The Great Gatsby was magical, marvelous, and manic.

Baz Luhrmann is synonymous with all of these words. His films are beautiful, artistic, and far from traditional. You simply cannot enter into his world expecting a conventional take on an ageless story.

Luhrmann transformed Fitzgerald’s fantastical world of the 20s into something electric and mesmerizing. Critics may be ripping apart the liberties the risky director took with the classic work, but nothing about the production was done flippantly and without thought. Every decision, every oneliner, every song was chosen with precise research and absolute care.

F. Scott Fitzgerald was nothing if not a leader. He was new and modern as was his work. Luhrmann’s understanding of this is what made the movie great. Any director could’ve pumped this story full of hip-hop music and other ostentatious choices, any other director could’ve been safe, but only someone as creative and dedicated to the core of the tale could pull off something as groundbreaking and crazy as what Luhrmann did with The Great Gatsby.

I saw the film on Thursday, the day it was released in New York. I got all gussied up and I sat in the theater, with my equally nerdy friends, staring in awe at the screen for two hours and twenty minutes. I watched Gatsby’s sanity unravel, I saw Nick Caraway observe this life he didn’t live, I saw Daisy toy with hearts, and I cried. I cried at the beauty. I cried for the love and the loss. I cried.

As I was leaving I heard the people behind me complaining. They didn’t appreciate Luhrmann’s take on a book that defined an era. They said Luhrmann “wasn’t a very good director” and “didn’t do the story justice” and I just sat there thinking are these people out of their minds? I just viewed one of the most cinematically beautiful films in the last 15 years and these people didn’t like it?

But that is a lesson I have had to learn. The lesson that madness and genius go hand in hand and not everyone is going to appreciate it. The Great Gatsby is going to go down in history, if only in my book, next to Titanic and Avatar as one of the most cinematically and emotionally astounding films in the last two decades.

5/5

Written By Sydney Weinshel 

Falling  in love is scary… and exhilarating… and awkward.

There is never a time when you’ll be more honest or more passionate or more truthful than when you are 17. It is the time to take risks and be reckless and fall in love. Those things are what being 17 is about. Living life without fear or strings attached.

When you’re 17 your biggest concern is love and sex; it is a really big deal. Sex is awkward and threatening, but that’s not even the hard part. The hard part is giving your heart to someone else. Completely giving over to your emotions and becoming vulnerable with someone else. All those emotions are wrapped up in a single person and you’re giving them the power to completely destroy you.

That is what The First Time is about.

Starring Britt Robertson (Aubrey) and Dylan O’Brien (Dave), this movie completely captures what it feels like to be 17 and faced with sex and love. It shows the awkwardness of that first time because it isn’t a romantic thing (contrary to every teen romcom ever filmed). We just want to be loved, to find somebody that makes your heart ache (in a good way), and to feel understood.

This film is a must-see for anyone under the age of 20, for anyone still falling in love, and for anyone who remembers what it feels like to be 17. We spend so much time waiting and wanting and wishing without ever doing. Let Aubrey’s detachment and Dave’s fairytale complex of a happily ever after take you back to that day when you saw her in English class, the time you saw him at that party your freshman year. Let their love take you back to that feeling of free falling before you’ve even spoken to her or learned his name.

The First Time might come off as some low budget, straight to DVD flick featuring a TeenNick starlet, a short-lived CW star, and that guy from Teen Wolf, but when you watch it you can’t help but think I remember that… 

5/5

Written By Sydney Weinshel

A review could not be written for the film Spring Breakers by Harmony Korine (starring Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, and James Franco) due to the fact that I am still processing the 94 minutes I spent watching it in the theater last Friday night.

The only thing I know for sure is this film is a 2013 MUST-SEE.

Written By Sydney Weinshel

Sometimes we just need a little inspiration. We have days that seem like they will never end or people that just want to push us down, and when that happens we feel like there is no beauty in the world; we lose hope. I feel like when that happens, we need someone who will undoubtedly restore our faith in humanity. This person, for me, is the incomparable Bethany Joy Lenz.

Not many people know who she is. She is most notably known for playing the role of Haley James Scott on the television drama One Tree Hill. Some people may think that her 9-year-run on the show somehow makes her less of a person. It somehow makes her less of an inspiration because she was on some “stupid” teen drama, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Bethany Joy is an actress, musician, poet, philanthropist, writer and producer, mother, and all around inspiration. Her music is a folksy-country-soulful sound that somehow has the ability to ignite whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us. We are suddenly able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand (x) after listening to it. Her music is filled with that kind of magic that just makes you want to cry because it holds such truth and beauty in its’ music and lyrics. Bethany Joy just released an EP called Then Slowly Grows, sold only at her performance for Rock The Schools, which features a few new songs and revamps of a few of her older songs.

She curates a personal blog where she shares her poetry that seems to be written by someone with more clarity than any other earthly being. Her poems are about magic, hope, strength, and struggle. It is on days when I am feeling particularly down and blue that I go to her blog and read her poetry and she is able to restore my love for life. Name one other person with the power to do that by a simple poem or lyric?

