The Revenant - quick review: film vs book...

What's it about?
Based on the real-life story of Hugh Glass, a tracker for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1820s America, who was savagely attacked by a bear and left for dead by his fellow men. But when he survives, he vows to navigate the hostile landscape and get his revenge.
Who would I recognise in it?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Scooping up three Oscars - Cinematography, Director, and Actor (a long-in-the-wait golden baldie statue for Leo) - The Revenant was nonetheless pipped at the podium by Spotlight for Best Film. Much has been said about the glorious photography - meticulously shot during 'the magic hour' to make the most of that beautiful natural light that descends for an hour each day - and the struggle of the production (harsh temperatures, chowing down on raw Bison liver, and so on, all drawn out over months of production), but it's interesting to note - as mentioned in the credits - that the film is only 'based in part' on Michael Punke's book...

Click "READ MORE" below to see how the film differs from the book **SPOILERS AHEAD**...

Double Bill Mini Musings: Wolves & Ghosts...

The Wolf of Wall Street:
What's it about?
Martin Scorsese's latest epic about the outrageous life and times of stockbroker Jordan Belfort in the late 1980s and early 1990s - sex, drugs, money, power, women, mayhem, and corruption.
Who would I recognise in it?
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Jon Bernthal, Jean DuJardin, Joanna Lumley, and others.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Scorsese's film is his most brash and outlandish for quite some time, and deals directly with despicable people doing reprehensible things. Terence Winter's whip smart script invites us into this world and manages to elicit different reactions from different people, or a multitude from one individual viewer. Deep down, who doesn't want money and power and sex? The condemnation creeps in when, slowly, the excesses take over and the protagonists' sense of reality skews into obscene territory. These characters - based on real people - do horrible things and never know when enough is enough, but you can't examine that world, or tell that story, without showing it as it is. You can't - and shouldn't - censor it. You can't deal with villainy without meeting the villain, you can't show excess without having a little fun, you can't illustrate a huge downfall without going to extreme lengths.

Click "READ MORE" below for more Wolf of Wall Street, and The Conjuring...