The Wolf of Wall Street Preview

The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, a Long Island stock broker who served 3 years in prison for his part in defrauding investors in a securities scam in the 1990s. The Wolf of Wall Street is nominated for five Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actor (DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Director (Martin Scorsese).  This is DiCaprio's fourth acting Oscar nomination.  This is Scorsese's ninth nomination.  He won the Oscar for his direction of the 2006 movie The Departed, which was another all-star ensemble cast including DiCaprio.  This would be the fifth time Scorsese and DiCaprio have teamed up for a blockbuster hit.

Jordan Belfort began working on Wall Street when he was 22 years old.  His first day with a broker's license was tragically October 19, 1987, also known as Black Monday, when the world's stocks plummeted and Belfort lost his job.  Desperate for work, he finds success for a firm called Investor Center.  With his newly acquired wealth and a few of his friends, he leases out an empty garage and starts his own firm, Stratton-Oakmont.  Their continued success gains the attention of the financial world and the FBI.  Forbes magazine dubbed Belfort as the "Wolf of Wall Street". His goal was to make more money than he and his friends knew what to do with.  Throwing lavish parties and spending ridiculous amounts of money, not only were Belfort's trading practices shady and illegal, so were his methods of hiding his money from the federal government.  His world of family, friends, parties and drugs eventually come crashing down around him. 

From the preview, this looks like another huge success for the DiCaprio and Scorsese team.  The Wolf of Wall Street boasts a cast of stars including Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, and even a cameo from the real Jordan Belfort.  The film looks disturbingly hilarious.  What I mean by that is that the performances, the writing, even the plot will make you laugh, until you pause for a second to realize this actually happened.  For Belfort, it didn't matter if his clients made money, only that he did through any means possible.  Those of you who know me, know I'm not the biggest DiCaprio fan, though I am a fan of nearly all the films he's been a part of.  This looks like it will be no exception.  I looks like an unsettling, sad, and funny look into the dark side of Wall Street with great direction and star-studded contributions from Hollywood's who's who.  I predict a wild entertaining ride, though a long ride as this film is just shy of three hours long.  I'm predicting a 4 star rating which means this should be well worth the money in the theatres, something I'd watch again, and has a decent chance of making it to my home video collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.

Gravity Review

3.0 Stars

 

Gravity is the harrowing tale of the survival of brilliant medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in space.  This is Stone's first mission to space and Kowalsky's last before retiring.  While out on a seemingly routine spacewalk, tragedy strikes.  Debris from a nearby Russian satellite that has just exploded destroys their ship and the space station, killing the rest of the crew and leaving Stone and Kowalsky drifting away by themselves.  

This looks like a combination of Apollo 13 in which astronauts were trapped inside their damaged shuttle and Open Water in which two scuba divers are stranded in shark infested waters with no land in sight.  Gravity appears to be the worst of both of those scenarios; however, for me, it failed to truly capture the sense of desperation.  The film starts with about a ten minute continuous shot of Dr. Stone (Bullock) working on updating a satellite in space while Kowalsky (Clooney) is maneuvering around the satellite and the shuttle.  The cinematography is brilliant as the camera captures shots of the earth, of deep space, of Dr. Stone, of the shuttle and of Kowalsky.  The crew is alerted that the Russians have destroyed one of their own satellites with a missile and debris is heading their way.  Although the movie opens with the notes that sound does not travel through space, for dramatic effect, we hear the debris screaming past the astronauts and the ship being torn apart. The debris sends Dr. Stone and Kowalsky hurdling through space.  They are separated and Dr. Stone has no way to stop herself from floating away.  Though we spend a few minutes tumbling frantically with her, it seemed Kowalsky was able to track her down rather quickly and they both made their way back to the shuttle to assess the damages.  Upon arriving at the ship, we learn that Dr. Stone and Kowalsky are the only two survivors.  Peering into the wreckage of the shuttle, silently alone in space, the bodies of two other crew members killed in the accident come floating towards Dr. Stone and the silence is broken up with sharp and loud music heightening the terror of discovering the dead bodies.  Sometimes I feel that less is more and that the horrified reaction of Dr. Stone alone would have been scarier than the manipulated fear the accompanying music tried to create.  Gravity has been nominated for 10 Oscars including Best Original Music, but I felt that the music actually took away from the movie rather than complimented it in many parts of the film.

