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‘The Wolf of Wall Street’, directed by Martin Scorsese, is the true story of New York Stockbroker, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), who in the late 1980’s goes from selling penny stocks and IPO’s to a life of total corruption.

Jordan found success in his early 20’s, as the founder of the brokerage firm, Stratton Oakmont…It’s there that he got the title, The Wolf of Wall Street.

His life was all about money, power, women, sex and drugs…Lots and lots of drugs including Qualudes, coke, and crack.

Jordan became so wealthy that nothing was out of his reach, as long as it had a price tag. But no matter how rich he became, it was never enough to satisfy his insatiable appetite.

Jordan was basically a immoral dude…He didn’t care how many people he hurt…He’d wipe out his own grandmother, if it meant putting money in his pocket….Sound familiar? That’s right. There is absolutely no difference between Belcort and all the Bernie Madoffs that almost destroyed our economy, as well as the lives of so many people.

Speaking of people…The only people Jordan was loyal to were the men in his inner circle, including, his right hand guy and fellow crook, Donnie Azoff, (Jonah Hill, who’s never been better)

Jordan can’t even be honest with his beautiful, hot, sexy wife, Naomi, (Australian actress, the very talented Margo Robbie) who he professes to love more than anything on earth.

The film is outrageously funny…From DeCaprio’s and Hill’s brilliant demonstration of what it’s like to overdose on Quaaludes and to the over the top naked orgies, there’s nothing Belcort and his crew wouldn’t do to have a little fun and spend their millions.

In my not so humble opinion, ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’ is one of Scorsese’s best films in a long time.

Yes, it’s a comedy, but ultimately, it’s the story about a man, that becomes so addicted to power, that he actually believes, he’s unstoppable and that no one, especially the FBI, could ever bring him down. In the end, there’s nothing funny about that.

Leonard DiCaprio is absolutely brilliant, capturing all of Jordan’s layers…His charm, his sense of entitlement, and most importantly, thanks to a brilliant scene with Matthew McConaughey, where he learned how to sell anything to anyone.

Rounding out the cast is Rob Reiner as DiCaprio’s father, Kyle Chandler as the FBI agent, who makes it his mission to destroy Jordan and his empire, and Jean Dujardin (‘the Artist’) as a Swiss banker, who is kind enough to help Belcort hide his many millions.

‘The Wolf of Wall Street, written by Terence Winter, (‘The Sopranos’, ‘Boardwalk Empire’) based on Belfort’s autobiography, is definitely my favorite film of the year, with ‘American Hustle’ right behind it.

So of course, I gave ‘The Wolf Of Wall Street’, which opens in theatres, Christmas Day, December 25, 2013, five bagels out of five, with everything on them..

Check out our video for more of my thoughts and what I think John’s bagel rating would have been.

He’s back! The He is…Ron Burgundy (Will Farrell) the guy that delivers, big news and perfect hair.

Seven years have passed, since Ron won the heart of his co-anchor and now wife, Veronica Cornigstone (Christina Applegate) The couple, who now have a son, are the top anchors at a local San Diego news station, and they couldn’t be happier.

But it doesn’t take very long for things to change for Ron and his family, when they are called into their boss, Mark Tannen (Harrison Ford) office. Expecting Tannen to announce his retirement, the duo thinks that they will become his replacement.

Well they are half right. Veronica is named as Tannen’s replacement and Ron is fired.

So what do you think this loving husband does? Congratulates his wife on her new gig?

Nope, not our Ron…He gives Veronica an ultimatum…It’s me or the job. She takes the job.

So what’s a former news star to do? Get a job at Sea World of course…Unfortunately, this does not go well. In fact, Ron is so bad as a Sea World announcer, that even the little kids boo him.

However, it doesn’t take long before Ron’s fortunes take a turn for the better.

Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) a mid-level producer at GNN, an upstart 24 hours cable news network, owned by Australian multi-millionaire Kench Allenby (Josh Lawson) is offeres him a job.

Ron quickly rounds up his classic news team…sports guy Champ Kind (David Koechner) man on the street, Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd) and weatherman Brick Tarniand (Steve Carell) and they head for the Big Apple.

Upon arriving, Ron is quickly challenged by his strong female boss, Linda Jackson (Megan Good) which gives Farrell’s character every opportunity to make the most racist, inappropriate jokes.

