Ladies and gentlemen, we are officially back for Season Two, and we’re kicking things off with a cinematic banger that is as memeable as it is polarizing: Martin Scorsese’s 2013 opus, The Wolf of Wall Street.

In this episode, Kyle, Seth, and our brand-new official co-host, Mariana Barksdale, dive deep into the $100 million "laundering" scandal that financed the film, the infamous Quaalude-fueled "Lamborghini crawl," and whether this movie is a brilliant satire or the ultimate recruitment video for finance bros. We debate Leonardo DiCaprio’s "Mother Teresa" status compared to the real Caligula, the 1980s PTSD stories from real-life Wall Street veterans, and why Jonah Hill took a SAG-minimum salary just to snort vitamin D powder for Marty.

Whether you think this is a late-stage masterpiece or a "disjointed hodgepodge" of overcooked hors d'oeuvres, one thing is certain: we’re not leaving!

Key Takeaways

1. The Laundering Irony: Over $100 million was allegedly laundered through the production of this movie—the very crime the film depicts.
2. The "Lamborghini Crawl": Leonardo DiCaprio meticulously choreographed the car-door scene by studying a viral YouTube video of a drunk man in a convenience store.
3. Jonah Hill's Hospitalization: Hill actually developed bronchitis and was hospitalized after snorting so much vitamin D powder (fake cocaine) during the shoot.
4. The McConaughey Ritual: The famous chest-thumping scene was actually Matthew McConaughey’s real-life pre-scene relaxation ritual that Scorsese decided to film on a whim.
5. The Burger vs. Steak Debate: Kyle argues that while Goodfellas is a "steak," The Wolf of Wall Street is a "really good Wagyu burger" that lacks the intentionality of Scorsese's older work.

Cast & Credits Mentioned

1. The Crew: Kyle Castro, Seth Kays, and Mariana Barksdale.
2. The Visionary: Martin Scorsese.
3. The Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill, Margot Robbie, and Matthew McConaughey.
4. The Writing: Screenwriter Terence Winter based the script on the memoir by Jordan Belfort.
5. The Ensemble: Featuring standout moments from Kyle Chandler, John Bernthal, and Rob Reiner.

Takeaways:

1. In the podcast, we explore the various themes presented in the film 'The Wolf of Wall Street', emphasizing the moral complexities and societal implications that arise from the characters' actions.
2. We discuss the film's pacing and how its lengthy runtime affects the viewer's engagement, noting that certain scenes may detract from the overall narrative flow and coherence.
3. The conversation highlights the importance of character portrayal, particularly how Leonardo DiCaprio's performance as Jordan Belfort presents a charming yet deeply flawed individual, raising questions about idolization in popular culture.
4. We reflect on the film's reception and the mixed responses from critics and audiences, particularly regarding its representation of real-life events and the ethical considerations involved in telling such a story.

Companies mentioned in this episode:

1. Goldman Sachs
2. Warner Brothers
3. 1MDB
4. Red Granite Pictures
5. Steve Madden

Foreign.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the Movie wars podcast season two.

I'm Kyle.

I'm Seth.

I'm Mariana.

She's back.

She just crushed the Terminator.

Her first out outcoming out party as an official member of the couch is coming out party again.

She's gay now.

She's movie but Movie wars gay.

There was chemicals in the liquid death that it's turning Mariana gay.

Yeah, yeah.

I got the grape one.

It's very nice.

I'm gonna have to.

I'm gonna try one of those.

Very excited.

Kilbert grape.

Yes.

I love it.

Perfect for the Wolf of Wall Street.

Perfect for the Wolf of Wall Street.

We just got him started.

We decided we were like how we're gonna kick this year off.

We decided to start with two bangers.

Also this movie being one of the most memed.

Oh yeah.

Gift or is that Giphy Jiffy movies of all time.

The Wolf of Wall Street.

Let me tell you what I don't recommend.

You guys know I love to read the book whenever we cover something.

I don't recommend watching the movie in the same week as you read the memoir that it's based on.

Oh no.

Did you just say memoir?

Memoir.

Memoir.

Memoir.

I was just like.

I guess I've been saying that wrong my whole life.

Yeah, well, I overcorrect memoir because I grew up piece of white trash yet.

And I have.

I like, I. I work to eradicate my accent.

Yeah.

But I over.

Like I say iron.

Yeah.

I'm gonna iron my clothes.

You're from Alabama.

Oh, yeah.

You say salmon.

You hear my accent.

Yeah.

You gotta like really work hard.

So memoir.

But ask if I'm from London quicker.

Yeah, right?

I mean, as if the movie isn't like crazy depraved enough.

Crazy enough.

God.

Imagine.

Here's the book.

The book takes everything in the movie and just zooms in 1,000 times more.

Oh my God.

He elaborates more.

Yeah.

He spends more time on every.

Literally everything.

I feel like that book could have easily been a 12 episode miniseries.

Yes.

I couldn't handle it.

And he's a compulsive liar.

Oh yeah.

Nice.

There's been many articles written that comparing the.

The movie and his books and the real events and.

And the main source actually of the verification of what really happened is Donnie's real life wife, say Johnny with the tv.

She stay with him the whole time?

I don't know because I feel like.

I kept seeing her throughout the movie.

Like I think she's in the whole movie.

Yeah, yeah, she's and she's his cousin.

I don't know about real life.

Maybe that's why.

Yeah.

She's like, well, we are family.

Yeah.

It's not literally getting away from you.

Where Vin Diesel shows up in the background.

Oh, my God.

This movie is absolutely crazy.

I saw it in theaters.

