“The Wolf of Wall Street” – The name of the game, moving the money from the client’s pocket to your pocket.

Scorsese is a lot like Tarantino to me; I don’t like all the movies that everyone else seems to love. The last Scorsese movie I truly enjoyed was probably “Gangs of New York”, which I believe was also his first collaboration with DiCaprio. I’ve seen most of his other DiCaprio movies but none of them really grip me; they’re just long and seem to follow the same recipe of “riches to rags”. Sadly I didn’t feel like much was different with “The Wolf of Wall Street”, but it was definitely more entertaining than some of their other films.

If the movie made me feel anything, it’s that I’m glad I don’t deal with the stock market. I tend to say “enjoy fast-paced environments” on cover letters but there’s no way I’d survive in a pit. Of course this movie focuses on insider trading and illegal stock sales that wind up making the characters millionaires, when at first they barely had a pot to, you know, do stuff in. DiCaprio narrates the entire movie and sometimes breaks the 4th wall entirely, so in case you aren’t able to follow his visual spiral into drugs and bad, you’ll be able to listen to how poorly things are going. Honestly it just didn’t…do a whole lot that “Wall Street” didn’t do. In fact, I think DiCaprio’s character Jordan Belfort even mentions at one point that his idol was Gordon Gecko. So it’s your basic recipe of get-rick-quick schemes that go awry and then the awkward hour and a half of watching these characters struggle to hold on and survive, while continually shoving powder up their noses.

To it’s credit though, it wasn’t a “bad” movie, I did enjoy it. And by “enjoy” I mean that I wasn’t dying of boredom by the end as Scorcese’s movies tend to make me do. There are some excellent performances throughout the whole thing, namely by DiCaprio (who so far deserves the Oscar in my mind, but I haven’t watched all the movies yet), but also Matthew McConaughey who’s in the movie a whopping five minutes, Jonah Hill, Kyle Chandler, and Jean Dujardin. Jonah Hill especially dazzles, considering one of the first movies I ever saw him in was “Accepted” (which I still hold true to be an excellent flick), and is more than deserving of his Oscar nod. That’s the thing about Scorcese’s films, is that more than the cinematography or scenery, the acting is always impeccable so I’ve got to hand him that. Reading through the trivia I found out that the real Jordan Belfort was pretty happy with the outcome of the film, so that’s got to be a testament to some good film making.

Can’t say it would be bad to have a yacht though. I’m sure all of Scorcese’s cast members get one as a “Thank you.”

Honestly the strongest things to me that made it more “eh” than “awesome” were the constant drug use and T&A. I remember first realizing what separated PG-13 from R, and it just made me think that producers would watch a screener and say, “If we’re going to call this an R film, we need bucket loads of swearing and so many naked women you’d start to think it was normal.” Sadly Scorcese seems to have bought into this theory because most scenes contain one, if not both of these. A strong film should rely more on the story than naked bodies and drugs to entice viewers, but I’m not a ratings reader so who knows what drew people to see it. I don’t know, seems a lot of mobster movies these days contain these two things and they have a huge following, one that I’m not a part of, so I could be barking up the wrong tree. Oh well.

DIRECTOR’S CUT: Overall I was happy with the outcome and not sad that it took up three hours of my life. If it wins some statues, I won’t be disappointed.

FLICKCHART RATING: 694/2074

“Mud”

I was perusing VideoETA a few weeks ago, which is a pretty awesome website that tells you when movies are going to be released on DVD, when I saw some ads for movies coming out in theaters this summer. There were just three, all under the heading for “Coming of Age” so I figured I’d check them out. The one that really stood out for me was “Mud”. Basing it off the trailer and the fact that Matthew McConaughey’s physique is actually hidden under a shirt on the poster, I felt that it would be a solid flick.

Our whole lives we’re taught not to judge books by their covers but I feel that may have been more reasonable about 30 years ago. Today you can look at some things and pretty much understand what’s going on within five seconds, and shortly after determine whether you want to be a part of it or not. So when YouTube showed me what looked like a pretty decent movie with a guy whose shirt is normally off the whole time he’s on screen, I was willing to give it a shot. When it came out in select theaters I realized that the new place down the street was showing it. A 98% rating on RottenTomatoes was only fuel for why I should give it two hours of my life, so Emily and I went to see it.

So enough about my riveting experience sitting through a movie; I suppose I should actually tell you about it. “Mud” is the story of two young boys in Arkansas who spend their days doing what most little kids should do; play outside and explore places they aren’t allowed to go. During one excursion to a small island in the middle of a river they come across a boat that’s been tossed into some trees after the last storm that came through. Shortly after they come across a man (McConaughey) who calls himself Mud but appears to be relatively harmless. It’s at this point the general plot of the movie is revealed, which you can discover for yourself by watching the trailer. I really don’t want to get into it too much because this movie is so heavy on the acting that the story isn’t all that complex, so giving it away before you buy your ticket wouldn’t give you that much to look forward to. But the acting…wow.

He keeps his shirt on for about 94% of the movie.

Which is a first.

I was particularly blown away by the two kids, Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland. These guys are probably 14 or 15 years old in real life but I felt like I was actually watching these kids…be kids. Usually in a film like this with a big name, supporting actors will be crushed underneath the lead’s feet but that was not at all the case here. McConaughey was amazing, and while I sincerely hope he gets an Oscar nod for this, Tye Sheridan has a great career ahead of him if he sticks with film work. Honestly this movie had some big (and great) names attached to it. The likes of Reese Witherspoon, Michael Shannon, and Sam Shepard to boot, and yet all of them shared the space perfectly. When you think about it, or at least when I do, I can’t place any particularly “memorable” movies that take place in Arkansas but this definitely takes the number one spot from here on out.

DIRECTOR’S CUT: The term “Coming of Age” can’t be better described than what’s presented in “Mud”, and if you’re not smiling by the end credits, hit yourself.

FLICKCHART RATING: 63/2006