Wolf of Wall Street: Leo Keeps Delivering and Not Receiving

Wolf of Wall Street (2013) is a well made movie. I cannot believe how many people were complaining about it being too raunchy. It makes me think that maybe some people have not watched anything on HBO, which I honestly think has displayed much raunchier scenes. Unfortunately, there are women out there that put themselves in demeaning positions to earn money. Just because this film showed this does not mean that anyone involved with the film was glamorizing Jordan Belfort or his lifestyle. In fact, I felt it did the complete opposite. It properly showed how greed can consume a person, yet, because he had money, he basically only got a slap on the wrist for ripping off so many people. Prison for Jordan was like going off to a nice country club, but that's how our society works. Yes, it's disgusting, that was the point of the film.

The acting in Wolf is so well done. I still think Leonardo DiCaprio deserved the Oscar this year. Yes, Matthew McConaughey was amazing in Dallas Buyer's Club (2013), but Leo has constantly been ripped off and he should have finally been given the Oscar. McConaughey has only just started showing that he is a serious actor and not just a 'Pretty Boy'. Leo, however, has been showing he's not just a Pretty Boy for years. He deserved an Oscar all the way back in 1994 for his performance as Arnie Grape in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993). He should have been nominated for his performances in  Django Unchained (2012), Inception (2010), Titanic (1997), Catch Me if You Can (2002), and The Departed (2006). Hell, he was even impressive in Basketball Diaries (1995), look at his heroin detox scene! He carries the films he's in and always chooses ones worth seeing. I cannot say the same about McConaughey with him being in bunch of awful movies: Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (2009), Fool's Gold (2008), Failure to Launch (2006), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003) and The Wedding Planner (2001). Leo has never been in movies this bad and has always given brilliant performances, so I think he deserved an Oscar win before McConaughey. I'm happy to see that McConaughey is taking acting seriously now because I sure do love True Detective, but I am mad at the Academy for not giving Leo an Oscar that he's been deserving since the 90s! Come on! He's the best of his generation. Joaquin Phoenix is another one who is always ripped off. Oscar snubs have been going on for years. Look at Judy Garland, Alfred Hitchcock, Deborah Kerr, Joseph Cotten and Claude Rains. Maybe it's a twisted compliment to Leo and Phoenix to not give them Oscars?

My main complaint about Wolf is that it was a bit too long. I was really entertained for a while and then it got kind of lost around the time just before the Lemmon taking. If they had cut the film by about 30-40 minutes, it would have been perfect. I am surprised how much I enjoyed a movie where I disliked practically all of the characters, it was still entertaining. The fact that this is based on a real guy makes it so interesting. I cannot stand Jordan, he's just a drug addict who happens to be an incredibly charismatic. He's the perfect con artist, so it's only fitting that he'd turn to motivational speaking now. Sadly, there are still people out there who will pay to listen to him feed them a bunch of bullshit. They deserve to lose their money if they're going to be that dumb and he knows it.

Moviepilot

Hi readers, I know I have been on a terribly long hiatus. A lot has been going on recently, all good! I am in the middle of tax season right now and have been since sometime in January. I am looking forward to the wintery weather to end and hopefully it will be around the same time that I am done with tax season! I am also looking forward to having a two day weekend. Working six days a week is a strange experience. I probably won't know what to do with my time once it's over!

I've really missed writing and I want to start doing more of it. I had been asked to write on Moviepilot some time ago and finally decided to give it a shot. I really like the interface of it. If you would like, you can read some of my posts on there, too. I've only written three, one dealing with The Conjuring and the other two focus on American Horror Story. All this bad weather makes me even more drawn to my horror obsession! Good thing I'm too busy to end up having cabin fever like Jack Torrence! Anyway, I click here to check out my posts on Moviepilot.

I will still be posting on here, at least I intend to. I'm trying to think of more of a variety of what I want to write about. Horror is still my favorite, but I've been disappointed with some of the films I've been watching in the genre. I know that I could not have possibly watched all the horror movies worth watching, at least not yet!

