The Revenant - 神鬼獵人 - 復仇勇者

The Revenant (神鬼獵人) is an 2015 film. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio. The supporting cast include Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, and Forrest Goodluck. The movie is based loosely on the life of Hugh Glass from 1823.

DiCaprio plays Glass, a hired hand to American pelt traders. When attacked by Arikara, Glass escapes with his son Hawk, the captain and other men, include Fitzgerald. While scouting a route back to camp, he's mauled by a bear, but survives. When the rest of the troupe find him, they save him and take him on a gurney with them. But as the route gets more and more steep, the men complain. The captain pays 3 men to stay behind and watch Glass.

That's about as far of the story I was aware of prior to watching the movie. I know that Leo got some awards. If you know me, I care not for any awards being handed out. But I was interested in the movie nonetheless. The movie told a harrowing story of a man that defied death. Which is inspiring. But the flip side of it is the horrors of the old frontier, where it included some killed or be killed situations. The movie doesn't shy away from depicting what could have really happened. In all, I enjoyed it the film, but its unlikely I'll ever watch it again, even when it's being shown on cable.

The Wolf of Wall Street - 華爾街之狼

The Wolf of Wall Street (華爾街之狼) is 2013 film. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill. The extensive supporting cast include Margot Robbie, Matthew McConaughey, Kyle Chandler, Jon Bernthal, and Cristin Milioti. The film is directed by Martin Scorsese.



Leonardo plays Jordan Belfort. Belfort is a rags to riches story. Belfort works on wall street out of college and loses his job. As a last resort, Belfort takes a job selling penny stocks. Belfort works his way up the chain and becomes a millionaire. Along the way, he does drugs and lots of women. The Feds start to track him and take him down. Belfort has to find a way to hide his money from the feds too. His firm also has very successful people that are very loyal to Belfort. Who will win this cat and mouse chase between Belfort the Feds?

This was an entertaining movie. A story where you disliked the main character, but wanted to continue. You most likely continued because of how ridiculous it was. How is it that Belfort can get away with this? That was what drew me to the end. I disliked Belfort and his cohorts. Not a lot of redeeming values in their life. They used the system to take advantage of a lot of people. What they did will never be repaid, even time in prison. I watched it once and that's it. Its available on my Amazon Prime and its been on various cable channels recently, but I haven't bothered to watch it.

Django Unchained - 決殺令 - 黑殺令 - 被解救的姜戈

Django Unchained (決殺令/黑殺令/被解救的姜戈) is an 2012 film. The movie stars Jamie Foxx and Christoph Waltz. The supporting cast include Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, and Walton Goggins. The film is also directed by Quentin Tarantino, the modern day pulp director. The movie is based a couple of years before the start of the American Civil War.



Django is a slave. Schultz is a bounty hunter. Django is the last person to have seen three brothers Schultz is after. Schultz takes Django from his captures and makes him a free man if he helps him get his bounty. Schultz feels compassion for Django and teaches him the bounty hunter trade. Django however wants to get his wife back, who has been sold to the Candyland plantation. Django and Schultz will need a great game plan to get his wife back from Candyland.

The movie was bloody and seemed very authentic to the era. Even though True Grit takes place decades after, this movie had the same "western" realism. Django does a little more showboating, but it moves the story along. The movie includes both joy and tragedy at the same time. The hyped use of the "n" word was not exaggerated. I was a little taken back by its heavy use, but I did expect it to happen.

A bloody, violent, and typical QT film. Watch it for the gritty western realism and its historical take.

Shutter Island - 隔離島

Shutter Island (隔離島) is an 2010 film. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, and Michelle Williams. The movie was directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese. The movie is based on an 2003 novel by Dennis Lehane. This was the fourth film together for Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays an U.S. Marshal Edward "Teddy" Daniels who's been assigned to Shutter Island off the coast of Boston to investigate the disappearance of Rachel Solando. During the ferry ride, Teddy is assigned a new partner Chuck, played by Mark Ruffalo. They start the investigation and things start to get weird when the staff refuse to cooperate with Teddy and his investigation. As they get deeper and deeper, a bigger conspiracy is uncovered.

This movie was a total trip. From the opening to the ending. I was on the edge of my seat. The suspense and layers of truth came a very good pace and I was wondering aloud sometimes at the things unfolding.

If you like DiCaprio or Scorsese films, this is a much watch.

Inception - 全面啟動

Inception (全面啟動) is a 2010 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Marion Cotillard, Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy, and Dileep Rao. The film is helmed by famed director Christopher Nolan.

The Cast
Leonardo DiCaprio as Dom Cobb
Ken Watanabe as Mr. Saito
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur
Marion Cotillard as Mal Cobb
Ellen Page as Ariadne, the Architect
Tom Hardy as Eames
Cillian Murphy as Robert Michael Fischer
Dileep Rao as Yusuf

The Story
A group of hired guns will go into a person's dream to extract valuable information. The way they do this is via a technique developed by the US armed forces to "share dreams" But these team members aren't just sharing dreams, they have roles to fill. A architect is someone who builds the dream and there are the guys the run missions in the dream. Dom and Arthur are a team and look for architects to make their living. Mr. Saito is looking to one up his competition and hires Dom. But this mission is different. This mission isn't to extract information but to plant an idea, Inception.

A must see for any movie fan of suspense trillers. Since the story is based on suspense and slow reveals, my synopsis is going to do the film justice. Its also a movie that's commanded quite a few discussions around the ending and beginning.

You'll get the highest of recommendations from me to watch this film and to watch it on the big screen.

The Departed - 無間道風雲

The Departed is a 2006 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, and Vera Farmiga. Based conceptually on the 2002 HK film, Infernal Affairs.

The high concept of the high is that the cops and mob send a mole into the others system at a young age. For the cops, a young recruit is asked to drop out and infiltrate the mob to relay information back to the captain. Vice versa for the mob. They get a young mobster to join the police department and pass information along so the mob boss can keep from getting busted.

Both "The Departed" and "Infernal Affairs" plays this concept.

But The Departed is based in Boston and with the Irish Mob. The undercover cop is played by Leonardo DiCaprio and the undercover mobster is played by the Matt Damon.

There are many many similiarities between the two films, but they are really different at the same time. Independently, The Departed can stand as a good film.

I however did watch Infernal Affairs back in 2002 and was completely blown away. I ended up watching the film with my wife and friends within a few weeks. It was one of those, we got to watch it together films so we can talk about it.

So, watching the departed and knowing many of the plot points, it wasn't as exciting and I wasn't in suspense.

However, I don't think you can watch both. You need to watch one or the other. Pick which one and don't compare.