I was for.

In the middle of college.

2014.

Yeah, I was in college.

Had just seen Interstellar, had just seen the first season of True Detective, and then did not realize that Matthew McConaughey was going to be in the movie.

And then he shows up and it was amazing.

And he steals it.

Yeah.

The next year, I meet one of my best friends and meet his mom.

And his mom worked on Wall street in the 80s.

Oh, no.

For.

For Goldman Sachs.

Oh, Lord.

Amazing.

She.

When she watched this movie and she's told this story so many times, when she saw this movie in theaters, she had no idea what to expect.

All she knew, it was a Wall street movie.

The moment it shows them throwing the little person at the very beginning into the target.

Goldman Sachs started laughing her ass off in the middle of this movie theater and just goes, oh, my God, we actually did that.

Yeah.

Yeah, I bet they did.

Those stories are all true.

And she literally goes, they were very well paid.

Like, don't get me wrong.

But yeah, we did that.

And it was horrible.

Yeah, I bet they did.

That's so funny.

There was a rule she wasn't allowed to go onto one of the floors, and she broke it.

And I think that was the day they were throwing little people.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

Amazing.

So, yeah, it's kind of crazy, like, how much of that stuff actually happened.

Like, real not exaggerated stuff.

Yeah, yeah, it's.

Go ahead.

Oh.

I was gonna say, when I first saw this movie, I saw it on Christmas day with the guy I was dating and his mom, and she was older, and she was sitting next to me, like, with her shoes off, with her feet, like, just like a little kid, you know, like, oh, what are we gonna watch on Christmas Day?

And then she sees Leonardo DiCaprio doing coke out of a hooker's butthole within.

Five minutes of the beginning of the movie.

And I'm like, this is gonna be awesome.

I'm like, luckily, I wasn't planning on marrying this guy.

Yeah.

O.

She loved it.

It was great.

She was fun.

She was fun.

That's good.

She was fun.

She's more fun than he was.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I would have married her quicker Than I married.

Yeah.

I always forget how absolutely insane this movie is.

Yeah.

Like, this has become a.

Maybe once every five years I'll rewatch it.

I've probably seen it four times since it came out.

At most, I've watched it four times this week.

It just.

I can't.

I. I can only do the stress so many times, and I can only do the depravity so many times.

It.

It this time because I remember the first time I watched it, it was fun.

I was laughing.

This is hilarious.

Yeah, they're breaking the law, but this is funny.

This time I literally, like, I'm watching all of these people and their lives just devolve into shittier.

Shittier lives.

Yeah.

I'm just like, I feel so sorry that you chose to go down this path.

Like, I feel so bad that you could have had a kind of normal life and you just chose to get worse and worse and worse as the whole movie went on.

Oh, I have a book for you.

It's called Codependent no More.

I don't feel bad for any of them except the single mom.

I don't feel bad in the sense that I'm like, oh, I feel bad for you.

It's just, like, it makes me sad to watch these people just love ruining their lives.

Yeah.

Well, you know what I like about it?

The flip side of that?

Yeah.

I like that he gives these regular people a chance to change their lives, even though what they're doing is illegal and they don't really realize it.

I hate that part.

And the single mom's.

When I feel bad, when the single mom, like, they go over her, it's like at the end, and then you see her get taken away in handcuffs, too, and you're like, yeah, she gets all wrapped up in it as well.

Yep.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I come in it from a different angle because Scorsese is my favorite director.

My second and third favorite movies of all time are Taxi Driver and Goodfellas.

Nice.

Nice.

I am no stranger to long Scorsese movies.

Pace.

Pace is the thing that he has struggled with on the back nine.

Yeah.

And I include this.

The Irishman Killers of the.

Was it Flower Moon?

Flower Moon?

Yeah.

What was that one he did with Andrew Garfield?

Oh, I don't remember where.

He's like a monk.

Oh, I don't know.

Okay.

Yeah, it came out a couple years ago.

Oh, maybe I missed that one between.

Killers and the Irishman.

Oh, okay.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I.

You know, in Taxi drivers long.

Goodfellas is long, but Goodfellas Is like, it's breakneck.

Like, there's just so much break.

And it has a little bit of the same.

Like it's coke field.

There's a point in the movie where it becomes a coke fueled nightmare.

Yeah.

And I just.

He handled it so well.

And I.

This isn't me saying I don't like this movie.

I.

But there is.

There was a moment for him where pace kind of went off the rails.

This movie.

The original cut of this movie was four hours long.

I'm not surprised.

Yeah, I want to watch that version.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Same.

Honestly.

Yeah.

I mean, as.

As you said, it seems like he probably had a hard time distilling the book down into something that you could turn into a movie.

Like, there's.

There's so much that happens in.

That's not even told in the movie.

And I'm like, I'm not surprised.

The original cut was four hours.

Like, there's too much to.

To not put in there.

I'm like, what else, though?

What else?

What was in that other hour that we needed to see?

I would love to know.

Honestly, I was curious.

Yeah.

Yeah.

More hookers.

Yeah.

But, you know, I think this movie graded on my nerves.

I think.

I actually think I liked it a lot.

I was very reluctant to watch it again.

Like, when you suggested, I was like, I know it would be a great episode to be a lot of fun, but I was also like, I don't know if I.

If I'm ready to watch this one again.

You know, it's exhausting.

Whereas Goodfellas is a similar length.

Yeah.

It's.

It's also very erratic and breakneck, but it is just like, whoo.

Yeah.

I think what it kind of came down to was I was thinking about this.

He.

Scorsese's whole career can be defined by making movies about people that you really don't want to care about.

