The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - 8 / 10“Let me tell you something. There's no nobility in poverty. I've been a poor man, and I've been a rich man. And I choose rich every fucking time.” - Jordan Belfort
I'll just start by saying that I’m not a fan of Scorsese’s work. I really enjoyed a couple of his movies, but I never liked his style in particular and I’m not chasing after or prioritizing his movies. The Wolf of Wall Street is too much of everything: sex, drugs, profanity, laughs, dialogue, narration. From the opening shot of DiCaprio snorting cocaine from between a prostitute's open legs, this is 3 hours of absolute depravity. And it's hilarious. This was the fifth collaboration between much lauded director Martin Scorsese and, until now, Oscar looser Leonardo DiCaprio. Looking at the other 4 movies - Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2010) - The Wolf of Wall Street signals the moment the two finally took the step over the edge. The film somewhat comes close to Scorsese's older film, Goodfellas: a man who love affairs, with a job that betrays both of his marriage and any moral standards, however the guy lacks the sympathy which defines the character's humanity. The main character's human figure here has all the negative sides. Compare him to the other goodfella, his motivations and attempts are much insignificant, because of course, he has it all. The combination of Scorsese's narrative and Leonardo DiCaprio's performance creates a profound feeling of hatred towards Belfort. Despite having this ability of character development and appeal to the audience, the film severely lacks in describing exactly what crimes Belfort actually committed on Wall Street. The lack of factual details behind the true story is instead taken up by screen time consisting of Belfort's drug use and addiction to sex. DiCaprio plays the perfect antihero: Belfort is a liar, he cheats on his wife, he steals money from people, he is constantly drugged out of his mind and so on. Still, it's very difficult to hate him, and I think most people actually envy him: who wouldn't want to have so much money, so that you can throw $100 bills in the trash without blinking? DiCaprio's performance is wonderful, and I hope he'll finally win the Oscar he deserves. Also nominated for Oscar (again, after Moneyball) is Jonah Hill, playing Belfort's neurotic business partner, Donnie Azoff. It was recently revealed that Hill accepted without even thinking, the minimum pay of $60,000 for this role, simply because he was desperate to work with Scorsese, one of his heroes. This enthusiasm is immediately visible as he takes the role like a starved cat to food. His chemistry with DiCaprio is effortless and unforced, creating a warm, humorous and believable relationship upon which the movie basically survives. Hill gave the performance of his acting career, the character had deeper roots than his normal characters and it allows you to see a different side of his acting. It's hard to believe that Jonah Hill is that same actor that played the goofy kid in “Superbad” way back in 2007. It's the best performance of his I think I've seen (maybe even better than in Moneyball). For those 3 hours he genuinely was Donny Azoff, and played the role perfectly. The beautiful Margot Robbie plays Jordan's second wife, Naomi. Robbie is great in her role, seducing and sexual yet trustworthy, Naomi is not just the eye candy in the movie and it’s quite easy for such a sexually based character to be objectified in films, whereas Robbie triggers real emotion of sympathy from the audience towards the end of the movie in various Jordan related scenes. Also notable strong performance from Rob Reiner (his dad) and Kyle Chandler (FBI agent). And for only few scenes, Matthew McConaughey, as Belfort's mentor, Mark Hanna, steals the show in his usual way, that reminded me of his role from Magic Mike. The only criticism I would perhaps make, and I’m really picky here, is the running time. At 3 hours, I'll admit there was a slight lapse in my concentration and I think that some dialogues could have been slightly shortened. The Wolf of Wall Street is one of the most brutal, honest and smart films I have seen in the past 5-6 years. Done with a twisted, dark sense of humor, we see the effect money has on people, and its almost impossible to dislike any of the characters, despite them being money grubbing, cocaine sniffing, deceptive, womanizing, yet extremely ingenious and dexterous individuals.
