I have been eagerly awaiting the release of “The Great Gatsby” ever since they announced that Baz Luhrmann would be directing the movie. He’s the same guy that directed two of my absolute favorite movies – Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. It’s a book I had a minor obsession with in high school. What could possibly go wrong? Well…a lot.
Total disclaimer – I didn’t see it in 3D. I can’t stand 3D movies. Baz Luhrmann movies tend to be rather…visually interesting, so I can only imagine that the idea of filming a movie in 3D is like a dream come true for him. However, there was enough swooping around that I’m sure if I did see it in 3D, I would have screamed like I did on all those simulation rides at Universal Studios.
My biggest complaint was the amount of times that Gatsby (played by Leonardo DiCaprio*) uses the phrase “old sport”. Normally, I don’t pick up on these sort of things unless someone else points them out, but I noticed this one myself. When this comes out on DVD, I might gather my friends and make a Great Gatsby drinking game…the first rule would be to drink any time he says “old sport”.
Another issue I had with the movie was that there were WAY too many times a scene looked like it could have been right out of Moulin Rouge. Christian, what are you doing in a mental institution in the 1920s?
This is one of those movies that you NEED to read the book first. My mom and I both read the book in high school and we had a pretty good grasp of what was going on, but I remember certain parts MUCH differently.
Did you see “The Great Gatsby”? What did you think?
* = Leonardo DiCaprio REALLY needs to stop playing characters that go after girls they can’t get and then DIE. Particularly in bodies of water.
See also: Romeo + Juliet.
College Forever! 
I hated the movie. The biggest issue I had is the fact that it was not authentic at all. I liked the first movie a lot more. In this one the music was horrendous. I’m pretty sure they were not rocking out to Beyonce in the 1920s…so why put that kind of music in this movie? Who knows. Overall, I was not pleased with the movie as you can tell :p .
I thought they did great, unlike certain other movies where they totally change the entire concept of an old classic, Great Gatsby has some changes but nothing too major. I didn’t like Carey portraying Daisy though. I love the actress but I needed Daisy to be a bitch and Carey did not pull it off. I actually felt bad for the woman! Urgh. But she was…oh so pretty!
And the music was disappointing. I love the 2 songs, “Love is Blindness” and “Young and Beautiful” but all the other music was rap and crap. WTF? It’s the 20s, where is the 20s music? Why is Beyonce singing anything in this movie?!
I didn’t mind the “old sport,” it might have been overdone but I know the book uses a lot of it too. Not as much but the book doesn’t have a lot of dialogues as the movie obviously so no specific complaints from me there…