 Miss Granny | |
| 장르 | 코미디, 드라마 |
|---|---|
| 감독 | 황동혁 |
| 각본 | 신동익, 홍윤정, 동희선 |
| 출연 | 심은경, 나문희 |
| 제작사 | 예인플러스 |
| 배급사 | CJ 엔터테인먼트 |
| 개봉일 | 2014년 1월 22일 |
| 시간 | 124분 |
| 등급 | 15세 이상 관람가 |
 | 이 글은 코미디 영화에 관한 토막글입니다. 서로의 지식을 모아 알차게 문서를 완성해 갑시다. |
13 Sins, also known as Angry Little God and 13: Game of Death, is the 2014 American horror remake of the 2006 Thai horror comedy/psychological thriller film 13 Beloved.
A brilliant seller is deeply in debt and about to be married. He receives a mysterious phone call informing him that he is in a game of hidden cameras, where he must perform 13 tasks to receive a cash prize of millions of dollars.[2]
Critical reception has been mixed-to-positive and the film has a rating of 56% on Rotten Tomatoes as of May 16, 2014, based on 32 reviews.[5] Variety and Fearnet both gave 13 Sins mixed reviews,[6] with Fearnetcommenting that the film's greatest weakness was its familiarity to earlier, similar films, but that overall "there's more than enough here for a "psychological horror" fan to get behind."[7] The Austin Chronicle was more positive in their review, in which they commented that the movie would have a wide appeal to both genre and mainstream viewers.[8]
 | This article about a 2010s horror film is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| Chronicle | |
|---|---|
 Teaser poster | |
| Directed by | Josh Trank |
| Produced by | John Davis Adam Schroeder |
| Screenplay by | Max Landis |
| Story by | Max Landis Josh Trank |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Matthew Jensen |
| Editing by | Elliot Greenberg |
| Studio | Davis Entertainment |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 83 minutes (Theatrical edition)[1] 90 minutes (The Lost Footage edition)[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $12 million[3] |
| Box office | $126,636,097[4] |
Chronicle is a 2012 American science fiction drama-thriller filmdirected by Josh Trank in his directorial debut, and written by Max Landis based on a story by both. It follows three Seattle high school seniors, bullied Andrew, his cousin Matt and more popular Steve form a bond after gaining telekinetic abilities from an unknown object. They first use their abilities for mischief and personal gain until Andrew turns to darker purposes.
The film is visually presented as found footage filmed from the perspective of various video recording devices. It primarily uses Andrew's hand-held camcorder to document the events of his life. Released in the United Kingdom and Ireland on February 1, 2012, and in the United States on February 3, 2012, it received a positive critical response and grossed $126 million worldwide.
Seattle teenager Andrew Detmer (Dane DeHaan) starts videotaping his life. His mother, Karen (Bo Petersen) is dying of cancer and hisalcoholic father, Richard (Michael Kelly) is verbally and physically abusive. At school, Andrew is frequently bullied, all those negative issues show his depression and lack of luck.
Andrew's cousin Matt (Alex Russell) invites him to a party to help him meet people, but Andrew's filming negatively attracts an attendee and he leaves despondent. He is persuaded by popular student Steve (Michael B. Jordan) to record something strange that he and Matt have found in the woods. The trio enters a hole in the ground, where they hear a loud strange noise and discover a large glowing blue crystalline object which glows red. They are painfully stricken by nosebleeds and the camera cuts out. Weeks later, Andrew, Matt, and Steve record themselves, as they displaytelekinetic abilities, able to move objects with their minds, but bleeding from their noses when they overexert themselves. They develop a close friendship and begin employing their abilities to play pranks, but Andrew pushes a rude motorist off the road and into a river, Matt insists that they restrict the use of their powers, particularly against living creatures.
When they discover flight abilities, they agree to fly around the world together after graduation. Andrew wants to visit Tibet for the peaceful nature. Steve encourages him to enter the school talent show to gain popularity. Andrew amazes his fellow students by disguising his powers as an impressive magic act. That night, he's at the center of attention, Matt and Steve celebrate at a house party. After drinking with his classmate Monica (Anna Wood), she and Andrew go upstairs to have sex, but he vomits on her, humiliating himself.
Andrew becomes increasingly withdrawn, aggressive and culminating, when his father Richard attacks him and Andrew uses his power to overwhelm him. His outburst is so extreme that it inflicts psychically connected nosebleed warnings on Steve and Matt. While Matt ignores the nosebleed, Steve goes up to the middle of a storm and tries to console Andrew who grows increasingly frustrated, but Steve is suddenly struck and killed by lightning. At Steve's funeral, Matt confronts Andrew about the suspicious circumstances of Steve's death. Andrew denies responsibility to Matt, but he privately begs forgiveness at Steve's grave.
Andrew grows distant from Matt and again finds himself ostracized at school, and when he rips the wisdom teeth out of a bully's mouth. When his mother's condition deteriorates, Andrew uses his powers to steal money from people for her medicine. After mugging a local gang, he robs a gas station where he accidentally causes an explosion that puts him in the hospital with burns and under police investigation. At his bedside, his father informs the unconscious Andrew that his mother is dead and angrily blames him. As his father threatens to strike him, Andrew awakens and destroys the outer wall of his hospital room.
During a birthday party, Matt experiences an intense nose bleed and senses Andrew is in trouble. He goes to the hospital, where Andrew is floating outside and proceeds to wreak havoc with his powers. After saving Richard after Andrew attempts to kill him, Matt confronts his cousin at the Space Needle and tries to reason with him, but Andrew grows aggressive and irrational at what he perceives as an attempt to control him, claiming to be an apex predator. Andrew attacks Matt and the pair fight across the city, hurting numerous people and policemen involved. Injured and enraged, Andrew uses his power to destroy the buildings around him, threatening thousands of lives. Unable to get through to Andrew and left with no other choice, Matt tears a spear from a nearby statue and impales Andrew with it, killing him instantly. The police surround Matt, but he flies away.
Three months later, Matt lands in Tibet with Andrew’s camera. Speaking to the camera while addressing Andrew, Matt vows to use his powers for good and to find out what happened to them in the hole. Matt positions the camera to view a Tibetan monastery in the distance and says "You made it" before flying away, leaving the camera behind to continue recording the tranquil scene.
The film is written by Fear Itself writer Max Landis, from a story by him and Josh Trank who also directed it. For budgetary reasons, The film was shot primarily in Cape Town, South Africa with Film Afrika Worldwide, as well inVancouver, Canada.[5][6] Trank cited the films Akira, Carrie and The Fury as influences on Chronicle.[7] Filming started in May 2011 and continued for eighteen weeks, ending in August 2011.[8] Cinematographer Matthew Jensen used the Arri Alexa video camera to shoot the movie and Angenieux Optimo and Cook s4 lenses.[5]Postproduction techniques were used to give it a "found footage" look.[5] A cable cam rig was used for a shot in which the character Andrew levitated his camera 120 feet into the air.[5] The Arri Alexa camera was mounted on a skateboard to simulate Andrew's camera sliding across a floor.[5] Stuntmen were suspended from crane wire rigs for flying scenes, with green screen special effects used for closeups of the actors.[5] Andrew's video camera in the movie was a Canon XL1 MiniDV and later he switched to a HD camera that resembles a Canon Vixia HF M30.[5] His "Seattle" bedroom was actually a set constructed on a film studio stage in Cape Town.[5]Because in South Africa, vehicles drive on the left side and have steering wheels on the right side, American style vehicles had to be shipped in for the production.[5] DVD dailies were provided to the director and cinematographer by the Cape Town firm HD Hub.[5]
Chronicle opened in 2,907 theaters in the United States and Canada on February 3, 2012.[9] Box office watchers expected the film to gross $15 million for its opening weekend, the Super Bowl weekend, while Fox projected to receive around 8 million.[10] However, by its first day the film had already earned an estimated $8.65 million[10] and finished the weekend as the top film with $22,000,000 surpassing The Woman in Black($21,000,000) and The Grey ($9.5 million).[9] Next to an estimated production budget of $12 million, it was an unexpected financial success as the film became the fourth highest Super Bowl debut.[9] Chronicle also opened as a number one hit internationally, opening in 33 foreign markets such as Australia, China, and the United Kingdom where it earned the most with $3.5 million.[11]
Overall, the film grossed $64,314,970 in the United States and Canada, and $58,800,000 in other territories, for a worldwide total of $123,114,970.[4]
Chronicle has received mostly positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 85% based on reviews from 165 critics, with an average score of 7.2/10, with the site's consensus stating: "It arrives during a glut of found-footage films, but Chronicle transcends its gimmicks with a smart script, fast-paced direction, and engaging performances from its young, talented cast." [12] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received a score of 69/100, based on 31 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".[13]
Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film a positive review, saying "From [the] deceptively ordinary beginning, Josh Trank's Chronicle grows into an uncommonly entertaining movie that involves elements of a superhero origin story, a science-fiction fantasy and a drama about a disturbed teenager," giving the film 3.5 stars out of 4.[14]Empire critic Mark Dinning gave the film 4 stars out of 5, saying the film was "A stunning superhero/sci-fi that has appeared out of nowhere to demand your immediate attention."[15] Total Film gave the film a five-star review (denoting 'outstanding'): "Believable then bad-ass, it isn't wholly original but it does brim with emotion, imagination and modern implication."[16]
On the negative side, Andrew Schenker of Slant Magazine gave the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying the film, "offers up little more than a tired morality play about the dangers of power, rehashing stale insights about the narcissism of the documentary impulse."[17]
Chronicle was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on May 15, 2012. The film was released on DVD and a special "Lost Footage" edition for Blu-ray, which contains additional footage that was not shown in theaters, notably a scene after Andrew overpowers his father, where Matt and Casey have had sex, as well as a scene where Andrew returns to the cave entrance, around which the grass has formed a swirling pattern around the hole, a scene where Andrew's father leaves the house after they have run out of medication money, and a scene where a SWAT team opens fire on Andrew as he blocks the bullets.
