Check Out a Grizzled Leonardo DiCaprio in First Images from 'The Revenant'

Weighing the risks and rewards, that's pretty much what Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu had to do before his acclaimed, Oscar-nominated film Birdman, but it was a gamble that paid off. From a stylistic standpoint the work he and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki did was highwire-type stuff that could have been a disaster if done wrong in any way. Now the duo are looking to take an even bigger chance with the 19th-century revenge thriller, The Revenant, and now we have a first look at star Leonardo DiCaprio in the lead role.
Speaking with EW, Inarritu talks about the exhilaration he feels about taking on projects that challenge him, saying...

Inarritu: “It’s a fun ride. It’s a very experimental thing that we’re doing here…I’m now addicted to doing things that can fail horribly or maybe that can give us a surprise. We are all into it."

The Revenant promises to be a severe departure from Birdman as it centers on a fur trapper who is mauled by a bear, robbed, and left for dead by his companions. DiCaprio stars alongside Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter. It will be interesting to see what kind of approach Inarritu and Lubezki have settled upon this time.

Read More

Leonardo DiCaprio Joins with Netflix to Release Nature Doc, 'Virunga'

Leonardo DiCaprio's a pretty cool dude, not just because he's a great actor but because he uses his celebrity to champion a number of causes. We've heard of his plans to make movies on animal conservation along with his pals Tom Hardy and Tobey Maguire, but his greatest interest has been on the issue of climate change. Years ago he teamed with one of my idols, the brilliant Thom Hartmann for the climate change documentary The 11th Hour, which is even more terrifying than Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. If you can find it, check out his other short film, Global Warning. And now we see DiCaprio involved with another pet project, teaming with Netflix for the nature doc, Virunga.

DiCaprio and his Appian Way Productions have struck a deal with Netflix to release Virunga, directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and described as part nature doc, part investigative journalism. DiCaprio will exec-produce the film which follows "rangers as they are caught in the crossfire of poachers, militia and industry in Africa’s oldest national park." It will largely center on the Congo and endangered gorillas in the region. So basically you've got all of DiCaprio's top issues all in one place and as someone who shares many of the same concerns I'm looking forward to this one. The film debuted at Tribeca earlier this year and was picked up by Netflix some time ago, announcing a November 7th release date that is still in place. But having DiCaprio come aboard as a producer is going to bring the film much wider attention.

So ring up another victory for Netflix who are securing tons of exclusive content from some big names. They recently struck a deal with Adam Sandler to star in four upcoming comedies, and the streaming network will release the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel next year. You can check out the trailer for Virunga below.  [Deadline]


Trailer - Virunga Netflix Documentary by Trailer Motion

Read More

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Eyed for Steve Jobs Biopic as Leonardo DiCaprio Exits

When David Fincher decided against directing Sony's anticipated Steve Jobs biopic the long-developing one penned by Aaron Sorkin, Danny Boyle emerged as his more than capable replacement. And with him came a rumor that he may be teaming with his star of The Beach, Leonardo DiCaprio, who was eying the role of the late Apple founder. But this wasn't long after DiCaprio claimed to be taking a break from acting after working at steadily for years without one. And it turns out DiCaprio will take that breather and won't star in the Steve Jobs film after all, but Sony already has their list of big names to take over.

According to THR, Sony's wishlist includes all of the names every studio wants for every project: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and Bradley Cooper. Bale was the one Fincher really wanted for the film initially, so maybe that will give him an edge over the rest. Everybody on this list are pretty busy, though, and it's possible nobody has room to do it.

What this shows is that Sony really wants to get a top tier talent to play Jobs, perhaps so the film doesn't meet the same lukewarm fate of the Ashton Kutcher-led film from last year.

Read More

Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire are Producing New Projects

Tobey Maguire and Leonardo DiCaprio have been buds for awhile, long before Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. One of the interests they share, besides the NBA, is animal rights and campaigning for strong anti-poaching policies. The duo (along with Tom Hardy) are developing an anti-poaching film set up at Warner Bros., although we haven't heard much on it lately. Their names alone can get pretty much any project off the ground, and now they're producing two separate projects that sound pretty promising, and yes one of them is on animal rights.

