This Wolf a selfie of our own greed
out of five Relentlessly repugnant at every level, Martin Scorsese’s chronicle of a real-life Wall Street hustler captures every scrap of greed, narcissism and sexist drool necessary to paint an accurate picture of the pre-crash bubble. Leonardo DiCaprio spares no hint of entitlement as he plays Jordan Belfort, a reallife Faust who sold his soul to the NYSE and rose to the very top of the stock market totem.
Because the movie never tries to disguise its bloodcovered muzzle, Scorsese’s nearly-three-hour, expletive-laden voyage isn’t just exhausting and spiritually depressing, it’s a complete artistic success as it snaps a selfie of our current reality and its vacuous pursuit of wealth.
Special features include behind the scenes footage, interviews with DiCaprio
Leonardo DiCaprio plays hustler Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street. and Scorsese, digital copy and more.
ART- HOUSE PICK
The Past (Le passé)
1/2 We tend to take the gift of the present for granted, until it’s over, at which point the lost potential wells up inside us like a dull ache we don’t understand. No wonder everyone in Asghar Farhadi’s latest film is so screwed up: They’re all living in The Past. Marie (Bérenice Béjo) is the reflecting pool in this portrait of time from the Oscar-winning Iranian director of A Separation. A mother who lives on the outskirts of Paris, Marie is the common piece of a sprawling puzzle that includes two men, a small brood of children and a woman lying in a hospital bed on life support. Though it’s a bit slow and unfolds with undeniable self-awareness, Farhadi creates a subtle and remarkably perceptive piece of cinema that skilfully captures our relationship to
NOTE WORTHY REISSUE
time via one another. Special features include English subtitles, interviews and more.
Persona (Blu-ray): Ingmar Bergman’s 1966 masterpiece about an actress (Liv Ullmann) who suddenly goes mute is still a fuzzy trip about the borders of personal identity and sexuality, but the frames have never been crisper. This new Blu-ray release from Criterion features a 2K restoration as well as the re-erection of some previously edited material. Restoring the opening montage and original language (previous sub-titles had been toned down to appease American censors), this edition also features the 2012 documentary Liv and Ingmar, new visual essay on the film’s prologue, archival interviews, on-set footage with commentary from film historian Birgitta Steene and new interviews with Ullmann and filmmaker Paul Schrader.
FROM THE TUBE
Californication: Season Six: He voices the canine in dog food commercials and he’s a total dog in this Showtime series, but it suits David Duchovny, the man with his very own X-File who found a new leash on life playing the sex addict Hank. In series six, Hank starts work on a stage adaptation of his latest novel while his daughter drops out of college to follow in her father’s footsteps. This boxed set features all 12 episodes, as well as the music featured in the hoofer’s version of Hank’s book, God Hates Us All, plus cameos from Marilyn Manson, Maggie Grace and Rob Lowe. BIG SCREEN ROUNDUP Delivery Man Walking with Dinosaurs
SMALL SCREEN ROUNDUP:
Californication: Season 6 Continuum: Season 2 Hoarding Buried Alive: Season 4 Murdoch Myster ies: Season 6 Nature: Honey Badgers NOVA: Zeppelin Terror Attack Veep: Second Season