combined. In the near future, Earth has been invaded by an alien species who enter into the human body and take over their lives. The ‘host’ bodies look no different apart from having a bright blue ring around the pupil, but this means that the remaining humans are easily identified. The film starts with Melanie (Saoirse Ronan) falling to her death to escape the clutches of the possessed humans, only to have an alien implanted in her body, who calls herself Wanderer. Melanie refuses to be obliterated, however, and so begins to the relationship between human and alien, inside one body.   Stephanie Meyers has made her millions from writing unconventional love triangles, with one angsty teen being fought over by two hunky males, and esse...

  **** Now that Danny Boyle has cemented himself into the hearts of the British public after his extraordinary Opening Ceremony, he how has time to do something a bit more fun... and ‘Trance’ is most definitely fun - there is full-frontal nudity, a part about shaving pubic hair, torture, blood-spatters and a few explosions, but it is much cleverer than your average blockbuster. It’s actually hard to discuss the film without giving away the crux, but the set up we are presented with has been seen already in the trailers. Simon (James McAvoy) works at an art auctioning house and decides to make use of knowledge of the inner workings of the building and protocol to stage an inside job, aided by gangster Franck (Vincent Cassel). Things go slightly askew, leading to Simon being hit over the head and subsequently forgetting where he’s hidden the painting. After tearing his fingernails out, the gangsters decide to seek help from hypnotherapist Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson). But all...

**** Now that the ‘Twilight Saga’ has drawn to a close, distributers are keen to find the next teen-fantasy that will keep the fan-girls coming to the cinema. ‘Beautiful Creatures’ is one such offering to be release this year, but I would ask you not to dismiss this foray into teenage romance so quickly. Part of the joy of this film come from the two delightful leads, relative newcomers Alice Englert and Alden Ehrenreich, as two teens both trapped in their own existence and marred by past traumas. Ethan (Ehrenreich) has lived in a small Southern town his whole life and longs to escape, when the mysterious Lena (Englert) arrives. Lena comes from a cursed family of Casters, witches to you and me, and only has until her sixteenth birthday before her powers are gained by either Good or Evil. As if being a teenager wasn’t hard enough! Shunned by the Bible-bashing town, Lena lives a protected existence with her uncle, Macon (Jeremy Irons, grappling with the accent and failing). Et...