I had no prob with the look of the movie. The CGI was a little cheesy, but I thought it had a dreamy look... A little surreal... I was OK with that. The acting was decent, and there were some impressive production values. There were loads of talent, both in front of and behind the camera. The music, however... Sucked serious ass, though. Big time. That's my main gripe. It's so obvious that the film makers wanted a marketable soundtrack, and Jay Z is currently selling more product then Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman or Cab Calloway. There is a reason this era was called "The Jazz Age". Jazz was king... It was the music of youth. Not 2013 youth, but 1920's youth. But some numb-nuts decided to take a heavy period piece, and destroy it by putting in ultra-modern hip hop... Thus completely annihilating any credence the film might have had going for it. It's Moulin Rouge... All over again. There was a fantastic amount of great and relevant music being made at that time.
This would have been a great opportunity to introduce young people to cool music, music they may never get a chance to hear. But some idiot instead said, "To Hell with "time and place", let's make a soundtrack that's totally 2013". Just like every other movie currently out now. Bad idea. In my humble opinion. Call me a purist. I will agree with you. There was one poster here on these boards and he should have been given a medal. He said something to the effect of "Let's make a movie of today's inner city youth, and overdub a 1920's soundtrack over it". It would wind up looking stupid and disingenuous.
I rest my case.
This would have been a great opportunity to introduce young people to cool music, music they may never get a chance to hear. But some idiot instead said, "To Hell with "time and place", let's make a soundtrack that's totally 2013". Just like every other movie currently out now. Bad idea. In my humble opinion. Call me a purist. I will agree with you. There was one poster here on these boards and he should have been given a medal. He said something to the effect of "Let's make a movie of today's inner city youth, and overdub a 1920's soundtrack over it". It would wind up looking stupid and disingenuous.
I rest my case.
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