The Great Gatsby. I have been obsessed with the Great Gatsby since i was 10.
A&E has now in my opinion transformed one of the finest novles in the English language intoa campy, disjointed, in it’s beginning totally backwards, miserable excuse for a NBC Movie of the Week.
I’m pretty pissed.
But they show lots of Law & Order re-runs, and often have L & O marathons, so, they’ve got that going for them.
Not meaning to hijack here, but, ya know, while A&E has its moments, I’m starting to think that it’s no great shakes as well. Case in point: ‘Biography’. They’re getting so desperate for people to biography that they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel. Instead of making the show more selective (read: quality, fewer shows), it seems like they’re just cranking them out.
And now there’s a frikkin Biography channel!!!
WTF???
I’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, A&E has sold out.
Just out of curiosity, who’s in it?
Gatsby is my single favorite novel of all time, and I do love the Robert Redford/Mia Farrow movie version, but something told me not to watch this new version. A little voice in the back of my head was saying “it’s gonna suck! Don’t watch!” So, I didn’t.
Thanks for the confirmation, Upham! 
I’m not exactly sure who these people are. The guy playing Gatsby looks like he should be shining shooes and cant say “old sport” to save a life, the guy playing Tom looks like Al off Married with Children and the woman playing Jordan… i dunno what the hell she looks like, but not Jordan
I taped it myself thinking it might be interesting. Are you telling me I should just erase it, or what? 
The actor playing Gatsby is Toby Stephens. Jordan is played by Francie Swift. I’ve never heard of either one of these actors. However, I have heard of Paul Rudd and Mira Sorvino, who play Nick and Daisy, respectively. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I love the book. Alas, I never saw the Redford/Farrow version either, though I heard it was a really good movie.
I don’t know what the new one’s like. I read the book recently. I’ve heard that the old one sucks though. Its on a lot so since i was reading the book for english awhile ago i figured i’d look in on it.
Why do people insist on making The Great Gatsby into a movie? It’s a beautiful novel (although nowhere near as good as its messy and underrated brother This Side of Paradise) that makes a fantastic novel. It just doesn’t work well at all as a film. And how can you people say the Redford/Farrow version of the movie was good? With the exception of Sam Waterson (who is also on Law and Order; coincidence?), that movie was one of the worst adaptations ever. That “They’re the most beautiful shirts I’ve ever seen!” part made me laugh and weep it was so awful. I’m sure that scene alone made half my graduating class hate that book. And worst of all–Daisy’s not blonde! Why the hell do casting agents always make her blonde!? She was described in the book as being brunette! I’m sorry; I am a foaming at the mouth Fitzgerald devotee, and I can’t stand watching movies of his books. They totally destroy them, as far as I’m concerned.
Did anyone hear the Gatsby opera on NPR last year? Now that was decent. . .
There’s nothing else on, so I decided to watch a little. I don’t know why.
Gaaaaaaaaaack.
This movie isn’t just bad. Oh…my…Goddess. To quote Pearl Forrester, this movie "sucks on toast." Somewhere, Ed Wood is watching this movie and saying “*Sheeeeeeeeeit! This movie blows!”
nineiron, don’t erase the tape. Just throw it away. Don’t let it get anywhere near your other tapes. They’ll erase themselves in self-defense.
Excuse me. I must now go excise the portion of my brain that might remember any of this horror. I know I’ve got some fondue forks around here somewhere…
Whoops. Sorry about that coding.
[sub]it was the movie that made me screw them up, I swear…[/sub]
Well, I’m not a particular fan of the novel, but Mira Sorvino does not, shall we say, leap to mind for Daisy. The novel is not too convoluted in plot terms. Seems like it should be possible, if not necessary, to make a decent movie out of it.
nineiron i will now give you explicite instructions on how to dispose of the tape.
1.Build a small alter in your back yard (no big alters for this mess). It sould be made out of charcole briquettes and angry smelling dog shit (helpful hint, use gloves, you wouldn’t actually want to touch the pile of crap - the movie that is).
2.Place tape ontop of alter IMPORTANT!!! do NOT look directly at the tape, it’ll bring you far, FAR to close to actually watching the movie.
3.You’re going to have to get a hold of at least 6 leters of metholhydrate, a hell of a lot of wood, a viking helmet and a mint julip for step 4.
4.Build a frame work of wood around the alter, log cabin style. This doesn’t really stand for anything symbolic, it’ll just make for a nicer blaze. Pour the metholhydrate over the framework, put on your helmet, pick up your mint julip and ignite the pyre.
Remain UP WIND (forget the dog shit, that movie STUNK)
Commence pagan dance of joy. Enjoy the mint julip.
Thisyearsgirl [Bill Clinton] I feel your pane [/Bill Clinton]
If any of you are intereseted, A&E is currently re-running this little gem.
I didn’t see this version Gatsby, although it looked kinda interesting. I liked the book and the Redford movie, as well.
I am miffed at A&E for their butchery of Spenser in Thin Air and Small Vices. Both books were good, but the movies could’ve been much better than they were.
Robin
One thing i will say in A&E’s defence.
Horatio Hornblower. I know, i know, they wern’t exactly true to the origonal book, but hot damn were they GOOD!!
That, Northern Exposure, News Radio and Night Cort.
That’s all i’ve got to say for 'em
Please continue bitching about Gatsby now (cause i aint never gonna fogive them for this)
A&E, home of ‘Law & Order’ reruns, ‘American Justice’, ‘Investigative Reports’(which is pretty much the same as American Justice), and ‘City Confidential’.
So they make a crappy movie every now and then. It’s a small price to pay.
And I’m glad Mia Sorvino is finding work again. [sub]She’s very special![/sub]
For the last thirty years, everybody has been accusing everybody of selling out. If this were /., then -1 point for redundancy.
…and I am a masochist.
I finished watching that movie last night. Then you know what I did?
Since they repeated it, I watched it again. I don’t know. I was hoping it would get better. Nope. Sucked the second time, too.
Oh, and since there was nothing to drink in this house except coffee, I was up a little late last night. So you know what I did after I got done watching it the second time? They repeated it again, so I watched it again. This time, though, I was hoping that Wilson had real bullets in that gun.