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re: Gatsby

Posted on 5/10/13 at 1:26 pm to
Posted by Weebie
NOLA
Member since Dec 2012
3717 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 1:26 pm to
quote:

It is getting hammered hard on Rotten Tomatoes.


not really. its not getting rave reviews or anything, but so far the critic reviews have been floating around 45-55%. again that isn't great, but that's far from getting "hammered". right now it has 63 fresh and 68 rotten.

the audience review is currently at 84% out of 57,000.
Posted by boom roasted
Member since Sep 2010
28039 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 1:31 pm to
Definitely not getting hammered by the audience (which I believe is a more accurate indicator of a movie's quality), but I would consider 47% (critic review) a good ole hammering.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 1:32 pm
Posted by Weebie
NOLA
Member since Dec 2012
3717 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 1:42 pm to
quote:

Definitely not getting hammered by the audience (which I believe is a more accurate indicator of a movie's quality), but I would consider 47% (critic review) a good ole hammering.


its only had a little over one hundred critic reviews in the last day or two. almost half the critics liked it, the other half didn't. "getting hammered" would be somewhere between 0-30% in my opinion. hanging around the 50% mark so far is not getting hammered especially when you also factor in the 57,000 audience reviews that are at 84% right now.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 1:43 pm
Posted by Dr RC
The Money Pit
Member since Aug 2011
58028 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 1:51 pm to
quote:

I understand the music critique, but mod of those people have very obviously not read the book.


you shouldnt have to read the book to appreciate the movie adaptation.

if thats the case its a shitty adaptation.
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
34850 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 2:01 pm to
Understandable. I was talking more of a critic I read who hated the movie because it was more fast paced the first half, and life slowed down more in the second half. That type of critique is complete shite, because that is what the book is like.
Posted by Dr RC
The Money Pit
Member since Aug 2011
58028 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 2:03 pm to
I'm guessing he'd probably have the same problem with the book.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 2:04 pm
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
34850 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 2:13 pm to
Possibly. Though, I don't value a critic who thinks a movie has to be fast paced the entire movie (note, there is a difference in being slow paced and just dragging along, that I understand).
Posted by chinese58
NELA. after 30 years in Dallas.
Member since Jun 2004
30323 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 2:32 pm to
quote:

Love the Robert Redford movie.

IMDb

I really enjoyed that movie when I saw it in the theater at 15. The interesting characters to me were the Nick Carraway (Sam Waterston), Jordan Baker (Lois Chiles) and Tom Buchanan (Bruce Dern) In the 1974 version, I found Jay Gatsby (Redford) and Daisy Buchanan (Mia Farrow) both to be very boring people. The Myrtle Wilson character (Karen Black) was a despicable one.

Redford was more model than actor in some of his roles (Inside Daisy Clover, This Property Is Condemned, Gatsby & The Way We Were) & Daisy was too high maintenance. Gatsby's business partners were also interesting people.

I love Inside Daisy Clover and This Property is Condemned but for Natalie Wood, not Redford. He played those parts well but they didn't require much more than looking good and misbehaving a little.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 2:35 pm
Posted by tylerdurden24
Member since Sep 2009
46385 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 3:25 pm to
my indicator for not expecting much from this movie is the fact that out of everyone on campus, the people most excited about it are the sorority girls.

The book is a classic, but it does not and will not appeal to everyone. However - and I'm pretty "meh" on it - its themes fit in perfectly with the younger generation right now: gluttony, excess, ultra consumerism, and arrogance. There's a reaosn the sorority crowd is eating it up.

Sadly, they'll miss the message of "Daisy et al are shite human beings" and go straight for the "tragic romance."
Posted by Carson123987
Middle Court at the Rec
Member since Jul 2011
66371 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 3:27 pm to
quote:

Baz Luhrmann is the worst candidate alive for making a Gatsby movie.


this. definitely wont watch
Posted by Jamohn
Das Boot
Member since Mar 2009
13542 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 5:51 pm to
I think that for all its commercial appeal and the beautiful cinematography the movie misses its mark because the book is not a classic because of the story itself. The story from which this movie draws its plot is an average one. The beautiful prose and Fitzgerald's linguistic artistry is what makes the book a great American classic. No matter how visually dazzling the movie was, the movie seemed hollow without the dazzling writing. It's ironic that a movie that is supposed to mock us for being hollow is itself hollow.

