The Wolf On The Street

Howlin' Wolf - Spoonful

The Wolf Of Wall Street was an excellent film. Now, Martin Scorsese is an awesome film maker, but he's not as close to my heart as, say Stanley Kubrick, Krystof Kieslowski or Juzo Itami, but this is the blueprint for what Scorsese does best. Goodfellas and Casino are amongst his top ten and this one plays to that same structure of tragedy. Now, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Departed, Mean Streets, Shutter Island (that's a favourite of mine but clearly not collectively so) and The Last Waltz are absolutely untouchable but he's made a handful of above average films too, Kundun, The Age of Innocence, The Last Temptation of Christ, Gangs Of New York, The Colour of Money, etc.. But then there's New York, New York which for me is a down-right stinker (couldn't even finish it, I wish Robert De Niro in this film would just shut up and stop chewing up the scenes).

Obviously this is just my opinion and it means nothing, but compared to other film directors who have made consistently excellent work, I find Martin Scorsese to be a fantastic director but only within this structure (ie. person rises up through heinous means, only to be tragically befallen through their own devices). Correct me if I'm wrong and try to convince me. Mind you, just like Jordan Belforts "victims", I don't make films because I don't have the talent, I just criticize them.

If you haven't seen The Wolf Of Wall Street, please see it if you're not of the feint of heart for swearing. I felt utterly screamed out by the end of the movie despite being completely breathless throughout.