Fast and Furious 6

Lets all face it. We don't watch a movie like this expecting to be ridden with a wave of gooey emotions or left in a contemplative state of unease and possibility. No no none of that. We're in it for the cars, the thrills and the hot guys. 

When we last saw our band of brothers (and sisters) they were running rampage in Rio, pissing off  a drug lord, out running the authorities, stealing a whole bunch of money and generally fudging shit up. Despite swearing to retire; You can never keep a good criminal down... Plus I guess being blackmailed by a man who has the ability to put you in prison for the rest of your life helped a bit in the persuasion process. Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has a proposition for Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) which requires him to get the gang back together. The stakes are high but they get to drive on the right side of the road as their pursuit for bad guy Owen Shaw (Luke Evans) leads them to London.

We all know of -but only speak about in hushed tones- Fast and Furious: Tokio Drift, which has always been sold to us as a prequel of Fast and Furious, though which one we were never told. Well that long forgotten question has now been answered.... seven years later.

Though filled with many a witty line and many a hot guy, the storyline got a little crazy, there were too many characters and the timing of a certain event stretched the believability of even the most gullible film goer. These are all traits which would be analysed and critiqued in any other sort of film but not the ones that matter in a film like this. There are more important things for them to worry about; the staple necessities: Stunts, CGI and Cars were all top notch, but they went above and beyond when they managed to have two long chase scenes which involved tearing up a free-way with a tank and bringing down a plane. How can we not already be excited to see what  they have in store for the seventh instalment?

The Great Gatsby

Director Bas Luhrman, known for his infamous Red Curtain Trilogy (Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet, and Moulin Rouge!), takes on the responsibility of recreating F.Scott Fitzgerald's beloved masterpiece. If his previous work is anything to go by then a whole lot of style and pizazz is definitely and unavoidably on the table.

Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is both the narrator and voice over to the tale of a man he calls 'The Great Gatsby'. He looks back retrospectively over the summer he spent in West Egg, where he rented a small house next to the mysterious and illusive millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Across the bay lies the equally lavish but more hoity East Egg home to Nicks cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) and her husband Tom (Joel Edgerton).

The roaring twenties, a time for music, drinking, philandering and more drinking set amongst the seemingly never ending parties of post war celebration. Carraway, a bright eyed and slightly naive Midwestern moves to Long Island to be closer to New York where he has abandoned his plans of being a writer and delves into the world of Bond Salesmanship. His compass of morality lays abandoned as he slowly becomes intertwined in the parties and the carefree attitude of the West Egg and the lies of his acquaintances. Daisy, who lives life on a fence of denial and indecision, Tom a self-righteous man who comes from old money and their friend Jordan Baker (Elizabeth Debicki) a gossip and a silent participant to her friends disputes. The only person Nick holds to any sort of high esteem is his hope filled neighbour Gatsby who is known by many and yet known by none.

One thing that played a heavy factor into the unique outlook and atmosphere of the film was the soundtrack. The film is set in the early 1920's and therefore being subjected to watching the high on life party-goers whining and grinding to RnB and Hip Hop from the likes of Jay Z and Will.i.am and hearing the strong words of Florence and the Machines Over The Love to name but a few was both haunting and ethereal. It gave the audience a sense of the present in the past and really added to the theme and beautiful sadness of the film as a whole.

Positioning it somewhere between the theatre and costume like styling of Anna Karenina (2012), and the over the top, almost eyesore brightness of the Disney live action version of Cinderella (1997) starring Brandy Norwood, The Great Gatsby is something of an acquired taste. It's hard to gauge which audience member will enjoy the general feel of excitement and gloom of the whole movie and which will find that all the glitter, smoke and mirrors will be nothing more than an obvious and annoying distraction to the lack of the depth in the story.