Bethany Joy is also an active philanthropist for a variety of causes. The cause she is most actively involved with is Love146, an organization that rehabilitates children who have been exploited by sex-trafficking, and aids in the elimination of trafficking rings all over the world. She also sings (sometimes as one half of the duo, Everly, with friend Amber Sweeny) for a variety of benefits such as Rock The Schools, CATS for Cats, and Team True Beauty.

Currently, BJL is part of a rotating online novel (with Abigail Spencer and JC Coccoli) housed on HelloGiggles called Diamond Gothic. It is a southern gothic-meets-Anne-of-green-gables tale of Annabell Mason-Hayworth in 1929 Savannah, Georgia. Her summer in Savannah may just be more than she bargained for. Each chapter is a short 3 pages and none of the authors know what will happen next. It is quite an exciting idea Bethany Joy thought of while scribbling on the set of One Tree Hill. She is also working with Ron Aniello to bring Nicholas Sparks’ love story The Notebook to musical theater. A workshop was held in Wilmington, North Carolina and it went quite well. Nicholas Sparks is totally behind their idea and now it is just a wait to see what actually comes out of this! The only information we have of the contents of the musical (which is being kept under wraps) is a live recording of a song from the show that Bethany Joy released after her Twitter followers raised more than $2000 for Love146. The song, “Troublesome Tongue”, features Noah’s father and his friends explaining Noah’s childhood stutter to Allie.

Besides being a talented actress, musician, poet, philanthropist, writer and producer, BJL is also a mom. Bethany Joy can instill faith in her fans while simultaneously instilling strength and hope in her beautiful daughter, Maria. I find it to be wildly impressive that she has the ability to influence people of so many different ages.

In this day and age when the role models are considered to be people like Ke$Ha, Justin Bieber, and The Kardashians, it is comforting to know that people like Bethany Joy still exist. People of substance, who are beloved for being themselves, not what their manager told them to be.

Written By Sydney Weinshel. Photos By Bethany Joy Lenz.

Judd Apatow is a genius. It’s no secret that he has had a string of extremely successful comedies including Knocked Up, Superbad, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express, and Bridesmaids. His most recent flick to hit the big screen is This Is 40, a “comedy” about a couple turning 40 in the same week while simultaneously having midlife crisises. I say comedy in quotations because this was not a comedy at all.

The film is considered the “sort of sequel to Knocked Up” and follows the lives of Pete and Debbie as their lives begin to fall apart. Normally, train wreck lives are hilarious, but this film just fell flat. 60% of the time it is uncomfortable to watch and the other 40% is just down right depressing. The only comedic relief was found in their daughter’s unhealthy obsession with LOST.

Better luck next time, Apatow.

Written By Sydney Weinshel

The mention of Anna Karenina often strikes fear in those who are not Ivy League-ers. Reading that book is as daunting a task as reading War & Peace. So why would anyone sit through a movie adaptation? Well, for one thing, it stars the lovely Keira Knightly. And two? It is one of the most magical films of this decade.

Then entire movie is filmed as if it were a play, by that I mean it is literally filmed on a stage and in the rafters, complete with moving props and sets. I have never seen another movie take such an incredible risk. Why risk making an already complicated movie more confusing? By adding the staged element to the film, the complexity of the story was truly seen.

I definitely recommend viewing this film with someone who has read and understood the book, otherwise some things may go unnoticed or misunderstood. I saw the movie with someone who took a class on the book and was able to answer any questions I had as the movie proceeded.

Keira Knightly is as stunning and talented as ever as she portrays the beautiful Anna. Her ability to transform from a sane mother to a depressed and deranged mistress is nothing short of amazing. Every member of the cast filled their character’s shoes perfectly. Every scene has you on the edge of your seat wondering what scandalous thing will happen next.

3.5/5

Written By Sydney Weinshel

It isn’t often that a movie or actor comes along with the potential to define their generation. The last truly creative mind to accomplish such a daunting task was John Hughes and The Brat Pack. Today, Chris Colfer (of Glee fame) is embodying Hughes and his brats as his career starts to skyrocket.

Colfer got his start playing a character startlingly similar to his high school self on the hit show Glee. Colfer, as well as the rest of the cast, quickly became role models for teens around the globe. Colfer played a teenager trying to balance a life in Ohio as a gay adolescent. Driven and confident as he was, it isn’t easy being gay in the midwest. As his character grew, so did Chris. He began to work on side projects which included penning two books and a screenplay!

*Spoliers*

Struck By Lightning is Chris Colfer’s first screenplay to become a movie, as well as his first starring role in a feature film. Struck By Lightning is the story of Carson Phillips. He is headstrong and resilient, but misunderstood by everyone in the small town of Clover. However, this isn’t your typical “coming-of-age-high-school-drama”. Usually, a coming of age film requires the main character to actually come-of-age. Carson dies in the first 2 minutes, the rest is told as a flashback.