DiCaprio is set to produce an adaptation of Nate Blakeslee's upcoming book, American Wolf, and no it's not a sequel to The Wolf of Wall Street. The true story centers on a literal wolf named O-Six, a female alpha wolf who was studied and tracked by scientists at the Yellowstone National Park, gaining a huge public following in the process. Not long after wolves were removed from endangered species lists, O-Six was shot and killed by a hunter in 2012, causing a national outcry. Blakeslee is a writer for Texas Monthly and his book will center on the effect the wolf had on the people around her. No word on if DiCaprio will take a starring role but given how close he is to the subject matter it wouldn't be surprising. [THR]

And his buddy Tobey Maguire will produce the female-led sci-fi film, The Eden Project. Sony picked up the spec script by Christina Hodson, with details on the plot being kept under wraps for now. Hodson has had two of her prior screenplays chart on the Black List but at this point neither has been produced. With Maguire and Sony on board The Eden Project has a pretty good shot of being her first.

Read More

Paul Greengrass May Direct Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill in Olympic Bombing Drama

The combination of Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill proved to be a potent one in The Wolf of Wall Street, and by all accounts they got along famously. So it wasn't a surprise when they moved quickly on their next project together, and an altogether more serious one. They're set to star in an adaptation of the Vanity Fair article "American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell", penned by Billy Ray (Shattered Glass) and centering on the real-life investigation surrounding '96 Olympics bombing. Ray recently wrote the script for Paul Greengrass' acclaimed drama, Captain Phillips, and they may be looking at a re-teaming, also.

According to Deadline, Paul Greengrass is circling the untitled drama, which would have Hill starring as Jewell, a security guard who discovered a suspicious package during the '96 Olympics in Atlanta and tried to get people out of harm's way. Soon after the tables turned and Jewell found himself the FBI's primary suspect in the case and the object of national scorn. DiCaprio would play the southern lawyer who helped guide Jewell through the nightmare.

This would be a perfect choice landing a director like Greengrass who excels with real-life dramas and documentaries. Greengrass hasn't signed on yet but if a deal comes together is there any reason to think this won't turn out great?

Read More

*UPDATE* Tom Hardy May Reteam with Leonardo DiCaprio for Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 'The Revenant'

 *UPDATE* The Wrap now confirms Tom Hardy has entered talks for The Revenant.

Once acclaimed Spanish helmer Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu finishes up his comedic diversion Birdman, he's finally going to get moving on The Revenant, a film that he's been developing for years with Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn attached. And while that's an impressive trio to build any project on, it could get even better if the latest rumor involving Tom Hardy is true.

A story has emerged from the guys at Schmoes Know (grain of salt, please) that says Hardy and DiCaprio may be reunited for the first time since Christopher Nolan's Inception. It's unclear if Hardy is coming on to replace Penn, who may be too busy directing The Last Face, or if all three men would be starring in the film together. There seems to be room for them all as the story, which is based on Michael Punke's novel, centers on a fur trapper in 1823 who is mauled by a bear, then robbed and left for dead by his two companions. The man eventually recovers and treks through hundreds of miles of dangerous wilderness to get revenge.

Hardy has a few projects lined up that could get in the way. He's got the Elton John biopic, Rocketman, which was to begin production next fall, and there's also Brian Helgeland's crime epic, Legend, in which he'll take on dual roles.

Read More

Danny Boyle Takes Over Steve Jobs Biopic; Leonardo DiCaprio May Star

This is what one would call a lateral move. Just last week David Fincher exited the developing Steve Jobs biopic that would have reunited him with The Social Network screenwriter, Aaron Sorkin. All of this was over a salary dispute that just couldn't get ironed out, but Sony has managed to strike a deal with Danny Boyle to take over, and he may be bringing along an old friend.

