Thursday Movie Picks: Seven Deadly Sins - Greed
1) The Wolf of Wall Street
Can you get any greedier than Jordan does in this film? I'm not sure but this is one of Scorcese's best and is the film Leonardo DiCaprio should've won his Oscar for.
2) There Will Be Blood
Daniel Plainview is so greedy that he'll take all your land to drill oil on AND drink your milkshake too.
3) Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room
This documentary follows one of the biggest corporate greed scandals of all time. Kevin recommended this to me long ago and I'm glad I watched it as it's one of the most fascinating documentaries I've ever seen.
Leo was good in this film but I haaaaaated it! It’s just ugly and disgusting. There Will Be Blood is an excellent film but not a nice one. As always, Daniel Day Lewis is excellent. I have not seen this documentary but I heard it is really good.
ReplyDeleteIt is! it's very interesting and fast paced. You should definitely check it out.
DeleteI've never seen Wolf of Wall Street and never will probably. First the snippets I've seen have never appealed and then I read it has the most uses of the F word of any film ever and I'm sure I've mentioned before that brand of excessive swearing (a Scorsese specialty) takes me right out of the film and I glaze over. So why bother when I know its not for me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like There Will Be Blood despite the fact that I thought DDL contributed an outstanding performance to the film.
That Enron doc was fascinating though I felt like I needed a shower afterwards.
I did a sort of theme within the theme by picking two films that were in some way inspired by my first choice.
Greed (1924)-Small town dentist John McTeague (Gibson Gowland) makes an enemy for life when he falls for his best friend Marcus’s (Jean Hersholt) girl Trina (ZaSu Pitts) and marries her. Unexpectedly Trina wins a $5000 lottery (equivalent to almost 80 thousand in current dollars) which turns the once docile and retiring woman into an obsessed miser leading to enormous tragedy for all three. Director Erich von Stroheim’s controversial epic was originally over nine hours long and for the few who saw it said to be a masterwork. MGM demanded cuts with various editors hacking it down to just over two hours and destroying the rest. It has been restored to 239 minutes through the use of existing elements but the original is lost.
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)-In Mexico wanderers Fred C. Dobbs (Humphrey Bogart) and Bob Curtin (Tim Holt) befriend old prospector Howard (director John Huston’s father Walter who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and together they head to the Sierra Madre mountains to look for gold. They find treasure but it comes at a high price, first in the form of bandits roaming the wilderness but ultimately more so by the greed that consumes them. Though based on the B. Traven novel director Huston sited the ’24 Greed as a major influence.
Greedy (1994)-Elderly tycoon Joe McTeague (Kirk Douglas) is surrounded by his family, a pack of greedy vultures that include Phil Hartman, Ed Begley, Jr. and Bob Balaban, all circling him looking to get their hands on his cash. Joe seeing through their machinations lets it be known he might leave his money to his nurse Robin (Nancy Travis). In an attempt to convince him they are sincere they find estranged grandson Daniel (Michael J. Fox) but that leads to more trouble than they counted on. The ’24 film is given a comic twist here.
Those Enron guys were a mess. I'm not sure TWOWS is for you because of the excessive swearing. I think it makes sense for the characters but there's so much of it it would probably keep you out the entire time. Leo is outstanding in it though.
DeleteI haven't seen any of your picks this week though Greedy is fairly popular today.
We share a pick with There Will Be Blood... I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE... I DRINK IT UP!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe Wolf of Wall Street... what a wild ride that was as I still wish it was longer because I didn't want it to stop. And yes, Leo should've won the Oscar for that role as I wish he would do more films like that where he can show that he is a funny motherfucker.
I haven't seen Enron but I hope to check it out soon.
I'm glad someone else picked There Will Be Blood! Love that movie so much.
DeleteI can't think of two better picks than your first two, well, maybe other than Parasite??? (eh, a bit of a stretch), but those are GREAT picks!
ReplyDeleteI somehow never managed to see that Enron doc, even though I've repeatedly heard it's soooo good. Do you think it will still hold up?? (it's old, right?)
It's from 2005, I think I watched it in 2014-2015 and felt it held up well. I'm sure it still does. I'd watch it again if I could find it online.
DeleteI kind of hated The Wolf of Wall Street. I've been meaning to rewatch it though because my taste in movies has changed a lot since I saw this.
ReplyDeleteI have a mini list of movies like that. Ones I need to re-watch because I've changed so much, maybe I'll like them again.
DeleteGreat picks! I've always thought that There Will Be Blood was a movie about a guy who was addicted to greed. I need to watch that one again actually.
ReplyDeleteI caught part of it on TV the other day. It still holds up so well.
DeleteHaven't seen the Enron doc but those others are great picks.
ReplyDeleteYou should check out the Enron doc if you can, it's very interesting.
Delete"Daniel Plainview is so greedy that he'll take all your land to drill oil on AND drink your milkshake too." lol I don't know why I'm obsessed with this and Daniel in this role lately. Nice picks!
ReplyDeleteThe "I drink your milkshake" line was so fucking random, I think I went into shock when I heard it for the first time. lol
DeleteI haven't seen any of them. If they get added to Netflix I'll check them out.
ReplyDeleteOh man they are definitely worth your time.
DeleteNice picks, I've seen only the first. I think I've never been a huge Daniel Day Lewis fan.. I know.. who am I but the documentary sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteI like DDL's performances but his entire acting process sounds exhausting and I'm surprised so many people speak so highly of him. You would think he'd be hated.
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