Warner Bros. pushes "Great Gatsby" to 2013

Warner Bros. is playing a very confusing game with their year-end films, and not a particularly comforting one. Wise, it may very well be, but the studio seems to be in a position of prolonging their stream of 2012 films. The studio had long ago pushed Alfonso Cuaron's much anticipated "Gravity" into the 2013 netherworld, without even the comfort of a release date. "The Gangster Squad" was pushed back so the studio could do reshoots on a scene involving a cinema shooting, which they deemed too insensitive so shortly after the Aurora shootings. Now they are taking one of my most highly anticipated flicks of the year's latter half and sending it into Summer of the following year.

Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", by all known accounts, would be ready for its original Christmas release date, though Warner Bros. has been massively retooling their year-end schedule ahead of the rest of the crowd. The move to Summer could be for a couple of reasons, one I mostly suspect being the success of counter-intuitive Soderbergh smash "Magic Mike". That environment is a strong area for such pop heavy films, and the imagery of Baz Luhrmann really speaks for that kind of energy. In general, Baz has seemed more in tune with the summer feeling than the critical rush of winter.

Quick Takes: "Snow White", "Madagascar 3", "Return", "Romeo + Juliet"

"Snow White and the Huntsman" (*1/2)

Directed by Rupert Sanders

I took the effort to revisit Tarsem Singh's own take on the fable, "Mirror Mirror", before sitting in on "Snow White and the Huntsman", and though I don't wish to file comparison, it's pretty clear that the latter has much less enthusiasm in its cogs. I think it's pretty clear when a filmmaking crew is having fun, and when they're not. This film seems like rather drudging work. It takes real emotional effort to make something this cinematically dull. Lacking any color or levity, but not possessing any real emotional tether to proceedings, people die and battles wage, for no purpose. What's more, it feels like the actors are just too consumed by the ham of the dialogue and lacking intellect of the script to really put in any effort. This film just feels entirely effortless, and not in a positive manner.

"Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted" (**)

Directed by Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, and Conrad Vernon

Dreamworks has made a pretty good name for itself across the past few years for making wild and crazy films, filled with popping shenanigans, but not overtly kiddie as to not appeal to the adults. "Madagascar 3" shatters that a bit, throwing about the same shenanigans, but this time strictly playing to the children's crowd from which most of its box office is growing from. It feels like we're coming into a half completed story, and they don't feel the need to make us care about these characters any more. They don't put in nearly enough heart, which they quite oddly had plenty of in "Madagascar 2". It feels like a conclusion for the sake of concluding, and not for the sake of closure, or smart entertainment. The kids? They'll love it, and they already do. It's us who aren't gonna have a good time with it.

"The Great Gatsby" Trailer

How much time do people waste pretending that they don't absolutely love Baz Luhrmann? Is it not completely obvious that the man should have so much more commercial success than he has had? His films are practically built for a wide market of viewers, filled to the brim with luscious visuals and playful whimsy. As somebody who considers "Romeo + Juliet" and "Moulin Rouge" to be somewhere in the scheme of his 100 Best Films of All Time, as well as being unapologetic about my love for "Australia", a rather overly maligned film, "The Great Gatsby" is damn close to the top of my list for the end of year rounds. Pack "Avengers", "The Dark Knight Rises", "Prometheus", and "The Hobbit" into a bundle, you won't even come close to the sparkle Baz clearly has in store for us!