The Wolf of Wall Street (new Scorsese)

I know, and that's just uninteresting and redundant.

Zacharek:

Scorsese doesn't pass judgment on his characters, which at first seems like a plus. But he can't get a fix on the tone; the movie has the intentionally sour spirit of Goodfellas, but none of its grim humor.

What, exactly, does he think of these people? His portrayal has no sharpness, no skepticism.... Scorsese is one of the few great old-guard filmmakers with the clout to make movies on this scale, and this picture — dreary, self-evident, too repetitive to be much fun even as satire — is what he comes up with?

http://www.villagevoice.com/2013-12-18/film/wolf-of-wall-street-movie-review/

omg i hope yr resolution was to not be like this

― lag∞n, Wednesday, January 1, 2014 9:15 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

yeah i could stand 2 b less right, more lagoonian

i like zacharek but that review couldnt be less otm

Not sure if it's been linked to already, but another negative review that jibed perfectly with my own reaction is Edelstein's:

http://www.vulture.com/2013/12/movie-review-the-wolf-of-wall-street.html

(Agreeing with a critic is secondary to engaging with the critic's writing, but I did find myself in sync with Edelstein a high percentage of the time this past year. Also think he's an excellent writer.)

edelstein's review sucked too, he didnt even think about the movie

plz to link to a negative or at least mixed/conflicted review you don't think sucked?

i only read 3 reviesw, link me some and ill evaluate them 1 by 1

just to clarify, edelstein's a good writer (i do think he has a problem with giving into his glibbest reaction to a movie when it isnt something immediately to his taste) and i dont fault anyone wwho didnt like the movie, i totally get why someone might look at 3 hours of unmoderated degeneracy and go 'thats it?' (especially if they didnt find it particularly funny) - i just dont think the things he says about it are very apt, especially The Wolf of Wall Street is three hours of horrible people doing horrible things and admitting to being horrible. But you’re supposed to envy them anyway, because the alternative is working at McDonald’s and riding the subway alongside wage slaves.

The shot of the FBI guy in the subway felt like another shading from Belfort's retelling of the story - like from Belfort's POV, /of course/ Chandler would be all sad on the subway, with bags under his eyes, while Belfort is playing tennis in minimum security prison

Chandler is also such a great caricature of a film noir detective. Those heavyset owls, jowls, and that five o clock shadow!

he gave my favorite performance

yeah that chandler guy's really good. ive seen him in a few things and he was awesome in all of them. he's the friday night lights guy right?

This movie was great

i totally get why someone might look at 3 hours of unmoderated degeneracy and go 'thats it?' (especially if they didnt find it particularly funny) - i just dont think the things he says about it are very apt

otm, yet to find a negative review that doesn't try infer some kind of failed message or misunderstanding on scorsese's part, instead of just saying "i don't need to watch 3 hours of Greed Follies, thank you"

I mean shit like this

Scorsese seems to think that by blowing Belfort’s book up to three hours he’s making an epic statement. But it’s not as if he shows you the consequences of Belfort’s actions.

is so projecting (has this guy ever seen Marty in epic statement mode? cuz this movie ain't it) and moralistic (maybe martin realizes you don't need to see the umpteenth fucking speech about how money isn't everything)

imo the tone was sort of like dr. strangelove in its "the lunatics have taken the asylum" yocky cynicism with a touch of "hey being rich and high IS fun" quaalude nostalgia - which I appreciated him finding a less tapped-out time-period for. Hilarious that while everyone is raiding his '70s jukebox, he's scoring scenes to the Lemonheads and having people dance on a yacht to "hip hop hooray."

granted maybe if i had a college-age kid maybe i'd be all upset that martin went and made my son another shameful dorm poster

hey did anyone watch cosmopolis hahahaha

i tried

same, couldnt deal. one of my best friends rides for it, he's pretty weird though

his other favourite movie is syriana

Crapshitopiss

watching cosmopolis is very close to the experience of redaing cosmopolis, which means it Sucks

I thought the disturbing message from this film, or at least one of them, is that money sort of *is* everything. It even invokes the "I've been rich and I've been poor and rich is better" mantra. It's the fullest, grossest, most OTT corruption of the American dream yet: you, too, can become rich, and fuck everyone else if that's what it takes. If there's anything too subtle about this, it's the film's relationship with the current financial state of affairs, the true Masters of the Universe on Wall Street who still rape and pillage at an almost unheard of scale. The movie is similarly subtle about emphasizing that for all his largesse, Jordan was not a major player. He was a street hustler who got in through the back door. The real power players are born into it, and get away with more (and probably worse).

so awesome that martin can still scare fuddies with excessive dark humor only now the fuddies are twenty plus years younger than him

"grandpa how could you imply that excessive drug use and greed can be enjoyable, let alone entertaining to watch?! my son is watching!"

basics fretting abt glamorizing zzzzz

i mean its a movie its glamour that why its cool

preach

art man, art

also like, that shit was glamorous irl, too

yeah being successful and powerful and rich is glamorous

damn, croup, thought your ass would get numb watching it too

i mean they couldve been even more glamorous if they werent such tools but you know

glamorous tools

numb butts

Meryl Streep as glamorous tool.

it was long, yeah, come trophy-time i'll probably root for llewyn over it (and in part for sentimental "it's about something bigger" reasons!) but there were a ton of amazing performances, set pieces, etc and it wasn't so long that i forgot it's a comedy and started fantasizing that scorsese doesn't realize how cynical he's being. there's more to this world than Strangelove-type movies suggest but that doesn't mean i'll stop laughing and cry out for Fail-Safe instead.

That's my trouble. Apart from being happy to see Scrunchy Face realize he's a good physical actor and hasn't been one since 2002 the rest were pretty much what you'd expect if Kyle Chandler, Jonah Hill, and McConoughheyhey were cast in a movie about glamorous tools.

hill was the best part imho

he's made lovey-dovey eyes at his leading men before cept now he's doing it with his teeth

hill was great (shit, everyone was - margot robbie esp) though i wonder if he'll ever outgrow the gay-baiting improv

Robbie's tease bit was the only thing I remembered she did, but then I like blonde men.

funny that edelstein brings up martin sheen but forgets to mention rob reiner's father figure entirely. reiner calls out how obscene it is, advises his son to be smart, but doesn't pull some pious "i made my money the honest capitalist way" shit - he knows how money works.

martin sheen in wall street, to be clear.

the father in this movie was great

when leo's telling him about the whores

Reiner swearing and shouting was at J-Law levels of unbelievability. Another run at his bit in Bullets Over Broadway.

rare is the ilxor that should be calling a huffy pretentious equalizer fan absurd

so awesome that martin can still scare fuddies with excessive dark humor only now the fuddies are twenty plus years younger than him

I hated it because its dark humour scared me?