The film was nominated for Best Science Fiction Film at 39th Saturn Awards, but lost to Marvel's The Avengers.
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Chronicle | Golden Trailer Award for Best Most Original Trailer | Won |
| Golden Trailer Award for Best in Show | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film | Nominated |
Fox hired Max Landis to write a sequel.[18] Whether director Josh Trank would return was unclear.[19] The Hollywood Reporter gave a brief one-line mention in its March 23, 2012 issue that a sequel was in development.[20] However, it was later reported that Fox was not happy with the script.[21] On April 10, 2013, Landis told IGN that Fox did like the script and they're moving along with it; Landis also said that the sequel would be darker in tone.[22] On July 17, 2013, Landis revealed on his Twitter account that he and Trank are no longer working on the sequel and new writers have taken over to write the film.[23] Fox set Jack Stanley to write the film.[24]
 | Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:Chronicle (film) |
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| 3 Days to Kill | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical poster | |
| Directed by | McG |
| Produced by | Luc Besson Adi Hasak Ryan Kavanaugh Marc Libert Virginie Silla |
| Screenplay by | Luc Besson Adi Hasak |
| Story by | Luc Besson |
| Starring | Kevin Costner Amber Heard Hailee Steinfeld |
| Music by | Guillaume Roussel |
| Cinematography | Thierry Arbogast |
| Editing by | Audrey Simonaud |
| Studio | EuropaCorp Wonderland Sound and Vision |
| Distributed by | Relativity Media |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 117 minutes[1] |
| Country | France United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $28 million[2] |
| Box office | $44,497,999[2] |
3 Days to Kill is a 2014 French-American action thriller film directed by McG and written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak.[3] The film stars Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen, Richard Sammel, and Eriq Ebouaney.[4] The film was released on February 21, 2014.[5]
The film, although a modest box office success, has received negative reviews.
Experienced CIA agent Ethan Renner works with a team to capture the Albino, lieutenant to an arms trafficker called the Wolf, as he is selling a dirty bomb to some terrorists. The Albino catches wise to the trap when he recognizes one of the agents, whom he kills. Renner is able to cripple the Albino by shooting him in the leg, but not capture him. Meanwhile, elite CIA assassin Vivi Delay, who has been personally assigned by the Director to kill the Wolf, monitors the operation, and notices Renner has unknowingly seen the Wolf.
Renner is nearly disabled by an extreme cough, which is diagnosed as terminal brain cancer which has spread to his lungs. He is given only a few months to live, and will not see the next Christmas. For decades he has kept his dangerous career a carefully guarded secret from his wife Christine and daughter Zoey, at the cost of losing them. He decides to spend his remaining time trying to fix his relationship with his estranged daughter, and if possible, his ex-wife. He returns to Paris, where he and his family live separately, to find the African family of Jules is squatting in his apartment. He is told by the government that he is not permitted to evict indigent squatters until after the winter.
He makes an awkward reconnection with Christine and Zoey, and tells Christine of his terminal illness. She allows him to reconnect with Zoey, and when she has to go out of the country on business, she is forced to let him look after Zoey. Vivi finds him and recruits him to find and kill the Wolf, in exchange for an experimental drug that could extend his life significantly. He reluctantly accepts, to get more time with his family. Vivi tells him the way to trap the Wolf is by getting the Albino, in turn by getting his accountant, in turn by kidnapping the gang's limousine driver.
All the while he is fighting the hallucinogenic effect of the medicine when his heart rate goes too high, which he can control only by consuming alcohol. He must also deal with Zoey's school problems, and her habit of lying so she can sneak out partying. He manages to keep her out of trouble, and slowly reestablishes a father relationship with her, which impresses his wife.
He tracks the Wolf and the Albino into the subway, but they gain the upper hand when he is disabled by the hallucinations. The Albino attempts to kill him by pushing him in front of an oncoming train, but Renner manages to push the Albino on the track instead. The Wolf escapes.
The family is invited to a party thrown by Zoey's boyfriend's father, who happens to be the Wolf's business partner. Renner manages to protect Christine and Zoey when the Wolf's men start shooting to kill him; he kills them all, and while the Wolf is trapped in an elevator, he breaks the cable, causing it to crash to the basement floor. The Wolf crawls out wounded, but Renner is again disabled, and drops his gun just out of his reach, where the Wolf can get it. Vivi reaches them and kicks the gun back to Renner, telling him to finish the job and kill the Wolf, but he decides not to, because "I promised my wife I'd quit." Vivi then kills the Wolf.
At last retired, Renner survives to Christmas, which he is spending at a beach house with Zoey and Christine. He discovers a small, red wrapped gift package, which contains another vial of the cancer medicine. Vivi is seen on a hill behind the house smiling as Renner opens the package. Renner decides to close the package containing the vial, and instead live his remaining days with his family.
On August 7, 2012 Deadline reported that Kevin Costner had been offered the role of Ethan Renner, a government assassin in the McG-directed film.[3] The film, set in France, was scripted by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak, with EuropaCorp having produced while Relativity Media has North American rights.[3] On October 2, 2012, it was confirmed that actor Costner had closed the deal to star as lead in the film.[6] On November 29, 2012, Hailee Steinfeld joined the cast of the film as female lead, and the film began production in early 2013.[8]On December 13, Amber Heard also joined the cast.[7] Later, on January 7, 2013, Connie Nielsen was added to the cast.[9]
On January 7, 2013, crews were filming scenes in Paris and Belgrade, and shooting wrapped in April.[9] Some scenes in Paris were filmed in the studios and in the central nave of the Cité du Cinéma, founded by Luc Besson in Saint-Denis. Scenes in Belgrade were filmed in front of Hotel Jugoslavija.[10]
On January 31, 2013, photos from the set of the film were released.[11] In November 2013, stills from the film were released.[12] On December 17, 2013, the studio released the first trailer and the poster for the film.[13] On January 30, 2014, Relativity released a new Super Bowl 2014 spot.[14]
On May 28, 2013, Relativity set a release date of February 14, 2014 for the film.[15] Later, on October 30, the film's date was shifted back a week, to February 21, 2014.[5]
3 Days to Kill has received mixed to negative reviews from critics and the film currently holds a 32% rating onRotten Tomatoes based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6 out of 10. The consensus states: "3 Days to Kill uneasily mixes technically accomplished action sequences with an underdeveloped family conflict." [16]
3 Days to Kill grossed $12,242,218 in its opening weekend, finishing in second place behind The Lego Movie($31.3 million). As of April 15, 2014, 3 Days to Kill has grossed a domestic total of $30,628,310 and a foreign total of $5.5 million, bringing its total gross to $36,128,310.[2]
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| Police Story 2013 | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Traditional | 警察故事2013 |
| Simplified | 警察故事2013 |
| Mandarin | Jǐng Chá Gù Shì Èr Líng Yī Sān |
| Cantonese | Ging2 Caat3 Gu3 Si6 Ji6 Ling4 Jat1 Saam1 |
| Directed by | Ding Sheng |
| Written by | Ding Sheng |
| Starring | Jackie Chan Liu Ye Jing Tian |
| Studio | Jackie & JJ Productions China Vision Media Group Wanda Film and Television Media Starlet HK International Media |
| Distributed by | Jackie & JJ International (Worldwide) Emperor Motion Pictures(Hong Kong) |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | China Hong Kong |
| Language | Mandarin |
| Box office | $86,340,000[2] |
Police Story 2013 is a 2013 Chinese-Hong Kong action crime film directed and written by Ding Sheng, and starring Jackie Chan in another reboot of the Police Story film series. The film is directed by Ding Sheng, whom previously helmed Chan's Little Big Soldier. According to Chan, unlike the previous Police Story films where he portrayed a Hong Kong cop, in the new film he will portray a mainland Chinese officer.[3]
Like New Police Story, 2013 is a stand-alone installment with a darker tone than the previous installments, which were comedies.
Detective Zhong Wen heads to Wu Bar in search of his estranged daughter, Miao Miao, who is now the girlfriend of the nightclub's owner, Wu Jiang. However, Zhong disapproves of Miao's relationship, which leads to an argument between the father and daughter. Before Zhong can make amends with Miao, he is struck in the head by an unnamed assailant, in a plot orchestrated by Wu.