Yeah, right.

Mobsters.

But the thing about all of his other characters is, like, for example, all of his mob movies.

Like, he talks a lot about Catholic guilt.

Catholic guilt's like the theme.

It's like the.

It's like the foundation of all those mob movies.

Yeah, right.

And.

And there was conflict.

Like, even though they loved being mobsters, there was always some kind of pushback or conflict on their lives in the movie.

But here it's just so, like, that's missing.

Yeah.

Like, this is just greed upon greed for greed's sake.

And there really is no morality anywhere in it.

Sure.

But I mean, in that vein, it kind of feels like American Psycho.

Yeah.

Like, he has no conscience.

There is no, there is no remorse for anything that he's done.

Yeah.

And even though in like American Psycho he has the breakdown at the end, the moment he finds out he got away with it, he's not sad about it.

He also doesn't break down because he's sad about it.

He breaks down because it's spiraled to a point Right.

Where he doesn't think he can control it.

Like, and as we see at the end of this movie, like, he just goes back to doing his old tricks and being a con man just in a legal fashion.

Yeah.

Like he's still selling bullshit.

Yeah.

I think there's a.

That's a good point.

And American Psycho is actually an interesting comparison because they both have one issue that they share, which is this movie.

It's genre is black comedy.

Yeah, that is the actual genre.

Absolutely.

Comedies don't go this long.

They never.

It's just not a thing.

Like, there's nothing that you're going to laugh at for three hours by trade.

That's why comedy movies are traditionally less than two hours.

Um, but it, it struck.

It really stretches itself out over these three hours when it struggles.

The areas where the movie struggles, where it struggles between commentary and comedy.

Because it's not a pure comedy, even though it's labeled as a black comedy.

Yeah, it's.

It's a satire, but it doesn't actually satirize it enough to say anything.

So the moments where I found this movie to struggle is when it really kind of couldn't escape the idea of it being a comedy.

It is very funny.

Like, it is a very funny movie.

In fact, it's some of the moments like the crawling scene after the loot.

So some of the credit to Leo.

Yeah.

I don't.

I never really.

The fact that he won for the Revenant and not.

This really pisses me.

It's a crime.

That was a.

That was like a.

That was a sympathy Oscar.

Great movie, but sympathy Oscar?

I just, I think that's where this movie struggle.

It's like, it's hilarious, but it's like you're.

I'm constantly like, is this movie trying to say something or is it highlighting?

But then it's like.

But it's the unstable narrator.

He's the un.

He's a non dependable narrator.

So it's like you got to put.

It's like trying to put the pieces together.

Sure.

You go ahead.

Oh, man.

Yeah.

I love this movie so much.

Yeah.

I don't Know what that says about me as a person?

Have you ever seen the Big Short?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I feel like this is the opposite of the Big Short.

Yeah.

Absolutely legitimate.

And I'm obsessed with the movie the Big Short as well.

It's just like I like watching people spend money and undo and it's just like a wild ride.

You would like Billions.

I love Billions.

Yeah.

I love Billions.

Yeah.

At least the first four seasons.

Yeah.

It falls off after a while.

Yeah.

But yeah, I like that.

It's like I would watch a four hour comedy from Martin Scorsese.

Honestly, I just think that it's just like a really fun.

There's just something so fun about it and there's just, again, there's something about him being like an actual.

Not a rich guy going on Wall street, stealing money from people, essentially.

Yeah.

And working the system the way rich people do.

But he gets caught and goes to jail.

Right.

You know, rich people don'.

Go to jail for the things that he's doing.

Really?

No.

But he also did throw himself in front of the FBI.

He did.

He was an arrogant piece of.

And he was like, hey, I'm kind of on your radar.

I'm going to put myself in the middle of your bullseye.

Like it was all.

And.

And that's where I don't feel sorry for him, is that he brought all of the bad on himself.

But it's.

It's like as I watch him at the beginning as he is, I'm sure he's still sociopathic at the beginning, but he's more.

More like a wide eyed kid who's in the big city.

And you just, during that conversation with Matthew McConaughey, you just watch him as the gears turn into, oh, I need to become like this.

Yeah, I love that part.

Seed.

It's a great.

It's a very well done part.

But that's where I feel sad, is I'm like, ah, if you just didn't listen to Matthew McConaughey, you might not have all these people out of all this much funny.

Matthew McConaughey in this is perfect.

The absolute perfect actor.

I love that scene is inspired by Kanye West.

I know, I know, but like how relaxed he is sitting there.

Like how often you jerk off.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, he's so serious.

It's just normal conversation for.

Yeah, he's like, that's a rookie number.

Yeah.

He's truly one of the greatest actors ever.

He is.

To your point, though, about it not totally having a message.

I feel like the point of it Though is the absurdity of it is just supposed to be the cautionary tale.

It doesn't need a.

And here's the moral wrap up.

It should just show you.

And.

And this is why I also bring up American Psycho.

Patrick Bateman and Jordan Belfort have all been idolized by a very typical bro y kind of guy.

Oh, yeah.

And it's always those people who I think just missed the point of the story.

And the point of the story is don't be like this piece of shit guy.

Right.

But so many people are like, no, I want to be just like him.

That's a bad.

Some people watch this and think, that's my hero.

Yeah, exactly.

And I mean, they're seeing him on certain podcasts and stuff that have seen him on, like, as a real guy.

Like, it's.

I think he realized that after the movie came out and really tried to lean into.

Yeah, I'll teach you all my scummy shit and you're going to love me for it.

I mean, he was really good at sales.

Oh, yeah.

