The Wolf of Wall Street (new Scorsese)

Goodfellas is taut and *short* though, makes me wonder if all the bloat in this was not in some ways v intentional, since the whole thing is about bloated excess.

there were some fairly comical things in the second half but tonally they didn't make me laugh much, which i think was an intentional function of the length and bloat - like they had to be made pathetic/ridiculous enough that you could see them as comical without finding them funny, because the funniness of the first half was part of the enticement of the audience but it needs a moral corrective that follows the plot.

surprising amount of slow motion in this - it's been a while since i've seen his older movies so i forget but he is fond of it, right? which seems caught up with the tone. all the scenes of office debauchery sliding into slow-mo or seeming sped-up like hints of benny hill, seemed like it voided all those scenes of their potential titillation.

I probably said this up thread but I think Scorsese’s moral seriousness is the reason he doesn’t shortchange the allure of “bad” behavior. Like they say about war movies, you kinda can’t help but make this stuff look fun/exciting...but he sees that the only way out is through, which is why on rewatching a 2nd or 3rd time the desperation and sadness that seems to drive everything/everyone seems downright obvious. I’d be willing to bet that on some level Scorsese sees making films itself as morally dubious...at least movies like this (though Silence has similar overtones)...and so they operate as confessions, and they keep that charge of titillation that all good confession surely has.

lord make me chaste, but not yet

this is a great thread, one day i will maybe watch this movie and discover who is right and who is wrong

it really says something about the audience that wants characters wrapped in immoral excess

every broke american is a temporarily disenfranchised millionaire, who would totally be the good millionaire if they actually made it. and if they weren't, then we should grant them some leeway, because they meant to be the good millionaire.

the audience is embodied in the movie by the two security guards who watch margot robbie's character taunt her husband sexually through the nanny cam

incredible movie

otm

Brad otm nelson