Scene it Sunday #9 - The Great Gatsby Movie Review

The Great Gatsby
Source: Gifted
Release Date: May 10, 2013
Leads: Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.

I have no desire to tell you that I liked this movie, because as made obvious by my star rating, I didn't. Let me just start off by saying that I had just read the book when I watched this, so everything in the book was still pretty fresh in my mind. I noticed everything that they changed. And I hated it all the more for that.

I wanted to like this, I really did. I enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor (I mean, very few people don't), but he just didn't shine in The Great Gatsby. He failed at playing the part of Gatsby - and it's not really his acting skills that are the problem - the problem is that I won't be happy with anyone as Gatsby. And yes, it is kind of his acting. He's just not "suave" or even "debonair". If he was, he could have pulled this off.

And don't even get me started on the way that Nick was portrayed - I always thought of Nick as kind of a casual observer, watching life but not really taking part in it. For the movie, they made him take part in some - but he was played with such... GAH. They made him into a momma's boy, and I didn't like that. Not to mention the part that they through him into a mental institution... the boy's perfectly sane.

My mother and father, while listening to my ranting about this movie commented that actors from this time "don't know how to play characters from that time period. They aren't suave, and there's nothing about them that seems gentlemanly". I think that they're right, and it was probably one of my biggest issues.

On the other hand, I thought that Carey Mulligan did wonderfully as Daisy Buchanan. She is quite the destroyer, and she doesn't even realize that she's doing it. Carey played Daisy with the perfect disregard for other's emotions - the perfect feel for the character. Her acting was well done.

I don't wish to alarm anyone, but don't expect period music with this movie. I was expecting great music (from the '20's, of course) to play in this movie, but the soundtrack appears to be completely made up of top 40 type music - meaning that it's the new stuff. Rap and pop dominated, and I did watch the special features - it appears that they wanted to make this generation understand the time better.

That backfired, because I'm of this generation and it threw me out of this movie. Top 40 hits should not be played in a classic book to movie, in my humble opinion. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this movie for fans of the book, or even those like me who just "liked" the book. It's not particularly worth the time.

I'm Back!

IIIII'MMMMMMM BAACCCCKKKK! Did you miss me? This is just a quick note to let you guys know that I'm back online, and that I totally missed you all! I wish I could tell you all that the break has been very relaxing, but I'd be lying through my teeth. This break has been anything but relaxing - blog wise, it was great. But my real life has become hectic. Working two jobs leaves me with little free time - and when I do get it, I just want to lay in bed and never move again.

I learned that I don't really like writing reviews. Let me rephrase that - I like knowing that the words on the page are my critiques, and I love the reactions that I get from them. But I don't like making time to write them (or any other posts) lately. It had become an obligation. I don't get to just read anymore, to not think about what I'm doing at all. During my break? I wrote a couple of reviews. But I've still got several to write. And at one point, I was reading the same book for almost two weeks. You know what else? I still haven't answered some of my comments from before the break.

My life is so full up right now - and I don't know where this fits into it.

So there's gonna be some changes. I'm gonna be cutting back. You'll only see two reviews from me a week, in case I don't have time to write as many (which I don't), and there may not always be a meme our a discussion. I'll try to keep up the Scene it Sundays feature, because I know it's the coolest content I've got.

But I just...CAN'T always be here anymore. And that kills me. But hopefully....hopefully soon I'll be in a better situation with time. And maybe then we'll go back to the normal scheduling.

Interview with Julianna Baggott, author of PURE + Giveaway

Critically acclaimed, bestselling author Julianna Baggott is the author of eighteen books, most notably her recent novel PURE, the first in a dystopian trilogy, a New York Times Book Review's Editor's Choice and a People magazine pick for books to read after the Hunger Games, on a list with Orson Scott Card and Philip Pullman. There are over fifty overseas editions of her books.

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook

*Interview*
THIS OR THAT!
Chocolate or vanilla? 
Chocolate -- absolutely.
Paperback, hardcover or ebook?
Paperback -- I like to get messy with them
Skittles or M&Ms?
M&Ms -- see above: chocolate
Twitter or Facebook?
Facebook -- restraining myself in 140 characters isn't easy

 1. Which character from your Pure trilogy do you relate to most, and why?

Some weary days, I feel like I'm hauling others on my back so El Capitan -- or, at least, today that's who I relate to -- maybe because I'm the sole breadwinner for the family, four kids, two dogs...

 2. Where did you get the idea for the Pure trilogy? From what I hear, it's a very unique idea!

It took a million small little flickering ideas. But, for one, our house is filled with toys and dolls, and I can confess that to clean up, I like to shoot for the toy basket and I have held the heads of a lot of dolls -- sometimes you can't tell where their skin starts and yours ends. So the idea of a girl with a doll-head fused to her fist wasn't a stretch.

 3. When you're not writing, what do you like to do?

Honestly, I like to dance. Almost any kind of dance.

4. I've heard a lot of authors say that they'd actually love to live in the worlds that they've created. Would you like to live in the world of PURE? How do you think you'd do in their society?

Hell no! I prefer PRE-apocalyptic life. I'd die. Flat out in a world of dusts and beasts and groupies. I wouldn't make it to sun down.

5. What's your favorite book, and why?

I have a lot of different favorite books for different reasons at different times in my life. It's why I keep writing, too. If I felt one book -- as reader or writer -- was completely satisfying, I'd stop there.

6. What kind of research did you do while writing Pure?


Lots of stuff, but much of it was about the atomic bombs Americans dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the stories of survivors. Turns out, we, as human beings, have already created the apocalypse at different times in history.

*Giveaway*
The publisher has kindly offered to give away 3 copies of Burn, the most recent book in the PURE series! This contest is only open to USA/CAN entries. Enter up!

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