Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

It has been 23 years since Oliver Stone originally introduced us to Gordon Gekko and probably 10 years since Stone has put out a decent movie. The man is best when he is angry about something. Right now America is mad about two things, the building of a mosque at the site of an old Burlington Coat Factory and the economy. But I doubt Stone is very angry about his economic stature and it shows in his sequel with one of the worst subtitles I've seen since Cradle 2 The Grave.

Michael Douglas reprises his academy award winning role as the Wall Street investor who declared at a stock holders meeting that 'greed is good." The book his character writes is titled, "Is Greed Good?" which seems to be theme of the story even though that question was answered in the first movie, and in much better fashion. But with so much star power the movie is still able to deliver some pop.

Shia LeBeouf takes the Charlie Sheen role in this one as the young investor looking to make a buck himself. And while there is not much difference between his character and the money hungry investors he works with, Stone tries to differentiate his character, Jake, by implying that he has a stopping point, that once he makes a certain amount of money he will be able to walk away. He has also attached himself to fusion energy in order to help the environment, so he can't be all bad. LeBeouf finally seems to find an adult role I don't hate him in. Or maybe my natural distrust of investors and my animosity towards them make LeBeouf the perfect match for a character that seems likeable and yet still somehow a dick.

The story is at its best when it is discussing some of the issues of the market collapse, and while some of the dialogue still went over my head I understood that there are a lot of greedy men out there who are using my money to get rich by betting on me to fail. Josh Brolin plays Bretton James, this movie's antagonist and a modern day Gekko, while the actually Gekko seems to be the moral center of the sleazebags. Bretton James is using the tricks that made headlines months ago to make most of his money. Brolin is very slick and conniving in the role and seeing as his recent movie, Jonah Hex, flopped as hard as it did it is easy to see why he wasn't out there promoting it with Douglas and LeBeouf.

The movie gets murky when it dives outside the economic pool into sub plots featuring romance, marriage, a baby and such. Carey Mulligan does most of the heavy lifting in this aspect of the film which is unfortunate as she is a wonderful actress but there is nothing she can do to save this aspect of the film. Stone, as do many people, see there is some evil goings on in the current economic system and he has something to say about it. Much like The Other Guys he doesn't want to come out and scream it at you, but rather insert some theatricality at you and hope you take something away. The Other Guys does this much better, as towards the end of the film you can see Stone screaming there is more important things than money.

The movie is kind of all over the place with the combo of business life and personal life. The reason this movie gets a sequel is due to the similarities this country faced in the early eighties, same cast of characters just a different plot. Except I hear that story everyday on CNBC with an ensemble cast starring Jim Crammer, who is way more freighting and awful to me than any character a writer can dream up. If you need to see a well done story about the d-bags on Wall Street see the original movie. The sequel is a fun movie but the wayward plot loses some of the fury that made the first one a classic. C+

New Fall TV

Besides Huddy, the road to New York, the final season of Friday Night Lights, Jennifer Aniston back on the small screen there are some new shows to look forward to as well this season. Let's take a look.



The Event
Mondays 9pm NBC

I don't know if this is a show to look forward to but NBC seems to be pushing the crap out of it. The way execs look at it, people are looking for a way to fill the void after Lost has come and gone. Why don't we see how Flash Forward and V turned out, both canceled (Well not V, but really it's only a matter of time). The show looks like it is going to require a lot of emotional commitment, something I'm not ready to give with football season having started up again and the show being Monday at 9. I have my doubts on this one, and the only way I'm watching this is if I hear good things and then I'll find it online.





Running Wilde
Tuesdays 9:30pm FOX

FOX's mishandling of shows is notorious, it gets so many shows that are ahead of its time but doesn't know what to do with them till eventually they shut down the operation (Read: Firefly, Futurama, and Family Guy). Arrested Development was no different, after winning the EMMY for Outstanding Comedy Series after its first year it would get dropped after season 3. It is now held in the highest esteem and you can see the performances now on DVD, IFC, or whenever you see George Michael Cera. Running Wilde seems to be a GOB spin off which could be awesome seeing as first season Arnett was a show stealer. Arnett plays oil company heir Steve Wilde whose life changes when he runs into boyhood crush Keri Russell who, of course, is an environmentalist. Unfortunately I'm going to have to sit through Raising Hope to get to it, because clearly I'm watching Glee first and I'm not going to change the channel. Hopefully this show doesn't go the way of Joey.





