My Mind, or: The Haunted House

Quentin Tarantino is a LEGEND. It began with Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and followed by Pulp Fiction in 1994. Jackie Brown, Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, his resumé of films guaranteed the success of this one. He's been as funny and cool in recent years as he's been since the 90's, so OBVIOUSLY this was gonna be cool. I kept waiting for that moment when all the awesome set-up, drawn-out dialogue and motley crew of characters comes together to reach that OH DAMN! moment. What would a Tarantino film be without his blue-eyed boy, Samuel L. Jackson? He plays a grizzly (and very cool) Civil War hero named Major Marquis Warren. The cast includes impressive performances from Kurt Russell as John Ruth, another bounty hunter as well as a Tarantino favourite, Michael Madsen. Tim Roth (from T.V. series Lie To Me) makes an appearance too, and the cast is rounded out by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who performs the role of a real BITCH with some aplomb. I...

I'm lucky. In many ways, but particularly the fact that I get to watch lotsa Wall Street films with a stockbroker and his wife. This was a big one. It's about the crisis surrounding the housing bubble of 2008 and why it caused the downfall of so many. It was based on the bestselling novel by Michael Lewis. The stockbroker was around to explain difficult concepts to a schmuck like me. Talk about an ensemble cast... This was more star-studded and glittery than a Princess Barbie Prom Party! Christian Bale as Mike Burry. Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett. Steve Carell as Mark Baum. Brad Pitt as Ben Rickert. Maybe these names mean something to you, maybe they don't. I can tell you that particularly Steve Carell was excellent in his role and was responsible for many laugh-out-loud moments. So what do we say about the plot? I've been informed that it was true to real life in almost every way. That's good. What did I learn from the film? I didn't know at all how...