Film geeks on the Internet are abuzz today with the release of the first full trailer for Baz Luhrman's epic reimagining of THE GREAT GATSBY. And it is epic indeed. It was also shot in 3D and the trailer has a few shots which indicate how this might work (i.e. glittery confetti falling at a party). It also has an anachronistic soundtrack which one would expect from Luhrman, who infused 70s disco into fin de siecle Paris. But I'm not so sure about the rap and the Gatz mixing here. However, it is common these days for contemporary songs to be used in period trailers strictly for marketing purposes.
While this does look exciting (New York in the '20s...in color!), it also gave me a bit of a sinking feeling as I recalled another N.Y.C. early 20th century epic from another mad movie genius; 2005's KING KONG courtesy of Peter Jackson. That one was pretty to look at but ended up being a snooze. We'll have to wait until Christmas Day to see if Luhrman's glitzy take on one of the great American novels has more to it than just pretty pictures.
