"A single green light, minute and far away..."

Romanian My Escutcheon

Wikipedia wrote:

The Great Gatsby is an upcoming film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. Co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Amitabh Bachchan, Isla Fisher and Jason Clarke. It follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbor Nick, who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTiwRjAPXcQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ud6haTTfFY

So, who wants to talk about the inherent paradox of a movie adaptation of a book that warns against casual and arrogant affluence?

We can talk about classic American literature too, while we're at it, and compare notes on how rich people are categorically awful.

Goose!

I'm pretty sure I saw a thread about this from Yaya.

Romanian My Escutcheon

Goose! wrote: »

I'm pretty sure I saw a thread about this from Yaya.

Nothing on his thread history; you might be thinking of his old avatar.

Weaver

Carey Mulligan is one billion percent adorable

Poorochondriac

I remember seeing the first trailer for this, and thinking, "Good god, this is nauseating. What the fuck are they doing?"

And then Baz Luhrman's name popped up, and I went, "Aha."

Weaver

http://youtu.be/pLcyjfLbw5M

Poorochondriac

Also, that Kate Beaton strip is one of my absolute favorites of hers

Also also, Fergie's contribution to the soundtrack being "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" is kind of amazing, because she's either proving herself shockingly deft with irony or bafflingly unaware of it, and either way is pretty great.

Gatsby

Yo.

Personface

Gatsby wrote: »

Yo.

@Gatsby thread

Quoth

Gonna see this at some point

Quoth

Geth agrees

Also one of my college professors said, "American literature: when will it start?"

The Geebs That Is A Pony

Poorochondriac wrote: »

Also, that Kate Beaton strip is one of my absolute favorites of hers

Also also, Fergie's contribution to the soundtrack being "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" is kind of amazing, because she's either proving herself shockingly deft with irony or bafflingly unaware of it, and either way is pretty great.

I'm pretty sure it got released on the day of the Boston Marathon bombing, so it had an extra layer of poor timing (on top of it's poor everything else, being a song by Fergie)

laughingfuzzball

This was one of those "probably would have loved it, but English class killed it" books for me, I'm afraid. I know I should probably give it another shot, but... meh

Aphostile

Weaver wrote: »

Carey Mulligan is one billion percent adorable

All the agrees. All of them.

Kochikens

im so excited for thisssss


and yeah i love carey mulligan

Poorochondriac

laughingfuzzball wrote: »

This was one of those "probably would have loved it, but English class killed it" books for me, I'm afraid. I know I should probably give it another shot, but... meh

How'd it kill it?

Lost Salient

I reread this book over the summer and was thoroughly, THOROUGHLY besotted, so I do think reading it at the appropriate time is important.

Seriously though read this and hate it. I dare you.

But his heart was in a constant, turbulent riot. The most grotesque and fantastic conceits haunted him in his bed at night. A universe of ineffable gaudiness spun itself out in his brain while the clock ticked on the wash-stand and the moon soaked with wet light his tangled clothes upon the floor. Each night he added to the pattern of his fancies until drowsiness closed down upon some vivid scene with an oblivious embrace. For a while these reveries provided an outlet for his imagination; they were a satisfactory hint of the unreality of reality, a promise that the rock of the world was founded securely on a fairy's wing.

laughingfuzzball

Poorochondriac wrote: »

laughingfuzzball wrote: »

This was one of those "probably would have loved it, but English class killed it" books for me, I'm afraid. I know I should probably give it another shot, but... meh

How'd it kill it?

I don't enjoy reading to a syllabus as it is, but then the syllabus (as was typical in high school) was set to a very dry, sanitized interpretation with no room for appreciation of style or personal identification or any of the other things that make literature worthwhile.

It was very much a situation where you could read for the grade or for the appreciation, but not both. Of course, being a stupid teenager I rebelled against the dichotomy and did neither- skimmed just enough that I could BS the exam and took my B.

Butler

Russell Crowe would have been perfect casting for Tom. Joel Edgerton's a close second though.

Legba

I'm so psyched for this movie. Baz Luhrmann is spectacle incarnate.

Raijin Quickfoot

I really don't like Tobey Maguire's face. It bugs me in anything he is ever in.

Flay

Baz Luhrmann was hanging out in front of my workplace the other day.

The dude from GOTYE is around there a lot too.

Fyndir

Wait, I'm confused.

Why isn't Adrian Grenier on that image?? Why did they change director??

Centipede Damascus

Raijin Quickfoot wrote: »

I really don't like Tobey Maguire's face. It bugs me in anything he is ever in.

he always looks like he is on the verge of tears. always.

Legba

Toby Maguire looks like he absorbed Jude Law in that poster.

