The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street

The latest film by Martin Scorsese is loosely based on the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a Wall Street stockholder who became a self-made millionaire, using less-than-legal tactics.  Using the knowledge he learned from his mentor Mark Hanna (Matthew McConaughey), Belfort is able to quickly make a lot of money by selling penny…

Introducing Blindspot 2014

Introducing Blindspot 2014

I still have one film to watch in this year’s “Cult of 2013” blindspot series, but I’ve already finalized the list of films I plan to watch next year.  While I’m not doing another theme year, much of 2014’s selection will be made up of films that I’ve been wanting to see for the longest…

Hugo

Hugo

That fact that Hugo is directed by none other than Martin Scorsese was probably the first sign that it wouldn’t be just your average family film.  In fact, the film turns out to be a celebration of the history of early cinema, most notably the work of Georges Méliès, played in the film by Ben Kingsley. For…

Drive

Drive

Drive is an action/crime/drama that seems to be hearkening back to crime thrillers of the 1980s, with a little of Martin Scorsese‘s Taxi Driver thrown in for good measure. The film stars Ryan Gosling as a nameless stunt driver/mechanic, who moonlights as a getaway driver for robberies.  He takes one such job to help out the husband of his…

Shutter Island

Shutter Island

I have to say that there were a few moments in Shutter Island in which I was feeling a bit confused.  It was not until the end of the film when I was able to piece everything together. If anything, this film proves that Martin Scorsese had the power to direct anything he wanted after…

Wall-E

Wall-E

Even though I missed the film when it came out a couple weeks ago, I finally managed to see Wall-E today. I would probably compare this film to The Incredibles in the fact that even though it is animated, it stands on its own as a sci-fi adventure in the same way The Incredibles stood…

Shine a Light

Shine a Light

Today I spent my birthday going to the IMAX theatre to see the latest in the long line of Rolling Stone concert films directed by none other by Martin Scorsese. For a concert film, I think the Rolling Stones have had better ones (and I’ll talk about one in next week’s Classic Thoughts). However, I…