Martin Scorsese proves once again why he is the most renowned director of his time. Fully immersing himself into the subject matter once more, and trying to truly understand his lead characters is something that Marty has never shied away from. But how — how?! — could he ever possibly channel the raucous persona of the lead in his most recent film, Jordan Belfort?
Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the production company Red Granite — which fully funded 2014 Best Picture nominee, The Wolf of Wall Street — has recently been sued for racketeering in Los Angeles court.
Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland are the principals of Red Granite, and Aziz is the son of former-Malaysian prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak. Aziz has, at one point or another, acknowledged that Red Granite receives funds from the Middle East and Asia, but those funds are now under accusation of being “from offenses against a foreign nation that involve bribery of public officials, or misappropriation, theft, or embezzlement of public funds by a public official.”
The lawsuit is courtesy of Brad Krevoy and Steve Stabler, who, along with the principals of Red Granite, were producers for the 1994 comedy hit, Dumb and Dumber. Krevoy and Stabler are filing the lawsuit after claims of being excluded from the upcoming sequel, Dumb and Dumber To …, and they have taken to airing their grievances in the public eye.
The real story here is the sheer irony that the The Wolf of Wall Street — a movie focused on greed and all of the problems that accompany its actualization — could have been funded by illegal activity itself. Until this point, it wasn’t announced as to why Red Granite wouldn’t be honored at the 2014 Academy Awards if Wolf were to win. This sheds some light on the subject.
In unrelated news, NYPD is scouring New York for taxi drivers that may have gone on righteous shooting sprees in local whore houses circa 1976, or any good-fellows left for dead in unattended vehicles (the front seats or trunks) or freezers from 1990.
Joe Pesci was unavailable for comment. Harry and Lloyd simply left a note addressed to one, “Gas Man.”