Gatsby

The highly-anticipated The Great Gatsby is released this weekend and with its premiere has been an onslaught of Gatsby/20s/flapper/prohibition themed everything. I mean everything. Thesaurus.com even has a slideshow about learning jazz era language. Isn't it all just scatting and calling guys "old sport"?

Admittedly, I am a Baz Luhrman hater. There are few films that I've hated more than Australia and Moulin Rouge. However, I did like Romeo+Juliet and I hope it leans in that direction rather than the three hour crap fest that is Australia. So as it stands, I am cautiously optimistic about this movie.

But I do have reservations.

It's ironic how excessive this whole promotion has been given that the main theme in the novel is how excess leads to hedonistic, immoral living. I mean the movie was shot in 3-D. Talk about excess for crying out loud. Apparently Luhrman wanted to find a way to to make the audience "feel like they were inside the room," but shouldn't the characters and the writing do that for us in a movie that is based on a beloved American classic?

The trailer makes me wonder if the entire movie will go way over the top and be a hot mess or will it toe the line and be a controlled spectacle . I don't really see a way for this movie to have any subtlety to it whatsoever (except maybe in the case of Carey Mulligan).

Oh, and Blake Lively was almost cast as Daisy Buchanan. If that's not an indication of poor judgement, I don't know what is.

That being said, I am extremely excited that Baz Luhrman decided to go back on his medication and cast Carey Mulligan as Daisy instead. I think she's one of the best working actresses and it makes me even more excited to see her because I hated Mia Farrow in the last Gatsby film adaptation in 1977. It's a great cast--even Tobey 'Vacant Eyes' Maguire looks like he will do the observant Nick Carraway justice.

Another thing that struck me when I watched the trailer first was the soundtrack. This track list is insane.

1. 100$ Bill - JAY Z
2. Back To Black - Beyoncé x André 3000
3. Bang Bang - will.i.am
4. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got) - Fergie + Q Tip + GoonRock
5. Young And Beautiful - Lana Del Rey
6. Love Is The Drug - Bryan Ferry with The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
7. Over The Love - Florence + The Machine
8. Where The Wind Blows - Coco O. of Quadron
9. Crazy in Love - Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra
10. Together – The xx
11. Hearts A Mess - Gotye
12. Love Is Blindness – Jack White
13. Into the Past - Nero
14. Kill and Run - Sia
It's pretty much a who's who of hot artists today. And at first I thought "No Church In The Wild" was an odd choice for the trailer, but every time I watched the trailer, it got me super pumped to see the movie so, well done trailer-maker-people.

Baz may have cast the hottest actors and the hottest artists for the soundtrack but it could all be smoke and mirrors. This could still very well be a total failure. It would be very tongue in cheek if Luhrman meant for the movie to be one of the most opulent movies and then have it crumble, mirroring the themes in the novel. Nah, this is Baz Luhrman we're talking about. The man who made Australia.