According to THR, Boyle has signed on to direct the untitled Jobs film, and he's keen on re-teaming with Leonardo DiCaprio for the first time since 2000's The Beach. He's apparently approached DiCaprio to play the Apple founder, but at this time there are no deals in place. Fincher had wanted Christian Bale for the lead role but that doesn't seem to be in consideration any longer. This would be a very different biopic than the Ashton Kutcher-led version released last year. Sorkin plans to feature three 30-minute segments that highlight different achievement's in Jobs' career: the launch of the Mac, NeXT, and of course the IPod.

There's a potential hang-up, though, as DiCaprio is set to star in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's The Revenant, the long-developing film that has been revived for a fall shoot.

Read More

Billy Ray to Pen 'The Ballad of Richard Jewell' for Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill

Billy Ray's screenwriting career got off to a dubious start, one that it took a long time for me to get past. He first wrote Color of Night, a terrible Bruce Willis "thriller" that had me snoring in my theater seat. But Ray has since gone on to pen and direct some great films such as Shattered Glass, Breach, and writing The Hunger Games. He really scored this year with his script for Best Picture nominee, Captain Phillips, and now he's moving up to work on a biopic spearheaded by Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill.

Variety reports Ray will script The Ballad of Richard Jewell, about the life of the security guard who in 1996 became a hero and then a suspect in the Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. Ray will be adapting the Vanity Fair article by Marie Brenner that serves as the basis for the story, detailing how the Jewell's personal and professional life was ruined by the false accusations. Hill is expected to play Jewell, with DiCaprio as the Southern lawyer who helps him through the media firestorm.

Still no word on a director, but given Ray's previous credits and obvious grip on dramatic biopics such as this, hopefully he'll be given some consideration.

Read More

Daniel Espinosa to Direct Leonardo DiCaprio's 'Blood on Snow'

The wave of Norwegian crime thrillers sweeping through Hollywood have a fan in Leonardo DiCaprio, who last year agreed to produce and possibly star in Blood on Snow, an adaptation of the upcoming two-part book series by author Jo Nesbø. It's still unclear whether DiCaprio will agree to step in front of the camera, but he's found a top-notch director to bring the story to life.

Deadline reports Safe House director Daniel Espinosa is negotiating to helm the story of a "hit man who’s forced to go into hiding after he fails on a job and finds himself on the run with his intended target, who unfortunately happens to be his boss’s wife." Nesbø wrote the books under his pseudonym, Tom Johansson, and they are expected to be published this fall and next spring. Next is to find a writer to adapt the material, and figure out once and for all if DiCaprio will star.

This is another solid move for Espinosa, who is wrapping up on Soviet crime thriller, Child 44, starring Tom Hardy, Noomi Rapace, Joel Kinnaman, and Gary Oldman. He's also been mentioned as a candidate to direct Michael Fassbender in Assassin's Creed.

Read More

James Mangold to Direct Travis McGee Mystery 'The Deep Blue Good-By'

There are a number of projects that A-list actors become attached to that never pan out for one reason or another, and Leonardo DiCaprio is no different. A few years ago he agreed to join director Oliver Stone for The Deep Blue Good-By, based on John D. MacDonald's 1964 novel and the first in his Travis McGee mystery series. It never came to pass, but now 20th Century Fox is reviving the film and bringing aboard a familiar director to be at the helm.

Deadline reports Fox has turned to The Wolverine director James Mangold to direct the adaptation, with the most recent script coming from DiCaprio's Shutter Island writer, Dennis Lehane. The series of pulp novels centers on McGee, a detective and self-professed "salvage consultant" who will help anyone find anything for the right price. Here's a synopsis of the novel....

Travis McGee is a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He’s also a knight-errant who’s wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: He’ll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.

McGee isn’t particularly strapped for cash, but how can anyone say no to Cathy, a sweet backwoods girl who’s been tortured repeatedly by her manipulative ex-boyfriend Junior Allen? What Travis isn’t anticipating is just how many women Junior has torn apart and left in his wake. Enter Junior’s latest victim, Lois Atkinson.

