Geek of Oz

For his latest film, The Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese adheres to the old adage: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. The diminutive maestro has been cranking out epic crime films for the past forty years. The Wolf of Wall Street is draped in debauchery and proudly indulges in oodles of sex, drugs and naughtiness whilst still acting as a searing indictment of what damage Wall Street traders were able to do throughout the late 80s and into the 90s. This is the kind of film which will either make you hate corporate corruption or go out and buy some shares. Based upon Jordan Belfort’s autobiography of the same name, the film tracks his rise to prominence off the back of some ingenious yet shady loopholes within the stock market. On the way up the corporate food chain, Belfort brings along his closest friends Donnie (Jonah Hill), Brad (Jon Bernthal), Chester (Kenneth Choi) and Nicky (P. J Byrne), all good New Jersey boys who blindly follow the charismatic Belfort through thick...

Drugs, booze and kinky sex are the order of the day in Jon S. Baird’s latest film,  Filth.  James McAvoy stars as Bruce Robertson, Scotland’s most debauched detective, whose personal and professional life is teetering on the brink of annihilation. Awkwardly-paced and overtly-misogynistic, unfortunately Filth never really settles into its rhythm. The film has its moments but unfortunately it left me feeling a tad meh.

Savages , the latest film by Oliver Stone, tells the story of Californian drug dealers Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson) as they are planning to retire. Complications arise as a Mexican Cartel led by Elena (Salma Hayek) start to move in on Chon and Ben’s territory, which results in multiple kidnappings, shoot-outs and double crossings. Ultimately, Savages suffers from an inconsistent tone but has a few highlights to draw upon. Savages is the film adaptation of a novel by acclaimed crime author, Don Winslow ( The Power of the Dog, The Winter of Frankie Machine and Dawn Patrol ). I am a huge fan of Winslow’s work; he is able to lace the criminal world with grounded characters which make for more compelling stories. Being a story about drug dealers, it’s already a hard enough task getting the audience to sympathise with its protagonists. Failing to establish the title characters of Ben and Chon exacerbated this problem. Sure, we get a montage introducing their operation ...