By PATRICK HALL
The Hendersonville Standard

Let me preface by saying I consider The Great Gatsby to be one of the greatest American novels ever written, and I never expected Baz Luhrmann’s film to live up to that standard.

With that being said, Luhrmann definitely “gets it,” and his film is a decent adaptation, depicting Gatsby’s world vividly, but tries too hard to include modernity within a facade of green screens and vibrant colors.

In case you aren’t aware, “The Great Gatsby” is the story of elusive Long Island millionaire Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his neighbor, bond salesman Nick Carraway (Tobey MaGuire).

The two meet up at one of Gatsby’s illustrious parties and Gatsby persuades Carraway to set up a meet with Carraway’s cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan), whom was in love with Gatsby just five years prior.

The story is all opulence, parties and the attempts of one man to regain a love he once had, through the material world. Lurhmann’s vision is bright and the film runs with a breakneck pace that is exhausting for the first hour.

Lurhmann seems to pound the “roaring” part of the “Roaring 20s” into the audience, with sensory overload. That overload is also a message about the decade’s overflowing wealth, alcohol and possessions.

Evan Mullinax, a recent teenager who is a Hawkins football center, rides a dirt bike, enjoys long-boarding, loves his family, and in his spare time is a Boy Scout in Hendersonville for which he now can give sage advice.

Upon becoming an Eagle Scout April 9, Evan said, “This is a huge honor. It’s a bit overwhelming. I’m proud of my achievements in scouting and look forward to continuing. There are so many great things you can do in scouting I would encourage all boys to get involved; be active in their troop and see just how far they can go.”

The evening of April 9, Evan appeared before the Eagle Board of Review, where he officially became an Eagle Scout where he presented his work, all which was completed when he was just 12 years old.

Evan is also a member of a select group of scouts called the Order of the Arrow, a brotherhood of cheerful service that enjoys high adventure such as rock climbing and backpacking.

When asked how he does all this, Evan confidently said, “I just stay focused and stay the course.”

By PATRICK HALL
The Hendersonville Standard

From voices crying out in terror on Sept. 11, 2001, to SEAL Team Six sifting through computer hard drives and a Central Intelligence Agency operative confirming his identity, “Zero Dark Thirty” is a tense, heart-pounding and thrilling look at the search for Osama bin Laden.

Director Kathryn Bigelow’s film opens with its disclaimer, “based on first-hand accounts,” and shifts to a haunting sequence of 911 calls from people inside the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. Anyone who experienced that day will immediately have the myriad of feelings they’ve had over the past 10 years resurface, which is exactly what makes “Zero Dark Thirty” so compelling.

Cut to CIA operatives Maya (Jessica Chastain) and Dan (Jason Clarke) as they interrogate a suspected Al Qaeda agent in Pakistan. It’s brutal, humiliating and in-your-face. Dan has done this all before. He wholly believes in his mission, to bring justice, his means are completely justified.

In the back of the room, Maya is tentative, it’s her first interrogation. She can barely watch; she struggles with Dan’s order to get a bucket of water for a round of water boarding.

The film follows Maya, based on a real CIA operative still undercover, who finds a small lead to the whereabouts of bin Laden, and she is 100 percent certain that lead is the best they will ever get to finding him. The film is 10 years of terrorist attacks around the world, CIA failings, lost suspects, dead ends and tragedies that culminated on May 2, 2011.

By PATRICK HALL
The Hendersonville Standard

There’s no sugar-coating anything in Quentin Tarantino’s new film “Django Unchained,” nor should there be, and the movie is downright awesome, hilarious and so brutally honest that it is impossible to ignore when looking for the best movie of 2012.

In 1858, German bounty-hunter Dr. King Shultz (Christoph Waltz) encounters the slave Django (Jamie Foxx) and sets him free to help find three outlaws to collect the bounty. Along the way, Django and Shultz turn to freeing Django’s wife Broomhilda from the brutal Mississippi plantation owner Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Right from the get-go we get no apologies from Tarantino on the manner of this revenge-film, similar to his 2009 film “Inglourious Basterds.” Like that film, “Django” is one in which the oppressed are given the chance to pay back their oppressors.

For Django, “Kill white folks and pay you for it? What’s not to like?” The film spares no expense on its brutality with the deaths of countless slavers, plantation owners, overseers and more. To be honest, it didn’t bother me in the least.

On the other hand, there’s no sparing the atrocities slaves endured at the hands of their masters in the Antebellum South. From beatings, to mandingo fights, to dogs ripping men apart and castration, Tarantino gives nothing but the truth.