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I will keep this short, but this film is an utter delight. Glorious to look at, and an absolute valentine to Los Angeles, romance, and jazz. I promise you will be smiling throughout, marveling at its nod to musicals of the past but just how contemporary it feels. The chemistry between Stone and Gosling rings so true and heartbreaking. Both give it their all most especially Stone whose gorgeous eyes and natural presence is a marvel of screen presence. I heartily recommend this one of if not the Best Film of 2016.

It is an absolutely wonderful 2 hours at the movies for every age leaving the viewer exiting the theater on a cloud of optimism and joy.

As a piece of theater history, THE NORMAL HEART most certainly has earned its place. But in its translation to a film, it is somewhat wanting. That said, on the whole, solid performance most especially by Jim Parsons, Matt Bomer and Joe Mantello punctuated by a couple of truly powerful, heartfelt and intimate moments in confronting the disease. Just not sure Ryan Murphy was the right man for the job.

If anyone is interested in examining the crises further, may I recommend ANGELS IN America, LONGTIME COMPANION, AND THE BAND PLAYED ON and on a small independent scale the wonderful PARTING GLANCES which introduced to the world the great Steve Buscemi. All excellent in their approaches in grasping a truly horrible and frightening time in history.

And yet with a group of pals you would be hard pressed to find a better time. Absolutely nothing make sense. Physics and natural laws are ignored. Horrible CGI and cringe-worthy dialog. Outrageous continuity exceeded only by horrible color correction and clunky editing. The all together wooden acting no doubt achieved in single takes is sincere, earnest and fails on levels that should win awards.

And you can't stop watching. My friends, yelled, laughed, joked, stomped, laughed some more and had a fine time. Now how many times can you say that watching a movie? It literally becomes an interactive experience.

It is surely a classic. Not sure exactly what kind. But it is a classic.

4 Stars Out of 5

I am not going to compare notes of fidelity to Fitzgerald's tome, but just focus on what the film delivers as a stand alone piece of entertainment.

So without hesitation, if you were one to enjoy MOULIN ROUGE or here is an odd comparison, HUGO this will deliver a spectacularly entertaining trip for you at the movies. Gorgeous 3-D, beautiful production, and actors who on the whole who bring their A-Game (most especially DiCaprio and Joel Edgertan) and the ingenious mix of period and contemporary music that work in harmony to deliver a successful interpretation of this classic. Sure, there will be purists who simply cannot abide by such a progressive take, but give it a chance...... very worthwhile.

Absolutely crowd pleasing Western (okay, probably a bit too violent for some) but the artistry in mounting this epic that owes a great deal to the Italian Westerns of the 1960's does deliver on that foundational promise of the revenge Western. What elevates Tarantino's homage is the undeniably great performances he has captured from DiCaprio, Foxx, Jackson and most especially Christoph Waltz.

Add the spectacular cinematography, costuming, set design and the clever but not overused anachronistic song score all underscore what is inarguably a supremely compelling story punctuated with a dozen or more memorable quotes that should be popular in the pop culture universe. Actually, I may have enjoyed this more than Inglourious Basterds and I have a feeling many others may very well also.

May I also add, make the effort to see this in a theater, it is truly a stunning looking film that I feel would be singularly diminished irrespective of how large your flat screen may be.

Without spoiling, consider a motion picture whose last 30 minutes are equal to the last 4 minutes of Cinema Paradiso. To be in a theater with people tearing up over images of vintage and historic cinema, so beautifully integrated into a dazzling and heartfelt story is something special indeed. Absolutely knock-out use of 3D, fantastic performances by everyone involved, glorious set design, music, costumes and state -of-the-art CGI that propel a story rather than being superficial, stand alone tricks makes HUGO a film for moviegoers world wide. Absolutely do not miss this film in a theater. The images are transporting and need to be experienced on the big screen.

Thanks Marty, for bringing to us all such a gift. This is truly one for the ages

After non-stop disappointment at the movies this Summer, the latest being Cowboys & Aliens for so many reasons, this "freebie" on Encore came as a very pleasant surprise. William Hurt as Ahab was rock solid and while this may sound like heresy, was more fully rounded and interesting than Gregory Peck, whose monolithic performance embarrassed him in later years, and he didn't mind saying so in numerous interviews. (Still he had that great baritone voice) The supporting cast was fine (Ethan Hawk a bit too contemporary) and the production values commendable given the constraints of the budget. Liberties were taken from the classic novel but far from a dumbing down. And the finale, a virtual battle with the white leviathon was surprisingly effective if not all together a solid action set-piece....... far more so than anything in the aforementioned Cowboys and Aliens. I would have to say its worth checking out for most tastes and nothing too objectionable for kids over seven if they can deal with the hunting of whales.