Frail and broken, Lois can barely get out of bed when Travis finds her, let alone keep herself alive. But Travis turns into Mother McGee, giving Lois new life as he looks for the ruthless man who steals women’s spirits and livelihoods. But he can’t guess how violent his quest is soon to become. He’ll learn the hard way that there must be casualties in this game of cat and mouse.

Fox has always had eyes on this as a potential franchise, but at the time that was with DiCaprio in tow. They'll obviously be looking for someone of his stature if that remains their long-term goal, so we'll have to wait and see how this develops and if it interferes with plans for a 'Wolverine' sequel. 

Read More

Jonah Hill and Leonardo DiCaprio ReTeaming for Film on Falsely Accused Olympic Bombing Suspect

With Best Picture contender The Wolf of Wall Street earning Oscar nominations for both Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill, it's obvious that their pairing yielded incredible results. But they also became great friends on the set, with DiCaprio popping up during Hill's SNL hosting gig, not to mention their plans to develop a TV series based on the golden era of hip-hop. And now they're set to work together one more time on something that sounds a lot more serious than any of their previous collaborations.

According to Deadline, 20th Century Fox has picked up the rights to the Vanity Fair article 'American Nightmare: The Ballad of Richard Jewell', about the heroic security guard who discovered a suspicious package at the '96 Atlanta Olympics and helped get bystanders out of the area, saving many. When the package exploded, Jewell found himself the subject of media scrutiny and was vilified as a potential suspect, ruining his professional and personal life. Eric Rudolph eventually admitted to the crime, exonerating Jewell once and for all, but the damage had been done long before that.

In what should continue his remarkable turn towards the dramatic, Hill is expected to play Jewell with DiCaprio as the little-known Southern lawyer who helped him navigate the media firestorm. No word on a director yet but given the success they've had together thus far (they also appeared in Django Unchained together) there should be no shortage of volunteers.

Read More

'12 Years a Slave' Wins Best Picture at the 2014 Critics' Choice Awards

The 19th annual Critics' Choice Awards aired live last night, January 16, on The CW Network and was hosted by Whose Line is it Anyway? host Aisha Tyler. The awards are voted on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (of which our own Travis Hopson is a voting member). The top honor this year went to 12 Years a Slave for Best Picture. Lupita Nyong'o also picked up an award for Best Supporting Actress.  

Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto both picked up Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively, for their work in Dallas Buyers Club while Amy Adams and Leonardo DiCaprio won Best Actor and Actress in a Comedy. Surprisingly, Lone Survivor got two awards, one for Best Action Movie and another for Mark Wahlberg who took home the award for Best Actor in an Action Movie. It beat out competitors Iron Man 3 and Man of Steel. 

To see the complete all the winners, check out the list below! The winners are asterisked and highlighted in bold.  

BEST PICTURE
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
*12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
*Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS
*Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTORBarkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
*Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
*Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler        

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game
*Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color
Liam James – The Way Way Back
Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief
Tye Sheridan – Mud

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
*American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
*Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle
Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
*Spike Jonze – Her
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tracy Letts – August: Osage County
Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena
*John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
*Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska
Roger Deakins – Prisoners
Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave

BEST ART DIRECTION
Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity
*Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby
K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her
Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle
Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips
*Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger – Gravity
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush
Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave
Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle
*Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby
Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks
Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKEUP
*American Hustle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rush
12 Years a Slave

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
*Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
*Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
*Lone Survivor
Rush
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Henry Cavill – Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3
Brad Pitt – World War Z
*Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
*Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3

BEST COMEDY
*American Hustle
Enough Said
The Heat
This Is the End
The Way Way Back
The World’s End

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale – American Hustle
*Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Simon Pegg – The World’s End
Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
*Amy Adams – American Hustle
Sandra Bullock – The Heat
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said
Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Conjuring
*Gravity
Star Trek into Darkness
World War Z

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
*Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim’s Vermeer
*20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG
Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2
*Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen
Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis
Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

BEST SCORE
*Steven Price – Gravity
Arcade Fire – Her
Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks
Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Joel Siegel Award
*Forest Whitaker

Louis XIII Genius Award
*Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater for trilogy Before Sunrise, Before Sunsetand Before Midnight

Hollywood's Hottest Star
*Benedict Cumberbatch

Read More

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill to Team with Q-Tip for Hip-Hop TV Series

In case you couldn't tell by my glowing review of Beats, Rhymes, & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, or my fanboy-ish interview with Phife Dawg, I grew up in the hip-hop era of the late '80s and '90s. That was the time when groups like A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, and others in the collective known as the Native Tongue were most prominent, and hip-hop at its most creative and positive. The idea of 'Tribe' leader Q-Tip passing along his experiences as part of the group in a TV series is worth getting excited about on its own, but throw in Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill and it's downright amazing.