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Don Jon (2013) - 8 / 10“There's only a few things I really care about in life. My body. My pad. My family. My church. My boys. My girls. My porn.” - Jon
So…Sex? Hard to talk about. Masturbation? Hmm, harder to talk about. Masturbation + Pornography? Dear Lord, now we're taboo. Is this a great movie? No, but it is an original one and it feels like a breath of fresh air in the current Marvel Comics shoot-'em-bang-bang-explode movie thingy. Joseph Gordon-Levitt wrote, directed and stars as Jon, a twenty-something man who loves women but not as much as watching porn. The former child star has turned into quite the up-and-coming young actor as he's worked on rebranding himself as something more than that kid from 3rd Rock From the Sun and 10 things I hate about you. Over the years, he's starred in such films as The Dark Knight Rises, 50/50 or Looper, and proved to us that he’s the type of actor that can play a comedy or a drama with such ease. However, his most impressive performance to date might just be the one he gave in front and behind the camera with Don Jon. Don Jon touches on that extremely embarrassing fact that every guy is terrified that his most deep secret will come out. What secret is that? Well, it's probably best hearing from the protagonist, Jon, himself: "Every guy looks at porn, every day.” This movie shows us a real problem, the process of porn turning our heads, making us believe in perfection and making us selfish as lovers. You watch porn and think that you don't have to please a woman, you don't have to worry about anyone but yourself. In the real world, in relationships, the other person matters just as much as you, but sometimes, even the real thing is not as good as the fantasy and the ease of it. Don Jon is about that confusion of liking and appreciating porn more than real women, of becoming addicted to the idea of “perfection" and ultimately making us aware of the effect it has on all us men, making us irritated little boys, incapable of truly connecting with another person. The message is not that porn is bad, only the way we think and use it is misleading to reality. I think that this is the first movie I've seen which accurately depicts 21st century man's relationship with pornography as a simple fact of life, without judgement. Usually in a Hollywood film the guy watching porn is seen as some kind of creep, but here, as Jon himself says, “every guy watches porn, and if he says he doesn't he's a liar”. What really impressed me about Don Jon, though, are the performances that Levitt pulls out of his colleagues/actors. I've honestly never seen Scarlett Johansson give a better performance than she did as Jon's trashy New Jersey girlfriend, Barbara, maybe even better than her ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona” role. She's absolutely despicable as she slowly begin to reveal her true intentions and tries to paint Jon as the bad guy when she discovers his addiction. She’s addicted to sugary fantasies of male sacrifice, waiting for her prince on the white horse to come and swipe her of her feet. "He gave up EVERYTHING for her," she comments as they come out of her latest chick flick 'Special Someone'. "It was MEANT to be!” she said, daydreaming. On top of that, Tony Danza gives a extremely amusing and ridiculous performance as Jon's impulsive father who gets into dick-measuring (figurative :P) contest with his son every Sunday at family lunch. Julianne Moore is fantastic in the role of Esther, playing a much larger role than I had originally expected, and did a great job helping Jon grow as a person. And yes, she’s still hot, even though she’s 53 years old. However, the most impressive of them all is Levitt himself, who has repeatedly proved that he is one hell of an actor and one who has earned my trust as a moviegoer. The role is something so far from