Peculiar Reviewer

There's this hot new drug called The Wolf of Wall Street , and Leonardo DiCaprio is going to take you there; give you what you need. Trust in him, and success it will proceed.  It's 1987, and Jordan Belfort has just landed a job as a stockbroker at a successful Wall Street firm. Belfort earns his broker's license, eager to begin his new career after being guided by his boss Matthew McConaughey , a tribal-humming money man whose 2 keys to success are: masturbating and cocaine on the daily. Then Black Monday hits, and the firm that promised a lucrative future for Belfort goes under. The wolf then becomes partners with his ambitious, equal-minded neighbor Donnie Azoff ( Jonah Hill ), to form their own boiler room of selling terrible stocks to those desiring easy money. Determined to take the successful duo down is FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), as his investigation into the company reveals stock market manipulation. Jordan Belfort talks to the camera because

Here I go again on my own, contemplating whether or not I want to write about another movie I had high hopes for this year. It actually pains me to say bad things when I wanted it to be so good. From the current 94% critic rating on the Tomatometer, I am of the 6%.  After being caught, successful con man Irving Rosenfeld ( Christian Bale ), and his British partner Sydney Prosser ( Amy Adams ), take a deal with FBI agent Richie DiMaso ( Bradley Cooper ) to bring down Jersey powerbrokers and mafia in American Hustle .   America's favorite genres, mobster and con artist movies, are combined to produce what is supposedly one of the best hustles in history (only some of it is based on a true story). Everybody loves a good take-down. Set in 1978, Hustle opens up with a nearly 5-minute intro of a balding Bale hooking up his comb-over at the Plaza Hotel. In fact, director David O. Russell ( Silver Linings Playbook , The Fighter ) gives many of the stellar cast members grand ethereal

"All is lost here except for soul and body," explains sailor Robert Redford in the message-in-a-bottle he drops into the vast Indian Ocean. Set adrift on memory bliss, "our man" Redford is lost alone at sea after he finds his ship, the Virginia Jean, has collided with a shipping container and is filling up with water. Against all odds and perfect storms, our MacGyver sailor fights coming to terms with his maritime mortal future, going into survival mode during the endless summer gone wrong in All Is Lost .  Director J.C. Chandor ( Margin Call ) wastes no time and drops the viewer in the ocean from the beginning scene of All Is Lost . Redford's character doesn't need a character intro, flashback, or a Hollywood sob story to connect the audience with the sailor. We instantly root for him to survive because Redford plays it cool like Clint Eastwood - and calm like Marlon Brando. Redford is sharp and on-point, carrying the entire movie without a supporting

In the future, when everyone is fabulous, Victors Katniss Everdeen ( Jennifer Lawrence ) and Peeta Mellark ( Josh Hutcherson ) must now travel throughout the country on their Victory Tour of surviving the 74th Hunger Games. In Catching Fire , Panem President Snow ( Donald Sutherland ) has ordered the District 12 tributes to convince the people that the love exhibited between them is real, and not just a front to survive the previous Games. Katniss and Peeta are forced to read from cards that District 12 escort Effie Trinket ( Elizabeth Banks ) writes for them, unable to speak their own thoughts without the threat of backlash from The Capitol. Katniss suffers with flashbacks from Hunger Games, as her and Gale ( Liam Hemsworth ) wait for the hovering doom to return. The opening scenes of director Francis Lawrence's The Hunger Games: Catching Fire are cut too fast. Where Gary Ross' vision in The Hunger Games was to take his time with these scenes, building the suspense and e

From About Schmidt - to Sideways - to The Descendants - Writer/Director Alexander Payne knows how to charm audiences, while establishing a deep emotional connection to the characters in his films. Although his next picture Nebraska was not written by him, it still holds the same formula that has made Payne a critical darling, and Awards show favorite.  Filmed entirely in black-and-white, Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, an aging alcoholic hellbent on claiming his million dollar sweepstakes prize in Nebraska, along with his estranged son David ( Will Forte ). Woody is so determined to collect his winnings, he begins his journey from Montana to Nebraska by trekking up the road alone. While David wants to stop at places on the way like Mount Rushmore (which his father critiques as laziness), Woody prefers to stop at local bars and begins to realize that he no longer knows the people occupying them. Later joining their family to put this millionaire mission to rest is Woody's u

This Christmas there won't be any warm and fuzzy elf socks to put on at the movies, as the Christmas Day releases will be more true to real life: family brawls, excess partying, escaped convicts, and boxing matches. So many good flick picks that you may have to give your family a rain check on the whole Christmas thing. Let's take a look at the Big 4: The Wolf of Wall Street , August: Osage County , Labor Day , and Grudge Match . 1. The Wolf of Wall Street Another rise and fall story from Martin Scorsese in his next one The Wolf of Wall Street . The true story of Jordan Belfort's rise in the 1990s to a wealthy stockbroker living it up, followed by crime and corruption, of course. This won't be a stretch for Leonardo DiCaprio - he already ran the '90s. Jonah Hill, Matthew McConaughey, and Jean Dujardin costar.  2. August: Osage County Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts . August: Osage County is based on the Pulitzer-winning play by Tracy Letts about the brok

Disney has released the first official trailer for Maleficent , starring Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning . The baddest Disney villain of them all, Maleficent tells the tale from the villain's perspective, not that of Princess Aurora, as in 1959's Sleeping Beauty . We will all get to see what made Maleficent so wickedly marvelous. The trailer actually looks pretty amazing, and I think Jolie can pull this classic story off. The Disney epic has a release date of May 30, 2014. 

