The Wolf of Wall Street

I get the fact that Martin Scorsese needs to move on from the Mafia to a new generation of criminals, which explains “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013). I’m just not sure what I was supposed to get out of this movie. It’s voyeuristic fun watching the decadent rise and unsurprising fall of pump-and-dump stock millionaire Jordan Belfort, as played by Leonardo DiCaprio. At several points, however, we’re fed the notion that Belfort was somehow helping everyone else while he was helping himself. That’s just typical self-serving sales bullshit, but not surprising. A salesman’s first priority is to sell himself.

The Monuments Men

When it comes to World War II movies, there isn’t a lot of new ground to cover. So, purely for novelty’s sake, “The Monuments Men” (2014) is worth watching. The story of an American military unit tasked with saving precious European artwork from the Nazis and/or Soviets isn’t anything John Wayne ever starred in (at least not that I know of). It’s a George Clooney movie. He brings along buddy Matt Damon and fills out the cast with a bunch of other familiar names (Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Bill Murray, etc.). It’s good, solid, earnest, predictable. Worthy of the genre.