Like that script.

He's good at this.

He's gifted.

Yeah, he was really good at this.

Oh, there's no doubt about it.

I mean, he's.

He's gifted.

And the fact that he taught these people that, like he took plumbers and drug dealers and all the.

Yeah.

And just said, here's my way.

That's the part I like.

Yeah, yeah.

The history is crazy.

And actually there's some irony in the history of this.

Oh, some irony.

Irony.

Irony.

Wire.

Ironic memoir.

And I forgot to mention, just in case, I'll edit this, put it back in the bing.

But the format here we have a little bit of film history.

We do the randos, which are the most interesting facts about the movie.

We do the questions, which generate comedic banter and introspective conversation.

Then we finish out with the War Zone, which are just really quick rankings.

Rankings for the movie and that we give our.

Yes or no.

Yes.

I like, sorry.

I was so in the zone.

I was like, oh, I hear the boo.

There was a bidding war for the rights of this movie between Leo and Brad Pitt.

Oh, nice.

Brad Pitt for Paramount, DiCaprio for Warner Brothers.

The rights were just over $1 million.

And Leo said his vision for the movie was a modern day Caligula.

Oh, okay.

Caligula.

But that kind of makes sense.

Yeah, he was a real guy.

Just from what I know about Caligula, the real person, like.

Yeah, but also the movie.

I mean, it kind of.

Yeah, well, he has so many orgies.

Caligula makes this guy kind of look like a Mother Teresa figure.

Yeah.

If you read about Caligula, the real Caligula.

Yeah.

This is.

This is child's play.

Yeah.

Compared to what?

The real.

Yeah.

It did go through some development hell, though.

Warner Brothers got cold feet when they saw the super hard R rating.

It is kind of crazy that this is rated R like this.

If this didn't hit NC17, which is kind of crazy.

I mean, they rode that line very finely.

Yeah, very finely.

I bet they.

I mean, I'm sure they worked with them.

I bet they had to cut some stuff out, but.

Oh, yeah.

Also gave them cold feet.

So they.

The red granite pictures.

Would you see them at the beginning?

They came in and swooped in with $100 million and promised Scorsese total creative freedom.

Are you going to talk about that company?

Yep.

Okay, good.

You talking about the.

The one mdb, the controversy.

Yeah.

So cool.

Yeah.

Do your.

Do the rest of your thing.

Making sure that's in there.

So it turns out that this production company was financed by what was called 1.1MDB, and I can't remember, it stands for 1 Malaysia Development Berhad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Joe Low, Jho Low, and the Prime Minister.

Like, they had this finance thing they had going, and they were financing projects, but it was all based on, like, laundered money.

Yeah, it was all stolen money.

Oh, my God.

It was so bad that.

Perfect.

Yeah.

Yeah.

The art becomes the artist.

Yeah.

Well.

And because of Leo's involvement, the DOJ actually investigated him.

Yeah.

Seized.

He had.

He had Marlon Brando's Oscar.

They seized it.

Oh, wow.

A $3.2 million Picasso and I don't know what a Bisquat.

Bisquiot.

Basquiat.

Basquiat.

A $9.2 million Basquiat.

Wow.

Confiscated all that from him because of.

And I don't think he had any wrongdoing.

I don't think he knew.

I'm sure he got duped.

Yeah.

But he just.

Yeah.

When you're looking for money and one person comes in and says, I got 100 mil, I'll give you then.

Yeah.

You kind of just go, yeah, let's do it.

I love that he has Marlon Brando's Oscar because he had so much trouble winning his own.

Yeah.

Because they were being assholes to him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, yeah, they laundered it says over $100 million was laundered through the production of this movie.

Nice.

So it's kind of ironic.

Incredible.

Oh my God.

And that's literally what he went to jail for was 24 counts of money laundering.

Wow.

Yeah.

And that's like with all the sales stuff, like he stole so much money from.

Oh yeah.

Like regular people, which I don't like that part.

I liked it when he started stealing from rich people, which is still bad, but it's not as bad anyway.

Yeah.

The pay scale was a little weird here.

Leonardo DiCaprio made $25 million.

Yeah.

Whereas Jonah Hill took the SAG minimum because he just wanted to work with Scorsese.

So he took 60k.

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

Did he?

I think he worked out a little bit of a back end deal though.

Probably.

Yeah.

I think he was like, if this crushes and yeah, throw me a couple mil.

Sag minimum is 60k.

I wonder how many days shooting is that?

So I'm pretty sure sag minimum at least at the time was 160 a day.

What?

Yeah, maybe 185, but it was somewhere around there.

185.

$185 a day for an eight hour day.

Okay.

Because there's over time.

There's other stuff that factor into that.

Fourteen hundred dollars a day.

That's the minimum.

Yeah.

Damn.

Maybe it's.

Maybe it's not the minimum.

Yeah.

I.

That's probably SAG standard.

Yeah.

And then that's it.

Standard.

So the minimum is.

The minimum they will famous person work at is 160.

185 around there.

First of all, this must have taken so long to shoot.

Second of all, wow, Jonah Hill.

That is amazing.

Yeah.

I mean people do.

Not quite the SAG minimum, but people do that to work with Christopher Nolan.

Oh, yeah.

I would do that.

They.

They're like, pay me 100k and we're good.

That's like a PA salary.

Yeah.

I mean that's less than.

That's less than what I made as a pa. Yeah.

And Joan is my favorite part of the movie.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think he's.

I actually think he's sadistic.

He's a sadistic character.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And the hands, all the hand gestures, the waspy hand gestures.

Yeah.

I'll do an ad.

