The Great Gatsby (2013)

[Alexandro]

I think it looks great. Though I'm seeing it with the sound off.
I trust in Leonardo di Caprio more than Baz Luhrman to be honest. He's picky picky and he only fucks super models. I trust the guy.

[pete]

I think those shots are some of the most mediocre things I've seen all year in anything. the lighting is ugly, the green screen is dated (But not like vintage dated...2004 dated), the art direction is exactly like every phoney nostalgic piece done about the 20s ever. O did we talk about the lighting already 'cause it stinks. This reminds me of the Paul F Tompkins bit about how in Go Ask Alice the old white guys who penned the book used the words "freak wharf" to describe a nuthouse, thinking that's what the young kids must be saying. This trailer is like a cinematic equivalent of that - a bunch of old guys pretending to still know how to do that one trick. Also, this is just another instance in the long list of directors who think they're doing the source material/genre a favor by artlessly shoehorning their "trademarks" all over the place.

[Ravi]

the art direction is exactly like every phoney nostalgic piece done about the 20s ever.

Bingo. It doesn't feel real. Everything looks like art direction.

[Alexandro]

Doesn't feel real? Isn't that always the point with this guy?
I never saw Australia and could never rewatch Moulin Rouge or Romeo and Juliet. It's just not my cup of tea. But it might be fun...who knows...

[jenkins]

It's totally the point with this guy. Seems ok not to like him, especially for aesthetic reasons, 'cause his pieces have such aesthetic emphasis, but, yeah, this is what he does.

I feel like all these things could be said about QT, and that I'm taking the opposite side in a similar conversation. No way does Django Unchained feel like the south in the 1800s, I mean. Of course there are "trademarks" in this trailer, otherwise they could get anyotherfucker to come make this movie. There's some chemistry that's affecting me beyond the superficial, and movies work like that -- sometimes movies work like that, sometimes they don't.

I know what you guys are saying, I've disliked movies for similar reasons. The hockey movie Goon from this year comes to mind -- that thing is lit like a parking lot, which I always hate. But I can't convince people who like Goon that that's a problem.

Things can hit deeper, I don't know. Life's fucked. I'm excited.

[Ravi]

Doesn't feel real? Isn't that always the point with this guy?
I never saw Australia and could never rewatch Moulin Rouge or Romeo and Juliet. It's just not my cup of tea. But it might be fun...who knows...

I know that's Baz Luhrmann's style. I'm just skeptical about this approach working for The Great Gatsby. From the trailers it feels like the style would be trivializing the novel.

[jenkins]

As a huge fan of the novel and literature in general, I feel like movies should stay as far away from source material as they possibly can, as a general rule.

Basically, it won't work for the novel The Great Gatsby, no fucking way. In every way it helps one thing or another it's going to damage one other thing or another thing.  One can only hope it works for the movie itself.

Check out how "on your heels" this post is. Like I'm thinking I shouldn't fit Xixax into my regular internet rotation.

[pete]

there is style and there is sloppy filmmaking. Romeo and Juliet had style, this looks mediocre.

[jenkins]

Double-checked, this is actually the same conversation that took place for R+J:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/william_shakespeares_romeo_and_juliet/

[pete]

I just gleamed through the reviews and it seemed like more of the conversation was about the style and not competence?

[jenkins]

Think I'm conflating separate objections to style. You don't dislike that he's wearing a jacket, you dislike the jacket.

[MacGuffin]

Jay-Z Confirmed to Score THE GREAT GATSBY
Source: Collider

When the first trailer for director Baz Luhrmann's ambitious adaptation of the classic novel The Great Gatsby debuted online, many were jarred by the juxtaposition of Jay-Z and Kanye West's "Church in the Wild" against the film's period setting.  The decision to use that song in the trailer wasn't a complete shock, as Luhrmann has shown a propensity for populating his period films with modern music.  He had no problem mixing Shakespeare with Radiohead in Romeo + Juliet and 1900s France with Madonna in Moulin Rouge!.  Now, though, it appears that Luhrmann isn't just repurposing existing songs for The Great Gatsby, but is having Jay-Z himself provide an original score for the film.

Rumors have swirled for months regarding the score and soundtrack for The Great Gatsby, with previous reports noting that Prince and Lady Gaga might be providing original songs for the film.  Yesterday, singer/songwriter/producer Jeymes Samuel of The Bullitts fame took to Twitter (via The Film Stage) to confirm that he and Jay-Z are composing the film's score:

THE BULLITTS
✔
@TheBullitts
Jay-Z and myself have been working tirelessly on the score for the upcoming #CLASSIC The Great Gatsby! It is too DOPE for words!
30 Dec 12 ReplyRetweetFavorite


No other details are known at this time, but I'm pretty excited to see what comes of this collaboration.  Luhrmann isn't exactly known for his subtlety as a filmmaker, and the trailers for The Great Gatsby promise a wildly ambitious and visually arresting iteration of F. Scott Fitzgerald's American classic.  It's entirely possible that the whole thing may turn out to be a complete disaster, but I remain (maybe foolishly) overly optimistic.

The Great Gatsby opens in 3D on May 10, 2013.

[ono]

Yuck.

[pete]

this is the White The Man with the Iron Fists

[MacGuffin]

New Trailer