Day 15: 31 Days of Horror: Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

Friday the 13th Part 2 is a mindless horror movie, but it's still fun to watch. It's the first appearance of Jason Voorhees when he's the killer. Spoiler alert for those who have not watched the first part that came out in 1980, Jason was not the original killer of the series, he's just the one most talked about.

Part 2 follows around a group of more unsuspecting camp counselors. These counselors are not at Camp Crystal Lake, since it was shut down after the multiple murders, which had occurred there five years prior. The new camp is not very far from Camp Crystal Lake, but no one seems to be all that freaked out about the legend of Jason Voorhees. One by one, the camp counselors are brutally killed off.

Part 2 really does not make sense to me. If Jason didn't drown and die in the lake, then why did he jump out of the water as a dead, drowned little boy at the end of Part 1? Made me think that Jason did drown in the lake, but because of his death, he was still able to haunt the lake. Then, another question arises, if he is a ghost boy haunting the lake, then how did he all of a sudden age into a grown man with a short span of time? I'm just going to assume that he's a boogieman, who somehow, after witnessing the death of his mother, was able to rapidly age and come back to life and murder a bunch of camp counselors, thus avenging her death. Or maybe he just becomes an adult because it'd be too messed up to watch a little drowned boy slaughtering a bunch of people.

I really like the beginning of this film and how it does a flashback of what had occurred in the prior movie. I also liked when the shrine of the mother was found in a little shack in the woods. The bag over his head was creepy to begin with, but I think that the reveal of his real face was even creepier. I think Freddy Krueger and Michael Myers are scarier than Jason, but I wouldn't want to come face to face with him ever. 

Day 14: 31 Days of Horror: Martin (1976)

George A. Romero may not have done what he did for zombies for vampires, but he still made one heck of a horror movie about a man who believes himself to be a vampire. This movie is called Martin. It's weird and disturbing.

Martin is a strange guy. He truly thinks that he is a vampire. He will find his victims and will drink their blood. The question remains though, is he an 84-year old vampire or just an odd guy who for some reason craves the taste of human blood? Well, he's definitely odd, but I am still unsure about what was going on with him. I think he's just a serial killer who tries to get away with his killings by convincing himself that he's a vampire.

Martin kind of reminds me of Dexter. Not in the sense of who he chooses to attack, but how he does it. He uses a needle to stab his victims with, so that they fall asleep. After that, he drinks their blood. Dexter did not drink his victims' blood, nor did he ever feel remorseful while killing someone. Martin always seems to feel bad when he's attacking someone and taking their blood. He always goes on about how he needs the blood in order to live. Sounds like a dark passenger to me. Maybe the creator of Dexter watched Martin in the past?

Martin is an intriguing movie. The first attack is hard to watch and the rest of the movie is messed up. What makes Martin work so well is that they make the character seem real. You get to hear his point of view, see flashbacks involving his life, and he calls into a radio show to discuss what it's like living in this world as a vampire. Great stuff, but this movie is a rare one to find. You can find it on Netflix though.

Day 13: 31 Days of Horror: Repulsion (1965)

This is one disturbing film. It focuses in on a young woman, Carol, who is a bit unhinged. She starts off being guarded and recluse, then she progresses into a full out paranoid state of mind. It's really unnerving to watch. She cannot stand that her sister is having an affair with a married man, but things become worse for her when her sister leaves her at the apartment by herself to go on vacation. Even though Carol is old enough to be alone, she is struggling so much mentally that  it ends up being a poor decision to leave her alone. 

When alone, Carol is very frightened. She imagines footsteps in the hallway, strange men in her bedroom, and cracks in the walls. She ends up getting to a point where she does not leave her flat and she is always wearing her nightgown. This movie has a slow start, but once she starts losing her mind, it becomes very interesting. I was very freaked out by this movie by the end. 