Or maybe that's some type of great trick it's playing on us on purpose!!


Nah, but seriously. I thought it was mediocre. And I'm a huge Leo fan.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 5:52 pm
Posted by Kafka
I am the moral conscience of TD
Member since Jul 2007
141437 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 5:56 pm to
Posted by BayouBandit24
Member since Aug 2010
16535 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 6:23 pm to
quote:

Agree, I hated the book. Found it very boring


Enjoyment of the book lies just as much in the beauty of the language and imagery as it does in the story. There were a few passages where i'd think wow that was worded incredibly and I would reread the passage multiple times.
This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 6:26 pm
Posted by BayouBandit24
Member since Aug 2010
16535 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 6:26 pm to
quote:

The story from which this movie draws its plot is an average one. The beautiful prose and Fitzgerald's linguistic artistry is what makes the book a great American classic.


Amen
Posted by TigerBait1127
Houston
Member since Jun 2005
47336 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 7:05 pm to
quote:

The book is my favorite of all time.


comparing the movie to the book will be its downfall. The writing is incredible and cannot be translated to the screen

If people realize that, I think they will enjoy it

Edit: looks like someone stated it better

quote:

I think that for all its commercial appeal and the beautiful cinematography the movie misses its mark because the book is not a classic because of the story itself. The story from which this movie draws its plot is an average one. The beautiful prose and Fitzgerald's linguistic artistry is what makes the book a great American classic.

This post was edited on 5/10/13 at 7:07 pm
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
34850 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 7:38 pm to
Agreed. I think they did a pretty good job of trying to bring that language style to the movie. Obviously not near as good, but that is what was most impressive to me about the movie.
Posted by GoCrazyAuburn
Member since Feb 2010
34850 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 7:46 pm to
quote:

the book is not a classic because of the story itself


Da fuq?

Posted by beaverfever
Little Rock
Member since Jan 2008
32612 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 8:24 pm to
I need to re-read the book. Ive re-read pretty much every other classic that we had to read in school but this one. I remember thinking it was boring honestly, but I was like 14 so that doesn't mean much.
Posted by tylerdurden24
Member since Sep 2009
46385 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 8:31 pm to
quote:

The story from which this movie draws its plot is an average one.

Actually, the story is what took it from being an initial flop that only sold a few thousand copies to required reading in American Lit classes.

It's a periodic story of the American Dream and how that dream can lead to ruin if you're not careful. If anything, it is a story that sparked the trend which makes it, now, seem average in comparison.

However, and as you stated, the story became a part of the American literary canon because of Fitzgerald's eloquent writing. I hate to use him as an example because he is an easy comparison, but Hemingway novels are almost the exact same. The agony and pain of Old Man and the Sea just cannot be reproduced in a film, no different than the beauty of music cannot be reproduced in words. Some works of art are just not meant to be remade in different formats (or at least not under the same title).

If this movie were titled "The Roaring Twenties" instead of "The Great Gatsby" then it would probably be received better than what it is.
Posted by FootballNostradamus
Member since Nov 2009
20509 posts
Posted on 5/10/13 at 8:56 pm to
quote:

It's a periodic story of the American Dream and how that dream can lead to ruin if you're not careful. If anything, it is a story that sparked the trend which makes it, now, seem average in comparison.


This story has been hashed and rehashed hundreds of times. It's still a slow-moving, character-based, bare-bones story. As you've said, Fitzgerald's brilliant prose it what makes the book. The story could be created by any one of a million authors IMO.

quote:

However, and as you stated, the story became a part of the American literary canon because of Fitzgerald's eloquent writing. I hate to use him as an example because he is an easy comparison, but Hemingway novels are almost the exact same. The agony and pain of Old Man and the Sea just cannot be reproduced in a film, no different than the beauty of music cannot be reproduced in words. Some works of art are just not meant to be remade in different formats (or at least not under the same title).


I think a Hemingway adaptation would be very interesting. It would have to be a Castaway-esque story with one helluva main character, but I think it would be atleast interesting to watch the attempt. I also think the blunt, brutal, straight-forward way Hemingway writes would be more easily adaptable than Fitzgerald's flowery prose.

quote:

If this movie were titled "The Roaring Twenties" instead of "The Great Gatsby" then it would probably be received better than what it is.


Disagree, it's capitalizing off its title. It's a polarizing book, love it or hate it people will want to see it just to see it IMO.
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