Deadline reports that Q-Tip is teaming up with The Wolf of Wall Street co-stars DiCaprio and Hill for a new, scripted TV drama series loosely based on his time as part of A Tribe Called Quest, which he founded in 1985 with Phife, Jarobi White, and DJ Ali Shaheed Muhammed. There's no writer yet for the series, but it's said to reflect on the group's friendship and how their music influenced the music then as it does now.

DiCaprio will produce through his Appian Way shingle, and maybe they can get him to make a cameo as MC Serch or something? No? I could totally see Jonah Hill as Pete Nice. Okay, maybe not. We all know DiCaprio is a big hip-hop enthusiast, hanging out at ball games with Jay-Z and bustin' a move in The Wolf of Wall Street. So his participation makes sense, and only makes this more exciting. Now excuse me as I crank the volume on "Electric Relaxation" up to 10.

Read More

Win 'The Wolf of Wall Street' Official Soundtrack

                “The Wolf of Wall Street Soundtrack available on iTunes NOW!”

Do I even have to go into why you need to sign up to win a copy of this soundtrack? Even if you haven't seen the movie you surely saw the trailer, any soundtrack that can make Leo Pop n' Lock needs to be grabbed immediately. With artists ranging from Cypress Hill to Foo Fighters The Wolf of Wall Street Music From The Motion Picture is sure to be one you want in your collection come spring break.

All you need to do to enter for a chance to win is send your name and address to punchdrunkcritics@yahoo.com along with the answer to the following trivia question:

"What is the combined total box office for the 5 films Scorsese and DiCaprio have done together (within 50,000,000) as of January 5th, 2014?"

Read More

Review: Martin Scorsese's 'The Wolf of Wall Street' Starring Leonardo DiCaprio

My first thought after the credits rolled on Martin Scorsese's 3-hour symphony of greed and depravity was, "How in the hell did this not get an NC-17 rating"??? Followed quickly by "What the f**k was in that fourth hour Marty cut out"??? The Wolf of Wall Street is a relentlessly depraved and aggressively hedonistic tour de force and certainly the director's blackest, funniest movie to date. The coked-up sex-fueled criminality committed by Wall Street broker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) make Gordon Gekko look like Pope Francis by comparison, and while it's not exactly a complete take down of the "greed is good" culture, it works as a deliciously sinful cautionary tale.

After an army of bleak dramas and corny tear-jerkers infecting the awards season, rides in on a rocket sled. There's simply never a dull moment in Belfort's real-life meteoric rise and descent into chaos, so that the lengthy run time never becomes a factor. DiCaprio wears his good guy image only temporarily as Belfort, an upstart Wall Street rookie looking to make his bones in an honest way, until he learns fairly quickly there's no such thing. Working at one of the most respected brokerage firms in the world, he's introduced to the daily insanity by his boss, a chest-thumping, coke-snorting guru played with scene-stealing hilarity by Matthew McConaughey. He teaches young padewan Belfort that in order to survive the Wall Street zoo, you need to do two things: jerk off constantly and snort enough blow "to sedate Manhattan". But he also learns something else: that this isn't a business where the client is always right. The client's just a mook; a sheep ready to be fleeced to the benefit of the broker. Customer satisfaction does not have its privileges.

