Deceiver:

And really, what’s one or two predominantly situated Dunkin’ Donuts cups? It’s not like there’s some laundry list of other products that bought their way into the movie. Oh, hang on . . .

This production of Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps is brought to you by:

Shun Lee
Barton Perreira Halston
Bulgari
CNBC
Moët
Ducati
Vacheron Constantin
Belstaff
Lay’s
Bed Bath and Beyond
NY Daily News
Nintendo
NY1
Jaeger-LeCoultre
Ferrari

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The year has barely begun and there are plenty of movies in the can awaiting their big screen release. Looking at the list, I can only admit to being stoked about two: Iron Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Yee haw!

Most of the films on the list fall into my ambiguity zone – I couldn’t care less one way or another. Yet some fall into the “there’s absolutely no way I’d waste $10.50 plus the cost of snacks on this one” category.

Here they are, in order of their release. You may or may not agree with my assessments,  so have at it in the comments section:

Valentine’s Day (in theaters now): Another vanity project that crams in as many big names that would say “Yes.” Directed by Garry Marshall, the “all star cast” includes (in alphabetical order) Jessica Alba, Kathy Bates, Jessica Biehl, Bradley Cooper, Eric Dane, Patrick Dempsey, Hector Elizondo, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Queen Latifah, Taylor Lautner, George Lopez , Shirley MacLaine, Emma Roberts, Julia Roberts, Taylor Swift and Carter Jenkins. The movie follows the “intertwining storylines of a group of Los Angelinos as they find their way through romance over the course of one Valentine’s Day.” In other words, yet another cross-generational movie about how the beautiful people deal with love. Yawn. (more…)

Yawn. “Wall Street 2.” Yeah, I liked the first one. Michael Douglas is awesome in that movie and pretty much everything he does. I mean, who else could rock the V-neck sweater with no T-shirt like he did in “Basic Instinct” and still look cool?

Another needless sequel. Whatever.

What got my attention was the “money line” in the trailer (pun fully intended). Douglas says “I once gave a speech that said greed was good. Now, apparently, it’s legal.” Wow is that stupid.

Of course greed is legal. So is ambition. So is hard work. So is having a big ego. So what?

Leftists constantly whine about “greed” as if that desire is the root cause of all misery and evil in the world. Greed alone does nothing. I can sit on my couch all day watching TiVoed episodes of “Nip/Tuck” eating Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and declare myself “greedy” without accomplishing anything.

And no, you can not have one of my Reese’s Cups. They are crazy delicious and they are all mine. (more…)

Twenty-three years have passed since the first ”Wall Street” and a decade since news of an upcoming Oliver Stone movie elicited anything above the level of an eye roll. A director who once captured and even created a  zeitgeist is now pathetically chasing after it like a dollar bill tied to a string.

After the disastrous “Alexander,” both “World Trade Center” and “W.” were essentially television-level productions self-consciously obvious in their desperation to feel relevant. Arguably, “WTC” ended up being an above-average TV movie but “W.” was a complete embarrassment for everyone involved, especially those Leftist critics who carried its water one percentage below a fresh rating. And now comes a sequel nobody wanted with a truly terrible title: “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps,” which hits theatres April 23rd.

And as with all Shia LaBeouf movies, the first question that must be asked is: Shia LaBeouf?

Go back and watch the original “Wall Street.” It’s a terrific film with some great acting courtesy of Martin Sheen and Michael Douglas and a compelling story that immediately grabs you as you’re taken on a tour of how things work in the fascinating world of the stock market at the very top level. One of my favorite shots in all films is our first glimpse of Douglas’s Gordon Gekko through his office door just before it closes. Just like Charlie Sheen’s young Bud Fox, oh how we want to know what goes on in there. Great moviemaking.  (more…)

During the best of times, acting in film is a precarious way to make a living. Not complaining just stating a fact. Medical insurance and pension benefits are not guaranteed to Union (SAG) members, but qualified for by accruing, yearly, ever increasing amounts of earnings. The more you work the more likely you are to qualify and, conversely, the less you earn the more likely you are to find yourself and your family without.

Enter humanitarian, caring and defender of the common man, Oliver Stone.

Stone wrapped shooting “Wall Street 2,” here in Manhattan, a couple of weeks ago. He decided that his monied (in some cases multi-millionaire) friends deserved the jobs, that might have made the difference between real SAG actors (or as he identifies them, “starving actors”) qualifying for pension and medical insurance or going without. (more…)