The Wolf of Wall Street

Well, this was surprising.

I did not actually want to see The Wolf of Wall Street. Then a couple of friends suggested to go see it together and I ended up actually sort of enjoying it.

Granted, it is long. And I mean very, very long. Too long even. Seriously, how many scenes of gang banging hookers and doing endless lines of cocaine does it take to get the message across? Two? Three? Surely not as many as there were, some even in slo-mo. Two hours should have been more than enough to tell this particular story.

Aside from the sheer endlessness of the film, there were moments of greatness and absolute hilarity.

The highlight of it all, which made me laugh so hard I was in stitches, was the main character making his way from a pay phone inside the lobby of a country club to his car parked outside. There are other laughs and chuckles along the way, but this one definitely takes the cake.

Ultimately, this was better than I expected.

7/10

Zero Dark Thirty

This is a 157 min movie that feels like a 157 min movie. Does that make any sense? What I'm trying to say is that it does not drag on, but it doesn't fly by either. Every scene is stretched to the point where it is about to get exhausting, but then doesn't quite.

It starts off with an extended torture scene. The main players are established as being tough, but only because they need to be. They are really only doing it for the intelligence and are totally awesome true patriots. Never mind that the new name they get out of the poor guy is one that they eventually get from multiple others that seemed to be giving up details much easier.

From this moment until the final showdown at Bin Laden's hide-out we follow CIA agent Maya in her years of struggle to convince her superiors that her hunches are right and, ultimately, she knows how to find the big bad wolf. This part is pure drama, no action - other than the occasional explosion that will have you jump out of your seat.

The storming of the hide-out feels like it takes place in real time. Sure, it is exciting, but - much like the torture scene - is so detailed one could argue that it is too long.

Overall pretty good. Jessica Chastain is much more deserving of the Oscar than Jennifer Lawrence in the same category.

6/10

Argo

Think what you will of Ben Affleck's quality as an actor, but the man is a brilliant director. I will fight you tooth and nail on that. He has to date made three feature films and I enjoyed all of them immensely. Actually, I believe he got better with every film.

Anyway, my point is Argo is a great, great film.
It tells the true story of a covert mission to free six American citizens hiding in the residence of the Canadian ambassador to Iran. The six individuals fled the US embassy in 1979, while it was being stormed by angered Iranians that demanded that the US return the former Shah so that he could be properly tried in Iran. In the ensuing chaos the fact that six personnel of the embassy are missing goes unnoticed for quite some time.

Meanwhile, back in Washington the government together with the CIA is trying to devise a plan to free them. The plan they eventually go with is so ridiculous yet still makes more sense than some of the other options they entertain. The plan is to pretend to make a sci-fi film called Argo and pass the six off as part of a film production group scouting locations in Iran. To make this airtight a production company is formed, offices and all, a producer is found and actors are cast to perform a table reading for press.

They really did this in 1980 and the operation remained classified until the late 1990s. Up until then people were led to believe that the coup was thought up and put into action by Canada.

The climax will have you worried, even though you know that they will eventually all get to safety.

9/10