Thoughts on The Great Gatsby

I was actually prepared to hate this remake. I’m not a big frog-man ehm Tobey Maguire fan and I find Carey Mulligan uber boring. A normal looking Leo was the only saving grace this movie seemed to offer. That, and the sweet modern tunes of today thrown into a roaring 20’s backdrop. The whole new music in an old setting thing has been done, but I’m always a fan so whatevs.

An off-putting factor of this film is that it’s 2 hours and 20 minutes. However, I figured that I’ve spent 3 hours watching a young Leo race around the Titanic, so why couldn’t I endure this?

Instead of reviewing this flick, I’m just going to touch on some points of interest. Because now we all know that I’m the worst at reviewing movies.

Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan is not what I expected. 

I was ready for a droopy Daisy snore fest but instead I received magical Daisy chain of wonder. Lol what is that sentence? In the 1974 version of The GG, Mia Farrow played a selfish Daisy. And a very sweaty one. Is it just me, or was everyone in that movie dripping? However, in the 2013 version, Carey Mulligan plays the Daisy that everyone wants to be. She’s a relatively happy character even though her life is in shambs (shambles). It was a different take on Daisy, but I dug it. I also totally dug that Ms. Mulligan beat out a bunch of other actresses for the role including the one that shall not be named (Blake Lively). I don’t acknowledge her existence after she married my other husband Ryan Reynolds.

The trailers were misleading.

Didn’t the previews make this movie seem like an post-modern celebration filled with Jay-Z music and obnoxious flappers? Yes, it did. It was actually much calmer than I was expecting. Which is good. I really really really loved how Baz “Why is your name Baz” Luhrmann depicted the preppiness of East Egg and the new money castles of West Egg. My favorite scenes were when the audience first met Daisy in an ethereal tangle of sheer curtains and when Nick, Gatsby, and Daisy spent the day together, gallivanting around Gatsby’s property to the musical accompaniment of Lana del Rey. Perfection.

The minor characters were just as good as the main characters.

Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker

I feel like some casting directors get ballsy when it comes to choosing smaller characters by selecting wild cards (Isla Fisher plays Mrytle Wilson, wife of the mechanic) or take chances on nobodies (Elizabeth Debicki as Jordan Baker, a top female golfer/best friend of Daisy). That being said, everyone really proved their worth, especially Joel Edgerton (who played Tom Buchanan, Daisy’s super rich husband) and Jason Clarke (as George Wilson, the mechanic stationed between East Egg and NYC).

The costume choices were superb.

I couldn’t really think of a last point besides the fact that Leo was awesome, so I guess I’ll just touch on the wardrobe. There wasn’t a stand out outfit that really made me drool like Keira Knightley’s green dress in Atonement, but there were some great looks. I appreciated all of Gatsby’s outfits, especially his pink linen suit that he saved for hot summer days. I thought Daisy’s dresses were lovely, but for some reason I liked her best in the black silk robe that she wore around Gatsby’s mansion.

Have you seen The Great Gatsby yet? What did you think?

Anatomy of Titanic

Yes, I went to Titanic 3D last night. It’s perfectly acceptable to be jealous. I’ve stayed true to my love Titanic since I first saw it in fourth grade. I was the only one who saw it in my class and I remember telling all of the boys that the girl was naked in the movie. A storyteller in the making.

I had seen Titanic a couple of times since then, but there were so many things that I didn’t catch and didn’t realize until I saw it yesterday. This time, it was extra special, extra life changing.

Let’s go back to a time when Leo was super hot, Kate was almost skinny, and people actually knew who Billy Zane was. Titanic was the coolest, biggest, longest, best movie ever made. No competition. For some reason though, my little brain only remembered the “good parts”. Aka the dancing scene downstairs, Rose’s clothes, the drawing scene, etc.  This may sound extremely dumb, but there’s so much more to the movie!

Let's be real. Best scene in the movie.

I think my selective memory had to do with the fact that I didn’t have emotions until I turned 21. I never really cried or felt bad for people up until then. Don’t worry, I’ve made up for the lack of tears almost every day since then. Hormones. More like whore-mones, am I right?! I didn’t really see the people dying in the movie. I mean, I could physically see them, yes. But I didn’t really understand. I didn’t think about how scary it would’ve been to be a child and see everyone panicking, or to be a mother and try to keep your kids alive.

The scene after the ship capsized and everyone was flailing around in the water really freaked me out. Like, that was a lot of people. My mom, my brother and I used to talk about what we would do in a worst case scenario. Titanic always came up. My mom’s idea was to string together a bunch of life jackets and use them as a raft. I took notice in the movie that everyone was only given one life jacket. I guess you’ll have to think of a plan B, mom. I definitely would have found some wood like Jack and Rose did. And let me go ahead and state the obvious–there was enough room on that door for the both of them. Jack could have lived, Rose. His death is on your shoulders.

It always bothered me when Rose said, I’ll never let go and then….LETS GO. But after watching it this time, I realized that Jack told her to never let go of the promise she made him. Hence her never letting go. Now I get it!

"I'll never let go." Cut to Rose releasing her icy grip.

Instead of exiting the movie feeling fulfilled by my intake of young Leo, I was super depressed! The scene showing all of old Rose’s pictures, all of the things she promised Jack that she would accomplish–so heart-wrenching! I was also exhausted from the length. I don’t remember it being over 3 hours. I mean, I remember talking about how long it was, but I don’t remember sitting, watching it for that long.

All in all, Titanic is a wonderful movie. I have no complaints. The story is historic, with a good romantic story and loveable characters. It’s hard not to love. But don’t think about the reality of it too much, or you’ll plummet into a deep depression.

Seriously, don't start thinking about these two holding each other before they drown.