Regaining consciousness, Zhong finds himself strapped onto a chair, and his hands bound by metal wires. He deduces that Wu was after him all along, but cannot conclude why. Zhong also learns that the other bar patrons, including his daughter, are being held captive. Wu phones the local Lieutenant and demands a hefty ransom as well as an audience with prisoner Wei Xiaofu, before leaving the room Zhong is trapped in.
Zhong breaks free of the wires and escapes from the room. Scouring the bar undetected, he finds the secret chamber of Wu, which is predominantly filled with posters of a teenage girl and a younger Wu, who once went by the moniker "Spider" when he was a kick boxer. He also spots blueprints of the bar and discerns that Wu intends to bomb the entire bar should his kidnapping ploy fail. Through Miao, Zhong obtains a handphone, which he uses to contact the lieutenant. Unfortunately, Wu soon discovers that Zhong has fled the hostage room. Wu grabs Miao at gunpoint, forcing Zhong to reveal his hiding place.
Re-captured, Zhong offers an impatient Wu his assistance in finding Wei, who has yet to arrive. Wu agrees and gives Zhong two options — win one of his henchmen in a battle and be allowed to free three hostages, or admit defeat and find Wei alone. Zhong relents, agreeing to fight. With perseverance, Zhong emerges as victor.
Zhong then convinces a reluctant Wei Xiaofu to enter the bar with him. Back in Wu Bar, Wu Jiang reveals the reason behind the kidnapping; he intends to exact revenge on Zhong, Wei, and three other hostages, all of whom were coincidentally witnesses to Wu's younger sister's death. On that fateful day, Wei had wanted to steal medicine for his mother at a pharmacy. Wu's sister was also at the drug store. When Wei's theft is discovered, he panicks and holds Wu's sister at knifepoint. It transpires that she had been pregnant and, due to stress, had committed suicide by slashing her own neck with Wei's weapon. Zhong, who was driving back home, happened to pass by the crime scene, but could not save her.
As Wu digests the truth, police forces storm into the bar. The bombs set in place by Wu go off and the criminals flee through an escape route. In the ensuing confusion, Wu leaves with Miao. Zhong gives chase and the trio end up in a rail tunnel. Wu offers Zhong an ultimatum: Shoot himself or let his daughter die. Zhong chooses the former but realises that the gun is unloaded. Wu informs Zhong that he has passed his test and in doing so, has earned his respect. Wu returns Miao to Zhong and prepares to let an oncoming train hit him. Zhong is unable to stop his suicidal act in time but luckily, the train switches tracks just as it is about to collide with Wu. The bar owner is apprehended, while Zhong is sent to hospital.
Filming of Police Story 2013 began in November 2012 in Beijing.[4] To prepare for his role, Chan cut his hair short to fit the look of a mainland officer. About his new role, Chan posted on his Sina Weibo account stating,
| “ | I’ve played policemen many times before, but I’ve never shot a film which focused on the life of a mainland policeman. So this time, I get the chance to fulfill this kind of role.[5] | ” |
Filming wrapped on in February 2013 and post-production began, with the actors re-recording their dialogue.[6]
A public screening of Police Story 2013 was held at the 2013 Beijing International Film Festival in April 2013.[7]Chan also promoted the film at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival in May 2013.[8] The film was released in China on December 24, 2013.[9]
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| Pompeii | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Paul W. S. Anderson |
| Produced by |
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| Screenplay by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Clinton Shorter |
| Cinematography | Glen MacPherson |
| Editing by | Michelle Conroy |
| Studio |
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| Distributed by |
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| Release dates |
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| Running time | 104 minutes[1] |
| Country | Germany Canada |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $80[2]–100 million[3] |
| Box office | $94,619,748[3] |
Pompeii (referred to by marketing as Pompeii in 3D) is a 2014 German-Canadian historical disaster film produced and directed byPaul W. S. Anderson.[4] The film stars Kit Harington, Emily Browning, Carrie-Anne Moss, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica Lucas, Jared Harris, and Kiefer Sutherland. It premiered in France, Belgium, and Russia on February 19, 2014 and was released over the course of the next two days in many major territories, including the United States, Canada, India, and Australia.[5][6]
 | This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. (April 2014) |
The film opens with scenes of the bodies of victims of Pompeii as quotes on the destruction are made.
In Britannia, 62 AD, a tribe of Celtic horsemen are brutally wiped out by Romans led by Corvus (Kiefer Sutherland). The only survivor is a boy named Milo (Dylan Schombing), whose mother Corvus killed personally. The boy is captured by slave traders. Seventeen years later, a slave owner named Graecus (Joe Pingue) watches a class of gladiators battle. He is unimpressed until he sees the grown Milo (Kit Harington), a talented gladiator the crowds call "the Celt." Milo is soon brought to Pompeii with his fellow slaves. On the road, they see a horse fall while leading a carriage carrying Cassia (Emily Browning) and her servant Ariadne (Jessica Lucas). Milo kills the horse to end its suffering and Cassia is drawn to him. Cassia is the daughter of the city ruler Severus (Jared Harris) and his wife Aurelia (Carrie-Anne Moss), happy to have her back after a year in Rome. Severus is hoping to have the new Emperor Titus invest in plans to rebuild Pompeii but Cassia warns him of Rome becoming more corrupt. A servant named Felix (Dalmar Abuzeid) takes Cassia’s horse for a ride only to be swallowed up when a quake from Mount Vesuvius opens up the Earth under him.
At the gladiator arena, Milo soon has a rivalry with Atticus (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a champion gladiator who by Roman law will be given his freedom after he attains one more victory. The gladiators are shown off at a party where Corvus (now a Senator) tells Severus the Emperor will not invest in his plans but Corvus will. It turns out Cassia left Rome to escape Corvus’ advances. When an earthquake causes horses to become excited, Milo helps calm one down. He then takes Cassia on a ride, telling her that they cannot be together. Returning to the villa, Corvus is ready to kill Milo (not recognizing him from the village massacre) but Cassia pleads for his life. Milo is lashed for his actions and Atticus admits respect for the man as they prepare to face each other at the upcoming festival.
In the Amphitheatre of Pompeii, to punish Milo, Corvus orders him killed in the first battle and wicked trainer Bellator (Currie Graham) convinces Graecus to sacrifice Atticus as well. The two men, and other gladiators, are chained to rocks as other gladiators come out as Roman soldiers, to recreate Corvus’ “glorious victory” over the Celts. Working together, Milo and Atticus survive the battle, Atticus realizing the Romans will never honor his freedom. During the battle, Corvus forces Cassia to agree to marry him by threatening to have her family killed for supposed treason against the Emperor. When Milo and Atticus win, Cassia defies Corvus by holding a “thumbs-up” for them to live and he has her taken to the villa to be locked up. Claiming an earthquake is a sign from Vulcan, Corvus has his officer Proculus (Sasha Roiz) fight Milo one-on-one. Their battle is interrupted when Mount Vesuvius erupts, creating quakes that cause the arena to collapse, sending Milo and Proculus crashing to the jail levels. Milo opens up the gates to allow his fellow gladiators a chance to attack, Proculus escaping while the gladiators kill Bellator. Seeing Corvus fallen under a collapsed beam, Severus tries to kill him, but is stabbed by Corvus who escapes.
The volcano unleashes balls of fire across the city as the populace tries to flee to the harbor. One fireball destroys a ship killing the escaping Graecus. Aurelia tells Milo that Cassia is at the villa before dying. Milo races to the villa and manages to save Cassia, but Ariadne is killed when the villa collapses into the sea. Corvus and Proculus kill civilians blocking their path to safety. Atticus tries to reach the harbor, but a tsunami created by the volcano smashes into the city, destroying the outer walls and smashing apart ships, Atticus barely rescues a girl and her mother from the tidal wave. Reuniting with Atticus, Milo suggests searching the arena for horses to escape to the south. As the gladiators face Roman soldiers at the arena, Cassia sees to the bodies of her parents only to be abducted by Corvus. Atticus has Milo chase after the chariot carrying the two while he faces off against Proculus. The Roman manages to mortally wound Atticus, but the gladiator rises up to break the blade and use it to kill the soldier.
Milo chases Corvus across the city, both barely avoiding balls of fire and collapsing roads and buildings. Cassia manages to free herself before the chariot crashes into the Temple of Apollo. Milo and Corvus battle it out in a duel as a fireball destroys the temple. Cassia chains Corvus to a building as Milo declares that his gods are coming to punish the Senator. Milo and Cassia ride off as a pyroclastic surge races down the mountain and into the city, incinerating Corvus. At the arena, Atticus proudly meets his fate proclaiming that he dies a free man. At the city outskirts, the horse throws off Milo and Cassia. Milo tells Cassia to leave on her own. Instead, she sends the horse off, not wanting to spend her last few moments running. She and Milo passionately kiss as the pyroclastic flow engulfs them. The last shot is of the duo’s bodies, now plaster casts, locked in an eternal embrace.
