Great Gatsby!

This. 

I just saw some images from the new The Great Gatsby film directed by Baz Luhrmann (2012) and I needed more than the 140 characters given to me by twitter to express my emotions. I have been following this film since I first heard about it since involves some of my all time favorite people. I cannot think of anyone better to direct than Baz who is all about the spectacle and (disregarding Australia) has made some great films such as Romeo + Juliet and one of my all time favorites, Moulin Rouge. I think  he can throw a party in the way that would make Gatsby proud and he is really going all out in creating the feeling of the 1920's. ($150 million production? Purchasing 1920's cars? Building a recreation of Long Island in the 1920's? All yes.)

And can I just say that I would like to kiss the feet of whomever cast this film. Leo DiCaprio as Gatsby is not inspired, it's perfection. Leo *is* Gatsby; charming and dapper with an undertone of vulnerability and a core of romanticism. 

Having not seen Carey Mulligan in anything (shame on me), I cannot say one way or another how I feel about her as Daisy. I dare say she looks the part though.   

Yes, I just went there

The only one I'm slightly worried about is  Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway. I see Nick as aloof and detached but very much apart of the East Egg scene. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I see his character as a kind of Dan Humphrey ala Gossip Girl; a person critical of the world around him but also deeply invested in the people and the world itself. I hope that Tobey can pull all this off while still showing his friendship with Leo because their chemistry will be central to the film. I had hoped the role would go to Joseph Gordon-Levitt not only because I love him, but because of the excellent chemistry he and Leo had in Inception.

I have an entire year to speculate, get excited, and obsessively re-read the novel but let me just say, I'm excited to see what this film will look like. I take book to movie translations very seriously and especially with a book I love so much it will be interesting to see how I feel once it hits the big screen.

To look at more of the pictures from the film check out the link here: http://pagetopremiere.com/2011/12/leonardo-dicaprio-carey-mulligan-and-tobey-maguire-on-the-great-gatsby-set-122/