Last night was supposed to be the first live U.S. performance from singer/composer Danny Elfman in 18 years, but because the Halloween show of Danny Elfman’s ‘Music From the Films of Tim Burton’ at the Nokia Theater sold out faster than the Avon lady, two shows were added prior to the original performance. That frustration aside, all the true fans came out on All Hallows’ Eve to spend the night with the master spooky composer, cloaked as their favorite Tim Burton characters. It was a gothic cinematic extravaganza!  Animated conductor John Mauceri commanded the stage with a playfulness as if Danny Elfman was moving Mauceri’s arms himself. Along with the amazing Hollywood Symphony Orchestra and Page LA Choir playing the scores to Burton favorites including, Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure , Beetlejuice , Edward Scissorhands , Batman , and The Nightmare Before Christmas , Tim Burton’s personal sketches from the films were projected onto screens.      Danny Elfman belted out song

Old chum, Season 3 of FX’s American Horror Story is the season of the witch. This season is filmed entirely in New Orleans, where magic can roam the historical streets. Series creator Ryan Murphy loves women, which is why they have the platform to muck about as they so please on AHS: Coven . Whether they do voodoo, who knew, they would have their sexual ways with whomever they require to fill their needs. We’ve already seen incest, questionable bestiality, and slave porn… and we’re only on Episode 4. Murphy continues to push the boundaries of everything kept in the closet. So why is all this accepted on regular cable you ask? It is women doing the horrific deeds. Female empowerment over female oppressive forces conquers on American Horror Story .  We start in the 1830s, where socialite Madame LaLaurie ( Kathy Bates ) has slaves kept down in her attic – Bates is bathing it like Bathory – in blood. Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon uses a lot of fisheye lenses, causing the viewer to f

Apparently CBS doesn't need the Power of Three to reboot a series that has only been off the air for 7 years. The original Charmed Halliwell sisters, Piper (Holly Marie Combs), Prue (Shannon Doherty), and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano) discover they are descendants of powerful witches, and use their powers to fight against demons, warlocks, and anyone that sought to harm their unit. Charmed was created by Constance M. Burge and produced by Aaron Spelling. The supernatural drama ran for 8 seasons on The WB (1998-2006). The CBS reboot is currently being written by Christopher Keyser ( Party of Five ). With so many reboots happening in film, and now TV, it seems very little will be left fully untouched by the near future. I will check the Book of Shadows for a spell to stop this. 

I debated this past week whether or not I wanted to write a review for the Carrie remake. Because I hold Brian De Palma's original 1976 horror classic (based on Stephen King's first novel) so near and dear to my black heart, my feelings were strange even before the Kimberly Peirce ( Boys Don't Cry ) remake was released. First, a remake of Carrie is about as unnecessary as a remake of Jaws . Second, both Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie's performances will be cemented in time on the horror wall of fame. So, if you already have cinematic perfection, why give it a facelift? Well, Peirce's version of Carrie does not even do that. Chloe Grace Moretz ( Let Me In , Kick-Ass ) is a good teen actor, but she did not succeed in capturing the bullied and abused telekinetic high schooler's naivety and pain, justifying her rise to bloody revenge on prom night. Moretz's Carrie White is also much more vengeful than Spacek's, without accomplishing the believabilit

Tim Burton has only done a sequel to one of his films - Batman Returns - and we liked it. We really, really, liked it. Now, after several years of Beetlejuice 2 rumors, speculations, and calculations (fear of treading on sacred ground), Burton is indeed reopening the doors of Dante's Inferno Room. Beetlejuice was released in 1988, and has since become one of the quintessential cult classics because of the stellar comedic performance from Michael Keaton (the bio-exorcist with impeccable fashion sense), making death look like the life of the party, and a great screenplay. Beetlejuice had a budget of $15M and racked in $73.7M. Everybody took a number from Miss Argentina.  There was already supposed to be one Beetlejuice sequel that didn't happen in 1990 titled Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian (part beach movie, part German Expressionism). One thing is for sure: original cast members are most likely not to return without Burton directing. Given Burton's recent comeback wi

