The Great Gatsby Trailer- Page 2

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 11:09pm

"When I think about the parties in 'Gatsby', they are always happening in the other room, or outside the window, on the lawn, while we are inside, observing intimate moments and private thoughts. "

Absolutely, that's exactly how it reads for me too, which this trailer anyway doesn't convey the mood of whatsoever.

The film is scripted by the guy who scripted Moulin Rouge with him, and was the original playwright behind STrictly Ballroom, for what it's worth.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/23/12 at 11:22pm

That's interesting, but I can't say it gives me much hope. I recognize this as kind of a simplistic narrative, but my impression is that as the budgets got bigger, Luhrmann increasingly lost his way. I LOVED 'Strictly Ballroom', I really liked Romeo + Juliet a lot, and I liked 'Moulin Rouge' well enough.

The visuals in the 'Gatsby' trailer are stunning and feel--to me--like he's gotten drunk with the ability to spend $$$$$ achieving spectacular images whether or not they have any relevance or resonance with the story he's telling.

On the other hand--I've always felt that films based on prior works, such as books and plays, should be judged fairly on their own merits as films. I like the director, the cast (gimme some Tobey Maguire any day!!) and the source material. I will definitely see the film. But my gut tells me this isn't going to be my idea of 'The Great Gatsby'.

Updated On: 5/23/12 at 11:22 PM

[violet72]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 8:56am

I will give it a chance but I am worried about it. First off the story hinges on Nick and to me Tobey McQuire was miscast. Very interesed to see Isla Fischer's Mrytle.

As for the 3D, somethings are great in 3D but a story about the destruction of dreams, wealth, and the loss of innocence is not one of them. I am sure this masterpiece about the bastardization of the American dream will never be fully achieved on screen.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 9:00am

I still wish that Lee Pace was playing Nick, but I guess it was inevitable that Maguire would be cast since he's friends with DiCaprio.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:32am

Oh, Lee Pace would've been perfect... but I think Maguire could do it. Maguire has a very Midwestern wholesomeness about him that, I think, works for Nick.

I agree about the parties. There's even that line of Jordan's... about big parties being more intimate. Fitzgerald captures the intimacy that happens in the big parties.

In fact, it's very telling that the party Nick gets most involved in is really just the small get together at Tom and Myrtle's flat in Manhattan.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:42am

Poor old Leo is seriously miscast though. Matt Damon would have been a much better choice -- he's really got the Gatsby Smile, along with the danger the character needs.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:49am

I pictured James Marsden and Amy Adams as Gatsby and Daisy when I first heard that the movie was being made.

Updated On: 5/24/12 at 10:49 AM

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:53am

How did you all feel about Leo in 'Romeo + Juliet'? I'm not a huge fan of his, but I thought Luhrmann got a very solid performance out of him--much better than I expected. So maybe he will plumb those depths again.

Having said that--I would love to have seen Matt Damon as Jay Gatsby.

And I think Tobey Maguire has just the right kind of wan, mid-western, shrinking-violet quality that Nick needs. He's an outsider, looking in at the glamor and chaos, with--at the outset--a kind of hero-worship for Tom Buchanan that is eventually ***spoiler alert*** destroyed by Tom's actions.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:56am

MrMidWest -- James Marsden is a great idea.

[Kad]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 10:59am

I'm just glad to see DiCaprio actually look happy in a movie again. Christ, he takes himself so seriously and it's a detriment to his work.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 5/24/12 at 12:53pm

Matt Damon would have been a fantastic Gatsby, but I think DiCaprio looks good in the preview. I think MOULIN ROUGE is as much of a deeply personal love story as it is about the bombastic musical numbers, and for me Luhrman captured that incredibly well, and I've felt that way about his films overall, he seems to be really interested in the personal moments that occur in the middle of all the spectacle and I find his work very successful in that sense.
I'm also hoping that the film isn't faithful to the book necessarily, I'm more interested in adaptations that use the source material as an inspiration more than anything. The GOD OF CARNAGE film is as faithful an adaptation as you could ask for and it's absolutely dreadful in every way. I think the trailer looks exciting and intriguing.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 11:14pm

"In fact, it's very telling that the party Nick gets most involved in is really just the small get together at Tom and Myrtle's flat in Manhattan. "

Yes, exactly, which doesn't involve people swinging from chandeliers. I dunno, I actually really do like Bazz as a director in terms of how he captures a feeling--and in Romeo + Juliet and parts of Moulin he managed to make stunning contrasts between big showy "production number" moments, and then really intimate scenes. And that could play well for Gatsby. I just don't get that sense *judging from this trailer*.

So Ray I agree with you there. I guess one thing though is in Gatsby (last read it about three years back but it was only my second time) I'm not sure it's justified to contrast such HUGE racuous events with the intimate as Moulin Rouge often did really well. The parties, as any of the major characters experienced them, never felt that way except in briefly alienating ways. Maybe the trailer is just emphasizing those elements?

I also don't feel that (again in the trailer) the aspects of the 20s they focus on (ie the huge lights of Times Sqaure and the decadence all around) were really what was the point. I guess it's hard to capture that internal decadence, but... The way this looks (once more from the trailer :P ) would be like doing Cabaret as if the actual nightclub Sally belonged to was a glirttering, gorgeous, PARTY.

