Got to give it to Martin Scorsese’s distributor for their great sense of timing: the consumerist orgy that is the holiday season is an apt backdrop for the release of “The Wolf of Wall Street.” Also, if you think you've already placed your Oscar bets, you may want to think again.

“Wolf” is quite the juicy offering this end-of-year in theaters. Budget cuts? Unemployment blues? Who in their right mind

Faced with the unenviable task of coming on the heels of the biggest movie opening of all time as well as being a reminder of recent and tragic events (the Trayvon Martin shooting) “The Watch” was basically going to rest on the likable charisma of its lead actors. This is the type of R-rated comedy you want to see from Stiller, Vaughn, and Hill and yet the comedy struck me as largely innocuous. Evan (Ben Stiller) manages a Costco in Glenview

21 Jump Street yields three solid chuckles in one-hundred-nine minutes of running time, which is simply inexcusable. Though engineered by human beings (directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller), 21 might as well be a factory-made blueprint of Starsky & Hutch, Hollywood’s last nod to kitschy television shows. Take a cult T.V. cop show (the late eighties-early nineties Fox series 21 Jump Street, which put Johnny Depp on the map)

21 Jump Street isn’t just another forgettable adaptation of a television program, the disappearance of which noone laments. Mais non! The only interesting thing about this one is how it inadvertently ended up on the red carpet to greet the arrival of Hollywood’s unexpected leading men. Channing Tatum looks the part. The Hollywood heartthrob of a million female fantasies, he has anchored a string of overperforming rom-coms (Step Up, Dear

Jonah Hill is barely recognizable. Gone is the jew-fro, the skater shorts and the rub-me-please belly. Is Jonah Hill ready for his Paris Match close-up? I personally preferred him as fat because fat and funny go super well together (except that in this case we would laugh with Jonah Hill, not at Jonah Hill).

Does this new skinniness affect his bankability? I wonder what Judd Apatow thinks of the new Jonah. And how will this affect the roles he will be offered in the future? Yes, I know, by now you're probably incensed that I would write this since yes, shedding weight in order to live a long and healthful life is a no-brainer--agreed. But I will miss you, Seth:

No one wants to watch a movie about the Yankees. No one wants to watch Throwing Money At It: Superstars, Dollar Signs, and Left-handed Relief Pitching. No one wants to hear the story about how the Pinstripes used their massive financial advantages to hire the best coaches, scouts and players in order to forge an American League dynasty--and guess what: they did it! There is no market in the American imagination for the Goliaths of Gotham. We love the

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