The Wolf of Wall Street

When young Jordan Belfort loses his new stock broker job after Black Monday in 1987, he takes a job with a small Long Island company selling penny stocks. Through corruption and lies, he builds his own firm using his friends and drug dealers who he turns into stock brokers. Sex, Drugs, Corruption and lots and lots of money is what drives this real life story of how Jordan built an empire with his scams and the inevitable fall at the hands of the FBI.

Cast

Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort

Jonah Hill as Donnie Azoff (based on Danny Porush)

Margot Robbie as Naomi Lapaglia (based on Nadine Caridi)

Matthew McConaughey as Mark Hanna

Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham (based on FBI Agent Gregory Coleman)

Rob Reiner as Max Belfort

 Jon Bernthal as Brad Bodnick

Jon Favreau as Manny Riskin

Jean Dujardin as Jean-Jacques Saurel

Joanna Lumley as Aunt Emma

Who will like this movie

Although you could make the argument that it is comparable to "Wall Street" with Michael Douglas,  I would more likely compare it to "Goodfellas" set on Wall Street instead. In fact, I think anyone who enjoys gangster movies like "Casino", "The Godfather" and "Scarface" should add this to the list of favorite movies. I would expect this to be popular among 20 something males. Due to the excessive language, nudity and drug use, it probably should not be seen by ANYONE under 17, even though it only has an "R" rating.

Phantom Thoughts

I can say this is one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. The cast was brilliant, the direction was spot on and the cinematography was genius. Am I over-stating? Perhaps. You'll have to decide for yourself.
   First off, let me say that I am not a fan of Jonah Hill. He just is annoying to me. But even I have to admit that he was nothing less than extraordinary in "Wolf of Wall Street". He earned recognition last year in "Moneyball", but his depiction of Donnie Azoff was beyond compare. He earned more of my respect once I learned that director Martin Scorsese asked to have a meeting with Jonah, but he insisted instead to audition for the part. Hill has not auditioned for ANY part in 6 years. Truly deserving of his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, and my front-runner for winning it.
   Leonardo DiCaprio bought the rights to make this movie in 2007, winning out over a bid from Brad Pitt. I mentioned the similarity to "Goodfellas" above, and that was in part due to Scorsese's style of film making, but also for how similar DiCaprio was to Ray Liota's character. Leo delivers once again and does not disappoint.
   I think it's important to note that there has been a lot of talk about the record setting amount of times the word "Fuck" was said. Not only that, but there are a plethora of naked tits throughout movie. And let's not forget the huge amounts of cocaine that was snorted. (The actors used crushed up vitamin B to simulate those scenes. Although it did hurt their noses, ironically it gave them more energy to do the following scenes)
But as all this seems over-the-top (and it was...but on purpose) it was also necessary to the story. In order to accurately depict what it was like to be living that life, it needed to be as abundant as it was.
   Speaking of naked boobs, Margot Robbie is introduced to the American public by showing off every inch of her spectacular body. Yes, her performance was great, but My God....she has got to be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Every curve of her is...perfection.
   I don't talk much about cinematography, and most people don't really notice it, but I have to give credit where credit is due. The lens change between when the characters on screen were high and sober immersed the viewer into the moment so well, I think I got a contact high. There was green-screen work on scenes you would never expect, in order to layer images to make the flow of the movie even more spectacular.
   If you've been a follower of this blog, you may have realized that I love those little hidden gems and nods to the originals. One of those special moments happened at the end of the movie. Don't worry, there's no spoiler to the plot here. The actual Jordan Belford introduces "himself" played by DiCaprio to the stage in the final scene. How awesome is that?
   So...do you think I over-stated it? If you're over 21, then go see for yourself. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Until next time, see you in the center seat.

Frozen

Anna and Elsa are sisters who are as close as can be. But when Elsa accidentally hurts Anna with her icy powers, she grows up isolated from Anna as well as the outside world. Years later, Elsa is to be named Queen of the kingdom, and as the whole land watches, her powers are finally discovered. Elsa runs to a far mountaintop while her powers unknowingly plunge the kingdom into eternal winter. Anna teams up with Mountain Man Kristoff and his reindeer pal Sven to find her and rescue the kingdom.

Cast

Kristen Bell as Anna
Idina Menzel as Elsa
Jonathan Groff as Kristoff
Josh Gad as Olaf
Santino Fontana as Hans

Who will like this

As a Disney movie taken from a classic fairy tale, Frozen delivers for Disney enthusiasts young and old. There are many similarities to the last animated feature Tangled, so chances are that if you liked that one, this will be up your alley as well. It is a perfect family movie night out movie.

Phantom Thoughts

In doing my research on this movie, the history of Frozen getting made is almost as interesting as the plot itself. It's a well known fact that the fairy tale Frozen is taken from is the Hans Christian Anderson story "The Snow Queen". And it deviates greatly from that story, to make it more relateable to modern audiences. But in order to do that, it took many years to accomplish. Disney had a treatment to bring this animated feature to life as early as the 1940's. In the late 1990's Disney once again tried to make "The Snow Queen" into a movie. There were several failed attempts that went through 2010. It wasn't until 2011's success with Tangled did they come up with a way to change the story to the one we saw on screen.

But that is also part of the problem. Because many of the characters bear a very strong resemblance to the characters of Tangled. They changed the Snow Queen to be the sister of Anna, the heroine in the story instead of just a villain, completely changing the essence of the original fairy tale. The story itself is just alright, but it is saved by not going down a predictable path, which I was afraid it was going to, until near the end of the movie where a plot twist occurs. There are a number of different similarities to the movie Tangled, including the title change. But the lack of differences in the character looks remain the strongest.

However, there are a lot of good in Frozen as well. The music and songs are very good done by Husband and Wife team Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez and reminds me of the songs of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast which were put together by the late great lyricist Howard Ashman. The visuals of snow and ice are brilliantly done and the comic relief of Olaf the snowman was not over the top and a sub plot keeping the main focus on the plot.

Though extreme critics have put nit picked the heck out of Frozen, overall I think it was a good movie and one that families will enjoy. Disney enthusiasts will be proud to add this movie and songs to their collection of favorites.

Until next time, see you in the center seat!