The film was shot in Toronto, Ontario from March to July 2013.[13] The film was primarily shot at Cinespace Film Studios' Kipling Avenue facility. Said Steve Mirkopoulos, president of Cinespace Studios, "This is the third Germany/Canada co-production by this same revered team to grace our newest, largest film campus in West Toronto, and we are thrilled to have them back. We see this as a growing partnership between some of the most talented film producers and crew in the industry, and the highly experienced facility operators and staff here at Cinespace." Constantin Film and Don Carmody Productions formerly selected Cinespace as a shooting locale for Resident Evil: Retribution and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.[14]
Leading man Kit Harington underwent an extremely potent training regimen for the film in order bulk up for the role. Harrington stated he had "wanted to do a body transformation for something — it was one of those processes that I had never really done before...I became obsessed with it. To the point where I was going to the gym three times a day for six days a week. I was becoming exhausted. So the trainer stepped in and said, 'Look, you don't need to go through all of this. This is body dysmorphia now."[15]
Pompeii was the fourth time that director Anderson used 3D cameras in his films, the first being Resident Evil: Afterlife in 2010. Resident Evil producers Jeremy Bolt and Don Carmody reunited with Anderson for the film.Sony Pictures Entertainment and FilmDistrict released the film because of their relationship with the filmmakers.[16]
Pompeii received negative reviews from critics. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 27% rating on based on 137 reviews, with the site's consensus: "This big-budget sword-and-sandaladventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure."[17] On Metacritic, the film has an aggregate score of 39/100 based on 33 reviews, indicating "Generally unfavorable reviews".[18]
Glenn Kenny, reviewing for RogerEbert.com, awarded the film 2.5/4 stars, declaiming that the film is "a surprisingly old-fashioned disaster movie. In point of fact its old-fashioned-ness is really the only surprising thing about this eye-popping 3D spectacle...", going on to say that "Anderson offers up a narrative device older still, a rich-girl/poor-boy variant...". Of Sutherland's performance, Kenny remarks he had "a hell of a time playing the relentlessly villainous Corvus—you need really strong passions if you’re going to stick to your petty personal grudges even as fireballs are battering all those around you, so it stands to reason." He went on to state that "somewhat less entertaining is the fake-knowingness of the cliché dialogue...As much bloodletting as happens in this movie—and there’s quite a bit of it before the volcano action (presaged by a lot of building foundational cracks and such) gets underway—the movie is otherwise relentless in its wholesomeness...the action scenes are choice, and once the clouds of ash and shooting fire and churning seas start up, "Pompeii" achieves a momentum that most sensationalist studio fare can’t touch...one senses that Anderson and company were going for a little bit more, particularly in the, you know, profundity department."[19]
The film relies heavily on the works of Pliny the Younger in its historical construction. The film starts with Pliny the Younger's famous quote, in which he states, "You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore."[20] Anderson became enamored with his writings, particularly their near fantastical element and their eloquence, whose influence can be seen throughout the film in the destruction of Pompeii.[21]
The depiction of the eruption is based on eruptions which occurred all over the world over the last ten years. Anderson cites the volcanic eruption of Mount Etna in Italy and various eruptions of Japanese volcanoes as specific examples of volcanic eruptions which the production crew observed through footage which has been captured on film.[21] Furthermore, Anderson wanted to portray the lightning which is often seen in the ash cloud above eruptions, as he had never seen it portrayed before and he felt it was both magnificent and very terrifying. The animation team was so concerned with realism in the eruption that they would always have real photographs and footage of real eruptions visible to them on separate screens as they put together the eruption of Mount Vesuvius for the film.[21] Claims from Rosaly Lopes, a volcanologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, support Anderson's work, stating that the film "realistically captured the earthquakes that preceded the eruption, the explosions and the pyroclastic flows of hot ash and gas that buried the city and its residents."[22]
The construction of the city was based on the actual ruins of Pompeii. To ensure complete accuracy, any shots of the ancient city would be built upon existing footage of the ruins. Anderson states, "we would do a real helicopter shot over the ruins of the city so that we knew we were getting the layout of the city correct...Then we would project a computer-generated image over the top of the real photography... That is how we got the architecture of the city precise."[21] Sarah Yeomans, an archaeologist at USC who has spent much of her life studying the city of Pompeii, further supports the accuracy of the city's recreation. She praises the attention to details such as the raised paving stones in the streets and the political graffiti on the buildings, as well as the amphitheatre where gladiatorial combat takes place.[22]
Anderson has described other aspects of the film as being less rigorously historical. example, he states that the time of the events was compacted in order to keep the intensity levels high. His portrayal of some aspects of the eruption, in particular the inclusion of fireballs raining from the sky, were included for dramatic effect rather than historical accuracy.[21] He also received minor criticism from Yeomans for his portrayal of women, who would not have been seen alone in town, involved in political affairs, or wearing the revealing clothes they wore in the film.[22] Anderson portrayed these women in such a way in order to conform to modern social norms. Finally, the most obvious historical inaccuracy are the characters themselves, all of whom are fictional. Anderson managed to tie these characters to real people, though, finding inspiration for Milo and Cassia in the plaster casts of the "twin lovers" of Pompeii, and finding inspiration for Atticus in the casts of the cowering man. Even still, Anderson has stated that he garnered the approval of every volcanologist and historian he has shown the movie to, having received "high marks for both scientific and historical accuracy", which is what the team was striving for.[21]
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| American Hustle | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David O. Russell |
| Produced by |
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| Written by |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Linus Sandgren |
| Editing by | |
| Studio | |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release dates |
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| Running time | 138 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40 million[2] |
| Box office | $249,485,000[3] |
American Hustle is a 2013 American crime comedy-drama filmdirected by David O. Russell, from a screenplay written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell, loosely based on the FBI ABSCAMoperation of the late 1970s and early 1980s.[4] It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists who are forced by an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey (Jeremy Renner). Jennifer Lawrence plays the unpredictable wife of Bale's character.
Principal photography on American Hustle began on March 8, 2013 in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, and New York City. The film had its nationwide release in the United States on December 20, 2013.[5] The film received critical acclaim and has been a box office success. It received ten Academy Awardnominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Writing (Original Screenplay), but did not win in any category. It became the second film since 1981, and the 15th overall, to be nominated in the four acting categories, the first being Silver Linings Playbook, also directed by Russell and also starring Cooper and Lawrence. American Hustle won three Golden Globe Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture and three BAFTA Awards, among other achievements.
In 1978, con artists Irving Rosenfeld and Sydney Prosser have started a relationship and are working together. Sydney has improved Rosenfeld's scams, posing as English aristocrat "Lady Edith Greensly". They are a well-matched couple, but Irving is hesitant to leave his adopted son Danny with his wife Rosalyn, who will not divorce him.
FBI agent Richard "Richie" DiMaso catches Rosenfeld and Prosser in a loan scam but offers to release them if Irving can line up four additional arrests. Sydney opposes the agreement. Richie believes Sydney is English but has proof that her claim of aristocracy is fraudulent. Sydney tells Irving she will manipulate Richie, distancing herself from Irving.
Irving has a friend pretending to be a wealthy Arab sheikh looking for potential investments in America. An associate of Irving's suggests the sheikh do business with Mayor Carmine Polito of Camden, New Jerseywho is campaigning to revitalize gambling in Atlantic City but has struggled in fundraising. Richie devises a plan to entrap Carmine, despite the objections of Irving and his boss, Stoddard Thorsen. Sydney helps Richie manipulate an FBI secretary into making an unauthorized wire transfer of $2,000,000. When Stoddard's boss, Anthony Amado, hears of the operation, he praises Richie's initiative, pressuring Stoddard to continue.
Richie's overeagerness to catch Carmine causes the mayor to leave their meeting. Irving convinces Carmine the sheikh is legitimate, expressing his dislike toward Richie, and the two become friends. Richie arranges for Carmine to meet the sheikh at an airfield, and without consulting the others, has Mexican-American FBI agent Paco Hernandez play the sheikh.
Carmine brings the sheikh to a casino party, explaining mobsters are there and it is a necessary part of doing business. Irving is surprised to hear that Mafia overlord Victor Tellegio, second-in-command toMeyer Lansky, is present, and that he wants to meet the sheikh. Tellegio explains that the business needs the sheikh to become an American citizen and that Carmine will need to expedite the process. Tellegio also requires a $10,000,000 wire transfer to prove the sheikh's legitimacy. Richie agrees, eager to bring down Tellegio, while Irving realizes the operation is out of control.
Richie confesses his attraction to Sydney but becomes confused and aggressive when she drops her English accent and admits to being American. Irving arrives to protect Sydney and tries to stop their deal with Richie, but Richie says if they back out, Tellegio will learn of the scam and murder them both, as well as Rosalyn and Danny.
Rosalyn starts an affair with Pete Musane, a mobster she met at the party. She mentions her belief that Irving is working with the Internal Revenue Service, causing Pete to threaten Irving, who promises to prove the sheikh's investment is real. Irving later confronts Rosalyn, who admits she told Pete because she feels unloved. She agrees to keep quiet but wants a divorce.
With Carmine's help, Richie and Irving entrap members of Congress into receiving bribes on videotape. Richie goes over Stoddard, convincing Amado that $10,000,000 is needed to entrap Tellegio, but only gets $2,000,000. A meeting is arranged at the offices of Tellegio's lawyer, Alfonse Simone, but Tellegio does not appear. The operation continues, and Richie records Simone's admission of criminal activities.