A bad.

I'll do something horrible.

Yeah.

Get canceled again.

In terms of how they cast Naomi, Margot Robbie actually instinctively, during her chemistry read with Leo, slapped him nice.

And like she just thought this would be right.

And well, she was Also, what, like 22, 23 when they shot this.

Yeah.

So he's like, perfect.

That's exactly the age I would date.

Three years too old.

No, 25 is.

25 is cut off.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, I think 19 is his.

His fave.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So does Anthony Kiedis.

Oh.

Yeah.

I guess it's just like one year after you can smoke.

I don't know.

Yeah.

It's 21 now, so.

Cigarettes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Weird.

All tobacco.

I wonder if that'll stop anybody.

Huh?

When did that happen?

Like three years ago.

Wow.

I didn't know that.

Oh, yeah.

You should tell all those children.

So.

So you can go.

I don't think they know.

You can get sent to fight a regime, a regime change war on behalf of the rich politicians of this country before you can buy cigarettes.

You can.

Weird.

You can't smoke or drink your sorrows away in the military.

Wow.

Yeah.

Wow.

That's backwards.

That is so ridiculous.

Yeah.

And after the movie came out, there was a lot of backlash against the movie.

It got a C grade from.

What is it called?

CinemaScore, which cinema scores considered a.

A lot of.

A lot of critical outlets didn't know what to do with it.

Yeah.

So it got backlash there.

And also a lot of the real world, victims and prosecutors and FBI representatives criticized the movie a lot for.

In terms of basically giving Jordan Belfort celebrity status because they were watching him after the movie came out.

Reemerge.

Yeah.

Becoming a speaker, a paid, you know, get in, doing all these classes and stuff.

And, you know, people like the actual prosecutor from the FBI was like, you're basically empowering everything he did and you're forgetting the victim.

Victims.

So I agree with it.

And I'm a score Stacey guy.

See, this is where and we had this discussion and I. I actually very much disagree with it.

And again, I'll use Oppenheimer to compare a lot of people's criticism with Oppenheimer is it didn't show the aftermath in Japan.

Yeah.

The movie's called Oppenheimer, not the Manhattan Project.

You're not.

You're supposed to see everything from his perspective.

He is in.

In.

For all intents and purposes, he is the narrator.

And in this movie, 100%, he's literally the narrator.

Yeah.

And so, yeah, you're gonna see everything from his perspective.

He didn't give a shit about the victims.

Yeah.

He didn't care.

He turned on all his guys so he would spend less time in jail.

Like he's.

He's an absolute cowardly pussy.

Yeah.

And that's the perspective you're supposed to see it from.

Yeah, he's a bad guy, but he's not a murderer either.

So, like, at the same time, I'm like, if you're gonna go pay to see this guy speak, it's like he's just like so many other people.

Yeah, but he's also a con man.

And if you choose to go to pay to see him, you're an idiot.

Yeah, that's on you.

Yeah.

And there's also a subsect of white women who would pay to go see a murderer speak, I'm sure.

Oh, God.

I know this because I'm writing.

It's not a crime book.

It's a Southern noir book.

But because of how I'm having to, like, propose it.

Yeah.

The part of my demographic, there's a dimmer.

So if you don't know this, when you're trying to get a publisher, you have a demographic session of your book proposal.

Film or not film, crime podcast listeners.

White women between whatever ages is on there.

Yeah, I'm the demographic.

Yes.

It's not white women between the ages.

It's white women.

It's a good point.

White women are the ones.

Oh, sorry, Mar.

I have to say, it hits at a different age for everybody.

So.

Yeah, you've arrived.

I never finally arrived this year.

Sorry.

White women be loving.

They're the ones writing the letters to the murderers in prison.

I mean, I don't understand what it.

Is, but they accomplish something.

Yeah.

Yeah.

My neighbor, he didn't even get a degree, but at least this guy murdered somebody.

This guy gets stuff done.

He played flute on his mom.

Mom's esophagus.

This guy can protect me.

Yes, that's true.

This guy will murder people for me.

That's so funny.

He won't murder me, but he'll murder other people for me.

He might accidentally wink.

Speaking of getting murdered, is there a penny stock that you're looking to invest in?

Invest in Movie Wars.

We're gonna have to pre record these.

Yes.

I think the transitions are great, but yeah, you're looking for a stock, you wanna.

You wanna get a quick buck, Invest in Movie Wars.

And the way you do that is you send it to your friends.

You like it and follow it on.

You repost it, you share it.

It's just every app has a little share button.

Just do it.

Do it.

I'm not leaving.

YouTube especially.

I'm not leaving.

We're not leaving.

It's free.

Free click.

Sell me this podcast.

Boom.

Rando.

Rando Reno's.

Oh, that chest feeling.

Vibrancy.

Yes.

You know what?

I'm skipping down the list.

I'm going straight to that.

I'm going straight.

I'm going straight to the rando about.

About that.

That is an improv from Matthew McConaughey.

Of course it is.

And the way they did it was.

Is that Leo and Martin saw Matthew McConaughey just doing that at the table.

And, like, what the hell is he doing?

Yeah.

He does this because that's how he loosens up.

It's a ritual for him.

That's how he loosens up.

Yeah.

And he does it for every scene before he starts filming, before every movie, and he just does it.

And Leo and Martin.

Marty, Martin Scorsese were like, why don't we put that in the movie?

And he's like, are you serious?

And like.

Yeah.

So they filmed him doing it and put it in the movie.

And it literally is the most.

Most.

It's like, to me, it's the most famous part of the movie.

Famous part of the movie.