To make matters worse, Ron is assigned to the grave yard shift…2:00 AM and Jack Lime (James Marsden) the drop dead gorgeous, prime time million dollar anchor, with glistening white teeth, makes it his mission to torment Ron every chance he gets.

But guess what folks, we’re talking about Ron Burgundy, anchor extraordinaire and believe me, nothing ever defeats this guy. Not wanting to give too much away, Ron surprises everyone and changes the face of news forever.

Okay, so one one level, ‘Anchorman 2’ is, at times a very funny satire, about how news has changed..Nightly news is now about car chases, weight loss tips, and what movie star is doing what movie star…You get the idea.

Having said that, a great deal of this of this film, for me, just doesn’t work…Especially the romance between Kristin Wigg and Steve Carrell. Kristin is much too funny a lady to be doing this kind of slock.

The jokes become repetitious and the film goes on for much too long. There is a funny bit towards the end involving some surprising cameos, but even that wasn’t enough to save this movie.

‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’ written by Farrell and McKay, opens in theatres, Wednesday, December 17, 2013.

I gave the film 2 1/2 bagels out of 5 and I’m sure John’s score would have been even less.

Check out our video for more of my thoughts on the film

From the first second of the first scene, this film had me hooked. I knew I was in for an incredible ride…and that’s exactly what ‘American Hustle’, directed by David O. Russell (‘Silver Linings Playbook’) is…One fantastic cinematic ride.

The film, which opens with the disclaimer, ‘Some of this actually happened, takes place in the late 70’s and 80’s and is loosely based on the Abscam scandal, which led to the FBI arresting several congressmen for taking bribes.

Christian Bale, besides being brilliant, is practically unrecognizable as con artist Irving Rosenfeld, who is is based on an actual con man, Max Weinberg. Bale gained 40 lbs for the role and wears a balding hair piece.

Irving is the owner of several dry cleaning stores, but he makes his money selling fake art and luring people into loan deals which are total scams..

Even though Rosenfeld is a crook, there is something very likable about him. Just ask Sydney Prosser (the fantastic Amy Adams) a former stripper/con artist, who teams up with Irving.

It doesn’t take long, for the two of them, to fall madly in love with each other.

Of course, this does not sit well with Irving’s wife, Roselyn (Jennifer Lawrence, in her best performance to date) who lives the good life out in Long Island with their young son)

As Irving and Sydney become more and more successful with their schemes, it’s only a matter of time before they attract the wrong people.

The wrong people come in the form of the FBI, led by agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper) who will go to any lengths to be a superstar agent with perfect hair.

Irving and Adam are forced to go along with an FBI sting involving, a beloved Camden, New Jersey Mayor, Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and it’s here that things get totally out of control and start to unravel.

‘American Hustle’ written by David o’Russel and Eric Singer is an hilarious journey into a time when disco, coke, and teased hair were the rage.

Rounding out the wonderful cast are Robert DeNiro, as mobster Victor Tellegio, Elizabeth Rohm as Dolly, wife of Mayor Polito, Michael Pena, Louis CK and Michael Hernandez.

The film, which won the New York Film Critics award for best picture of the year, opens nation-wide on Friday, December 20, 2013.

I gave it five bagels out of five and I know John would have given it the same rating.

Check out our video for more of my thoughts.

They’re back….The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who now has the ring in his possession…the Elves, that can do things with a sword that I’ve only dreamed of…the super ugly, super nasty Orcs…the brave dwarfs who just want to go home again…the all wise, all knowing wizard, Gandalf, and the fire breathing, narcissistic, dragon Smaug, (voice of Benedict Cumberbatch) who really likes to hear himself talk way too much.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, shot in 3D, directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, is the second part of ‘The Hobbit’. Btw: there will be one more next year…

After all more Hobbits equals more money, right?

Don’t mean to sound cynical, but personally, I think the whole story could have been told in one movie.

Having said that, I’ll start with the good news…This Hobbit movie is so much better than the last one.

It is the continuation of the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and the 13 Dwarves, led by the Dwarf King, Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebot.

Love those names.

Along the way, instead of encountering 7 Elevens and Mini Marts, they run into giant spiders, that are nothing like that cool spider Charlotte from ‘Charlotte’s Web’, dangerous Wood-elves, the skin-changer Beorn and the dreaded Orcs, who have some major anger issues.