Irving visits Carmine's house and admits to the scam but tells Carmine he has a plan to help him. Carmine angrily throws Irving out, their friendship ended. Later, the money is missing, but an anonymous source offers to return it in exchange for Irving and Sydney's immunity and a reduced sentence for Carmine. Amado wants to make the deal, but Richie objects. Irving suggests Richie either has the money or is incompetent for losing it. In fact, they never met with Tellegio's lawyer. Instead, Irving had a friend pose as Simone to con Richie, giving Irving leverage and keeping them safe from the mob. Amado accepts the deal and removes Richie from the case, dropping him back into obscurity.
Irving and Sydney open an art gallery and move in together, while Rosalyn lives with Pete and shares custody of Danny with Irving. Tellegio accepts that Irving and Sydney deflected attention from him and leaves them to get on with their lives.
Several of the characters are fictional versions of specific real-life counterparts:[6][7]
The film began its life as a screenplay titled American Bullshit, by Eric Warren Singer. The screenplay was listed at #8 on the 2010 Black List of unproduced screenplays. The film was set up at Columbia Pictureswith Charles Roven and Richard Suckle producing through Atlas Entertainment, who initially consideredBen Affleck to direct before David O. Russell ultimately signed on to helm the film.[8] Russell re-wrote Singer's screenplay, replacing the characters with caricatures of their respective real-life figures.
Principal photography started on March 8, 2013 and wrapped in May 2013.[9][10] The film was shot using locations in and around Boston, Massachusetts (such as in Worcester) and New York.[11][12] Filming had to be put on hold in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings with the city in lockdown. After lockdown was lifted, the film wrapped its Boston shoot and spent its final few days of production in New York City.[13]
Christian Bale revealed in an interview that the majority of his character interactions were improvised in multiple takes in which he questioned David O. Russell about the plot. Russell responded that what he had wanted to focus on the characters, rather than the plot. To prepare for the role, Christian Bale gained 50 pounds.
Director David O. Russell released the teaser trailer for the film on July 31, 2013,[14] and a theatrical trailer was released on October 9, 2013.[15] In the United States, the film made its wide release on December 20, 2013.[16]
Variety estimated the production budget at $40 million. When producer Charles Roven was asked if the budget was in the $40 to $50 million area, he responded “I’d say that’s a good zone.”[2][3] As of March 9, 2014 the film has earned $148,431,000 at the North American domestic box office and in international markets earned an additional $101,054,000, for a total worldwide box office of $249,485,000.[3][17]
American Hustle received critical acclaim upon its release. The cast received praise for their performances, notably Adams and Lawrence. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 93% rating, based on reviews from 240 critics with an average score of 8.2/10. The site's consensus reads, "Riotously funny and impeccably cast, American Hustle compensates for its flaws with unbridled energy and some of David O. Russell's most irrepressibly vibrant direction."[18] Metacritic gives a score of 90/100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on reviews from 47 critics.[19]
Christy Lemire awarded the film four out of four stars, praising David O. Russell's directing and the relationship between Irving and Sydney, as well as Jennifer Lawrence's portrayal of Rosalyn. She writes: "For all its brashness and big personality, American Hustle is a character study at its core—an exploration of dissatisfaction and drive, and the lengths to which we're willing to go for that elusive thing known as a better life."[20] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film an A+, especially complimenting Bradley Cooper's performance and stating that American Hustle was "the best time I've had at the movies all year." He later named it the year's best film.[21] Time magazine's Richard Corliss wrote, "American Hustle is an urban eruption of flat-out fun — the sharpest, most exhilarating comedy in years. Anyone who says otherwise must be conning you."[22]
Peter Debruge of Variety was critical of the film, calling it "a sloppy sprawl of a movie" and complaining that the improvisational performances overwhelm instead of adding to a coherent plot." He also went on to write that it "makes your brain hurt — and worse, overwhelms the already overcomplicated Abscam retelling at the center of the film." [23]
American Hustle received seven Golden Globe Award nominations; it won for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, with Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence winning Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture respectively.
It received 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay,[24] but did not win in any category. It was the second film since 1981, and the 15th overall, to be nominated in the four acting categories, the first being Silver Linings Playbook, which Russell also directed.[25] It was the first such film to not win any acting awards since Sunset Boulevard at the 23rd Academy Awards.
The film also took top honors at the 20th Screen Actors Guild Awards, winning for Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture.
The film was also nominated for 10 British Academy Film Awards, with Jennifer Lawrence winning forActress in a Supporting Role, and David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer winning for Best Original Screenplay.
American Hustle will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 18, 2014.[26]
American Hustle makes no great attempt at directly documenting the Abscam storyline (in addition to the strong inaccuracy): the names are changed, and the film begins with the unusual on-screen message, "Some of this actually happened".[7] Major departures from reality include:
| The Wolf of Wall Street | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Martin Scorsese |
| Produced by | |
| Screenplay by | Terence Winter |
| Based on | The Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Rodrigo Prieto |
| Editing by | Thelma Schoonmaker |
| Studio |
|
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures(North America/Japan) Universal Pictures(select Europe countries)[1] |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 179 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $100 million[3][4] |
| Box office | $375,591,788[4] |
The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American black comedyfilm directed by Martin Scorsese, based on Jordan Belfort's memoir of the same name. It was released on December 25, 2013. The screenplay was written by Terence Winter, and the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker who runs a firm that engages in securities fraud and corruption on Wall Street in the 1990s.
The film also features Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, andJean Dujardin. It is the fifth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, and the second between Scorsese and Winter following Boardwalk Empire.
The film received positive reviews from critics, but was also controversial for its moral ambiguity, sexual content, presence of drugs, vulgarity, and use of animals.[5][6][7] The film has grossed over $375 million worldwide, and was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture,Best Director, as well as Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor for DiCaprio and Hill respectively, but failed to win in any category. It is historically significant as the first major film to be distributed entirely digitally.[8]
Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) narrates the film showing his monstrous success with his firm complete with ribaldry at work, a sumptuous home on the Gold Coast of Long Island and a trophy wife who is a former model. He then flashes back to 1987, where he began a low-level job at an established Wall Street firm. His boss (Matthew McConaughey) advises him to adopt a lifestyle of casual sex and cocaine to succeed. However, shortly after he passes his exam to become a certified stockbroker, he loses his job on account of the firm's bankruptcy as a result of Black Monday.
Now unemployed in an economy that is unaccomodating to stockbrokers and sufficiently discouraged to consider a new line of work, Jordan's wife Teresa (Cristin Milioti) encourages him to take a job with a Long Island boiler roomdealing in penny stocks, which are also largely ignored by regulators. Belfort impresses his new boss with his aggressive pitching style, and earns a small fortune for the boiler room and himself as penny stocks have a much higher commission than blue chips. Jordan also befriends Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), a salesman living in the same apartment complex and they decide to go into business together. To facilitate this, his accountant parents are recruited as well as several of Jordan's friends, some of them experienced marijuana dealers. The basic method of the firm is a pump and dump scam. To cloak this, Belfort gives the firm the respectable name of Stratton Oakmont. An article in Forbes dubs Jordan the "Wolf of Wall Street", and soon hundreds of ambitious young financiers flock to his company.
A decadent lifestyle of lavish parties, sex and drugs follows. Jordan regularly uses prostitutes and becomes addicted to cocaine and Quaaludes. FBI Agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler) begins investigating Stratton Oakmont. When Jordan meets Naomi Lapaglia (Margot Robbie) at one of his parties, he begins an affair with her, resulting in his divorce from Teresa. Jordan makes Naomi his second wife in an extravagant wedding and gives her a yacht aptly named Naomi, and soon they have a daughter, Skylar. Meanwhile, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission works jointly with the FBI to intensify the Stratton Oakmont investigation.
Jordan instantly makes US$22 million on his securing the IPO of Steve Madden Ltd. To hide his money, Jordan opens a Swiss bank account with the corrupt banker Jean-Jacques Saurel (Jean Dujardin) in the name of Naomi's aunt Emma (Joanna Lumley), who is a British citizen and outside the reach of American authorities. He uses friends with European passports to smuggle cash to Switzerland. When Donnie gets into a public fight with Brad Bodnick (Jon Bernthal), who is one of their money couriers, and Brad is arrested, their scheme is nearly exposed.
Donnie offers Jordan a powerful brand of Quaaludes, hoping to ease the sting of the bad news. The pills are old and seem to have lost their potency, so they take huge doses to compensate. Jordan then receives a call from Bo Dietl, his private investigator, who insists Jordan call him back from a payphone. Jordan drives to a country club to phone Bo, who warns Jordan of Brad's arrest and that his house phone has been wiretapped. At this point, the Quaaludes finally kick in with overwhelming effect. Severely debilitated, Jordan drives back home to prevent Donnie from using his phone. When Jordan arrives home Donnie (who is also intoxicated) is on the phone with Saurel. Jordan fights Donnie to make him get off the phone and tells him he found out what happened between him and Brad. Donnie starts choking on ham and nearly suffocates. Jordan snorts cocaine to counteract the effect of the Quaaludes in order to help save Donnie's life.
With the shadow of law enforcement hanging over them, Jordan's father Max (Rob Reiner) attempts to convince his son to step down from Stratton Oakmont and escape the large amount of legal penalties. However, during his leaving party at the office, Jordan changes his mind and to the great acclaim of his employees vows to stay on.
