dagblog - Comments for "Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)"

Yes. Someone I found

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 20 May 2013 17:34:19 +0000

In reply to I'd forgotten about the 2000

Yes. Someone I found exceptionally uncommanding, compared to Redford and now Leo, played Gatsby.

I'd forgotten about the 2000

Michael Maiello — Mon, 20 May 2013 16:03:53 +0000

In reply to I did see it, today. And I

I'd forgotten about the 2000 version! Mira Sorvino, right? I believe she was enjoying the cache of her 1995 Oscar win, still (for Mighty Aphrodite).

I did see it, today. And I

AmericanDreamer — Mon, 20 May 2013 01:58:20 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

I did see it, today. And I did enjoy it. Having seen both the 1974 and 2000 movie versions within the past six months, I was most struck by how much more on-his-sleeves emotionally vulnerable DiCaprio's Gatsby was compared to Redford's. Although I like Redford a ton, because he is often subtle in his character portrayals (some here might enjoy The Company You Keep, his most recent, as I did), I actually thought DiCaprio's rendition gave this version far more heart and soul than the 1974 (or the 2000, which I liked least of the three, notwithstanding Paul Rudd, who my wife thought was a hottie, as Carroway) effort had.

Great review, Michael.

Doctor Cleveland — Thu, 16 May 2013 19:02:18 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

Great review, Michael.

This is just insanely

Ramona — Wed, 15 May 2013 12:26:06 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

This is just insanely wonderful. I'm in awe. (I may even watch the movie now.)

Thank goodness Fitzgerald was

Orlando — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:13:10 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

Thank goodness Fitzgerald was no Theodore Dreiser. Speaking as a fellow Hoosier subjected against her teenage will to a high-school reading of Sister Carrie, one Dreiser was more than enough.

I doubt the movie will come this way--in my smallish city, we get all the action movies and cartoons you could want, but none of the artistic or quiet movies. I like Luhrman's movies for their rock opera, dreamy quality but Gatsby was another (albeit better) novel I was subjected to in a high school English class that focused way too heavily on dead, white guys. I'm not sure I've ever recovered.

I recently finished The Paris Wife, which is a fictionalized version of Ernest Hemingway and his first wife during the time they lived in Paris. The Fitzgeralds are in there, along with Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and all the others. It was Mad Men for the Roaring Twenties.

My understanding of Gatsby never progressed much past the 16-year-old level, but I like the idea that it is a fable rather than an honest telling of the times. It makes me like it more. Maybe enough to give it another read. Definitely enough to see the movie, if I get the chance.

I wonder how the film was

Elusive Trope — Mon, 13 May 2013 00:03:22 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

I wonder how the film was pitched, as in the fashion seen in the beginning of Robert Altman's The Player. My guess is something like "It's Dallas meets Moulin Rouge...I hear Robert Downey Jr is very interested in the Jay Gatsby role..."

x2 too. Great piece. I'm

MrSmith1 — Sun, 12 May 2013 16:26:39 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

x2 too. Great piece. I'm putting my money on you at the next Moviecritic-mania, where I'm sure you'll put a figure four leg-lock on Richard Roeper and clinch the title with a literary submission hold. I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this version of Gatsby, but now I've put it on my must-see list. Thanks for the good read.

x2. Well done, M. I recently

AmericanDreamer — Sat, 11 May 2013 17:39:08 +0000

In reply to I haven't see the movie, but

x2. Well done, M.

I recently read, and thoroughly enjoyed, the late movie reviewer Roger Ebert's memoir Life Itself. Your staccato review is stylistically similar to it, and similarly easy and fun to read for that. I think Ann Hornaday, the Washington Post's lead movie reviewer, is excellent, among film reviewers I read.

I haven't see the movie, but

Michael Wolraich — Sat, 11 May 2013 14:35:45 +0000

In reply to Baz Luhrman’s The Great Gatsby is a Triumph (whether you like it or not)

I haven't see the movie, but this is a seriously asskicking review. You should do more of them.