2103 Films: #3 and 2

# 3 The Wolf of Wall Street

I was out for a cocktail with a couple of friends after a play last weekend, and one of them said "I'm getting sick of people saying it's just like Goodfellas. That's the whole point Scorcese is trying to make. These guys are the new gangsters!"

Preach. It's got many of the same stylistic touches as Goodfellas: Plenty of cursing (the new record for 'f' bombs with 563), the voiceover narration throughout by DiCaprio, and the quick cut/spinning camera work from shot to shot. But it's not the same film. Leo gives his best performance in years as the cocksure Jordan Belfort, a predator on the rich peddling dummy stocks through pump and dump schemes. His right-hand man Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill) engineers the debauchery train as the money piles up in laughable amounts, with wild parties, innumerable hookers, tons of cocaine, booze and drugs. He eventually leaves his wife for the drop-dead gorgeous Naomi (Margot Robbie) and brings her along on his wild ride. Quite obviously, the higher the rise, the harder the fall, and the fall for Belfort begins with a riotous sequence in which he and Azoff are all kinds of high on rare Quaaludes. Considering the weak-ass prison sentence the real Belfort received for his actions, I'm not exactly sure what kind of message it is supposed to convey. Wolf is over three hours, but it's so frenetic that you hardly even notice. I had a blast. Thank goodness for all of us that Marty found Leo.

#2 12 years a Slave

We got to this movie about 3 minutes before it started and the only seats left together for the four of us were in the very front row. What a movie to see in the front row.

The story of free northerner Solomon Northrup (Chiwetel Ejiafor), kidnapped and sold into slavery in the late 1800s, was the bravest thing put on screen this year by a mile. Gravity may have been more innovative, but nothing touched the no-holds-barred look at the worst institution in American history in terms of it just straight-up going for it. While at times it was incredibly hard to watch (there were 3 or 4 times in which the entire audience gasped at the same time), it was also beautifully shot and very moving. The Hans Zimmer score was beautiful too, but I got distracted at times by the fact that it was the exact same main theme used in Inception. Alongside Ejiafor, it boasts the best ensemble cast of the year in Michael K. Williams (a fellow slave), Paul Giamatti (a slave trader), Benedict Cumberbatch (Solomon's first slaveowner, Ford) Paul Dano (a dimwitted slave driver), Michael Fassbender (Solomon's tyrannical, sociopath second slaveowner, Epps) newcomer and best supporting favorite Lupita Nyongo (a fellow slave on Epps' plantation) and Brad Pitt (an abolitionist who, as producer, picked the only redeemable white person role in the bunch). An absolute knockout, in every way. Bravo to director Steve McQueen for taking such a bold shot.

Up soon with #1 and some other stuff!!