For awhile, they have Gandalf to help them out. Gandalf, although wise, is your basic control freak wizard, who eventually comes to realize, that there are some things way beyond his power. At least in this film anyway.

And then there’s the Elves led by Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and the gorgeous Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) who have a slightly different philosophy than the rest of their crew..

You see, most Elves aren’t fond of the Dwarfs…In fact they really don’t want to get involved in anything that’s going on out there in the ‘real world’. They just want to stay at home and smell the roses or whatever Elves do for fun.

‘The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug’ written by Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, along with Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Torois, is filled with great action scenes, excellent CGI effects and wonderful characters created by. J. R. R. Toliken.

I do think the film was too long, especially the battle scenes between Smaug and the Dwarfs. I mean, how many times can you see a dragon blow fire out of his mouth?

For that reason, I gave ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ which opens in theatres, Friday, December 13, 2013, three and a half bagels out of five. I know John would have given it only 2. We all know how much he hates long films.

Check out our video for more of my banter.

What I’ve come to realize, is how a person feels about a particular film, has nothing at all to do with whether it’s good or bad, whether the critics love it or hate it, or what your friends say about it.

It’s your own personal experience. Some films just work for you and others don’t. It’s the same with art, music, theatre and no matter how much you argue with someone over the merits of a certain film, it’s not going to change the kind of experience you had.

Which brings me to the film ‘Saving Mr. Banks’ directed by John Lee Hancock (‘The Blindside’). Simply put: I absolutely loved every second of this movie…from the brilliant performances by Tom Hanks, Emma Thompson and Colin Farrell, to the beautiful story about the creative process, to the relationships between the characters, this film worked for me on every level.

‘Saving Mr. Banks’ written by Sue Smith and Kelly Marcel is the story about two real people and one fictional character. The real ones are Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) and P. L. Travers (the brilliant Emma Thompson) and the fictional one that she created, is Miss Mary Poppins, nanny extraordinaire.

For 20 years, Disney tried unsuccessfully to get the rights to the Mary Poppins books from its author P. L. Travers. Miss Travers absolutely hated Mr. D along with every cartoon character his studio ever created. On top of that she despised musicals.

But in 1964, Travers finds herself in dire financial straits and if she doesn’t do something quickly, she will lose her beloved home. The author has no choice, but to travel to Los Angeles and meet with Disney.

‘Saving Mr. Banks’ is not only the story of Travers and Disney’s difficult relationship, but it’s also a movie about making a movie….The Mary Poppins movies which starred Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews.

Oh and besides hating cartoons and musicals, Travers also hated Dick Van Dyke.

Throughout her stay, Travers treated Disney and everyone involved with the production, including Bradley Whitford, Jason Schwartzman and B. J. Novak, who play the Sherman brothers, who wrote all those wonderful songs for the movie, with utter disdain and disrespect.

The only person, Travers was halfway civil with, was her chauffeur, Ralph (Paul Giamatti) who is also a fictional character. It’s with Ralph, that we finally get to see Travers’ vulnerable side.

‘Saving Mr. Banks’ cuts between Travers’ past and present. She grew up in Australia, where she lived with her mother and her alcoholic father, who she deeply loved and who was always disappointing her.

We come to understand that it because of her traumatic and painful childhood, she was able to write all the Mary Poppins books and why she was so fiercely determined to hang on to them.

This is one of the best films of 2013 and I gave ‘Saving Banks’ which opens in theatres, Friday December 13, 2013 five bagels out of five.

John, believe it or not gave it the same score.

Some films grab you from the first scene, and ‘Out Of The Furnace’ directed by Scott Cooper, from a script he wrote with, Brad Ingelsby is one of those.

Not wanting to spoil it for you, let’s just say it involves, Woody Harrelson, his girlfriend, a drive in movie and a hot dog.

Woody plays, Harlan DeGroat, a crazy redneck, living in the backwoods of Pennsylvania. Besides having an off the charts violent temper, DeGroat is the leader of a gang of thugs, whose collective I.Q points hardly equals 50.

But he’s not the center of the film, even though he plays a very significant part of what occurs.

The focus of ‘Out of the Furnace’ which takes place during Obama’a first Presidential campaign, are two brothers…Russell Baze (Christian Bale) and his younger brother Rodney (Casey Affleck.