Jordan, Donnie and their wives on a yacht trip to Italy learn that Emma has died of a heart attack. Over his grieving wife's objections, Jordan decides to sail to Monaco so they can drive to Switzerland without getting their passports stamped at the border and settle the bank account, but a violent storm capsizes their yacht. After their rescue, the plane sent to take them to Geneva is destroyed by a seagull flying into the engine, exploding and killing three people. Witnessing this, Jordan considers this a sign from God and decides to sober up.
Two years later, Denham arrests Jordan during the filming of an infomercial. Saurel, arrested in Florida over an unrelated charge, has told the FBI everything. Since the evidence against him is overwhelming, Jordan agrees to gather evidence on his colleagues in exchange for leniency.
Jordan is optimistic about his sentencing and expresses this to his wife. The encounter turns violent when Naomi tells Jordan she will divorce him and wants full custody of their children. Jordan throws a violent tantrum, gets high, and ends up crashing his car in his driveway during an attempt to abscond with their daughter.
The next morning, Jordan wears a wire to work. Jordan silently slips Donnie a note warning him about the wire. The note finds its way to Agent Denham, who arrests Jordan for breaching his cooperation deal. The FBI raids and shuts down Stratton Oakmont.
Despite this one breach, Jordan receives a much reduced sentence for his testimony and is sentenced to 36 months in a minimum security prison in Nevada. After his release, Jordan makes a living hosting seminars on sales technique in New Zealand.
In 2007, Leonardo DiCaprio/Warner Bros. won a bidding war against Brad Pitt/Paramount Pictures for the rights to Jordan Belfort's memoir The Wolf of Wall Street, and Martin Scorsese was considering to direct the film.[25][26] During pre-production, Scorsese worked on the film's script prior to working onShutter Island. He describes having "wasted five months of [his] life" without getting a greenlight on production dates by the studio Warner Bros.[27] Jordan Belfort made $1 million on the movie rights.[28]
In 2010, Warner Bros. had offered Ridley Scott to direct the film, with Leonardo DiCaprio playing the male lead.[29] However, Warner Bros. eventually dumped the project.[30]
In 2012, a green light was given by the independent company Red Granite Pictures, allowing no restrictions to the content development. Scorsese knowing there were no limits to the content he would produce came back on board; the result as it stands, the film has an R rating.[31] Red Granite Pictures also asked Paramount Pictures to distribute the film;[32] Paramount Pictures agreed to distribute the film in North America and Japan, but it passed on the rest of the international market.[33]
In the film, most of the real-life characters' names originally in Belfort's memoir have been changed. Donnie Azoff is based on Danny Porush. Hill's Donnie Azoff name was changed after Danny Porush threatened to sue the filmmakers.[11][12][34] The FBI agent known as Patrick Denham is the stand-in for real-life Gregory Coleman;[35] and lawyer Manny Riskin is based on Ira Lee Sorkin.[36] Belfort's first wife, Denise Lombardo, is renamed Teresa Petrillo, while second wife Nadine Caridi became on-screen Naomi Lapaglia. In contrast, Mark Hanna's name remains the same as the LF Rothschild stockbroker who, like Belfort, was convicted of fraud and served time in prison.[37][38]
In January 2014 Jonah Hill revealed in an interview with Howard Stern that he only made $60,000 (the lowest possible SAG-AFTRA rate for his amount of work) on the film while his co-star, Leonardo DiCaprio who also produced, received $10 million. Hill was determined to work with Scorsese, and wanted to play Donnie Azoff that he was willing to do what it took to get the part.[39][40][41][42]
Filming began on August 8, 2012 in New York.[43] Jonah Hill announced that his first day of shooting was September 4, 2012.[44] Filming also took place in Closter, New Jersey[45] and Harrison, New York. In January 2013, additional scenes were shot at a set built in an abandoned office building in Ardsley, New York. Scenes at the beach house was filmed in Sands Point, New York.[46]
Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker stated that the film would be shot digitally instead of on film.[47] Scorsese, who had been a proponent of shooting on film, decided to shoot Hugo digitally because it was being photographed in 3D; however, The Wolf of Wall Street was originally planned to be shot digitally despite being filmed in 2D.[48] Schoonmaker expressed her disappointment with the decision, saying, "It would appear that we've lost the battle. I think Marty just feels it's unfortunately over, and there's been no bigger champion of film than him."[47] After extensive comparison tests during pre-production, eventually the majority was shot on film while scenes that used green screen effects or low light were shot with the Arri Alexa.[48] The film contains 400-450 VFX shots.[49]
The Wolf of Wall Street uses animals including a chimpanzee, a lion, a fish, and dogs.[50] The chimpanzee and the lion were provided by the Big Cat Habitat wildlife sanctuary in Sarasota County, Florida. The four-year-old chimpanzee, Chance, spent time with actor Leonardo DiCaprio and learned to roller skate over the course of three weeks. The sanctuary also provided a lion named Handsome because the film's trading company used a lion for its symbol.[51] Danny Porush, who was Jordan Belfort's partner, denied there being any animals in the office.[52]
In December 2013, prior to the film's premiere, the organization Friends of Animals criticized the use of the chimpanzee and organized a boycott of the film. Variety reported, "Friends of Animals thinks the chimp... suffered irreversible psychological damage after being forced to act."[7] The Guardian said, "Criticism of The Wolf of Wall Street's use of a chimpanzee arrives as Hollywood comes under ever-increasing scrutiny for its employment of animals on screen," referring to a November 2013 report inThe Hollywood Reporter that was critical of the American Humane Association's treatment of animals in films.[52] PETA also launched a campaign to highlight mistreatment of ape actors and to petition for DiCaprio not to work with great apes.[53]
The Wolf of Wall Street was released on December 25, 2013. It was previously slated to be released on November 15, 2013, but the date was pushed back after film cuts were desired in order to reduce the run time.[54] On October 22, 2013, it was reported that it was set for a Christmas 2013 release.[55] Paramount officially confirmed the Christmas Day 2013 release date on October 29, 2013 with a running time of 165 minutes.[26][56] On November 25, 2013, the length was announced to be 179 minutes.[2] It was officially rated R for "sequences of strong sexual content, graphic nudity, drug use and language throughout, and for some violence".[24] Scorsese had to edit sexual content and nudity to avoid an NC-17 rating.[57] By different counts, the film contains between 506 and 569 uses of the word "fuck",[58][59] and sets the record for the most uses of the word in a mainstream non-documentary film.[60][61][62]
The film is banned in Malaysia, Nepal and Kenya because of its scenes depicting sex, drugs and excessive use of swear words, and additional scenes have been cut in the versions playing in India. In Singapore, the film has been relegated to only a handful of theaters because of its ultra-restrictive rating.[63][64]
The film marks a change in film history when Paramount became the first major studio to distribute movies to theaters in digital format eliminating 35mm film entirely. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues was the last Paramount production to include a 35mm film version, whileThe Wolf of Wall Street was the first major movie distributed entirely digitally.[8][65]
The film's first theatrical trailer was released on June 16, 2013 and features the song "Black Skinhead" by Kanye West.[24] A new trailer was released on October 29, 2013.[66] The songs featured in the second trailer are "Meth Lab Zoso Sticker" by 7Horse, "Blood Shot Eyes" by Black Strobe and "Hang You from the Heavens" by The Dead Weather.[24]
The Wolf of Wall Street has received positive reviews. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoesgives the film a 77% approval rating, with an average score of 7.8/10, based on reviews from 231 critics. The site's consensus states: "Funny, self-referential, and irreverent to a fault, The Wolf of Wall Street finds Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio at their most infectiously dynamic".[67] The film has a score of 75/100 on Metacritic, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 47 critics.[68]
Peter Travers of Rolling Stone magazine named The Wolf of Wall Street as the third best film of 2013, behind 12 Years a Slave and Gravity at numbers one and two, respectively. The movie was chosen as one of the top ten films of the year by the American Film Institute.[69] Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said "it is the best and most enjoyable American film to be released this year."[70]
Dana Stevens, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle, wrote that the movie did not work for her and was not a factor for them in any award category.[citation needed] According to Marshall Fine of The Huffington Post the story "wants us to be interested in characters who are dull people to start with, made duller by their delusions of being interesting because they are high."[6] Some critics viewed the movie as an irresponsible glorification rather than a satirical takedown. DiCaprio responded that the film does not glorify the excessive lifestyle it depicts.[71][72]
The film received a "C" rating from audiences surveyed by CinemaScore,[73] a rating lower than anything else in theaters the opening week of the film.[74] The Los Angeles Times argues the film's marketing attracted conservative viewers with morals that conflict with morals depicted in the film.[75]Christina McDowell, daughter of Tom Prousalis (who worked closely with the real-life Belfort at Stratton Oakmont) wrote an open letter addressing Scorsese, DiCaprio, and Belfort himself, criticizing the film for insufficiently portraying the victims of the financial crimes created by Stratton Oakmont, for disregarding the damage that was done to her family as a result of such, and for giving celebrity to persons (Belfort and his partners, including her father) who do not deserve it.[5]
Steven Perlberg of Business Insider saw an advanced screening of the film at a Regal Cinemas near the Goldman Sachs building, with an audience of financial workers. Perlberg reported cheers from the audience at all the wrong moments—"When Belfort — a drug addict who later attempts to remain sober — rips up a couch cushion to get to his secret coke stash, there were cheers."[76][74]
As of March 9, 2014, the film has grossed $115,691,788 in North America and $259,900,000 overseas, for a worldwide gross of $375,591,788.[4] In North America, the film opened at number five in its first weekend, with $18,361,578 in 3,387 theaters, behind The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Frozen,Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, and American Hustle.[77]
The film has been nominated for five Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Adapted Screenplay for Winter, Best Actor for DiCaprio, and Best Supporting Actor for Hill. It has also been nominated for four BAFTAs, including Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay, and two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. DiCaprio won theGolden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.
