The (Not So) Great Gatsby vs The Angels’ Share
On Saturday night a group of us went for Indian and then to see The Great Gatsby. It wasn’t great. At all. I haven’t wanted to walk out of a film since Eyes Wide Shut. It was so unbelievably dull and Toby Maguire - what? As Winnie quite rightly asked, “Why is he still acting?” I don’t remember seeing him in anything, but I shan’t forget this in a hurry, mainly because it was so painful to watch. There were six of us that went to see it and not one of us enjoyed it - which is pretty unusual as we all have quite varying taste in films. There was one good thing we all agreed on though, which was the soundtrack. The music was superb and I shall soon be downloading it. The costumes were beautiful and visually the film was excellent. It’s just that it was so BORING. I was disappointed because Baz Lurhmann directed Strictly Ballroom, which is one of my favourite films.
And when we left the cinema, it was pouring rain and the queue for taxis was snaking down the road, so we went for a drink. Then Blythe stayed at mine and we fell asleep talking (sleepover!) at about 1a.m. At 3a.m. I woke up feeling horrendous and then threw up. Which was nice. I guess it must’ve been a dodgy prawn in my korma from earlier in the night.
Yesterday I went to see The Angels’ Share to counteract The Great Gatsby. And it was well worth it. It is playing at a few cinemas dotted around Seoul, including Apgujeong CGV, where I went, and at the Megabox at COEX. It is a Ken Loach film set mainly in Glasgow, and so if you understand Glaswegian accents (or can read Korean subtitles), then I highly recommend it. It’s a sad, yet uplifting film about a few ex-convicts doing community service and about how they get into whiskey tasting. Ken Loach is a superb director, and probably as different from Baz Lurhmann as you could get, but I have never seen a film of his I didn’t like. It was the perfect antidote to The (not so) Great Gatsby.
