Way Down East (1920)

  Way Down East is a 1920 Melodrama directed by D.W Griffith and starring Lillian Gish.
The film follows Anna Moore (Gish) as she visits her cousin and falls in love with Lennox Sanderson. Tricked into a fake marriage she has his baby, which later dies. Having a baby with no husband was severely frowned upon back then (seems to be fine nowadays...), so her life is ruined and she flees town, and gets employed at the Bartlett residence. But how long until her reputation catches up with her again.
  Historically, this is a monument of silent cinema. Not only is this Griffith's most profitable film, but it established the 'melodrama', which is used in 90% of Hollywood today. Forgotten and often considered dated, this isn't as famous as Intolerance or as notorious as Birth of a Nation, but when released, everyone enjoyed it. Now, only fans of silent cinema would have seen it.
  Is the content as worthy as it's historical significance? Not really. The majority who watch this film love it, but within the first 20 minutes I was bored. I wanted to like it, however little was happening on screen and the music was repetitive and irritating. It doesn't have the grandeurs of Intolerance, nor the repulsive racial views of Birth of a Nation.  Despite being Griffith's most costly to make 'Way Down East' is a small film, filmed on small sets with a small story.
  The ending is the best thing about the film, it is a breath-taking action scene which I really don't want to spoil for you. It's a shame that the running time is 2 1/2 hours, which is too long.

TO CONCLUDE
It is way better than The Birth of a Nation.

SCORE
68

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

  The Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 Biopic directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo Dicaprio and Jonah Hill. It shows the rise, the glory and the inevitable fall of Jordan Belfort as he becomes a stockbroker on Wall Street.
  Jordan Belfort (Dicaprio) is employed as a Stockbroker with a respected Wall Street organization. His boss (Matthew Mcconaughey) tells him crazy advise, like masturbate twice a day, before the firm abruptly closes down. Jordan takes another job, where he discovers penny stocks, conning the invester and paying large amounts back to him. He meets Donny Azoff (Jonah Hill) and they create their own firm names Stratford-Oakmont. Their company grows in size rapidly and he quickly becomes a millionaire. Living a lifestyle of drugs, stocks and girls, his crazy and unorthadox lifestyle cannot last long.
  This film is the best I have seen this year. It's only January, but that's not the point. I have been long anticipating this film, and this is one of those rare occurrences where it is better than my expectations. This film is filled with profanities, nudity, sex and drug abuse. None of what is shown is to be negative, where all these sins are congratulated. The audience is led to believe his lifestyle is spectacular, not showing any repurcusions of drugs, and not respecting women at all. They are purely treated as sex objects, which will reject many female audience members. Only see this film if you are not easily offended.
  Scorsese's directing is immaculate as always. Each shot is framed, lighted and edited to perfection. The performances is what makes the film stand out. There are not many films where the actors are allowed to go batshit crazy with portraying their characters (A Woman Under the Influence and most Nicolas Cage movies are the only ones I can think of). We all knew Dicaprio was a great actor, but this is a completely different side of him, we have never seen before! A big surprise was Jonah Hill, as 'This is the End' was one of the worst films I watched last year. Moneyball was his first encounter with acting, but despite the Oscar nomination, it did not feel amazing. However, he is likeable, funny and crazy in The Wolf of Wall Street. In fact it is his funniest film since Superbad.
  The film shows you a lifestyle which you have never seen. One which in all Hollywood films would be avoided and his actions would have immediate consequences. It feels wrong watching it, but it is so much fun. I had a massive grin on my face from the first five minutes.
  Similar to Goodfellas, the dialogue is witty and the main character, speaks directly to the camera. Breaking the fourth wall, Scorsese does not care for standard Hollywood rules, as this is his own creation, filled with creativity and 'what he wants' instead of 'what the studios want'.

TO CONCLUDE
This film knows what it is doing, and it excels at it. Offensive, gratuitous and genius.

SCORE
89

Welcome!!!

  This is my second film review blog dedicated to American (USA and Canada) movies. Whether they are black and white and from the 1920s, or Big Budget blockbusters from the 2010s. America has always been at the forefront of films. The introduction of sound, westerns, gangsters, superhero movies. America has created all these genres. More specifically Hollywood. I find the problem nowadays, is that film making is too much about the money, that all sense of creative input is lost in favour of trashy formulas (Romcoms, Nicolas Cage's newer bad movies). America has squeezed out quite a few turds in it's time as well (Adam Sandler movies). They invented their own award ceremony, The Academy Awards, which is the biggest and well-known award ceremony in the world, if not always correct (Gigi). I watch the Nominnes each year, so expect reviews from them.
 The toughest thing about this blog, is deciding whether a film is American or not... A film could be set in England, funded and directed by Americans. So, if the odd non-American film made in the English language pops up here, DEAL WITH IT. :)

  Of course I prefer Foreign films (see my other blog) but I still like American films, even if they are more about the Entertainment and the money, rather than the Art.

Americans... They can be some of the most obnoxious, violent and annoying people on the planet. 

They are the most obese country on the planet, and created the monstrous Nicki Minaj, but Damn have they made some good movies. Join me, as I review the best, worst, old and new, as I discover them.

LETS GO!!!