People love that.

I love it.

It's my favorite part.

Yeah.

And the tune that he's humming is inspired by that one Kanye west song.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which I. I think is hilarious.

Yeah.

He said he was trying to channel, like, tribal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's so funny.

It's so good.

And those are just the moments that you just live for as a film lover.

Absolutely.

Just knowing that that was made up.

I mean, that scene, the Quaalude scene especially, like, I feel like those.

Those.

And I'm not leaving.

Like, those are the three moments that I feel like, no matter what, you always remember those parts.

Yeah.

And then the Steve Madden bit.

I love that bit.

Yeah.

And that's where I land on this movie.

Even though I think it had to stretch itself.

And it really faltered in terms of genre and in terms of what it was trying to say and do between comedy and it's so filled with moments.

Yeah.

That at a bare minimum, I can know I can turn this on and jump from these great moments.

And there's plenty of them.

Like, it's like.

Yeah.

I don't.

I don't know how I feel about the message.

And the comedy is great, but it's not really a full comedy.

But it's got so many just moments.

Yeah.

And that you live for and you can't wait to watch it again.

So I will say that.

Yeah.

That's.

Yeah.

Anyway, back to Randos.

Every scene where they snort cocaine, which is a lot of them.

And I'm sure that fourth hour had some cocaine in it.

Yeah.

They use something called.

They use vitamin D powder.

Yeah.

But Jonah Hill was hospitalized because he snorted so much of it that he got bronchitis, and so he had to go to the hospital.

So he really earned that 60k.

Yeah.

Oh, my God.

Yeah.

Amazing.

Fake drugs and movies is hilarious.

Like, yeah, you've got the vitamin D. They have all these weird herbal cigars.

Herbal cigars, herbal cigarettes.

But there's also, like, another one that they'll use for joints specifically and for weed.

And it's like.

It's just.

Yeah.

It's so funny to me.

And then you have that one time that Snoop and Matthew McConaughey were in the same movie, and Snoop switched out the blunts for real blunts.

Oh, wow.

And Matthew hits him a few times and he's like, what the fuck?

And Snoop just goes, yeah.

Is that Snoop Weed?

Oh, my gosh.

I don't want that Snoop weed.

I'm not ready to go to the Mars.

I wouldn't be good with that on camera.

Yeah, we're done for the day.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I can't be productive right now.

Yeah.

What they call the Lamborghini Crawl.

The Quailute saying the lemon.

Yeah.

We need to write a song that's.

That's to the tune of Watermelon Crawl.

Yorghini Crawl.

So good.

The way DiCaprio prepared for that is he studied a viral video.

It was a YouTube video entitled the Drunkest man in the World, which featured a man struggling.

The guy in the.

In the convenience store, which featured a.

Man struggling to navigate a convenience store.

Exactly.

And so you haven't seen it?

I need to pull it up.

I'm going to find this.

Y' all need to watch this.

He said the contortion of limbs and the ballistic thrust of the leg used to open the car door were meticulously choreographed and to capture the desperation of an addict whose body was entirely failed.

He.

That was very convincing.

Yeah, it was.

It's my favorite scene.

Yeah.

I haven't done Quaaludes because obviously they got rid of them before I was born, but they would be my drug of choice, should they have.

They were still around.

That's rough.

Yeah, it's rough.

Like, I mean, not to that point.

But it's crazy that they made him for Stay at Home Moms.

Is Leo big into drugs and drinking or is he, like, teetotal?

I don't really think he's like, a teetotaler or something.

He's really.

He's a good actor.

He does vape.

Okay.

Yeah.

And he's.

He is a vapor.

It's not the same at all.

I do think he is into.

It's actually the opposite, really high end wine.

Oh, yeah, that makes sense.

That's not the same.

That's rich people shit.

Yeah.

That's not gonna make your limbs stop working.

Yeah, well, you haven't had the right wines.

I wish.

I wish there was.

You haven't had a gallon of wine while watching the Hobbit all in one day.

Yeah, I don't drink wine.

Yeah.

I wish there was something during interviews that would make his mouth stop working so he can stop talking about climate change.

Oh, that's funny.

That's not even my opinion.

I don't even care.

Like, it's not like I believe or don't believe.

It's just like when I hear Leonardo DiCaprio stuff start rambling about climate change and I'm like, go back to your island with your 19 year old.

Like, he has to take a private jet.

Yeah, he takes a private jet to and from his private island that he owns for his 19 year olds.

It's like, get a sailboat.

Yeah, seriously, bro.

Yeah, come on.

Gilbert Grape.

Yeah, I know.

Oh, that's so funny.

I actually did a climate change rally in New York.

I was like a peacekeeper and I signed up to be a peacekeeper and he was there walking with everybody.

Believe it or not, there were a lot of people walking with him.

Oh, I'm sure a lot of buddies.

Ask him three questions about climate change and find out that like Billy Bob Thornton said on Rogan, he says most celebrities are a mile wide and an inch deep on any subject they talk about.

Oh, you're a climate change fan?

Tell me three songs.

Yeah, tell me.

Yeah.

What's their best role?

That's amazing.

What's climate's best role ever?

Well, just asking the math.

Like, just be like, okay, well, give me the math behind it.

Like, what, what?

At what temperature?

Like what, how many ounces of ozone?

When are we.

Yeah, yeah, give me algorithms.

You've been saying this for a while.

We're still not fucked.

But for real.

But are we fucked?

We just let celebrities get off talking in very basic terms about really complex subject matter.

And a lot of people just heat hard like, oh, what?

He says, like, ask him a question.

