THE GREAT GATSBY. OH MY GOD.

[indienoise]

I honestly didn't have the highest expectations going in. And if there's anything positive I could say, I did absolutely love the larger-than-life, caraciture feel the movie had. I thought it was extremely fitting, and if there's one thing it absolute nailed, that was it.

I dunno if we have a spoiler tag here, so I won't go into specifics. But I will say this movie, by itself, embodies the dumbing down of America. Anyone who is even remotely into literature knows what the book is all about, so again, no specifics, but this movie created, in great detail, a backstory for J. Gatsby. For the man who is a great mystery. Sure, the book dropped a couple of hints, but the movie explained the whole thing as if it was telling the story to complete morons. I guess it was, really. But it took QUITE a lot of liberties in doing so. And what's worse, the director decided it would be best to communicate the messages and themes of the book by narrating them. Not once, but over. And over. And over. And then concluded the movie by trying SO hard to act like he was being deep about it, I could only picture him feebly attempting the David Blaine "I just blew your mind" look, but instead succeeding only at duckfacing. It was ridiculous.

So yeah, CSB.

[DNW]

Haven't seen it and don't really plan to. But I thought kinda the same about V For Vendetta however many years back that was, where instead of leaving anything up to the viewer, it was all, "LOOK! THEMES! LOOK AT THESE MIND-BLOWING PARALLELS! OOOOHHH DEEP AND THOUGHT-PROVOKING!"

[100 watt]

I'd watch it, but someone said it's full of ghetto / hip hop bullshit music. I cant drown that shit out

[nightflameauto]

That's the way Hollywood works now. Spoonfeed the children so they don't break their brains thinking. I have no desire to watch this movie and haven't from the first preview. Unfortunately, I'd guess my wife will be 120% in when it comes up on Netflix. She hates to miss anything remotely pop culture related. And GMA has been doing "how to dress like the women in The Great Gatsby movie for under $250 per outfit" stories, so she's ramping up . . .

. . . I love her, but this is one of the few things she does where I just have to shake my head and look the other way.

[Yarbicus]

Yeah, when did Fitzgerald write a hip hop gangster book?

[Dave]

Calm down bros, it's just a movie

[indienoise]

I was so disappointed in the other stuff, I completely forgot about the music part. No matter how hard I tried, even given the highly-stylized, almost dream-like feel of the movie, I just couldn't reconcile that. I mean, if I wanted to give the director more credit than he deserves, I could say it pitched in to the disconnect I think the viewer was supposed to feel at times, but in all honesty I think it was there just for the 16-year old dumb blondes who made up the majority of the audience.

[100 watt]

That's the way Hollywood works now. Spoonfeed the children so they don't break their brains thinking. I have no desire to watch this movie and haven't from the first preview. Unfortunately, I'd guess my wife will be 120% in when it comes up on Netflix. She hates to miss anything remotely pop culture related. And GMA has been doing "how to dress like the women in The Great Gatsby movie for under $250 per outfit" stories, so she's ramping up . . .

. . . I love her, but this is one of the few things she does where I just have to shake my head and look the other way.

Yup. Selling products (which they've always done) & indoctrination.

[Chris Z]

I'd watch it , but I'm not a teenage girl nor fucking gay.

[Meelosh]

I had low expectations as well, since I never liked Romeo+Juliet or Moulin Rouge, and also because this is one of my favorite stories (even though it's far from perfect). I normally hate music-video/ADHD type of directing and cinematography but I gotta say I really got into with this film. I even forgot that Toby Maguire usually annoys the fuck out of me; all the acting was great. It's a visually dazzling film that does a somewhat decent job of telling the famous story. I wish Gatsby was played by Morgan Freeman! You said the film embodies the dumbing down of America...I kinda felt that the book did that too!

[nightflameauto]

Well, here's eight minutes of utter cycling stupidity for you:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au0Zjn3eB9k[/video]

[indienoise]

I had low expectations as well, since I never liked Romeo+Juliet or Moulin Rouge, and also because this is one of my favorite stories (even though it's far from perfect). I normally hate music-video/ADHD type of directing and cinematography but I gotta say I really got into with this film. I even forgot that Toby Maguire usually annoys the fuck out of me; all the acting was great. It's a visually dazzling film that does a somewhat decent job of telling the famous story. I wish Gatsby was played by Morgan Freeman! You said the film embodies the dumbing down of America...I kinda felt that the book did that too!

Well sure, when you consider the ignorance and carelessness of the characters in the book...that's an intentional message. Fitzgerald is saying, "hey, look what a mess these people have made of everything". The film, it didn't quite go down like that. Sure, the director made sure that message was effectively narrated (though it wasn't in keeping with a lot of other stuff, as it was only mentioned once), but I'm not saying this was a theme the director was conveying. My point instead is the movie is an example of the low we've gotten to intellectually.

Like I mentioned in OP though, I agree with you about the visual presentation - it was fantastic, and I really thought the feel of the movie fit extremely well with the themes it presents. I also agree it tells the story sufficiently - even if it takes the typical Hollywood liberties with it (and in this case, a little more). But the way the director presented the themes and tried to explain away the mystery of a character who is supposed to be someone you ask questions that never get answered - it didn't inspire me to say great things about it, ya know?

In the end, even though I was really engaged with the movie through most of it, those glaring bits caused me to leave the theater with a bad taste in my mouth.

[DNW]

Well, here's eight minutes of utter cycling stupidity for you:
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=au0Zjn3eB9k[/video]

Wow, what a pack of fuckwitted idiots. See how fast you can weave through traffic when you're in wheelchairs, retards.

[nightflameauto]

How in the hell did this end up in the Gatsby thread? I swear I posted it in the Darwination thread.