I think more Haunted House makers need to watch this movie. I've been to two this year, which were both a ton of fun, but would both have been scarier if they took from this movie. There are scenes when the protagonist is hallucinating hands grabbing at her out of the wall. The walls look like they are made out of clay, but the effect is really cool. They could have fake hands come out of the wall like that, if it's about the actors not touching the people going through. I always end up flailing my hands around because I can't see in any of the haunted houses, so if I felt a fake hand coming out of the wall, I'd be scared!

Day 12: 31 Days of Horror: House (1977)

This movie left me disoriented. I was entranced by its strangeness, its artistry. I can honestly say that I've never seen a horror movie, or a movie in general, that is even close to the strange level of House (1977). Ok, I may be over exaggerating a little because I have seen Santa Sangre (1989), it's not paint, it's holy blood! However, House is a close second when it comes to the weirdness level.

Japanese movies are awesome. Battle Royale and House are now my two top favorite Japanese movies. So well made and, well, cool! I need more of this film style in my life!

House follows a young girl, Oshare (Gorgeous), as she struggles with her father getting remarried. She leaves her home and decides to visit her aunt, who has been wanting her to come and stay with her since her, Goregous', mom passed away. She even allows her to bring some friends along! This may seem like a very sweet gesture, until you get more involved with the plot, which I do not want to ruin. Let's just say, some very creepy stuff goes down during this visit. Nothing is what it seems to be and the house is not exactly the safest place to be, especially for Oshare and her friends.

I loved all the weird names for the girls in the film. The translation of their names to English is kind of stupid, but what are you going to do? This film is funny, but that humor is just there for some comic relief from the absolute horror that you are about to be smacked with. Trust me, I sat there in shock when the weirdness started to unfold and then couldn't look away once it multiplied. It was brilliant and mesmerizing to watch.

I've learned some things by watching this film. Being friends with someone named Kung-Fu is awesome. You will always be entertained when that person decides to randomly kick a door for the hell of it. Something isn't right when your friends start to randomly disappear in a house. You should always listen to your friend if they think they're seeing weird things happen. Yeah, they might not be hallucinating and suffering from paranoia! Don't wander around someone's house once you notice that a ton of cobwebs are covering the place. Duh!

Day 11: 31 Days of Horror: Phantom of the Opera (1925)

Phantom of the Opera is one of the most over-the-top silent movies I have seen yet. There are so many exaggerated gestures, which I am not very accustomed to watching in a film. It's more on par with how people act in plays or musicals. I tend to find overly theatrical acting irritating to watch, but for this particular film, it actually works. 

Scariest thing in this film is definitely the Phantom. He is played by the brilliant Lon Chaney. His makeup is gruesome and when his face is revealed for the first time, it is frightening. I thought I'd feel bad for the Phantom because he was in love with a girl who did not love him back, but he was so creepy and a bit forceful, that I didn't feel bad for him. He was like the Beast from Beauty and the Beast, but instead of improving his character, he just became more of a creepy stalker. No one likes a creepy stalker!

I really enjoyed when the Phantom would get up to his crazy shenanigans around the Opera house. He sure scared a lot of people. Especially when he sent threatening letters to the Opera about the singer he didn't like and what he was going to do if they let her sing again. He wasn't kidding. He caused a chandelier to fall because they let her sing again. Christine Daae is the only one he wants. He wants her a little too much though. 

The Phantom is obsessed with Christine and will do anything to have her to himself. He resorts to kidnapping her and bringing her to his secret hiding place in the catacombs. He tries to murder her lover, first by about setting him on fire, and then attempting to drown him. The Phantom clearly is very delusional about how to woo a woman. All he did was scare her. He seemed to think that the woman didn't love him because his face was so grotesque, but that was not the case. Yes, his face was frightening, but he was repulsive because of how mean and evil he was. He murdered others in the opera house and didn't feel remorse for any of the murders or his attempted murders. 

This is a great movie to watch to see how the horror genre started out. I wish that I could go back in time to see how audiences reacted to this sort of horror back in the day, without ever having exposure to the horror movies we have today.