The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Except for one or two misses, Martin Scorsese’s films have always been fantastic in my opinion. From his earlier works with Robert de Niro to his more recent films with Leonardo DiCaprio, Marty has that unique touch that seems to resonate well with me. So it came as no surprise that The Wolf of Wall Street was a must see film for me. Given its R-rating and the way cinemas here in the Philippines choose films, I feared that if I were to watch it in the theater, I would get a very censored and edited version. Luckily though, some local malls decided to show the un-cut version, choosing film value over profit. Early reviews of this film have been mostly positive, focusing mostly on DiCaprio’s acting. After finally watching it on the big screen, all I can say is that Scorsese has done it again.

Lincoln (2012)

With exactly a month to go before the Academy Awards, I'm trying my best to see as many (if not all) of the best picture nominees as possible. Coming from the Philippines, this poses a challenge since some of the films may be released here after the Oscars. Some may not even be released at all if it didn't win anything, or if the distributors think that it wouldn't appeal to the local audience. I hope I'm wrong on this, but I think an example of the latter would be Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. I just finished watching it yesterday and I still can't properly put into words just how beautiful and incredible a film it was.

A brief background on the film first, since I don't think I'd be spoiling it for anyone since everything shown on the film is part of American history. The film is set during the tail-end of the American Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln has just been elected to a second term and he has made it his ultimate mission to finally abolish slavery by having the thirteenth amendment to the American Constitution passed in congress within the next month. It seems like a pretty easy law to pass since his party has the majority in congress but so many factors and vested interests from various parties are making it harder and harder to guarantee the bill's ratification.