It has been 7 years since Alfonso Cuarón has graced us with a movie ( Children of Men , 2006). Cuarón 's new sci-fi Gravity follows a medical engineer and an astronaut on a heart thumping journey to survive being adrift in space after their mission on the STS-157 has been aborted. Dr. Ryan Stone ( Sandra Bullock ) and Matt Kowalski ( George Clooney ) are given no time to prepare for the evacuation, as they desperately try to grab onto one another, gravity keeping them up in the vast nothingness. Alfonso Cuarón sets the solitary tone and wastes no time commanding our attention with the breathtaking opening shot of Earth from space. The entire film is filled with space shots which cannot be described by any words, but must be visually experienced, leaving sci-fi lovers breathless and in awe. Cuarón sends the viewer deep into space . The camera is shaky only when it needs to be, and the suspense it held throughout. Since George Clooney has already done sci-fi in Steven Soderberg

From the trailers one can tell that Jon of Don Jon is not a fan of happy ending rom-coms. So you know not to expect one in the directorial debut from Joseph Gordon-Levitt . Don Jon tells the story of Jon Martello, a cocky boy from Jersey who is a bonafide porn addict that favors putting up a facade rather than dealing with the now. The character of Jon seems like he would be friends with the cast of Jersey Shore , but instead of GTL, for Jon it's GPC: gym, porn, church. Jon goes through life like a daily checklist as if he is programmed, which is shown through Gordon-Levitt's quick cut editing; even Jon's voice over narration is in control. Anytime something real (an actual woman in his bed, a comment from someone that he is not expecting, etc) is happening to Jon, that thought is juxtaposed with images of porn scenes which are going through Jon's mind. This doesn't change when Jon thinks he has met his match in Barbara Sugarman ( Scarlett Johansson ), a "1

Enter the world of Edgar Wright , Simon Pegg , and Nick Frost - the unstoppable Brit trio that brought us Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Hot Fuzz (2007). The World's End is the third installment of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy , in which each film has featured a different Cornetto ice cream flavour. Strange, but slightly intriguing. The trilogy series has incorporated some kind of otherworldly element, almost intruding on what could always be a standalone comedy in the beginning of each film. Tell me more you say?  One pint science fiction. One pint street fighter. Two shots comedy. (my tag line) It's just eleven more pubs to go at The Golden Mile pub crawl to reach The World's End, the final pub in the Newton Haven drinking marathon that five estranged childhood friends reunite to conquer once and for all. It is the final pub which the lads had never reached 20 years prior in their glory days: 1990. Simon Pegg is hilarious as Gary King, a living-in-the-90s

Jesus' beard, I have missed Larry David in my life. It's been two years since David's genius comedy improv show Curb Your Enthusiasm has been on the air, finishing its eighth season on HBO in 2011. Larry David is back as the star and co-writer of the HBO comedy film Clear History , which tells the story of Nathan Flomm, a marketing executive at Electron Motors who developed the first electric car "The Howard," along with his partner (and boss) Will Haney, played by Jon Hamm ( Mad Men ). Flomm then sells his share of what would become a billion dollar investment, due entirely to his neurotic ways. Larry David dons a homeless beard, a Jesus-gone-wrong hairdo, and a Hawaiian shirt while working at the office, who, as Danny McBride put, "looks like the guy who kidnapped Elizabeth Smart" - a worse office getup than Curb 's "casual Friday" episode. The brains behind Edible Arrangements, Flomm asks pressing social questions like: "why ar

Jenji Kohan finally gets to do what she trickled into Weeds , whenever possible: a real lesbian portrayal on television. The Real L Word is no more "real" than The L Word - you know, those shows about heartless, confused, and deplorable lesbian femme characters who hook up for the sole pleasure of Showtime 's male viewers. And then Orange Is the New Black came along, 50 years in the making. What is the only setting (at this time in 2013) that would work where one can feature what lesbians really look like? Prison. Then remove the lesbian sex for the male gaze. Throw in a handful of actresses that are, in fact, lesbians. Offer up Jason Biggs because he is a harmless hetero, nonthreatening in any way. Make the lesbian setting comedic, with truly good writing. Poof! Jenji Kohan has created a universally appealing television show which severely pushes boundaries including sexual orientation, gender, and race. And on Netflix, Kohan's Orange Is the New Black can do th

Lifetime witches can be so caring and generous, I've heard. Lifetime has ordered ten episodes of the new TV show Witches of East End , about a mother witch of two ( Julia Ormond ), and her adult daughters Jenna Dewan-Tatum ( American Horror Story ) and Rachel Boston ( American Dreams ) who are unaware of their powers and immortality. Virginia Madsen ( Sideways ) has recently been cast to join the Lifetime coven. Recently ABC's Eastwick (2009) only survived one season of fledgling sorcery before getting the axe. The series is loosely based on the novel by Melissa de la Cruz of the same name. This all sounds charming, will probably be a little practical about the magic used, but we can all hope for some real Hocus Pocus since there won't be any teenage witches.