![]() The effects still hold up seamlessly, there are eternally quotable lines of dialog, and Crowe has never been better.Ī stunning, provocative look at one of the world's most dangerous, barely fathomable sports, documentary The Deepest Breath is a fascinating profile of free diver Alessia Zecchini. Gladiator is great both when it's showing off set-pieces in the Gladiatorial arena, but also in its quieter moments, as Scott expertly balances a huge story about revenge with an even bigger one about politics, at the same time as showing the painful turmoil of a father whose life is ripped from him by bloody betrayal. Alongside him, Joaquin Phoenix offers the performance that arguably launched him as the intense A-list chameleon he is these days, as the despicable, snake-like Emperor Commodus. Russell Crowe is excellent as the stoic Spaniard, Maximus, who is the epitome of still waters running deep and a hero who feels as timeless as he is essential. From its grimy, spectacular opening battle, right through to its smaller-scale, but just as explosive final showdown, it is a historical epic of the finest type. ![]() Jonah Hill's supporting turn is just as impressive, but really, The Wolf Of Wall Street's cast is great in its entirety.Īhead of both Napoleon and the long-awaited Gladiator 2, Ridley Scott's original, epic ode to the last days of the Roman Empire is still a stunning achievement in blockbuster film-making more than 20 years on. It's as grotesque as American Psycho and as utterly watchable, and features arguably DiCaprio's most off the wall performance (other than in Django Unchained) as it's clear he's having a lot of fun in the role. The greatest trick of the movie is that it worked too well, with a breed of fans actually seeking to emulate DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort, missing the point entirely.ĭiCaprio's Belfort comes across as a chancer, exploiting a system set up for anyone brave enough to ask why not, whose escalation is only matched in scale by Scorsese's precise distaste for the world he builds. A heady mix of overwhelming excess and DiCaprio's exhausting charm, The Wolf Of Wall Street is, like Goodfellas before it, a moralizing wolf in sheep's clothing, pretending to sell an aspirational amoral tale that all comes crashing down. Martin Scorsese and muse Leonardo DiCaprio reunited once more for The Wolf Of Wall Street, telling an obscene, obnoxious story of a different breed of gangsters to the director's usual wise guys. Dune is a thrilling step into a bigger world, one that leaves you desperate for more, yet completely satisfied with what you've just experienced. Dune's cast is great, the movie looks and sounds incredible, but it wouldn't mean as much if audiences couldn't invest in the characters, or get their heads around its grander themes and high concepts - the movie ensures that's not a problem, or even close to it. Dune is a monumental Sci-Fi movie the kind of film that they "don't make like this anymore," except Villeneuve clearly does.ĭune is a masterclass of world-building not since Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings has a movie begun what feels like such an epic cinematic journey that perfectly combines storytelling and filmmaking. Dune's ending confirms it's absolutely a true two-parter, but that does not detract at all from the incredible work from director Denis Villeneuve et al on display here. There's no getting away from the fact that Dune is, at the time of writing, incomplete. It took 56 years, multiple failed attempts, and a budget of around $165 million, but Dune finally got the adaptation it deserved in 2021.
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