Wolf of Wall Street

[AdamA]

Anyone seen it?

I thought it very entertaining.

Opinions?

[MediumTex]

I haven't seen it, but the reviews make it sound like Wall Street is populated by narcissistic misogynistic  psychopaths who attach themselves to the face of society like a vampire squid.

Seeing this side of our financial markets is apparently upsetting to some people.

[AdamA]

I haven't seen it, but the reviews make it sound like Wall Street is populated by narcissistic misogynistic  psychopaths who attach themselves to the face of society like a vampire squid.

Seeing this side of our financial markets is apparently upsetting to some people.

The criticism seems to be that it encourages or celebrates the behavior, which may be true.  Still, it's probably accurate, and if I saw the movie knowing nothing about Wall Street, I would be very hesitant to take any advice from a stock broker.

[MediumTex]

I haven't seen it, but the reviews make it sound like Wall Street is populated by narcissistic misogynistic  psychopaths who attach themselves to the face of society like a vampire squid.

Seeing this side of our financial markets is apparently upsetting to some people.

The criticism seems to be that it encourages or celebrates the behavior, which may be true.

Most movies celebrate or implicitly encourage some kind of inappropriate behavior.

When is the last time you saw a movie that didn't make it look kind of fun to do something you weren't supposed to do?

I happen to have seen such a movie just last night in the form of Requiem for a Dream, but movies like that are unusual.

[Pointedstick]

I happen to have seen such a movie just last night in the form of Requiem for a Dream, but movies like that are unusual.

Oh god. I'm so sorry. Were you tricked into it? That happened to me once. Requiem for a Dream is one of those movies that you never, ever want to see again, yet afterwards you feel strangely compelled to inflict it on others.

[dualstow]

Anyone seen it?

I thought it very entertaining.

Opinions?

Jonah Hill was hilarious as always. Otherwise, I felt like it was one more Goodfellas. That's not to say it was bad. It's just that I've seen too many movies with this formula, or at least of this genre.

[AdamA]

Jonah Hill was hilarious as always. Otherwise, I felt like it was one more Goodfellas. That's not to say it was bad. It's just that I've seen too many movies with this formula, or at least of this genre.

I thought Goodfellas was a better movie because it's plot and script seemed more robust.  Wolf is scene after scene of this guy's craziness. 

Still, there were some great scenes, especially the one with Matthew Mcconaughey.

[MediumTex]

I happen to have seen such a movie just last night in the form of Requiem for a Dream, but movies like that are unusual.

Oh god. I'm so sorry. Were you tricked into it? That happened to me once. Requiem for a Dream is one of those movies that you never, ever want to see again, yet afterwards you feel strangely compelled to inflict it on others.

I was sick and had a lot of work to do last night and thought I would take a 90 minute break to clear my head so I watched it.

I actually found it kind of uplifting.  It gave me that feeling of "Even if you're behind on your work and you feel like crap, at least you're not a junky whose refrigerator is chasing him around his apartment."

***

I've always kind of enjoyed those ultra-dark takes on life.  I remember one time in the late 1990s I was watching a film called Permanent Midnight in the theater.  The film was about a heroin addict and there was this one part where he was supposed to be taking care of his baby, but he needed a fix so he took the baby with him to the dope house and after he scored he sat in his car out in front of the dope house with the baby in the carrier next to him and got high.  It was so completely pathetic and sad, so completely rock bottom short of someone dying or going to prison, that it struck me as funny in an absurd way and I started laughing.  Needless to say, I was the only one in the theater who was laughing, but I honestly thought that the absurd tragedy of the whole scene was funny.  I laughed the same way I might laugh if a junky tried to pawn his dog for drug money.

***

But yeah, Requiem for a Dream.  Like American Beauty, Precious, and The Deer Hunter, it's what you might call a "feel bad movie."

[Ad Orientem]

The real Wolf of Wall Street...

[AdamA]

I remember one time in the late 1990s I was watching a film called Permanent Midnight in the theater.  The film was about a heroin addict...

I saw that movie and really liked it.  Ben Stiller (of all people) was great.  I was surprised that the movie didn't more publicity. 

[Libertarian666]

I haven't seen it, but the reviews make it sound like Wall Street is populated by narcissistic misogynistic  psychopaths who attach themselves to the face of society like a vampire squid.

Seeing this side of our financial markets is apparently upsetting to some people.

So it's a documentary then?

[dualstow]

Jonah Hill was hilarious as always. Otherwise, I felt like it was one more Goodfellas. That's not to say it was bad. It's just that I've seen too many movies with this formula, or at least of this genre.

I thought Goodfellas was a better movie because it's plot and script seemed more robust.  Wolf is scene after scene of this guy's craziness. 

Still, there were some great scenes, especially the one with Matthew Mcconaughey.

I agree on all counts.

[Jan Van]

I haven't seen it, but the reviews make it sound like Wall Street is populated by narcissistic misogynistic  psychopaths who attach themselves to the face of society like a vampire squid.

Seeing this side of our financial markets is apparently upsetting to some people.

Yves agrees with you :-)

Naked Capitalism: The Misdirected Outrage Over The Wolf of Wall Street

But, the moralists will howl, this makes crime look glamorous and rewarding! Well guess what? Crime is rewarding, and if you can do it on a big enough scale, you can even buy some glamour. So why are you shooting the messenger?

[Coffee]

I saw Wolf of Wall St.  My advice:Wait for it to come out on Netflix or Redbox.  It had some decent scenes, but all in all was not better than Boiler Room, a movie from several years ago that was about the same guy's firm.

The plot of Wolf was predictable.  As someone above said: a watered-down Goodfellas with more T&A.