After realizing their shuttle is completely destroyed, Dr. Stone and Kowalsky make their way to the International Space Station where they will hopefully use one of the pods to make their way back to earth.  Dr. Stone is running low on oxygen and Kowalsky keeps her talking to keep her calm and conserve her oxygen.  But he also has a problem as his jet pack is running low of propulsion fuel.  Once they make it to the ISS, Kowalsky quickly realizes, they both won't be able to make it and one of them must go forward without the other.  He sacrifices himself and she enters the ISS.  I know that he is a professional astronaut and makes the smart decision to allow Dr. Ryan to continue, but I felt the scene was just a little too quick and emotionless again failing to create the sense of Dr. Ryan's situation getting more and more desperate and hopeless.  Once inside the ISS, Dr. Ryan realizes the boosters on the remaining escape pod have been damaged and she appears to be trapped.  She quickly gives up on herself and shuts down the oxygen supply to her ship.  Miraculously, Kowalsky reappears claiming he was able to find a little more juice in his jet pack to make it back to her and reminds her that there's still a way to power the escape pod enough to make it to a nearby Chinese satellite which should still have an escape pod to make it to earth.  It turns out, predictably to me, that the Kowalsky return is a hallucination, but it's enough to prompt Dr. Stone to give it another shot.  She resupplies her pod with oxygen and makes her way to the Chinese satellite.  There is, indeed, a remaining pod and she's able to use the pod to safely return to earth.

The movie is only an hour and a half long.  With so many movies often eclipsing the two hour length, it seems that a few more minutes of excruciating and awkward silence could have been added to some scenes to create the feeling of hopelessness and futility of the situation.  I felt there was always hope and always a way out for Dr. Ryan.  I was disappointed with the use of musical accompaniment to create emotions when I felt the situation by itself would have achieved the effect much more successfully.  I felt the long continuous shots of the astronauts in space were ground-breaking and gorgeous.  My only complaint about that would be the times when water splashed on the camera lens.  This is a technique used sometimes in movies to create the effect that you, the viewer, are right there in the middle of the action.  However, in a 3D movie, the water on the lens just created a blurry distraction.  I felt that Sandra Bullock gave an incredible performance.  I can see why she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress, but I will have to see the rest of the nominees before deciding if she is the worthy recipient.  Ultimately, Gravity fell short of my expectations which is why I gave it 3 stars.  It was worth the money to see it, but I probably won't see it again and it won't be making its way to my personal collection.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Gravity Preview

Gravity is the harrowing tale of the survival of brilliant medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and and veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in space.  This is Stone's first mission to space and Kowalsky's last before retiring.  While out on a seemingly routine spacewalk, tragedy strikes.  Debris from a nearby Russian satellite that has just exploded destroys their ship and the space station, killing the rest of the crew and leaving Stone and Kowalsky drifting away by themselves.  

This looks like a combination of Apollo 13 in which astronauts were trapped inside their damaged shuttle and Open Water in which two scuba divers are stranded in shark infested waters with no land in sight.  Gravity appears to be the worst of both of those scenarios.  The film is nominated for ten Oscars including Best Picture, Best Director (Alfonso Cuaron), Best Leading Actress (Bullock), and Best Visual Effects.  The creative team that worked on Gravity have also worked on the visual effects in Batman the Dark Knight, Avatar, Superman Returns, several of the Harry Potter movies, Transformers, Gladiator and Saving Private Ryan, just to give you an idea of why this might be nominated for an Oscar in this particular category.

This is a tough film to preview since we really aren't given too much to go on by the trailer.  The astronauts are on a routine spacewalk, their ship is destroyed, and two of them are left floating in space.  It sounds absolutely terrifying and the brief clip definitely does its job well making me want to rush to the theatre to see what happens.  We already know the movie should be visually stunning, so I will be seeing this in 3D.  The rest of it, well that will be up to the two stars of the film, Clooney and Bullock.  And they are both wonderful actors.  This is Bullock's second Oscar nomination for Best Actress.  She won her first Oscar for her performance in The Blind Side. Clooney has been nominated for eight Oscars and won two of them, Best Film for Argo with Ben Affleck and Best Supporting Actor for his role in Syriana.  Clooney was not nominated for an Oscar in Gravity.  This is the first time Clooney has worked on a film with his longtime friend Bullock.  They almost had a chance fifteen years ago, but Bullock lost the leading part in Out of Sight to Jennifer Lopez.  This has all the makings of another movie that terrifies you without and blood or violence or even a villain to root against.  I predict 4 stars and that Gravity will be worth the money in the theatre, a movie I'd love to see again, and one that has a good chance of finding a home in my personal collection.  Am I right?  We shall see. 

Captain Phillips Review

4.0 Stars

Captain Phillips is the harrowing tale based on true events that transpired in 2009.  Tom Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips aboard the cargo ship Maersk Alabama that is taken over by Somali pirates lead by Muse (Barkhad Abdi). According to Director Paul Greengrass, the film is "simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization". 

