The Wolf of Wall Street

[Stewball]

If there was a coherent message in there, I missed it. It looked like the main focus in its production was Scorsese's casting couch. The story became absurd at times, especially with the "choppy seas" and OD on ludes sequences. But like so many such feckless films, it just had to run the characters inescapable stupidity into the ground for 3 hours exactly, and to no apparent purpose.

[ShogunRua]

Yeah, I haven't been hearing particularly good feedback about this over at Cinemageddon, either.

Seems like yet another pretty, shallow, simplistic picture, the kind Scorsese has been exclusively making for the past decade. I guess combination of age and the realities of the modern box office rob even a genius like Scorsese of his once-amazing ideas, point of view, and depth.

[Suture Self]

Instead of "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster" the movie is essentially "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a stock broker", and in a way, the two movies (Goodfellas and The Wolf of Wall Street) parallel each other almost to a tee, though I prefer The Wolf of Wall Street since I thought it was the superior comedy.

Stewball, I'm wondering if you'd prefer Goodfellas, which you apparently haven't seen.

Also, this is an article worth reading: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1 ... 1019867200

[Suture Self]

Yeah, I haven't been hearing particularly good feedback about this over at Cinemageddon, either.

Seems like yet another pretty, shallow, simplistic picture, the kind Scorsese has been exclusively making for the past decade. I guess combination of age and the realities of the modern box office rob even a genius like Scorsese of his once-amazing ideas, point of view, and depth.

I find this commentary odd considering you haven't seen a movie of his since Casino, which you apparently liked. The Wolf of Wall Street is no more shallow or simplistic than Goodfellas or Casino. Granted, I'm not exactly in love with either of those movies, nor am I Scorsese's biggest fan. But if you were to pinpoint a drop off in quality, I'd pick something else, like Cape Fear or Shutter Island.

As for my opinion, the quality goes: The Wolf of Wall Street > Goodfellas > Casino.

[Stewball]

My appreciation for Scorsese is spotty. There are parallels between this and Goodfellas, which was just OK for me, but Wolf is just a lot of glitter with no sustaining energy and some pretty awful dull spots and cheesy scenes. His best stuff for me is Gangs of New York and The Departed. I was actually drawing a parallel between this and The Great Gatsby, what with the up from nobody to overwhelming opulence and all.

[ShogunRua]

Yeah, I haven't been hearing particularly good feedback about this over at Cinemageddon, either.

Seems like yet another pretty, shallow, simplistic picture, the kind Scorsese has been exclusively making for the past decade. I guess combination of age and the realities of the modern box office rob even a genius like Scorsese of his once-amazing ideas, point of view, and depth.

I find this commentary odd considering you haven't seen a movie of his since Casino, which you apparently liked. The Wolf of Wall Street is no more shallow or simplistic than Goodfellas or Casino. Granted, I'm not exactly in love with either of those movies, nor am I Scorsese's biggest fan. But if you were to pinpoint a drop off in quality, I'd pick something else, like Cape Fear or Shutter Island.

As for my opinion, the quality goes: The Wolf of Wall Street > Goodfellas > Casino.

I have actually seen most of Shutter Island, The Aviator, and The Departed. I just haven't seen any of them in their entirety, and thus, don't think it's fair to rank them. Not that any of those are "bad" films, either. But they're run-of-the-mill, good-looking, slick blockbusters that look gorgeous and have no point of view or depth to them.

I would certainly agree that Goodfellas > Casino, however, and yes, Casino isn't exactly a picture shining with depth.

[Suture Self]

You bastards need to learn not to start something you can't finish.

I like The Departed a lot so I disagree with you there, but yeah, The Aviator and especially Shutter Island were lacking when compared to some of his better movies.

[ShogunRua]

You bastards need to learn not to start something you can't finish.

I'm usually good about that, but these movies were played at a friend's house in the middle of parties.

I like The Departed a lot so I disagree with you there, but yeah, The Aviator and especially Shutter Island were lacking when compared to some of his better movies.

Reasonable enough. I have a lower opinion of The Departed than most since I had seen Infernal Affairs first.

[lisa-]

i have to say i was fairly disappointed as well.

i had a lot of hopes for this, but ultimately came out disappointed. it takes a suitably hard view of its characters, but while it has some original moments, it can't help but throw in plenty of hollywood cliches, which perhaps makes it feel tamer than one would like. it's also an extreme caricature of wall street, so it would need a lot more stylisation than it has here to properly remove it from a reality it doesn't deal that well with. in saying all this, i did enjoy its three hours.

[kgbelliveau]

This film is easily my favorite film of 2013. Yes, perhaps some of it was cliche and made for Hollywood and a caricature of Wall Street, but it is also based on Jordan Belforts memoirs. It is about his greed, his corruption and the wild things he did in order to maintain the high life. DiCaprio is amazing in this film, delivering his most nuanced work in years. Hands down the most fun and engaging film of 2013.