As terrible as we know this advice to be, there's a twisted logic to it that drives every ridiculous thing that occurs afterwards. We're talking about people who live in the eye blink of time, where a fraction of a second can mean thousands if not millions of dollars. Of course they're going to look for that same instant gratification anywhere, and from anyone, they can get it from.  Belfort learns a lesson early on about the volatility of the market on his very first day, during the epic crash of 1987, and in an effort to make a living and keep supporting his loyal wife (Cristin Milioti); he begins trading at a rinky dink firm shoveling penny stocks on working stiffs. "Garbage men and postmen. There's always postmen" the head of the firm (Spike Jonze) says. The sales are small but the commissions are huge, and soon Belfort is rolling in dough and gathering up his own crew of stiffs to start their own shop.

But it's not until he gets that first hit off the ol' crack pipe that Belfort's world goes bananas, provided by his right-hand man Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), an extremely Jewish mattress salesman who drops everything to get a taste of the high life. "High" being the operative word as the two rail cocaine out of hookers' orifices like it was going out of style, and that's just the least of their indulgences. Okay, maybe the midget tossing is the least. Belfort cheats on his wife with the sexy "Duchess" Naomi (Margot Robbie) before dropping her altogether; taunts the FBI officials sniffing around his financial empire; buys literally everything in sight while robbing America blind. Look up crony capitalism in the dictionary and you'll find Jordan Belfort's smirking mug.

Scorsese recounts this sordid tale in the same rat-a-tat-tat style of Goodfellas, structuring it in essentially the same manner to the point where one can easily tell which phase of Belfort's downfall we're in. Like Henry Hill from that classic mob flick, Belfort is a guy we know is awful but we love him anyway, and as he reveals his screwed up thoughts over extensive voice-over we root for him to get away with it. There aren't many redeeming qualities for a guy like Belfort but Scorsese, screenwriter Terence Winter, and DiCaprio find just enough to make us like him. Perhaps it's our realization that Belfort isn't really a bad guy in the shark tank he exists in 24 hours a day; he's just a by-product of the criminal nature of a corrupt capitalist system. In that sense, The Wolf of Wall Street doesn't aim to impart some new wisdom about dangerous excess, and its fall-from-grace storyline begins to take a familiar shape once the action starts to wind down.

DiCaprio follows up The Great Gatsby as another character of overabundant riches, delivering a manic and wildly unhinged performance that makes last year's villainous turn in Django Unchained seem tame. DiCaprio's proven he can make us laugh before, but physical humor is something we've seen much less of. Here he gets to put all of his comedic gifts on display, especially in one epic scene where Belfort downs a rack of expired Quaaludes, which fail to kick in so he devours more, only to lose all sense of body control at the absolute worst time possible, finding what he calls the "cerebral palsy phase" in a bit that is destined to be an classic. It's just one of many such moments thanks to a supporting cast that is terrific all around.

The Wolf of Wall Street is the ballsiest movie Scorsese's ever, and proves he hasn't even begun to lose his edge.

Read More

The Top 5 Funniest Scenes of 2013

This year has been full of great, mediocre, and just plain awful movies. But regardless of where certain films stand (and none of the films on this list are bad ones, mind you), a lot of them had good or really funny moments. So, in honor the end of 2013, I've come up with a list that highlights the five funniest scenes from movies this year. They're in no particular order (because I'm too indecisive), but they are each unique and funny in their own way. Be it laugh out loud, or chuckle-worthy, these scenes stood out in their own form of comedic execution.  

--

• I couldn't find the actual scene anywhere, but if you've seen The Kings of Summer, then you know that the scene where Biaggio is speaking with his dad in Spanish about friendship while his dad shaves and only the lower half of his face is showing, is one of the most comedic scenes in the film. After the conversation ends, all Biaggio says is "thought so" and flies out the door. Made me laugh out loud. 

• The scene of Leo DiCaprio crawling after taking too many drugs called Quaaludes, which were expired because no one was making them anymore, is probably the funniest scene in the three hours that is The Wolf of Wall Street. I couldn't get a full video, but this GIF pretty much sums it up. Epic Leo crawling. That. Is. All. 