The Wolf of Wall Street will be released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 25, 2014.[78] On January 27, 2014, it was revealed that a four-hour director's cut would be attached to the home release.[79][80] However, it was later revealed by Paramount Pictures and Red Granite Pictures that the home release would feature only the theatrical release.[81]
| The Wolf of Wall Street: Music from the Motion Picture | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Various artists | |
| Released | December 17, 2013 (Digital download) |
| Length | 56:30 |
| Label | Virgin Records |
The Wolf of Wall Street: Music from the Motion Pictureis a soundtrack to the film of the same name. The film features both original as well as existing music tracks, and was released on December 17, 2013 for digital download.
Over 60 songs were used in the film, but only 16 were included on the official soundtrack. Notably, amongst the exemptions are original compositions by Theodore Shapiro.[82]
| No. | Title | Artist(s) | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" | Cannonball Adderley | 5:11 | |
| 2. | "Dust My Broom" | Elmore James | 2:53 | |
| 3. | "Bang! Bang!" | Joe Cuba | 4:06 | |
| 4. | "Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)" | Billy Joel | 3:29 | |
| 5. | "C'est si bon" | Eartha Kitt | 2:58 | |
| 6. | "Goldfinger" | Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings | 2:30 | |
| 7. | "Pretty Thing" | Bo Diddley | 2:49 | |
| 8. | "Moonlight in Vermont"(Live at the Pershing Longue) | Ahmad Jamal | 3:10 | |
| 9. | "Smokestack Lightning" | Howlin' Wolf | 3:07 | |
| 10. | "Hey Leroy, Your Mama's Callin' You" | The Jimmy Castor Bunch | 2:26 | |
| 11. | "Double Dutch" | Malcolm McLaren | 3:56 | |
| 12. | "Never Say Never" | Romeo Void | 5:54 | |
| 13. | "Meth Lab Zoso Sticker" | 7horse | 3:42 | |
| 14. | "Road Runner" | Bo Diddley | 2:46 | |
| 15. | "Mrs. Robinson" | The Lemonheads | 3:44 | |
| 16. | "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" | Allen Toussaint | 3:19 | |
Total length: | 56:30 | |||
| Dallas Buyers Club | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Jean-Marc Vallée |
| Produced by | Robbie Brenner Rachel Winter |
| Written by | Craig Borten Melisa Wallack |
| Starring | Matthew McConaughey Jennifer Garner Jared Leto |
| Cinematography | Yves Bélanger |
| Editing by | John Mac McMurphy Martin Pensa |
| Studio | Truth Entertainment Voltage Pictures |
| Distributed by | Focus Features[1] |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 116 minutes[2] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Japanese |
| Budget | $5 million[3] |
| Box office | $31,508,950[4] |
Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographicaldrama film, directed by Jean-Marc Vallée and written byCraig Borten and Melisa Wallack. Matthew McConaugheystars as the real-life AIDS patient Ron Woodroof, who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas when he found them effective at improving his symptoms, distributing them to fellow sufferers by establishing the "Dallas Buyers Club" while facing opposition from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Dallas Buyers Club premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival and was released theatrically on November 1, 2013, entering wide release on November 22. The film received acclaim from critics,[5][6] and won numerous accolades – most recognizing the performances of McConaughey and Jared Leto, including the Academy Award for Best Actor and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making it the first film sinceMystic River to win both awards. It also won Best Makeup and Hairstyling at the 86th Academy Awards, and received a nomination for Best Picture. It grossed over $30 million in box office revenue against a budget of $5 million.[4]
In 1985 Dallas, electrician and rodeo cowboy Ron Woodroof is diagnosed with AIDS and given 30 days to live. He initially refuses to accept the diagnosis, but remembers having unprotected sex with an intravenous drug-using prostitute. Ron quickly finds himself ostracized by family and friends, gets fired from his job, and is eventually evicted from his home. At the hospital, he is tended to by Dr. Eve Saks, who tells him that they are testing a drug called zidovudine (AZT), an antiretroviral drug which is thought to prolong the life of AIDS patients —and which is the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for testing on humans. Saks informs him that in the clinical trials, half the patients receive the drug and the other half are given a placebo, as this is the only way they can determine if the drug is working.
Ron bribes a hospital worker to get him the AZT. As soon as he begins taking it, he finds his health deteriorating (exacerbated by his cocaine use). When Ron returns to the hospital, he meets Rayon, a drug addict, and HIV-positive trans woman, toward whom he is hostile. As his health worsens, Ron drives to a Mexican hospital to get more AZT. Dr. Vass, who has had his American medical license revoked, tells Ron that the AZT is "poisonous" and "kills every cell it comes into contact with". He instead prescribes him ddC and the protein peptide T, which are not approved in the US. Three months later, Ron finds his health much improved. It occurs to him that he could make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients. Since the drugs are not illegal, he is able to get them over the border by masquerading as a priest and swearing that they are for personal use. Meanwhile, Dr. Saks also begins to notice the negative effects of AZT, but is told by her supervisor Dr. Sevard that it cannot be discontinued.
Ron begins selling the drugs on the street. He comes back into contact with Rayon, with whom he reluctantly sets up business since she can bring many more clients. The pair establish the "Dallas Buyers Club", charging $400 per month for membership, and it becomes extremely popular. Ron gradually begins to respect Rayon and think of her as a friend. When Ron has a heart attack, Sevard learns of the club and the alternative medication. He is angry that it is interrupting his trial, while Richard Barkley of the FDA confiscates the ddC and threatens to have Ron arrested. Saks agrees that there are benefits to Buyers Clubs (of which there are several around the country) but feels powerless to change anything. She and Ron strike up a friendship.
Barkley gets a police permit to raid the Buyers Club, but can do nothing but give Ron a fine. The FDA changes its regulations such that any unapproved drug is also illegal. As the Club runs out of funds, Rayon—who is addicted to cocaine—begs her father for money and tells Ron that she has sold her life insurance policy to raise money. Ron is thus able to travel to Mexico and get more of the Peptide T. When he returns, Ron finds that Rayon has died after being taken to hospital and given AZT. Saks is also upset by Rayon's death, and she is asked to resign when the hospital discovers that she is linking her patients with the Buyers Club. She refuses to comply and insists that she would have to be fired.
As time passes, Ron shows compassion towards gay, lesbian, and transgender members of the club and making money becomes less of a concern – his priority is provision of the drugs. Peptide T gets increasingly difficult to acquire, and in 1987 he files a lawsuit against the FDA. He seeks the legal right to take the protein, which has been confirmed as non-toxic but is still not approved. The judge is compassionate toward Ron but lacks the legal tools to do anything. As the film ends, on-screen text reveals that the FDA later allowed Ron to take Peptide T for personal use, and that he died of AIDS in 1992, seven years later than the doctors predicted.
Woodroof was the subject of a lengthy 1992 article in The Dallas Morning News written by journalist and author Bill Minutaglio.[7] A month before Woodroof died in September 1992, screenwriter Craig Borten interviewed him to create the screenplay; Borten recorded many hours of interviews with Woodroof and had access to his personal journals.[8][9] Borten drafted 10 different scripts for what he believed would make a great movie and attempted to attract interest in making the film in the mid 1990s,[10]with Dennis Hopper to direct and Woody Harrelson as Woodroof, but the film was unable to secure financial backing. Jared Leto has admitted that he was sent a script but never read it.[11]
In the late 1990s, Marc Forster was approached to direct and Brad Pitt was to play the role of Ron, and then in 2008, director Craig Gillespie and Ryan Gosling were then in talks with the producers untilJean-Marc Vallée and Matthew McConaughey signed up.[9][10] Woodroof's sister was reportedly pleased with the casting of McConaughey as Ron Woodroof because he had a similar swagger and personality. She had shown concern earlier in the development process when Pitt and Gosling were attached, due to their personalities not matching Woodroof's.[12]
McConaughey lost 47 pounds (21 kg) for the role, going from 183 pounds (83 kg) to 136 pounds (62 kg).[13][14] He reportedly stayed indoors in his Texas mansion for six months to become paler and ceased socializing and had to find new ways to entertain himself, which made him "smarter". When he reached as low as 143 lbs, his eyesight began to fail.[14] He began to feel extremely weak to the point that he'd be sore from doing five push-ups and his legs would lock up after running 30 feet.[14] Leto lost over 30 pounds (14 kg) for the role and confessed to having stopped eating to lose weight quicker; his lowest record weight was 114 pounds (52 kg).[15]
Principal photography began in New Orleans, Louisiana in mid-2012, after considerable delay and concerns about the project from the producers and cast.[16] Jennifer Garner has stated that the film was shot very quickly over just 25 days and has remarked that McConaughey "gave an even wilder performance in takes that didn't appear onscreen".[10] McConaughey stated that "I was riding a new way of making a film. There were no lights, one camera, 15-minute takes."[10]
The first trailer was launched on August 27, 2013.[17] The film premiered at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7,[18] followed by a release on November 1, 2013.[19] The film was nominated for the Marc Aurèle d'or at the 2013 International Rome Film Festival. Dallas Buyers Club was released on Blu-ray and DVD on February 4, 2014.
