Movie Time!

 

I finally plonked my butt down and watched The Irishman (2019).

Made for Netflix by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino together with a large cast that includes Anna Paquin, Harvey Keitel and Ray Romano, this is the story about the Mob and Jimmy Hoffa.

The Irishman is based on a book by the real Frank Sheeran (De Niro) and shows his life from being a meat delivery driver to working for the Philadelphia Mob to his work for Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters Union. I'm no authority on the subject but in general terms one can say this is probably how it happened. I really can't say much else about the plot without dragging this out too far and spoiling the plot.

Let me warn you. This movie is 209 minutes long, or over three and a half hours! This is a mini-series of 4.6 episodes with 45 minutes per episode. By the time it finished, I had a hard time remembering what happened in the beginning. That said, I had a good time all the way through. The Irishman doesn't drag, which is in itself an accomplishment considering that for its length, very little happens. Everything is important, but it isn't an action movie by any means. Sure, people get shot and cars blow up now and then, but most of the film is talking and arguing. Oh, and shouting when Pacino is involved.

This is unmistakeably a Scorsese movie. But it isn't Goodfellas 2 or Casino 2. It is its own thing and must be seen as such.

Style wise, it is excellent. It all takes place before my time but everything seems authentic. The production staff had to recreate a huge number of suits since the style changed drastically between the 50's, 60's and 70's, but they did the work and the movie is better for it.

What else can I say? The cast can't get more veteran than this. Everyone is amazing, and it was a real treat to finally see De Niro and Pacino share proper screen time together. What little we got in Heat (1995) wasn't enough, this is where it's at.

The Irishman felt to me like a last hurrah. One last chance to get the gang together and make an epic movie before everyone gets too old. After all, Scorsese is 79, Pacino is 81, De Niro and Pesci are 78. No one lives forever and I'm glad they got to do this movie. It's not a masterpiece, and I'm probably not going to re-watch it like I have with Goodfellas, but it is absolutely worth watching if you like what these men I mentioned do.

I also sat down and watched Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood (2019).

This is the ninth movie by Quentin Tarantino and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and many more. It is in fact a bit of a who's who of actors who have worked for Tarantino.

This is a wonderful movie, but a weird Tarantino film. I'd say out of all his previous works it reminded me most of Jackie Brown. The incredible over the top action you get in Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds and The Hateful Eight is missing apart from in once scene, and ...In Hollywood is 161 minutes long.

What we have here are some of the events surrounding the Manson Family Murders back in the late 60's. DiCaprio plays the actor Rick Dalton, a famous TV cowboy from the 50's who's career is in danger of sliding down the drain. Pitt plays Cliff Booth, Dalton's stunt double and general gofer. They fill most of the screen time, with the rest being Robbie as Sharon Tate. If you know about the Manson Murders that should tell you enough, if not I wont spoil anything.

...In Hollywood is in every way an amazing movie. Tarantino plays with the suspense so well I wish he would do a Hitchcock style thriller. The humor is there, and the dialog is as always top notch. The two things that really stood out though are the acting and the props. They actually convinced shops on Hollywood Boulevard to accept changes to their storefronts to appear more period, and many decided to keep the new look afterwards. They also somehow got permission to shut down a large part of the Hollywood Freeway between 12 pm and 2 pm, in order to fill it with period cars. This has never happened before.

While I'm on the props, I ran into a slight dilemma while watching. I noticed that everything is squeaky clean. All the cars are shining, the sidewalks are spotless etc. I remember the 70's-80's when all cars spewed black smoke everywhere. There was a dark gray film of grime on everything back then and the 60's were no better. Now this is either an oversight by Tarantino or then it is deliberate. The title of Once Upon A Time, indicates a fairy tale, not reality which could mean it is a golden memory of a time past with all the grime edited out. I don't know what the truth is, you'll have to make up your own mind.

The acting is a joy to watch. DiCaprio hits it out of the park again, and Pitt isn't far behind. During filming they became real friends and it shows. Everyone else does a great job, but it's the Pitt/DiCaprio part that is worth pure gold.

I definitely recommend Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood. I had a blast from beginning to end and I am going to re-watch it at a later date.

 

Well, I've rambled on almost as long as the movies I mentioned. I hope you'll join me again next time, and have yourself a great week! Stay safe.

Howling on Wall Street

Last Friday I finally got around to watching The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese's three hour long movie about Jordan Belfort, starring the ever great Leonardo DiCaprio in the main role.

It's worth noting that this film is based on true events, though some things have been altered as well as some characters that have been melded into one, etc. As an example, the scene where Jordan is so stoned he can't even stand, let alone walk (yet he desperately needs to drive home) was pretty much improvised by DiCaprio.

The fact that this is a real story about real people, is one reason why it's so good. If this had been the pure fantasies of some screen writer, it would have seemed pretty fake.

In case you don't know what this movie is about, by the way, here's a link to the summary on IMDB.

So is this a good movie? Yes. Yes, it really is. My biggest, well only complaint is the length. Three hours is too long, and I don't think it would have suffered by cutting it down by, say half an hour. That said, I enjoyed it thoroughly, even though I would have hated sitting through it in a theater.

One thing that struck me as I was watching, and it's something others have noticed as well, is how similar Wolf is to one of Scorsese's other crime dramas, namely Goodfellas. One of my all time favorite movies BTW. If the first line in Wolf had been “Ever since I could remember, I've always wanted to be a stockbroker” I would not have been the least bit surprised. If you made two lists, one with Jordan's name at the top, and one with Henry Hill's name, and started listing their actions, you would end up with two pretty similar lists. Without spoiling anything major, I'll just say that doing copious amounts of drugs, committing crimes daily and cheating on your wife will have fairly obvious consequences whether you're a stockbroker or a gangster.

I could rant on and on about the gorgeous visuals, the soundtrack, the sterling acting etc etc, but I really think you should just watch The Wolf of Wall Street yourself. Fair warning though, this movie is dripping with sex, naked women and graphic drug use, so be careful who you watch this with. It may not be the ideal film to enjoy with your grandmother. Unless she's cool...

Also, fans of Absolutely Fabulous should watch out for Joanna Lumley's role, since it could well be Patsy Stone if she ever grew up.

Final summary: great movie!

Until next week, stay safe!