Undercovers
Wednesday 8pm NBC

I can't hate on a J.J. Abrahms helmed show, he has given the TV world so many gems: Alias, Lost, Fringe - by the way if you're not watching Fringe and ratings suggest you are not give this show a shot. Yes it's about a married couple who have retired from the CIA to open a catering company. And now they are out of retirement to save the world and reinvigorate their marriage. This show also sounds like a stupid premise but hey the wifey looks like a hotty, I apologize for that last line of text I knew it sounded awful as soon as I wrote it.





$#*! My Dad Says
Thursdays 8:30PM CBS

William Shatner stars in a show that got its start from twitter. I don't know if this will be any good but its lead in show is the Big Bang Theory so that should help its ratings. But really there is no reason to watch it when you have the NBC Thursday lineup starting with Community leading into...





Outsourced
Thursday 8:30PM NBC

I'm a little mad at this show for taking away Parks and Rec and moving it to the spring season, but you need to keep fresh shows coming in and they have been 2 for 2 for adding shows to the Thursday line up so don't bet against this one. The Office may be winding down but with this being Michael Scott's last season I have a feeling this season they are going to pull out all the stops. I like the NBC lineup so I am going to stick with it and give this show a chance. Besides India has given me slumdog, maybe they can give me a solid comedy as well.





Hawaii Five-0
Mondays 10PM CBS

Book em Danno. Usually TV reboots don't work. But did you see Scott Cann in Entourage this past season? He helped to reestablish one of HBO's biggest hits. I don't doubt that he is going to add a lot of comedy to the show as one the leads. I also love Daniel Dae Kim and it may be nice to see him chasing someone other than Sun. I would say this is the drama I'm looking forward to most, but I'd be lieing.







Boardwalk Empire
Sundays 9:00 PM HBO

The show looks awesome. Martin Scorsese does wonders with grit like this so I have no doubt they will do this show right. HBO also has a track record for having some of the best shows ever introduced to television. As long as you like Steve Buscemi and the character he always plays something tells me you'll like him in this as well even if he is ordering the deaths of those who stand in his way. He plays the de facto leader of Atlantic City during prohibition. There is going to be plenty of boozing, drugs and sex to go around for everyone involved. Make this the show to watch this fall.

Easy A

In the same vain of Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You comes the retelling of the classic tale The Scarlet Letter.

Emma Stone stars as Olive, the high school girl who feels unrecognizable in the high school world. One lie begets another and soon she is the center of high school gossip. The morally upright condemn the girl to hell so as an act of rebellion she marks herself with the letter A. Seriously they don't even try and hide the inspiration; I would hope that the lack of subtlety would anger the English teacher whose current assignment is the same book. The movie also draws inspiration from John Hughes' movies. The nods to the movie include Stone looking in the camera and telling the audience I want to live in a John Hughes movie and then a short montage of his films.

The story is told over her web cam and leads to some awful narration which indicates that all the effort was put into the conversation rather than the execution. So many movies today are trying to put their movies through the today’s lens. The narration adds some laughs but what it really brings to the table is a way to bring the whole story together and to add some time to the movie as the whole story runs a brief 90 minutes.

What the movie lacks in subtlety it makes up in writing. The movie is full of sharp wit and snappy remarks. Emma Stone makes it appear effortless in almost all of her scenes. The only time she is ever outshined is by her parents played by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci. Their humor and veteran comedy chops steal every scene they are in and rang out the most laughter in the theater.

The movie is made for the tween demographic and is probably why the original script called for much more fowl language, probably directed at the film's martyr who bears an enormous amount of weight which I'm sure any high schooler can indentify with. And that who is going to identify with the movie, but worry not parents, there are plenty of laughs to go around. B-