Tag Archives: Martin Scorsese

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The Wolf of Wall Street – Review

the wolf of wall street poster

In my review for American Hustle, I said that it seemed like David O. Russell was attempting to do his best Martin Scorsese. The Wolf of Wall Street almost feels like this is Martin Scorsese’s answer back. “No, this is how you do Martin Scorsese.” Mr. Scorsese does Martin Scorsese to 11 with The Wolf of Wall Street. This movie is the most over the top project directed by Mr. Scorsese since the video for Michael Jackson’s Bad.

It’s The Wolf of Wall Street’s over the top tone that keeps it so entertaining for it’s exactly three hour running time. Yes, that’s right, 180 minutes. The Wolf of Wall Street is two minutes longer than the theatrical release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.  Thankfully, Terrence Winter’s screenplay combined with Scorsese’s directing made for a much faster moving movie than it’s three hour run time would suggest. At no point was I looking at my watch, wondering how much more we had to go.

This is NOT the size soda you want to order for a 3 hour movie.

This is NOT the size soda you want to order for a 3 hour movie.

Following what I would call the classic Martin Scorsese story arc, Jordan Belfort gets really good at doing something bad, is handsomely rewarded for it and then comes crashing down to earth in the end. It’s almost like Goodfellas on steroids. The money that Jordan Belfort makes in The Wolf of Wall Street puts Henry Hill’s biggest heist to shame. Though when the rug gets pulled out from under him, Jordan has a much easier fall than Henry did. They both lose the lives they had, but Jordan’s bounce into his new life seems to have bounced a lot higher than Hill’s, at least in the way that the ending of The Wolf of Wall Street depicts it.

The acting in The Wolf of Wall Street is top notch. Leonardo DiCaprio shows again why he is this author’s favorite actor of his generation. Best Leading Actor Oscar worthy? Not this year, when your competition is Matthew McConoughey in Dallas Buyers Club and Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave. That said, this continues the streak of Leonardo DiCaprio films being films you should see.

Jonah Hill is great as Belfort’s right hand man, Donnie Azoff. Hill has the most entertaining line in the whole movie when he lets out, “I want…to smoke crack…with youuu!” shortly after meeting Belfort. This will be the line I quote most from the movie.

According to IMDB, Matthew McConoughey’s chest thumping at lunch was McConoughey’s idea, and not something that happened that lunch in real life. This makes sense, as that scene is pure McConoughey. That chest thumping is a warming ritual McConoughey does before acting.

We caught The Wolf of Wall Street at the excellent 84th and Broadway AMC. Dear New York City, why would you go to any other movie theater? This one rocks. Barcaloungers, reserved seats, a well stocked snack bar, what more could I want? If a movie I want to see is playing in this theater, I want to see it in this theater.

tommy popcorn

This size popcorn is 100% the right size popcorn for a 3 hour movie.

Yes, The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours long. Yes, the f-bomb is dropped over 500 times in the movie. Yes, there’s a lot of drug use, nudity and unsavory characters. And also…yes, you should definitely see it.

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American Hustle – Review

american hustle poster

How do you look at American Hustle? Is it Mystique, Hawkeye, Batman and Lois Lane teaming up? The cast of The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook getting together for the movie equivalent of a super group ala The Travelling Wilburies? Watching American Hustle, I couldn’t help but wonder if David O. Russell asked himself if he could do a Martin Scorsese movie, specifically Goodfellas.

American Hustle opens with Irving (Christian Bale) and Sydney (Amy Adams) talking in voiceover about how they met. Their speeches had definite shades of Goodfellas’ opening line, “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster.”

The characters costumes seemed right out of Goodfellas as well. During American Hustle, I couldn’t help but think that toupee wearing dry-cleaner turned con man Irving’s story was actually what was going on with Morrie in Goodfellas when he wasn’t being choked by Jimmy Conway.

Then Robert De Niro showed up and I had no idea if I was watching Goodfellas or American Hustle. My confusion mounted when they cut to a flashback scene of Robert De Niro’s character as a young mobster that I think might have been a deleted scene from Goodfellas. American Hustle’s title should have been Goodfellas 2: Camden Nights.

I enjoyed the twist at the end of American Hustle. It was very Ocean’s 11-esque. However, the 20 minutes before the twist seemed to slog. I felt myself fidgeting in my seat, wondering where this movie was going.

Should you see American Hustle? Take this quiz to find out.

1. Are you a fan of Amy Adams side boob?

amy adams side boob

 

2. Same question, but this time Jennifer Lawrence.

jennifer lawrence boobs

3. Are you a dude who curls your own hair?

bradley cooper curlers

 

4. Is Fat Batman you thing?

fat batman

 

5. Do you want to see Jimmy Conway in action one more time?

robert de niro goodfellas

If you answered Yes to any of these, you should see American Hustle! If you answered No to all of these, I recommend watching The Fighter again instead.

the righter poster

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The Great Gatsby – Review

4/5 – See this in 3D!

Here’s a piece of advice I never thought I’d be giving for a film adaptation of The Great Gatsby: see it in 3D. Seriously, no joke. See it in 3D. “But 3D is stupid! It never adds anything to the movie except three dollars to the ticket price!” you exclaim. Most of the time, I agree with you 100%. But it’s worth it with Gatsby.  Trust me. Baz Luhrmann makes very good use of 3D tricks to make a beautifully shot movie look even more beautiful. It’s not just people reaching out from the screen towards the audience, aka every other 3D movie. It’s the way Nick’s reflection shimmers in a window, or the way the green light from Daisy’s dock glows across the bay. This is 3D all grown-up, not the adolescent stunts it’s usually associated with.

The Great Gatsby is a very good movie. I doubted it, based on the trailer. And then the movie came out to middling reviews and I doubted it more. The trailer looked beautiful, but I worried Baz Luhrmann would give in to excess and make it too over the top. But instead, he strikes a great balance between energy and elegance. The entire movie is shot beautifully and paced excellently.

I think Leonardo DiCaprio has over taken Joseph Gordon Levitt as my favorite actor of the 2000s. Looking at DiCaprio’s track record from 2002 onward, when he starred in Gangs of New York opposite Daniel Day Lewis, you would be hard pressed to find a bad movie. Note: As of today, I haven’t seen The Aviator, Body of Lies, Revolutionary Road or J. Edgar. But even if those four movies were clunkers, the remaining films are all high quality. These days, you can pretty much bank that if you’re going to see a Leonardo DiCaprio movie, you’re going to see a good movie. How many other actors without the initials JGL can you say that about?

I don’t know anything about The Wolf of Wall Street other than Leonardo DiCaprio stars and Martin Scorsese directs.
I’m doubly sold.

I forgot that Carey Mulligan played Daisy Buchanan in this movie. While watching it, I kept thinking I was looking at Michelle Williams, and then at one point, I couldn’t tell if she was Michelle Williams or Katie Holmes in a blonde wig. She didn’t have Holmes’s signature half-smirk, but she sounded more like Holmes than Williams and looked more like Williams than Holmes. Then the credits rolled. Carey Mulligan. Huh. It turns out Carey Mulligan is who you get if Michelle Williams and Katie Holmes have a baby in some out-of-left-field Dawson’s Creek subplot.

Dawson, it turns out it wasn’t Pacey you had to keep an eye on.

See The Great Gatsby in the theater in 3D. Otherwise, you might as well wait to see at home.