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Showing posts with label Josh Brolin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josh Brolin. Show all posts

Dancing in the Wall Street

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

(Above) “Sha la la la la la, my oh my, look like the boy too shy, ain't gonna kiss the girl”

So, as I shamelessly mentioned yesterday (you can tell the word shameless has lost all sense of impact on me now) I’ve entered the Blockbuster Super Blogger competition and I NEED YOUR PAGE CLICKS SO PLEASE GO HERE! In other news, since I signed up to the competition two weeks after the fact I missed the first assignment. I thought I better get on to the second one which was to watch and review Wall Street 2. I hired it last night and I’ve got to say it was, well, meh. I think `meh’ sums it up for me pretty well. Anywho, instead of doing a standard review I thought I’d shake things up with a poem. Of course this puppy is posted on the Blockbuster Super Blogger site, but I figure there’s no harm in sharing it with my treasured Movie Mazzupial readers too. Admittedly I’m no John Keats, but I hope you dig it anyway.

There once was a man named Oliver Stone,
Who won three Oscars for his filmmaking roles.
But despite 22 feature films he’d never made a sequel,
That is, until he tried to make Wall Street’s equal.

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps may be an indulgent title,
But to fans of the original, only the content is vital.
Michael Douglas is back as Gordon Gekko and fresh out of jail,
With the financial climate perfectly suited for this alpha-male.

Carey Mulligan plays Gekko’s daughter Winnie,
Who wishes her dad was far away, like, in New Guinea
But her boyfriend Jake, played by Shia LaBeouf,
Thinks Gekko can’t be such a colossal douche.

He enlists his help to get revenge on Josh Brolin’s banker,
Who drove a man to suicide like a true Wall Street wanker.
But things with Gekko are never quite so simple,
And the tycoon’s schemes pop Jake’s bubble like a pimple.

It’s been 23 years since Wall Street took centre stage,
And it seems the plotting and style of the first has been ingrained.
While the sequel is fine from a filmmaking point of view,
You can’t help but ask did we really need number two?

Perhaps the biggest error is the casting of LaBeouf,
It’s almost as bad as Josh Brolin as George W. Bush.
The smug, lil’ twerp is out of his depth,
And his plastic performance is a massive misstep.

While the supporting cast is impressive and not lacking in talent,
It’s the character set-ups that make them an audience challenge.
Sure, the dialogue is decent and the lines do what they should,
But there’s nothing as memorable as “greed is good.”

The film’s run time is like accumulated depreciation,
And by the end of 133 minutes it lost this reviewer’s appreciation.
Despite Wall Street proving to be an intangible asset,
The sequel feels more like a soggy baguette.

Yet it is refreshing to watch a Stone film that isn’t about a historical despot,
Minus the pseudo homosexuality in lingering shots.
After a six year wait between this film and the weirdness that was Alexander,
Stone fans don’t have to worry because his next project’s not left to flounder.

Savages is the new film to be directed by Oliver Stone,
Starring Jennifer Lawrence, from Winter’s Bone.
But lets be honest, despite the occasional thriller,
He’s never made a film as good since Natural Born Killers.

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. . .but you can have the rest of my Milk.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Gus Van Sant's new film Milk is one of the top two films I wanted to see most in 2009. The trailer was epic and gave me all sorts of goosebumps. Watching Margaret and David's review of Milk in December as part of their summer special only fueled my intense desire to see this film with Margy giving it 4 and a half stars and Davy giving it (for the first time in my memory) a perfect five star review. I was finally able to catch an advanced screening of it last night and I was not disappointed. This is the kind of movie film students are going to study in years to come and definitely one of Gus Van Sant's best films which is saying a lot. Undoubtedly he is one of the best film makers of our time with creations such as; My Own Private Idaho, Good Will Hunting,Finding Forrester and Elephant (to name a few). But Milk is something else. A true story, Milk is based on California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone. Sant seamlessly merges archive footage with acted scenes to the point where you're sometimes uncertain whether you're watching the actors or the real-life characters home movies, a newspaper clipping or tv news archive. Sant and his casting director have also done a brilliant job at not only rounding up a superb ensemble cast, but the actors bare an unbelievable resemblance to the real-life movers and shakers. The performances are nothing short of AMAZING especially for supporting cast members Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and James Franco particularly who is beyond convincing as Harvey Milk's long time lover. You cannot, however, get past the brilliance that is SEAN PENN. He is in my number one favourite actor of all time and even I was blown away by this performance. SEAN PENN IS HARVEY MILK. I honesty thought nothing could beat Penn's performances in Mystic River and Dead Man Walking. I was wrong. wrong, wrong and Penn delivers his most subtle, heart-wrenching and memorable portrayal to date. He trumps Mickey Rourke in best performance by an actor in a leading role and Milk trumps Slumdog Millionaire for best major motion picture. Gus Van Sant trumps Danny Boyle for best director. Openly gay himself, to Sant's credit the bet thing he does is restrain any notion of over production. Although he has obviously and painstakingly crafted this film in a very intricate fashion, one of its biggest assets is Sant's lets the amazing true-story and incredible performances appear to do the work while his inventive and inconceivably creative camera techniques subtly add to the calibre that makes Milk a masterpiece in its own right. If I could have my way I'd give Milk every Oscar I could pry from the Academy's steel grip but frankly, whether it wins or loses in the coming weeks is irrelevant. Milk is and will always be an important film with a universal message of hope.
Milk opens in cinemas this Thursday, January 29.

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Got milk?

Monday, December 29, 2008


Hot damn, I wish I did! And no, I don’t mean the kind that comes out of a cows teat. I’m talking about the new film from super-awesome Gus Van Sant titled Milk which is getting all sorts of praise for great acting and superb direction. A true story, Milk is based on California's first openly gay elected official, Harvey Milk, a San Francisco supervisor who was assassinated along with Mayor George Moscone. Not only is this directed by one of my top six favourite directors (Sant) it stars one of my favourite actors (Sean Penn) in the title role. Penn is backed up by a superb supporting cast with Josh Brolin, Emile Hirsch and James Franco in another strong career move. I’ve seen the trailer no less than six times at the movies and it blows my mind every view. The link below will take you to said trailer of brilliance -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW0lQrWn5VI
I’d heard a little bit about this story thanks to the copious amount of gay friends I have and the movie looks absolutely brilliant from the 2 minutes and 35 seconds I’ve seen. From those who have seen Milk they’re tipping it to take out all five major categories at the coming Oscars including; best picture, best director, best actor in a lead role, best supporting actor and best original screenplay. Win or loose I’m pumped to see this asap. Milk is released January 2009 in Australia, probably at selected cinemas so keep your eyes peeled.

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