Absolute Cinema Guide with Bill Murray.
2014 looks to be an amazing year for cinematic releases and January is certainly no exception.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Revered filmmaker Martin Scorsese directs the story of New York stockbroker Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio). From the American dream to corporate greed, Belfort goes from penny stocks and righteousness to IPOs and a life of corruption in the late 80s. Excess success and affluence in his early twenties as founder of the brokerage firm Stratton Oakmont warranted Belfort the title “The Wolf of Wall Street.”
Money. Power. Women. Drugs. Temptations were for the taking and the threat of authority was irrelevant. For Jordan and his wolf pack, modesty was quickly deemed overrated and more was never enough! This marks a return to form from Scorsese and I for one think Leo DiCaprio is one of the finest acting talents the U.S has produced in the last 20 years.
4 out of 5 from me
Grudge Match
Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kim Basinger, Jon Bernthal and Alan Arkin star in “Grudge Match”.
Director Peter Segal creates a proper comedy drama that centres on two retired boxers Billy “The Kid” McGuigan and Henry “Razor” Sharp who are lifelong bitter rivals and are coaxed out of retirement and into the ring for one final grudge match 50 years after their last title fight.
This has some great humour and real humility and I think it will reach out to all ages.
3 1/2 out of 5 from me
12 Years A Slave
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s breathtaking performance and Steve McQueen’s humble but majestic direction make 12 Years A Slave the highlight of both their careers.
Also featuring Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Brad Pitt and Paul Giamatti this is grim but gripping stuff.
Slavery often gets debated by wig-wearing white folk in the movies – as if there’s any debate to be had – but when has it ever been truly shown? When have we had to confront, as we surely must, the raw experience of it, the hell of it, the brutality, indignity and rage? Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave supplies all of the above in shattering doses, but it’s the nobility of this remarkable film that haunts you. It grabs you by the throat, shakes you and leaves you whimpering. If Steven Spielberg’s “Amistad” was a revelation then “12 years a slave” Is the revealing, the believing the frenzied feeding and then the decaying end of the slavery picture.
5 out of 5 from me and Oscars all round me thinks!