what I would have ever pictured him portraying, but he pulls it off beautifully as he plays the scumbag good-guy stereotype. I must confess that the only 2 things that come to my mind when I think of this movie are the opening sound of his Macbook Pro, that’s his leitmotif of getting ready for “business” and his writing for Jon's weekly confessions in church, that’s just hilarious: “Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last confession. Since last Sunday I had sexual relations out of wedlock two times. I also watched pornographic videos and masturbated seventeen times. For these, and all the sins in my life, I am sorry.” - Jon. Yes, the film does have a lot of sexual humor and content in it, but it has some reason to, seeing as the film is dealing with addiction to pornography. And what may have seemed immature and like teenage humor for the first little bit of the film, soon went away and it became one of the most penetrating and intelligent films of the year. It's the kind of film you would almost want younger teens to see in order to learn something and perhaps plan their own lives and future relationships a little more differently. 50/50 (2011) – 8.5 / 10
'You could be having sex with hookers whilst skydiving, and your last wish is to drive a car?' - Kyle 50/50 este pe jumate morbid si pe jumatate plin de umor; este pe jumatate serios si pe jumatate linistitor; este pe jumatate “bromance” si jumatate comedie romantica. Intr-adevar, 50/50 este, dupa cum spune si titlul, un film din doua jumatati. Comparatia dintre 50/50 si Funny People (2009) este inevitabila. Dar din fericire, in afara de personajul principal, care este diagnosticat cu o boala terminala, este un film complet diferit. Iti dai seama ca este o comedie neagra atunci cand exista o gluma cu moartea lui Patrick Swayze in primele 20 de minute. Cu toate acestea, filmul este foarte amuzant, dar totusi reuseste sa mentina o balanta perfecta intre comedie si drama. Momentele amuzante sunt foarte amuzante, dar cele dramatice reusesc sa le intreaca. Este genial mai ales atunci cand ai scene care le contin pe ambele – ca aceea in care Kyle o expune pe Rachael. Joseph Gordon Levitt face o treaba fantastica exprimand sentimente de curaj, calm si izolare. Totul se poate vedea pe fata lui. Lucrurile marunte fac un film sa para autentic. Reuseste sa mentina un calm constant pentru cea mai mare parte a filmului, calm care se simte real. Seth Rogen este absolut hilar. Acest film ii apartine in proportie de 50%. El este surprinzator de sensibil in rolul de cel mai bun prieten care-si poate arata afectiunea prin glume cu tenta sexuala si prin incercarea de a-l ajuta pe Adam sa faca sex. Personajul sau o uraste pe Rachael (prietena lui Adam) si cand afla ca nu au mai facut sex de cateva saptamani, are, probabil, cea mai buna replica din tot filmul – „if I was your girlfriend, I'd be sucking your cock right now!” De asemenea, si supporting cast-ul este perfect ales. Anna Kendrick in rolul lui Katherine, terapeutul lui Adam, o studenta ce lucreaza pentru doctorat, al carui al treilea pacient din viata ei este chiar Adam. Anjelica Huston joaca rolul mamei lui Adam, al carui sot sufera de Alzheimer. Huston ofera o performanta fortat-amuzanta, desi discreta. Bryce Dallas Howard in rolul lui Rachael, pare a avea un talent in a juca personaje teribile. Intre acest rol si cel din The Help de la inceputul anului, nu as fi surprins daca in urmatorul sau rol, va lovi un catelus. Este un film plin de prestatii incredibile, dar o mentiune speciala trebuie sa primeasca regizorul Jonathan Levine, care reuseste sa mentina orice inflorire tehnica la un nivel minim, permitandu-le actorilor sa joace scenariul in fata unei camere, in mare parte tinuta in mana. O decizie inteleapta, intrucat subiectul si stralucirea dialogului nu au nevoie de artificii tehnice. El are, totusi, o scena in miscare, amuzanta si