I, as well as so many other teenagers, really identify with the whole “high school sucked” concept and Chris is no exception. In his Ustream twitter interview (broadcasted in theaters on January 7th) he admitted that a lot of who Carson was and what he experienced was based on his life in high school. Chris describes high school as “society’s bright idea to put all their aggressive, naive youth into one environment to torment and emotionally scar each other for life.” Nothing could be more true.

Struck By Lightning is, underneath the surface, about an unwavering belief in yourself and in life. In the movie, Carson asks, “At what age do we stop believing in ourselves? At what age do we stop believing period?” and it’s a valid question. There are millions of people growing up in small towns like Clover with big dreams like Carson’s, who are getting bullied everyday because they dare to be different. They dare to dream of a life greater than the one they would have if they stayed in the same small town they’ve always lived in. They dream of going places and doing things. They want to travel and experience life the way it is supposed to be experienced, but the bullies beat it out of them. That lust for life is squashed and they end up being the miserable people they always feared of being.

Carson is one of those dreamers, but the only difference is he doesn’t let the bullies tell him he won’t succeed. He never let one angry word from his mom or his peers make him lose sight of his dreams. In the novel, Carson says, “You don’t get to pick where you’re from, but you always have control of where you’re going.”

Anyone going to see this movie will be able to identify with Carson, which is truly amazing. Chris Colfer is the embodiment of “it gets better” in every way and this movie is just another stepping stone on his way to mega stardom. The greatest thing about him is that he is honest in his work, which isn’t always easy to find in Hollywood. We should all be taking a page out of his book.

5/5

Written By Sydney Weinshel

The adaption of Les Miserables into a motion picture for the umpteenth time was met with excitement and anticipation when casting began last year. Stars such as Scarlett Johanson and Taylor Swift began to be attached to the production eliciting even more response from fans. When all was said and done, the perfect combination of fresh faces and established actors were cast to portray the heartbreaking story.

Even more hype began when audiences learned that all the vocals would be done on camera, not in a studio. All songs were sung live while filming to add the the emotion of the scene. As opening day drew nearer, fans began to get antsy in anticipation of seeing the film on Christmas Day. They were not disappointed.

Les Miserables, which I have seen 3 or 4 times both on stage and through other medias, was heartbreakingly beautiful on many different levels. To start, Anne Hathaway is easily the most striking Fantine there has ever been. She is a combination astounding beauty, emotion, and talent. Her devotion to the part doesn’t hurt either (she lost 25 pounds in 2 weeks!). 

Hugh Jackman was astonishingly and surprisingly incredible in his portrayal of Jean Valjean. I did not previously know that Jackman had a history of theater performances so to see him in the role of Valjean was shocking compared to his roles in X-Men and Australia. His physical evolution through the film is all very authentic. He lost 30 pounds for the part and went without water for 36 hours to become the Jean Valjean we are initially introduced to. That alone is a tremendous accomplishment, but his depiction of a lost man turns do-gooder turns father is one of epic proportions.

Amanda Seyfried, though obviously beautiful and talented, didn’t sparkle. She filled Cosette’s shoes just fine, but didn’t leave any kind of lasting impression on me. She was good, just not great.

Samantha Banks (who bears a striking resemblance to X Factor contestant Janel Garcia) is new to the acting scene. Although she has a long history with theater, as well as the role of Eponine, her experience acting on camera is very limited. You wouldn’t even know after seeing her performance. She dazzled every scene she graced with a heartbroken elegance and passion rarely seen in reality let alone film.

Russel Crowe was another shocker. Though his history in music is no secret, his conviction in the part of Javert was breathtaking. He was a villan you love to hate, yet root for with a fierce loyalty.

Watching Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette gives new meaning to the phrase “watching a star be born”. Literally plucked from oblivion, Allen has no history in professional theater, television, or film. Last year she was just a 9-year-old girl playing a boy in her elementary school play and this year she is playing one of the most iconic roles in history in a major motion picture along side some of Hollywood’s greatest professionals. She nails every single scene with such emotion and raw intensity unprecedented for a girl of her age. Her performance leaves audiences speechless for more than one reason.

Then there are Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen. These two made me nervous when they were initially announced as being cast in the production. Carter is often known to play over-the-top, cartoony characters and Cohen has played Boart (enough said), but both were fabulous editions to the film. They were the perfect refreshers to such a heavy story. They offered the appropriate amount of comedic relief and were always placed at the perfect time (after Fantine’s death and the war, for example). Although they did come off as a bit Tim Burton-esque, it wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be. In fact, they may have been my favorite characters!

Tom Hooper’s (director) execution of the world’s longest running musical is done with elegance, tragedy, and beauty. From the impeccable and devoted cast to the gorgeous cinematography, Les Mis is going to go down in history as one of the best films of all time.

5/5

Written By Sydney Weinshel