But that said, I agree that I don't think it should be faithful to the letter (as the TV movie version proves whhere they use much of the actual dialogue). Still, if you're not going to be faithful to the tone as well, why not just call it Gatsby's World or something?

[strummergirl]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 11:34pm

"I'm just glad to see DiCaprio actually look happy in a movie again. Christ, he takes himself so seriously and it's a detriment to his work."

God YES. This is why even if , in addition to this film, Django Unchained is a misfire seeing him as a unhinged baddy is going to be satisfying. He needs to have some fun once in a while instead of looking so serious and having Oscar-bait roles. Hopefully working with Baz again reinvigorated him as he has signed up for another Scorsese flick which reads as comfort zone for both of them.

Updated On: 5/26/12 at 11:34 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 11:45pm

I'd love for him to make a fluffy comedy that has no award aspirations. He's not the only big-name actor guilty of this, "I am A SERIOUS ACTOR and I want an OSCAR," mindset... Hillary Swank's become the same way.

I wish more of them were like Meryl Streep, who always seems to be doing films for the sheer joy she gets from doing them.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/25/12 at 11:58pm

To be fair, Meryl wasn't doing that as much when she was Leo's age. (Though she did, even then, spoof her image more).

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 5:45am

The trailer in 3D was on before MIB3, looked pretty, still no nothing of the story expect for it looks like everything else he has done before.

[romantico]

Posted: 5/26/12 at 9:34am

What exactly is 3D going to add this film? Luhrman is good at what he does but I am concerned he is more focused on style over substance. I nearly walked out of Moulin Rogue. I mean, he couldn't even decide what song he wanted to use and would only use a few seconds before breaking into another song. I HATED THAT! So, I am curious like most people to see exactly what he does to this.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 3:30am

For myself, Moulin settled into a style I liked after twenty or thirty mins. I hope this will too.

[canmark]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 11:58am

>>> When I think about the parties in 'Gatsby', they are always happening in the other room, or outside the window, on the lawn, while we are inside, observing intimate moments and private thoughts.

>>> I've enjoyed Baz Luhrmanns films, but I would rather have seen him use 'Strictly Ballroom' as his precedent, rather than 'Moulin Rouge'.

Totally agree. The story was narrated by Nick, and Nick was not into the parties. He was an outsider to the world of the moneyed East coasters. He didn't dive into that world, but trod carefully around it.

Baz's films have gone down since Strictly Ballroom, even as his budgets and lavish production designs (by his wife, Catherine Martin) have gone up.

I'm reserving final judgement until seeing the film, but my fear is that Baz has blindly bought into the party scene like Gatsby. Gatsby threw those parties and thought everyone was his friend. In the end, we discover that Gatsby had no friends.

Updated On: 5/27/12 at 11:58 AM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 12:02pm

"I wish more of them were like Meryl Streep, who always seems to be doing films for the sheer joy she gets from doing them."

Please! La Streep is the biggest Oscar whore of them all.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 12:09pm

Yes, because movies like Mamma Mia, Death Becomes Her, It's Complicated, Lemony Snicket, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Ant Bully, and She Devil were clearly just Oscar bait.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 12:23pm

I've never seen the original film...but I hear it was a disappointment.

Thoughts?

[Addison D.]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 12:49pm

"Please! La Streep is the biggest Oscar whore of them all."

OK. Let's just--for kicks and giggles on this holiday weekend--go ahead and stipulate to the truth of that statement. Assuming we even know what an "Oscar Whore" is. For the purposes of this discussion, I'll hazard a guess that it is an actor who selects roles and gears performances with the sole intention of garnering Oscar nominations.

As awards are the coin of the Hollywood realm, and an Oscar can launch a career, why would one use the pejorative term 'whore' to criticize a performer who wants one?

And simply wanting an Oscar nomination doesn't get you one. Talent really helps. We can all think of nominees--and winners--that we consider 'flukes' or the result of complex or unusual competition. But, please: seventeen Oscar nominations and twenty-six Golden Globe nominations?? I would have thought the 'flash in the pan' or 'fluke' discussion might be over at this point.

"Oscar Whore"? I don't know the woman--I have no insight as to her motives with regard to the career decisions she has made. But if she is, she's lucky that she's also one of the most talented actors in the history of film. I bet that helps.

Updated On: 5/27/12 at 12:49 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 5/27/12 at 4:07pm

"I've never seen the original film...but I hear it was a disappointment. "

Well Alan Ladd looked the part. I assume you mean the Clayton film from the 70s (the whole Ladd version is on youtube, and isn't very good--and I guess there was a now lost silent version too, which slightly changes the myth of the book being a huge flop when it came out). I don't think it deserves its reputation for being completely awful--Mia, as much as I love her is not very good, but otherwise I find it well acted. But it's VERY dull--something I assume this film will work its hardest not to be.

[best12bars]

Posted: 8/6/12 at 6:44pm

Looks like it's moving to Summer 2013.

CNN link