ciudata, in care Adam, drogat de la prajiturile „speciale” ale unui alt pacient, rataceste pe un coridor de spital in slow-motion, chicotind la tot ceea ce vede, incluzand oameni in diverse stadii ale cancerului si chiar un cadavru. Nu-mi este clar de ce acest film lipseste din listele nominalizarilor la Oscar. Poate fi din cauza subiectului greu de digerat, poate pentru ca nu i s-a facut destula reclama, poate ca nu a prins la public sau pur si simplu a fost ignorat. Dar este un film care merita vizionat iar scenariul merita apreciat (scris de Will Reiser si bazat pe propria poveste). Este un film care analizeaza efectul unui diagnostic de cancer la un pacient tanar si felul in care-I impacteaza prietenii, viata amoroasa si oamenii cu care intra in contact din cauza bolii. Iar din aceasta categorie facem parte si noi, publicul. What’s your number ? – 6.5 / 10
What’s your number ? probabil mai mare decat nota primita de acest film… Din pacate, chiar si cu asteptarile reduse, acest film a fost o dezamagire. Si e chiar pacat - Anna Faris (Ally Darling – frumos nume) şi Chris Evans (Colin Shea) fac un cuplu simpatic, ceea ce le ofera posibilitatea de a se „fool arround” si sa para real. Cu toate acestea, filmul este doar o adunatura de scenarii, dintre care unele merg iar altele nu prea. Mi se pare o risipa teribila; foarte putine actrite au un potential comic atat de mare si o dorinta de a se face de ras, precum Anna. Chiar si ideea povestii, cu Faris revizitandu-si fostii, este irosita aiurea, desi exista multe „materiale” bune, cu faze comice ce ar fi putut avea un impact mult mai puternic. Aici il includ pe Martin Freeman si personajul sau care-si miroase degetele. Un rol secundar care mi-a placut foarte mult este al mamei demonice si elegante a Annei, interpretata foarte bine de Blythe Danner. In ceea ce-l priveste pe Evans, actor pe care l-am vazut crescand, de la rolul din Not another teen movie, prin Fantastic Four si pana la rolul foarte bun din Captain America (abia astept sa-l revad imbracand costumul in The Avengers), care are un rol interesant, acela de (nu stiu daca exista expresie in romana mai buna) “man ho’ ”, ingamfat dar usor de indragit, atat el (cat si abdomenul lui perfect :P), fac vizionarea mai usoara pana la sfarsit. In plus, scena de pe terenul de basket, este, probabil una din cele mai sexy scene ce include o minge, din filme. In ceea ce priveste scenariul, este practic acelasi ca la alte filme de gen. Un cuplu neobisnuit, ce incep ca straini, ajungand sa se apropie din ce in ce mai tare, pana ce realizeaza ca “the right one” a fost mereu in fata sa. Cel mai interesant aspect este cel legat de cati parteneri sexuali ar trebui sa aibe o femeie pe parcursul vietii. Acest aspect a fost destul de amuzant si a adaugat cateva situatii incomode si amuzante. Nu pot sa spun ca am ras prea mult la acest film, dar am ras putin si sincer, as fi vrut sa rad mai mult, dar comicul sare de la “retardat” la “intelectual”, cu unele nuante de gri intre ele. Bad Santa – 7 / 10
Un film de Craciun care nu este un film de Craciun. …dupa standardele obisnuite. Este un film de sarbatori gresit in atat de multe feluri, special si in mod clar original. Contine spiritul si mesajul sarbatorilor, dar le livreaza intr-un pachet nemaivazut pana acum. Fiecare moment este mai ofensator si scandalos decat cel dinainte. E crud, vulgar si jignitor, dar o face intr-un mod inteligent. E unu din cele mai bune filme de Craciun din toate timpurile. Casting-ul este genial, iar chimia dintre personaje este foarte bine realizata. Billy Bob Thornton este teribil de amuzant in rolul de ratat-betiv ce imbraca acelasi costum rosu in fiecare an in perioada sarbatorilor. Doar vazandu-l pe Mos Craciun comportandu-se ca un betiv si injurand la fiecare doua cuvinte, va spune cat de diferit este acest film de restul filmelor de sezon si va prinde pana la genericul de final. Interpretarea tuturor actorilor a fost mai buna decat ma asteptam. Billy Bob Thornton a facut o treaba excelenta. Tony Cox este absolut hilar ca “midget”. Raposatii John Ritter (care a murit chiar in timpul filmarilor) si Bernie Mac au facut roluri bune. Chiar si prestatia pustiului a fost foarte buna, chiar daca personajul sau este teribil de enervant. Daca vrei orice altceva, dar nu cel mai ofensator film cu Mos Craciun, te sfatuiesc sa stai departe. Daca totusi esti atras de acest film, iti promit ca o sa-ti dea lacrimile de ras. If Only - 8 / 10
