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

The Last Waltz

Listen up, kids!

This is what a concert should be.

No over-hyped auto-tuned 'singer'.
No crazy stage shows with colorful lights and vidiwalls.
No dance brigades and a gazillion costume changes.
Forget the Rhiannas and Beyoncés and Biebers and even the Madonnas.

Here is Martin Scorsese's version of The Band's last series of live concerts. Spiced up with interviews about their history and stories from various tours. It was a one-of-a-kind event thanks to the incredible list of guest performers that reads like a who is who of 1960's and 1970's music - The Staple Singers, Muddy Waters, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, even Bob Dylan and many more.

Not only is this the greatest concert film ever (not only in my opinion) but I will go as far as stating that this is Martin Scorsese's best film to date. There, I said it.

If there is one thing I envy my parents' generation it is the music. They really had something special in the time before pop took over and style became more important than the craft itself.

This is music.

10/10