• The Backstreet Boys may be still be around, but let's face it, they're so '90s. Granted, our love of their classic songs is still very much around. And in This is the End, it looks like Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel are big fans too. So much so, that their wish in heaven is to have the Backstreet Boys show up and sing "Everybody (Backstreet's Back)", all with the original choreography. Pretty original and outrageous at the same time. 

• This scene still hasn't made it to YouTube yet, so that's disappointing, but one of the funniest scenes of the year comes from The World's End, where Simon Pegg's Gary finally makes it to the twelfth bar on the list and is met with the head of The Network, which has been taking over human bodies left and right. So, in order to stop an alien invasion, what does Gary do? Talk the alien's ears off, of course. The real question here is this: do aliens actually have ears?

• What's a better way to spoof a romantic comedy than in a romantic comedy? Well, that's exactly what Joseph Gordon-Levitt does in his directorial debut Don Jon. When he and Scarlett Johansson go to see a movie called "Special Someone", two surprise cameos by Channing Tatum and Anne Hathaway as the movie couple who meet and fall in love make this scene memorable and funny. 

Read More

Watch Leonardo DiCaprio Lose It in New 'The Wolf of Wall Street' Clips and Images

If watching Leonardo DiCaprio snort more cocaine out of more unusual places while delving into the depths of perversion and depravity sounds like something you'd like to see, then The Wolf of Wall Street should make for a fine Christmas gift.  Martin Scorsese's three-hour (could've been four!) celebration of white collar sleeze follows stockbroker Jordan Belfort as he gets sucked in to the excesses granted the wealthy elite, and boy does he take full advantage consuming every drug under the sun and breaking every rule of common decency.

A trio of new clips and a handful of images show two sides of Jordan: the liar and the charming scumbag. Besides DiCaprio's crazy performance you also get a look at Rob Reiner as his worrying father, Jonah Hill as his loyal (and equally insane) sidekick, and Margot Robbie as his "duchess" Naomi. But the real showstopper is Matthew McConaughey as DiCaprio's mentor, and let's just say he sets the tone for the lunacy to come.

Christmas Day rings the opening bell on The Wolf of Wall Street.

Read More

The Talent Show: Leonardo DiCaprio

I remember watching Leonardo DiCaprio on Growing Pains and thinking he made the show much more interesting after years on the air. The man's always been a fantastic actor. Of course, a lot of people though he might just fade into the background after he became a household name in Titanic, but his movie roles after that in Gangs of New York, Catch Me if You Can, and The Departed all proved that Leo was here to stay. What else did it prove? That he was damn good at what he does. 

And on Christmas Day, Leo will amaze audiences again as he stars in his millionth Martin Scorsese film called The Wolf of Wall Street. This time around, we'll get to see Leo dance, act insane, and of course, yell at least once. Because what's a movie without a shouting Leo DiCaprio, right? But alas, this wouldn't be a talent show article if I didn't also highlight and appreciate Leo's good looks along with his acting. Because one thing is pretty clear: the man most definitely looks great in black and white photos! 

Read More

First Clip and Two New Posters for 'The Wolf of Wall Street'

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street remains one of the few big mysteries of the Oscar season for a couple of different reasons. For one, we didn't know if the film would even be ready in time, and for awhile it looked like it would get dropped into early 2014 where the sketchier flicks reside. Fortunately that's not happening, and it'll hit theaters next month as expected. But what kind of movie should we be looking out for? Is Scorsese even aiming for this to take home some gold? Or is he just trying to have a bit of fun?

The first clip and a pair of new posters have been released and clearly this is just a chance for Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio to cut loose Goodfellas-style. Written by Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) and based on Jordan Belfort's memoir, the film chronicles the hard-partying New York stockbroker's meteoric rise and chaotic fall after a fraud indictment. The trailers have been pretty insane, and even when the action slows down like in this clip, things are still downright weird. "Honey, you've got my money taped to your boobs so technically you do work for me." If that's the kind of dialogue Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Jean Dujardin, Jon Bernthal, and Jon Favreau are working with this should be a real treat.

The opening bell rings for The Wolf of Wall Street on Christmas Day.


The Wolf of Wall Street (Clip: Work For Me) by tvPRIME

Read More