As of March 5, 2014, Dallas Buyers Club has grossed $25,508,950 in North America and $6,000,000 in foreign countries, for a worldwide gross of $31,508,950.[4]
Upon its premiere at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival,Dallas Buyers Club received universal acclaim by critics and audiences, who greatly praised the film for its acting[20] (particularly for McConaughey and Leto), screenplay and direction. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 93% based on reviews from 177 critics, with an average score of 7.7 out of 10, with the site's consensus stating, "Dallas Buyers Club rests squarely on Matthew McConaughey's scrawny shoulders, and he carries the burden gracefully with what might be a career-best performance."[5] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 84 based on 45 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.[6]
Richard Corliss of Time magazine considered McConaughey's portrayal to be a "bold, drastic and utterly persuasive inhabiting of a doomed fighter", remarking that "if the camera occasionally suffers a fashionable case of the jitters, the movie transcends its agitated verismo to impart dramatic and behavioral truth".[9]
Leto's portrayal of Rayon, a drug-addicted trans woman with AIDS who befriends McConaughey's character Ron Woodroof, received critical acclaim.[21] The writers created Rayon, to show "Woodroof’s gradual acceptance of a subculture he had dismissed."[21] Time's Richard Corliss noted, "Leto captures the sweet intensity and almost saintly good humor of a glamorous, poignant and downright divoon creature — a blithe Camille who may surrender her health but never her panache."[21][22] Leto was awarded a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and a variety of film critics' circle awards, including his first Academy Award. After the Academy award the casting of a cismale actor, a man who identifies as male, as opposed to a transgender actor, was widely critiqued as a missed opportunity, with some LGBT activists characterizing the choice as an example of trans-misogyny.[23][24][25] The L.A. Times compared the issue to white actors appropriating, andexploiting, people of color roles of East Asians, and Africans in the past;[24] and The Guardian noted transgender actors are often relegated to roles such as prostitutes, corpses and "freaks."[26][27]
Dallas Buyers Club received six nominations at the 86th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for McConaughey, and Best Supporting Actor for Leto. Martin Pensa and Vallée were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing; Vallée was credited under the pseudonym "John Mac McMurphy".[28] McConaughey and Leto won Academy Awards for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively – the first film since Mystic River 10 years earlier to receive both awards and the fifth overall.[29] Robin Mathews won for the Academy Award for Best Makeup, although she had a budget of only $250.[30]
The film received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Best Actor (McConaughey) and Best Supporting Actor (Leto); it was also nominated for Best Cast.[31] At the 71st Golden Globe AwardsMcConaughey and Leto again won Best Actor – Motion Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture respectively.[32] The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay at theWriters Guild of America Awards,[33] while Leto's performance won a range of awards from critics groups, including the New York Film Critics Circle[34] and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.[35]The National Board of Review named Dallas Buyers Club one of the top ten independent films of 2013.[36]
The characters of Rayon and Dr. Eve Saks were fictional; the writers had interviewed transgender AIDS patients, activists, and doctors for the film and combined these stories to create the two composite supporting roles. However, Woodroof did lose all his friends after they found out he was HIV-positive. In his interviews with Borten, Woodroof implied that this, along with interactions with gay people living with AIDS through the buyers club, led to a rethinking of his apparent anti-gay sentiments and changed his views on gay people. Other people who knew him said that he did not harbor anti-gay sentiments and was himself bisexual.[37] Also, while a rodeo enthusiast, he never rode any bulls himself.[38] Although the film shows Woodroof diagnosed in 1985, he told Borten that a doctor had informed him he might have the disease well before that; Woodroof believed he may have been infected in 1981, something that was briefly alluded to in a flashback in the film.[8]
While Woodroof was known for outlandish behavior, according to those who knew him, both the film and McConaughey made him rougher than he actually was, describing him as "outrageous, but not confrontational" and not as obviously anti-gay earlier in his life.[39] The real Woodroof also had a daughter and a sister who were not approached by the writers and were left out of the script to make the film more of a character study.[8]
| Generation Kill | |
|---|---|
 Front Cover | |
| Author | Evan Wright |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Military History,History |
| Publisher | Putnam Adult |
Publication date | June 17, 2004 |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 368 |
| ISBN | 978-0-399-15193-4 |
| OCLC | 54826116 |
| Dewey Decimal | 956.7044/3 22 |
| LC Class | DS79.76 .W75 2004 |
Generation Kill is a 2004 book written by Rolling Stonejournalist, Evan Wright, chronicling his experience as anembedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His account of life with the Marines was originally published as a three-part series in Rolling Stone in the fall of 2003. "The Killer Elite", the first of these articles, went on to win a National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting in 2004.[1]
Wright spent two months with the battalion, having persuaded a commander that he could cope with such an assignment.[2]The Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion were initially hostile and suspicious but soon warmed to him and treated him as one of their own.[2] He gained their respect through his refusal to quit in the face of combat.[2] Often riding in the lead vehicle, a lightly armored Humvee, Wright was in real danger for much of the time,[3] and at one point carried a weapon, though he did so reluctantly.
Wright encounters members of the battalion from all ranks, but the "main players" can be narrowed down to just six from Bravo Company: Sergeant Brad Colbert, Lance Corporal Harold James Trombley, Sergeant Rudy "Fruity" Reyes, First Lieutenant Nathaniel Fick, Sergeant Antonio Espera, and Corporal Josh Ray Person.
Sergeant Antonio J. Espera claimed he was forced to leave the battalion and Staff Sergeant Eric Kocher claimed he was disciplined for statements attributed to him in Wright's reporting.[2] Kocher worked as an adviser on the adaptation of Wright's book into a miniseries and stated that Wright earned credibility because he stayed with the Marines for "every firefight".[4]
Despite initial doubts, Marine commanders later encouraged the officers of 1st Reconnaissance to read the book and the articles to get an insight into the reality of war.[2]
Wright stated that he felt more fear of combat before he was in it, but as soon as he was being shot at, he focused on survival. He also revealed that prior to becoming a combat correspondent he had quit drinking and as a result, he found there was something "almost nice" about war because it replicated the "emotional chaos of being a heavy drinker".[5]
Wright also has stated he is "haunted" by the deaths of civilians he witnessed during the invasion of Iraq, because the "real rule of war is that the people who suffer the most are civilians". He believes the troops who fight the wars are more attuned to the moral consequences of their actions than the American public whom he accuses of being "alienated from the people who fight their wars for them".[6]
Major Shoup, an augment Forward Air Controller in the battalion, posted a commentary on the book in which he contrasts the events he witnessed with Wright's descriptions of them. Shoup also states that Wright based his account on one group of enlisted Marines' version of events without including the perspective of others.[7]
Wright replied to this blog post citing his own extensive interview with Shoup that directly contradicts Shoup's later version of events. Wright also cites interviews he conducted with other Marines in the unit that differ from Shoup's account, noting that Shoup's direct superior, Major Eckloff, claimed to have single-handedly killed at least 17 insurgents with a shotgun fired from his truck. Wright states that he reduced that number to 1-2 after other sources contradicted Eckloff. Wright states that his book had to take into consideration interviews from a wide variety of Marines in the battalion, including officers, and could not advance the perspective of just one person.[7]
Hella Nation is a collection of other writings by Wright that includes his reporting on U.S. soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division fighting in Afghanistan and a controversial story about a documentary film shot in Iraq by a drug-addled Hollywood producer.[8]
American Desperado is a non-fiction book about the drug wars Wright co-wrote with Jon Roberts, who was featured in the documentary Cocaine Cowboys.[9]
Then-lieutenant Nathaniel Fick's memoir describes some of the same battles in Iraq as described inGeneration Kill, but from his own perspective.
The cable television channel HBO has produced a mini-series based on the book. Filmed in South Africa, Namibia, and Mozambique, the series aired in July 2008 and spans seven 68-minute episodes, starting with the Marine Recon team crossing the berm into Iraq during the opening stage of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The DVD release consists of three discs, with the first two discs containing three episodes and the third disc containing Episode 7 along with four bonus features, including a Making of 'Generation Kill' and a video diary. It was produced by David Simon, Ed Burns, Nina K. Noble, George Faber and Charles Pattinson. It starred Alexander Skarsgård, James Ransone, Stark Sands, Jon Huertas and Lee Tergesen.[11] Rudy Reyes plays himself in the miniseries adaptation, driving the third Humvee.[12]
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