From the Midwest and Around the World

Note: This is a review at first, but afterwards it turns into a rant about societies ills...as I see them...so read on with caution!    The other night, I was able to finally see the summer movie "The Great Gatsby." Over the summer, I had read the book so as to better measure the accuracy of the film interpretation. I really appreciated and enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's modern/20's era hybrid. The film had the style, music, morals, and dance of the '20s...while also integrating the music, dance, and morals of the contemporary '10s.     However, are these two eras (separated by nearly a century) really that different? In this post, I want to examine the aspects of the movie that overlap and identify that the two decades are, in fact, the same. The social battles may not be the same, but the thought behind them is very much the same.    First of all, music. In the '20s, a lot of the young people's music that was new at that time was considered very cru...

     It's always interesting when movie and TV directors interpret books onto the screen. Sometimes, when in the case of Eragon (by Christopher Paolini), the movie is horrible and extremely disappointing. Of course, it is always difficult to reveal character's inner thoughts (unless one uses the annoying voice-over) and some action scenes/special effects are hard to demonstrate. However, many directors are quite successful in their fandom-pleasing interpretation.      I am one of those ASOIF (A Song of Ice and Fire) fans that started with the HBO series before reading the books. At this moment I am in the middle of "A Feast for Crows." It is interesting to remember how accurate the TV show is compared with the books. While they cannot get every plot detail in and reveal the motives of the characters, they do a very good job of showing the tension cruelty and heroism within human nature.      My only major complaint is of the ages of the c...