Langly

Quoth wrote: »

Geth agrees

Also one of my college professors said, "American literature: when will it start?"

did you projectile vomit onto his face?

Langly

Centipede Damascus wrote: »

Raijin Quickfoot wrote: »

I really don't like Tobey Maguire's face. It bugs me in anything he is ever in.

he always looks like he is on the verge of tears. always.

making him pretty perfect as the narrator

DarkPrimus

Is this film supposed to be ironic with its style over substance?

Langly

I mean, that's the entire theme of the book

so yes, probably?

RMS Oceanic

It felt weird that the trailer I saw for this had dubstep in it.

Oddly anachronistic, and yet in hindsight strangely fitting...

Langly

I mean, this is pretty much the perfect setup for Baz Lurhman's spectacle, where his over saturated stuff is the thesis of the movie. This is also just the first trailer, and I wouldn't be surprised if any of the subversive parts of the book weren't shown in any trailers at all.

Athenor

The only movie of Baz's I've actually seen all the way through is Strictly Ballroom, because my parents love it - and it's what made me a fan of Cindi Lauper. I just hear he keeps going more and more off the rails as time goes on. Are they worth checking out? You can see hints of future Baz in some of the dream/recount scenes where it takes on a surreal tone, but all in all Strictly Ballroom's pretty straightforward.

lostwords

So pumped for this, gosh

Though as much as I love Carrie mulligan (she is spectacular showing ethereally damaged), she was not what I pictured as Daisy. I was expecting Michelle Williams, who woulda been perfect as Daisy

Langly

Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite movies, and I really, really like Romeo + Juliet.

If you aren't aware, Strictly Ballroom is the first of his Red Curtain movies, which is a trilogy in that each movie takes a different way of telling stories and then makes that the focus. So Strictly Ballroom is a story told in dance, Moulin Rouge in song, and Romeo + Juliet in words. They're all really great. I love his style, some people don't like it too much.

Australia is the Pearl Harbor of its time and is a terrible, terrible movie.

Poorochondriac

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Baz Luhrman is Michael Bay for theater kids.

Poorochondriac

Apparently, being colorblind is a huge hurdle to enjoying his stuff. Without being able to "properly appreciate" the stuff he does with color, all I'm left with is the choppy editing, weirdly cold bombast, distractingly showy shot composition (like he designs every shot to be a photograph instead of a piece of a movie that people will be watching for hours), complete absence of emotional nuance, and a profound disinterest in tonal consistency.

That go-for-broke, kitchen-sink aesthetic has its appeal, and I dig in some stuff (Crank 2 comes to mind), but something about Luhrman's execution always bugs the hell out of me. I never feel like he's having fun. Like, all of the craziness feels cold and calculated and deeply artificial, much like how Michael Bay's shit seems to scream "ISN'T THIS FUN?!" in your face at full volume without actually being fun.

I recognize that that's an emotional reaction to his work, and not one everyone shares. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on it. I just cannot get into the dude's oeuvre at all.

Centipede Damascus

DarkPrimus wrote: »

Is this film supposed to be ironic with its style over substance?

WheatBun01

The trailer for this movie is, well..

It's probably the complete opposite of what I'd imagine a Great Gatsby movie trailer looking like. I guess that's maybe the point.

FCD

Poorochondriac wrote: »

Apparently, being colorblind is a huge hurdle to enjoying his stuff. Without being able to "properly appreciate" the stuff he does with color, all I'm left with is the choppy editing, weirdly cold bombast, distractingly showy shot composition (like he designs every shot to be a photograph instead of a piece of a movie that people will be watching for hours), complete absence of emotional nuance, and a profound disinterest in tonal consistency.

That go-for-broke, kitchen-sink aesthetic has its appeal, and I dig in some stuff (Crank 2 comes to mind), but something about Luhrman's execution always bugs the hell out of me. I never feel like he's having fun. Like, all of the craziness feels cold and calculated and deeply artificial, much like how Michael Bay's shit seems to scream "ISN'T THIS FUN?!" in your face at full volume without actually being fun.

I recognize that that's an emotional reaction to his work, and not one everyone shares. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority on it. I just cannot get into the dude's oeuvre at all.

Yeah, I got the same feeling from Moulin Rouge. It's like someone explained human emotions to him one day, and he tried to do a movie about love. Everything is just kinda off and strange.

BigBear

Poorochondriac wrote: »

Also, that Kate Beaton strip is one of my absolute favorites of hers

Also also, Fergie's contribution to the soundtrack being "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody" is kind of amazing, because she's either proving herself shockingly deft with irony or bafflingly unaware of it, and either way is pretty great.

"What baby?"

sarukun

Weaver wrote: »

http://youtu.be/pLcyjfLbw5M

Craig Ferguson is the best Goddamned host.