The Great Gatsby (2013)

[FilmBuff]

What the fuck did I just watch? That's exactly the question I was asking myself after leaving the screening of The Great Gatsby a few nights ago. This movie is inexplicably awful, and I expected nothing less after learning Baz Luhrman was involved with the movie. This movie shat all over it's source material, and it's insulting such a literary classic had to be disrespected. I didn't like a lot of the books I read in High school, but I enjoyed The Great Gatsby much more than I expected. The only movie of Baz Luhrmann I partly enjoyed was Moulin Rouge, mainly due to Nicole Kidman. I don't mind seeing films in 3D, but only if it enhances the viewing experience. The Great Gatsby served no logical reason to be 3D. The Green Screen? Served no fucking reason at all as well. The movie had an interesting premise enough, you didn't need to get so artsy fartsy with the source material. Seriously, Was Baz Luhrmann taking Speedballs the entire time this movie was being filmed? You had great actors Dicaprio, Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Carey Mulligan, and Joel Edgerton. The only thing I enjoyed about the film was the acting. Especially out of Dicaprio and Edgerton. They didn't make the film a complete bore. The actors were constantly overshadowed by the over abundance of Green Screen shots. I could never get into the movie, b/c the contrast between the acting and visual effects. At some points, the Green Screen was so distracting, it hurt my eyes. I had to look away from the screen for periods of the movie.Fuck what Baz Luhrmann did to such a literary classic. He basically took a marker and scribbled all over it. Like a 5 year would do to a coloring book. F Scott Fitzgerald must be rolling over in this grave right now. Fuck this movie. 0.5/5 Stars or F

Edited May 11, 2013 by FilmBuff

[fishstick]

LOL.

 

Gatsby is such a dellusional pathetic character yet Leo somehow made him seem pure amid all the dellusion. Especially in the end you can actually see why Caraway loathed everyone but him. is that how it is in the book?

[riczhang]

LOL.Gatsby is such a dellusional pathetic character yet Leo somehow made him seem pure amid all the dellusion. Especially in the end you can actually see why Caraway loathed everyone but him. is that how it is in the book?

Word for word.

[fishstick]

So well done, Leo. His comic timing when he was meeting Daisey in caraway house was impeccable.

Edited May 11, 2013 by fishnets

[acsc1312]

[Ezen Baklattan]

Watchmen was a good comparison, but I keep connecting this to Les Miserables. It's a showy adaptation of a beloved source material with an all-star cast that critics were hesitant to love, but still clicked with audiences.

 

I really liked this movie. Baz Lurhman does as good a job with the source material as he probably could have, and his visual style never feels too excessive. We've also got a nice new face in Elizabeth Debicki. 

[fishstick]

Elizabeth Debicki needs to work much more in Hollywood. What an interesting face!

Edited May 11, 2013 by fishnets

[mattmav45]

Ehhh, it's the very definition of a mixed bag.The visuals are great, but eventually you have to have a story to fall back on. I thought it was sporadically on mark, and when it clicks....it really clicks. DiCaprio is predictably great, and Maguire surprisingly works as Carraway. Unfortunately, it's simply overlong and there are long stretches where boredom prevails.All in all, it's a good effort but only a minor success, if that.

[Cmasterclay]

I enjoyed it quite a bit, for the most part. I thought it had some parts that dragged and it took me a long while, and kinda the whole movie, to warm up to Tobey as Nick. Wasn't a great fit. The rest was excellent, though. The style was love it or leave it, and though I've never seen a Baz flick, I loved it in this. Exciting, engaging, and thought provoking style. Leo was incredible. Mulligan was a pleasant surprise. Edgerton was great. Liked it quite a bit better than IM3, for example

 

8.25/10

[Plain Old Tele]

Loved it. I think it's Baz's best film (haven't seen AUSTRALIA).

[Spidey Freak]

Loved it. I think it's Baz's best film (haven't seen AUSTRALIA).

 

Whoa, you found it better than Moulin Rouge!? Gotta check this out now!

[Plain Old Tele]

Whoa, you found it better than Moulin Rouge!? Gotta check this out now!

I don't love MR quite as much as everyone else. It's a B+ movie for me. MR is a young director going crazy with his concepts, and it's all a bit too much. TGG is a more mature, confident piece of work. Edited May 12, 2013 by Telemachos

[redfirebird2008]

The first 5 minutes of the film, I knew something was wrong.  The females talked like they were caricatures of New Yorkers in the 20's.  They talked fast and they spoke like they were in a cartoon, which took me out of the film right away.  Now I have never read Gatsby, I don't know anything about Gatsby so none of this made any sense to me.  Where did he get the money to throw all the parties, the gazillion dollar house, the fancy cars, the money and everything?  And he did this all for the love of a shallow, horrible woman.  She was seduced by wealth and fame and power and money.  If she wasn't, she would have just went with Jay.  

 

The film is all over the place.  I did like Leo in it and I thought Maguire and Mulligan were good as well.  The production design was ridiculously well done and the choreographer for this film should win some kind of an award.  But the film fell flat to me in every way.  I didn't really care about anyone and every person in here with the exception of Nick Carraway, was pretty much an idiot or an asshole.

 

I just couldn't get into the story or the characters and to me it was one big bore.

 

And do not see this in 3D, what a colossal rip off. 

 

 

I haven't seen the film, but I would highly recommend the book to you. One of the best novels ever and one of the only books I am glad they forced me to read in school.

[Jay Beezy]

We watched the older version with Robert Redford, Sam Waterston, and Mia Farrow in high school.

[redfirebird2008]

We watched the older version with Robert Redford, Sam Waterston, and Mia Farrow in high school.

 

I've seen it and it doesn't do the book justice. Sounds like the new one is the same.

[The Stingray]

Hows the 3D y'all?

[Jay Beezy]

I've seen it and it doesn't do the book justice. Sounds like the new one is the same.

 

The new one just looks like it's more concerned about the spectacle than the story, particularly since it looks like it has way more spectacle than is necessary.

[Plain Old Tele]

I thought the new one did a great job. I don't get the "too much spectacle" criticism.

[Spidey Freak]

Hows the 3D y'all?

 

This. Is the 3D any good? When I watched a trailer for it in front of Jack the Giant Slayer earlier this year, the most impressive things in 3D were the Art Deco inspired motifs and designs adorning the credits, instead of the actual scenes from the movie.

[Jack Nevada]

Moulin Rouge! is a fucking piece of shit. One of my most hated movies. I just find the way it attempts to mix carnivalesque buffoonery and constant gimmicks with a tragic love story extremely jarring to say the least.