Happy May, dear readers! Well it looks like 2013 may be shaping up to be a decent year in movies after all. All three of the films I reviewed this month are worthwhile, and one of them, Mud, will no doubt be on my ‘best of’ list come award season. Trance Danny Boyle’s latest effort, and it’s not a great movie, but it a great wild ride.

The Place Beyond the Pines is an overambitious film from the director of Blue Valentine, but it too is worthwhile, most notably from the performances of Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Dane DeHaan and Ben Mendelsohn. Meanwhile Chip was quite pleased with 42 and Oblivion as just good solid entertainment.

As we near the summer movie season there are some big films coming down the pike. Later this month Baz Luhrmann’s version of The Great Gatsby hits theatres. Chip and I are a little leery of it’s “over the top flapper extravaganza” look, but we’ll withhold judgment until we see it.

We both revisited early adaptations of Fitzgerald’s definitive novel. Chip watched the little known 1949 version starring Alan Ladd, but as it is difficult to obtain, he did not make it his DVD pick. I on the other hand revisited the 1974 version starring Robert Redford and it is easily my DVD pick for the month.

Per the usual, we’ve also included the schedules for both the Asheville Films Society and the Hendersonville Film Socieety for your reference. Looks like Ken Hanke is getting ready for all the buzz on Baz later this month as well, and has selected Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge and its big feature of the month.

Meanwhile, our own Chip Kaufmann will be showcasing a vintage foreign classic, a movie version of a celebrated play, and the original That’s Entertainment on Sundays in Hendersonville.

Until next month, we’ll see you at the movies.