Captain Phillips is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi who was apparently a limousine driver with no acting experience or aspirations of becoming an actor before landing this role. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.    Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor in Philadelphia and in Forrest Gump.  Hanks is not nominated for an award in Captain Phillips, nor is he nominated for his leading role in Saving Mr. Banks, omissions that are raising eyebrows amongst movie-goers. 

The first twenty minutes of the movie is spent introducing us to our principle characters.  First, we meet Captain Richard Phillips (Hanks) as he prepares for his flight to Oman where he will captain the cargo ship Maersk Alabama to Kenya.  He is meticulously making sure he has his passport and itinerary and everything he will need for the trip.  Once on board the ship, he continues with his attention-to-detail routine and inspects the Alabama.  Meanwhile, in Somalia, we see vans with armed mercenaries driving to a coastal village where the local Somali pirates are awakened and commanded to go out to sea to get more money for their "boss" Garaad who is displeased with their lack of production.  Immediately a group of villagers gather at the shore begging to be selected to assist in the work, not unlike the lines that formed in America in the 1920's depression era.  After the crew is picked, they head out in speed boats to find their victim.  It was interesting to be able to see these pirates humanized.  I went into the movie already hating them for what they did before even watching the film, but the film does a good job of forcing you to identify with their desperate situation.  I didn't like them, I didn't root for them, but I found myself understanding them more and not hating them as much as I had anticipated.  

The rest of the film, I was holding my breath.  From the first attempt the pirates made to approach the ship, to their second and successful attempt to board the ship, to the search for the hiding crew members, to Captain Phillips being taken hostage, to the negotiations with the military, to the attempts by US Navy SEAL Team 6 to rescue Phillips, I found myself finally taking a breath about the same time Phillips finally broke down after his eventual rescue.  Hanks gave another Oscar-worthy performance though his name is missing from this years' list of best actors.  I can only assume this was due to the fact that they can only nominate so many people and the reasoning behind it must have been that he has won before and will probably win again, so give someone else a chance this year.  Regardless, Hanks was spectacular. And though I enjoyed the film, I don't see Captain Phillips winning the Best Film Oscar for which it was nominated.

There are really no surprises in the film.  Reading comparisons between the first-hand accounts of what transpired from the crew and what eventually made it's way into the movie, Captain Phillips is pretty close to accurate in many regards.  The preview tells you exactly what will happen: a Somali pirate band take a cargo ship hostage.  But I still found myself completely engulfed in the story and emotionally exhausted by the end.  I raised my star rating from 3.5 to 4 full stars mostly due to Hanks' performance.  This movie was definitely worth it's money.  Though it may or may not ultimately find a home in my personal collection, I could easily see paying to see it again.  So, what movie will be on my mind next?  We shall see.

Captain Phillips Preview

Captain Phillips is the harrowing tale based on true events that transpired in 2009.  Tom Hanks plays Captain Richard Phillips aboard the cargo ship Maersk Alabama that is taken over by Somali pirates lead by Muse (Barkhad Abdi). According to Director Paul Greengrass, the film is "simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization". 

Captain Phillips is nominated for 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Barkhad Abdi who was apparently a limousine driver with no acting experience or aspirations of becoming an actor before landing this role. Talk about being in the right place at the right time.  Director Paul Greengrass is not nominated for Best Director and is best known for his shaky hand-held camera style of directing in the Jason Bourne Trilogy starring Matt Damon and for his post Iraqi search for weapons of mass destruction in Green Zone also starring Matt Damon.  No, Damon does not make an appearance in Captain Phillips.  Tom Hanks won the Oscar for Best Actor in Philadelphia and in Forrest Gump.  Hanks is not nominated for an award in Captain Phillips, nor is he nominated for his leading role in Saving Mr. Banks, omissions that are raising eyebrows amongst movie-goers. 

One quiet day at sea, Captain Phillips notices two small watercraft approaching his cargo ship quite rapidly.  Uneasy about the situation, he calls it in to the Coast Guard who don't seem too concerned and believe the boats to simply be fisherman.  Phillips alerts his crew and tells them to hide as he and his top assistants fail to keep the Somali pirates from boarding the ship.  After failing to locate the rest of the crew, the pirates demand that those hiding on the ship reveal themselves or the Captain and other ranking officers will start being executed.  Things get even more intense when the military arrives on the scene and the standoff escalates between Phillips and the pirates.  Director Greengrass has done a great job directing action thriller movies in the Bourne Trilogy and also in directing politically moving work in Green Zone.  This looks like another edge-of-your-seat thriller that leaves you asking, "Does this really happen?" Add that to what looks like another amazing performance by the talented Tom Hanks, and I predict Captain Phillips to get 3.5 stars: worth the money spent and has a decent chance of making it into my personal home movie collection.  Am I right?  We shall see.