When Russel is not taking care of his dad, he works in the local steel mill, that’s about to close..

Rodney, on the other hand, has just returned to the States after serving four tours in Iraq. Too say he’s a little on edge, is putting it mildly.

Even though Russell’s father is dying of cancer, the guy is making the best of it. Of course his drop dead gorgeous girlfriend, Lena, (Zoe Saldana) makes his life more than bearable.

That is, until one night, an unforeseen event, changes everything for him.

‘Out of the Furnace’ is the story what happens when a man has lost everything, except his need for revenge.

The film is extremely violent and depressing…It’s also a story I’ve seen more than once. Yes the performances, including William Dafoe, Forrest Whitaker, and Sam Shepherd are all fine, but in the end, I would wait to see this on Netflix.

For that reason, I gave ‘Out Of The Furnace’ which opens in theatres, Friday, December 7, 2013, three bagels out of five.

Check out our video for more of my thoughts and John’s bagel score.

The thing I like the most about a Jason Statham film is…I know exactly what I’m going to get…lots of action, violence, and Jason kicking major butt.

And that is exactly what happens in his new film ‘Homefront’, written by Sylvester Stallone, based on the novel by Chuck Logan

Statham plays widowed, ex-DEA agent, Phil Broker, who retires to a quiet Southern town, in order to raise his 10 year old daughter, Maddy (Izabela Vidovic) in a quiet, small town environment.

Boy is he surprised, when he finds out this town is definitely not MAYBERRY.

In fact, it doesn’t last long, thanks to a chain of events, involving a little boy seriously in need of Weight Watchers, before Broker is forced to face off with, Gator Bodine (James Franco) the local sociopathc Meth kingpin, as well as some really evil dudes evil dudes from his past.

At the same time, Broker is mourning the loss of his wife, who just recently past away.

What separates, ‘Homefront’ from your every day action film, is that it’s filled with some really interesting characters.

My favorite being, Kate Bosworth, who plays Bodine’s sister, Cassie Klum…Miss Klum is one extremely violatile, irrational and dangerous lady, who just happens to be a meth head. Definitely not a good combo.

Rounding out the cast is Winona Ruder, as Sheryl Mott, Bodine’s drug addict/hooker, girlfriend and Frank Grillo, as someone you do not want to meet in a dark alley or any other kind of alley.

‘Homefront’ directed by Gary Fleder (‘Runaway Jury’) is an edge of your seat thriller and if you’re a Jason Statham fan or a fan of this genre, you won’t be disappointed.

I gave ‘Homefront’ which opens in theatres, Wednesday, November 27, 2013, three bagels out of five.

Check out our video for John’s bagel rating and for more of our thoughts.

Once more we return to the 12th district in the dystopian world of Panem, ruled by the super evil President Snow (Donald Sutherland).

The film begins as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games, along with her best friend and fake soul man, Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are about to go out on a ‘Victors Tour’

Life is good for both Katniss and Peeta…They live in comfortable houses, have all the food they could possibly want, nice clothing and are the ‘darlings’ of Panem.

Of course, there is a price for all of these goodies…They have to keep up the charade of being madly in love with one another.

This proves extremely difficult for Katniss, since, as we all know, her true love is, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth) who now works in the 12th district’s mines.

That’s not the only thing difficult for Katniss. She’s haunted by all the people she was forced to kill in the Games and it’s hard for her to hide this…All you have to do is look in her eys and you know, this is one pissed off lady.

It’s especially obvious to President Snow who pays Katniss a visit in her new home. He lets Katniss know, that he’s watching her and she better not screw up…Which translates to..If you don’t go along with the program, I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever loved.

Lucky for Katniss, Haymitch Abernathy (the wonderful Woody Harrelson) and Effie Trinket, (the also wonderful, Elizabeth Banks) is by her side as she and Peeta set out to visit all of the districts.

Along the way, Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering…and so does Snow, who blames Katniss and decides this lady must die. The question is…How to do this, without upsetting her many, many fans.

Thanks to Snow’s new Games director, Plutarch Heavensbee (Philip Seymour Hoffman) they come up with The Quarter Quell, aka The 75th Annual Hunger Games, where all the past Victors have to fight for their life once more.

Little did Snow realize, that this event would change Panem forever.

‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ is directed by Francis Lawrence (no relation to Jennifer) and he did a killer job. I absolutely loved this film and enjoyed it so much more than the first one.

It’s filled with surprises, excitement and great performances by the supporting cast, including fellow Victors…Jena Malone, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, Lynn Cohen (the oldest Victor to fight), Sam Clafin. Lenny Kravitz as Katniss costume designer, Cinna is back as well.

Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn wrote the screenplay based on the novel ‘Catching Fire’ by Suzanne Collins.

I gave ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ five bagels out of five. I promise you, fans of the books will not be disappointed.

Check out our video for John’s bagel rating. HINT: It was definitely very different than mine.

To say that David Wozniak (Vince Vaughn) is a ‘Big Daddy’ would be an understatement…Because, he’s the ‘biggest daddy’ of them all.

David has fathered 533 children of which 142 have filed a class action lawsuit to find out the identity of their biological father.

If you’re wondering, how exactly David became the father of all these kids, wonder no more. From 1990 thru 1992, he made multiple sperm donations under the pseudonym of…Starbuck. He was paid $35.00 a pop by a fertility clinic racking up over $20,000.

Apparently, David’s sperm was very popular and all the women wanted it.

‘Delivery Man’, written and directed by Ken Scott, based on his French Canadian film ‘Starbuck’ is the story of what happens when a screw-up is faced with making a very grown up decision.

David is 42 and is one of those guys who never got his life together. He works as a delivery guy for his family’s meat business, is $80.000 in debt to some very nasty guys, and even his pot plants are dying.

When David finds out that his on and off girlfriend, policewoman, Emma (Cobie Smulders) is pregnant with his child and isn’t sure she wants him anywhere near the kid, he decides, it’s time to change.

With the help of his best friend/lawyer, Brett (Chris Pratt) Davids sets out to discover exactly who are 142 kids. In the process, he winds up, unbeknownst to them, becoming their guardian angel.

‘Delivery Man’ is a very sweet, touching film. It’s even funny at times and Vince Vaughn is better than he’s been in quite a while. He makes us really care about David as well as his new found family.

For that reason, I gave ‘Delivery Man’ which opens in theatres, Friday November 22nd, 2013, three and a half bagels out of five. John’s back to his old self and completely disagreed with my opinion.

Check out our video for his bagel score and for more of our thoughts.

When you’re a screenwriter, you are told over and over again, that film is all about the visuals. Yes dialogue is important, but it’s the pictures that have the most impact.

That is certainly the case, when it comes to the black and white film, ‘Nebraska’, brillantly directed by Alexander Payne.

Simply put, this film is absolutely exquisite and equally exquisite is, Bruce Dern’s performance. This is the best performance of his career and come Oscar time, his name will certainly be on the Best Actor list.

Bruce plays, Woody a man nearing the end of his life, who may or may not have dementia.

This is a man who doesn’t say much and most of the time, his attention is somewhere far, far away.

When the film starts out, Woody, a life long alcoholic, who lives with his wife, Kate (the wonderful June Squibb) and his son, David (Will Forte) in Montana, gets a flyer in the mail, stating that he won a one million dollars sweepstakes.

All he has to do is travel to the sweepstakes office in Nebraska, to collect the prize.

Even though David and his brother, television.newsman, Ross (Bob Odenkirk) try to convince Woody it’s a scam, he refuses to believe them. He’s going to Nebraska, even if he has to walk there. And wait to you see Woody’s walk…

To appease him, David agrees to drive Woody to Nebraska and what an amazing trip this turns out to be.

‘Nebraska’ brilliantly written by first time screenwriter, Bob Nelson, is a road film, that takes us into the heartland of America and it does this, with incredible images, thanks to the genius of Phedon Papamichael, Payne’s long time cinematographer.

The film also takes us deep into Woody’s life…his past and his present.

We meet Woody’s extended, wonderfully odd family, his childhood friends, including Ed Pegram, (Stacy Keech) and learn who this old, cantankerous, cold man, really is.

We also find out why this money is so important to him.

‘Nebraska’ is a must see for anyone who loves movies in their purest form. There are no special effects…just great characters that tell a story, with their whole being.

I gave ‘Nebraska’ which opens in theatres, Friday November 15, 2013, five bagels out of five and SURPRISE, so did John.

Check out our video for more of our thoughts.