I know he just read off a cue card.

Ask him a question.

That's why they're speakers and not question and answers.

Yes, there will be no Q and A today.

There will be no Q.

And a.

Ever.

But I love Billy Bob Thornton.

He was honest.

He's like.

He said that on Rogan.

He said all celebrities are about a mile wide and an inch deep on any subject.

I was like, yes.

Speaking of.

I had to turn that episode off because I was like, you're not.

You're the similar.

Well, he's from Arkansas, baby.

Yeah.

He's like me.

He's better.

He is.

He's great.

Last one.

Former Assistant U.S. attorney Joel M. Cohen.

This goes back to what I talked about earlier, but he.

He was the one that prosecuted Joel or Jordan Bev Belfort.

And after the film's ending, he called it an insult to the victims.

And he argued that the film aggrandized Belfort.

Belfort's importance and turned him into a celebrity and made him even more money.

Wait, victims of what?

Victims of being sold things, like, by victims.

People that gave him.

This guy money.

Especially in the start.

He.

The people.

What?

And this is.

This is what I was trying.

I didn't say it well in text.

This is where the film glosses over.

Okay.

Because, like, when he gets arrested.

Yeah.

You're kind of like, well, what is the actual charge?

And this is what it glossed of, the actual charge.

It starts with the fact that he was.

He was taking money from plumbers.

Yeah.

You know when they show that really quick shot of that shack.

Yeah.

And that's because that was legit.

Like, it was not even a real business.

And he was, like, selling plumbers.

Hardworking people were taking their entire savings and dumping it into these stocks.

But, I mean, his wife talked to him about that.

The reason he started going after rich people was because his wife was like, don't you feel bad about doing this to normal people?

Could just do this to rich people.

And then it was the IPO fraud.

Yeah.

With Steve Madden, that was the big thing, was they.

They pumped up the IPO illegally.

But, yeah.

Anyway, and I. I agree with.

With Joel Cohen somewhat.

I mean, I think it still could have been in the story.

I don't think it had to be the point.

Yeah.

But it really glosses way over.

Yeah.

Like, when he gets arrested.

Every time I've watched it, I was like, wait, which thing do they actually get them on?

And they really don't nail that.

And I know it's from his perspective, but I even think from his perspective, something in the dialogue, something in the narration to say, this is the thing they got me on.

Yeah, I think so.

Okay.

They did that in Goodfellas.

Let me compare this because actually, tonally, they're very similar.

Let me compare this to my favorite Michael Bay movie, which is Pain and Gain.

Pain and Gain is also based on real circumstances, a real police case that happened where bodybuilders rob people.

And at the end of or throughout that whole movie, Ed Harris, who is a character in the movie, is narrating the film, but he's the private investigator who.

Who cracks these guys.

And so he then talks about the victims afterwards because he's the one telling the story.

Like I said, Jordan Belfort's telling the story like it's.

It.

It.

I. I feel like it's not out of character for him to not care.

And it's true.

And you don't watch a slasher film and you don't have a.

More, you know, a moratorium for the victims of Slasher.

Like.

Like, I get it.

And there's a spectrum.

This is a real story.

I think that's probably why it's different than, like, American Psycho.

Sure.

But, I mean, like I said, so is Pain and Gain, but it's framed in a way that someone else is narrating the story, so it makes sense for that person to go away from our main character and say, here are the victims, and here's what happened to them, and here's the restitution they got.

Yeah, I feel bad for them, but I don't think I call them victims.

They literally fell for a sales scheme.

I mean.

Yeah, that's.

That weird line for me is like.

Hang up the phone.

Exactly.

Like, I mean, one of the guys literally says it at the beginning where he's like, you cold Called me.

I don't know who you are.

Yeah, yeah.

You don't know me.

I don't know you.

Very good, sir.

Yeah, yeah.

That's a script right there.

Agreed, partially, but this was before the Internet, and this was during a time where that was the primary mode of all things.

It was like, door to door or phone.

Yeah.

And people at the time just.

I'm sure there were all kinds of scams, but.

Oh, yeah, people.

You.

You bought vacuum cleaners from strangers that walk to your door.

Encyclopedias, people.

That's a good point.

Yeah.

But they're giving them $10,000 instead of 30.

Yeah.

So, I don't know.

I guess I just.

I come from, like, Gamblers Anonymous family members, you know, So I have a lot of, like, don't trust anybody.

Money is sacred.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's been ingrained in me.

So I do feel really bad for them because I'm sure I would have fallen for it if I hadn't had, like, all this in my family, but.

Yeah, it's a good point, though.

I forgot everything was done over the phone back then.

Yeah.

And door to door salesman.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So this lead us, Right.

This is a great transition right into the first question.

Questions.

The satire trap.

Does this movie actually indict Jordan Belfort, or did Scorsese accidentally create the ultimate recruitment video for finance bros?

I think if you have half a brain, you understand what's actually going on.

Yeah.

And.

And that's.

That's where I'm.

I'm a little on the fence, but I lean more towards.

This was not Martin Scorsese's responsibility.

Just because Jordan Belfort decided to figure out how to take advantage of the press and idiots online decided to grandize him doesn't mean it was Martin Scorsese's job as an artist to.

To get in the way of that again.

I think he presented everything as close to as it happened as he had the information to.

He even showed when he was being over exaggerated.

Like, he made it very clear this is kind of over exaggerated.

Right.

This is not.

This is crazier.

But we're actually not over exaggerating this part.

And I think, yeah, kind of.

This kind of the same thing is if, like, if you're stupid enough to pay someone $10,000 over the phone, if you're stupid enough to look at this and be like, that's the guy I want to be, then there's no hope for you anyways.

