Baz Luhrmann

This week we’ve fallen in love with Baz Luhrmann’s new film The Great Gatsby. I have to admit I’ve been a particular fan of Baz Luhrmann since he introduced me to Leonardo DiCaprio in Romeo & Juliet back in 1996 (ouch – that makes me feel old). In The Great Gatsby Leo is back, gracing our screens with his very cool 1920s presence as Jay Gatsby. This time he’s playing a different type of star-crossed lover, one which takes the form of a good-looking millionaire with a Long Island mansion who...Read Full Story

(Warner Brothers)1. It's a fairy tale - Master showman writer/director Baz Luhrmann is nothing if not bold, and his vision of roaring '20s New York City is simply spectacular. Beginning by framing the first shots of the film with art deco staging, it's clear Luhrmann is taking us on a journey to fantastic world. Watching the film through this lens makes it easy to be whisked away as Luhrmann's camera swoops and dives on the Big Apple, rollercoastering sharply from the top of the Empire State...Read Full Story

(Warner Brothers) The Bottom Line Should you see it? Yes. Why? Despite its departures from the novel, this is a unique vision of a story everyone knows. It's also a visionary depiction of a golden era. This auto-tuned soap opera writer/director Baz Luhrmann is calling The Great Gatsby is a visual rollercoaster, a melodramatic fairy tale, and a wistful ode to romance. It's also predictably transparent when it comes to the classic American novel's weighty themes. Luhrmann does get credit...Read Full Story

A Ph.D. candidate in English literature at Yale University recently wrote a review of the Baz Luhrmann movie adaptation of Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. “The critics who’ve ravaged the film for not being loyal to the book are hypocrites,” he wrote. “These people make their living doing readings and critiques of texts in order to generate theories of varying levels of competency. Luhrmann’s film is his reading and adaptation of... | time.comRead Full Story

Samuel Richardson explains why glitter, diamonds and tacky lack of substance are suddenly unpopular. It’s a fickle world we live in, isn’t it? One minute you’re the champion of the world, the next you’re being kicked and slapped all around the ring whilst the crowd cheer your swift fall from grace. And as the referee starts the count, your mind flashes back to that not-so-distant past where you were the one lapping up the applause of the baying crowd, light bulbs flashing all around you and...Read Full Story