Ideea din spatele filmului nu este originala, dar am apreciat faptul ca, desi puteau "repeta" actiunea de mai multe ori, ducand la o continuitate ireala (mai mult decat este cazul), au preferat sa se concentreze doar pe "what if" si sa profite la maxim de acest lucru. Scenariul te pune pe ganduri si te face sa apreciezi ce ai in acest moment si chiar prima conversatie din taxi, te face sa te intrebi ceva ce, cu siguranta, te-ai ferit sa te intrebi de mai multe ori. Cand dai peste un astfel de film, ajungi sa te intrebi daca nu cumva filmul va incerca prea mult sa traga de "sforile inimii" in incercarea de a manipula o reactie emotionanta, dar acest film este atat de natural, incat nu trebuie sa va faceti probleme in privinta asta. Filmul te atinge cu adevarat prin scenariul inteligent, "miscator" si serios, presarat cu umor cand este cazul si o directie foarte bine aleasa. Interpretarea actorilor, cel putin pentru mine, a fost cea mai mare uimire. Daca pe Jennifer Love Hewitt o vazusem in mai multe filme si chipul foarte expresiv o ajuta enorm in exprimarea oricarei trairi si oricarui sentiment, fara probleme, de Paul Nicholls chiar nu mai auzisem, dar are o interpretare si o prezenta fermecatoare si naturala. Coloana sonora este foarte bine aleasa pentru o poveste de dragoste, iar felul in care este filmat, nu iese cu nimic in evidenta. Recomand acest film tuturor, mai ales celor care au o persoana importanta in viata lor. Acesta va poate deschide ochii si imbunatatii relatia cu persoana iubita. Midnight in Paris - 9 / 10
O capodopera ! Al doilea film (dupa Vicky Christina Barcelona) al lui Woody Allen care chiar mi-a placut. A avut un inceput cam monoton, dar si-a revenit rapid si m-a prins. Un film pur si simplu superb. O interpretare mult prea buna a lui Owen Wilson intr-un film de genul asta. O atmosfera superba, o coloana sonora superba, totul completat de o poveste superba. O capodopera care inoata in metafore, cu Owen Wilson in frunte. Daca ai niste cunostinte minime despre arta si ai citit macar o singura carte la viata ta, inafara de cele obligatorii din scoala, vei aprecia acest film cu adevarat. Friends with benefits - 8 / 10
Un film surprinzator de bun. Un inceput modest, dar destul de direct, niste personaje principale foarte bine conturate pe tot parcursul filmului, un scenariu foarte bun si foarte bine interpretat. In ciuda numelui, este un film cu foarte mult bun simt in ceea ce priveste imaginile, cu putina nuditate justificata, cu multe replici amuzante si foarte bine scrise si cu o coloana sonora minunat aleasa. Un alt film foarte bine jucat de catre Justin Timberlake. Mister Popper's Pinguins - 7 / 10
O comedie buna de vazut cu prietena, cu unele faze amuzante, unele faze facute special pentru Jim Carrey, multi pinguini si multa binedispozitie. Un film care-ti aduce aminte ca e bine sa mai lasi treaba si sa te mai si distrezi, sa lupti pentru ce-ti doresti cu adevarat si sa nu te dai batut. The Smurfs - 4 / 10
Prostesc, copilaros, prost realizat, dezamagitor. Mi-era dor de de personajele indragite cu care am copilarit si nu asta era solutia. O simpla suprapunere slaba a caracterelor animate, peste filmarea reala. O iluminare destul de slaba, dar o detaliere incredibila a strumfilor (textura pielii este foarte reala si bine realizata). O comedie pentru copii si pentru copilul din tine. |