Right.

That's a good point.

So, I mean, there's.

There's only so much that you can protect stupid people.

People like, the fact that.

That McDonald's coffee does have to say, this is hot, is a little crazy.

I know the story behind it.

The woman actually did, like, end up with third degree burns, and it was kind of absurd.

But at the same time, you shouldn't have to have warning labels that literally say, riding a bike without a light is dangerous at night.

Yeah.

It kind of reminds me like I. I had a friend that.

And I don't.

Not saying I agree with this because I do feel like it's a little like a not sympathetic position, but his whole idea, like, on people being poor, not poor.

Obviously there's a lot of factors, but he was like, if you hit the reset and button today and gave every single person in this country $1 million, he was like, the same people that are poor today will be poor.

Yeah, again.

And the same people that are Rich today will be rich again.

Exactly.

That was his.

I think that's very simple.

That's an oversimplification.

Absolutely is.

But I think there's a lot of truth to that.

Yeah, there's.

Yeah, it's habits, it's.

It's.

How do you live your life with what you have.

Yeah, yeah.

Well, can I just say, when I'm watching this movie, I really like watching Matthew McConaughey's character and Leo's character, because I like watching and knowing that those people in the world exist and you have to watch out for them.

They're a very good depiction of real people.

And people like that don't care about other people.

And I think it's important to see that, like, yeah, they're having the time of their lives, but you don't want to be that person.

You want to know they're out there and hang up the phone on them.

Yeah, yeah.

So I think it's a good cautionary tale.

I agree.

Yeah.

It's still really fun to watch.

Yeah, yeah.

But, yeah, that's where I'm at is.

It's.

Is.

Yeah, it's.

The whole thing is a cautionary tale.

Yeah.

And it makes sense if, if you're not.

Not just, you know, blinded by the richness of it.

Yeah.

And Margot Robbie.

Yeah.

I mean.

Yeah, yeah.

But even he messes.

But he messes that part up.

So it's like he doesn't even end up married to Margot Robbie.

Messes it all up.

Yeah, yeah.

Like it.

Yeah.

It absolutely should be a cautionary tale.

And if you're too stupid to realize that, then again, I don't think helping.

You going back to kind of the original origin of the question with the finance bro culture thing, I think it's one of the worst parts of the digital age that it's generated.

There's a whole hustle grind, bro.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

The.

What's his name?

Her Mosey.

Alex Hermosi or whatever.

The guy with the.

Like, he's, you know, he's like jacked and.

Oh, that guy.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, that's not finance bro, but it's like finance bro light.

You know what I mean?

It's.

It's motivational guru.

Yeah, yeah.

And.

But the thing, the reason that stuff works for them is because there's just so many people that just spoon feed.

Yeah.

They just love it.

They just cannot get enough self help books.

And I hate to say this, and this isn't everybody.

I have a few friends that are hyper self improvement people that Are highly self improved.

I also.

Yeah, yeah, girl.

I'm literally wearing a modern wisdom shirt.

Yeah, it's like, it's the Alex Hormozi.

Like the podcast.

No.

Chris Williamson, I love.

That's my favorite podcast.

I do love Christopher Williams, but he packages in a way that's very accessible.

I don't feel like he's trying to turn me into an Alex from Mosey guy.

Like, there's something in it for everybody.

But God, now I lost the point.

I'm sorry.

Oh.

I have people like you, self improvement.

People that actually self improve and.

And gain that.

But I also know a lot of people that self improve.

Like, do a lot of it, read a lot of it, listen to a.

Lot, say a lot of it.

Who are still poor, weak.

Whatever the thing.

Yeah, yeah.

Whatever the thing they set out.

There's still just that.

Just.

But just with the talk.

Yeah.

Just with the.

With the arrogance.

Yes.

Thinking you're a better person than someone else because you've listened to someone else else tell you something.

Yeah.

What's the comedian, Neil?

Oh, Brennan.

Neil.

Brennan has the best bit.

He was like.

He was like, I have people talking to me about crypto that have never once said anything about money in their life.

He's like, you've never brought up anything financial, but now you pull up in your geoprism.

Yeah.

Talking about crypto.

It's one of the best bits.

Genius.

And it's so true.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, I had a guy like this dude, like, he like, lived in a trailer because his wife kicked him out, and he was telling me about rice futures.

They gotta invest in rice futures.

I'm like, why don't you invest in rice futures?

You.

You live in someone else's trailer because your wife kicked you out.

You're trying to tell me about rice futures?

Yeah.

No, I need you to invest in rice futures so you can give me money to invest in rice futures.

Yeah.

And then we can start my geoprism back up because it is broke down.

This is a really good one.

This.

This actually surfaced in a lot of research that I did on the movie.

And this is based on some sentiment that I read.

Does Leo's charm on how he plays Belfort overshadow the moral issues with Jordan Belfort?

I mean, Jordan Belfort was a very charming dude, especially back in the day.

Like, yeah, you kind of see now that he's a used car salesman smarmy asshole.

But most people don't see past that.

I've known way too many people that I'VE watched them either fall in love with or just fall for the act of someone who's.

Who's acting like they're this cool, charming person, and turns out they're just a piece of shit.

Like, I think.

I think he plays into it correctly.

Like, that's the whole point.

He's a he.

And, I mean, I think it's hilarious that the actual Jordan Belfort's like, five foot eight.

Like, he's a short guy.

Oh, he's five.

Seven.

Yeah, seven.

Like, he's clearly trying to compensate for a lot of things, but that's.