Created Nov 02, 2011 09:47PM PST • Updated Jan 03, 2012 10:22PM PST
They’re not all great but they’re all about the Great Recession.
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Replies
- Good
- 69 Points
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Great
 Discuss
Wall Street gets stripped bare in this brilliantly depressing takedown of überleveraged trading houses, what used to be known as Investment Banks. An acting tour de force about the fall of a Lehman-like firm, Margin Call plays like a Wall Street "Glengarry Glen Ross":http://www.viewguide.com/movie_reviews/3661-glengarry-glen-ross. Several in the stellar stable of actors get to chew on terrifically flawed characters: a wealthy man who cares more for a dying dog than real people; brilliant men who turned away from eminence in science or engineering for the financial rewards of trading…. |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Great
4 Forum Replies
Cate Blanchett transfixes in Woody Allen's superior dramedy Blue Jasmine. Playing the Jasmine of the title, Blanchett goes from Park Avenue socialite to broken vixen in a performance that masterfully oscillates between elegance and rawness. That last almost assures her an Academy Award nomination. Woody's take on the Great Recession focuses on a younger version of Ruth and Bernie Madoff, in the wake of his unmasking. Hubris, narcism and greed make for heaping helpings of schadenfreude. Her refined opportunism gets juxtaposed with her sister's easygoing pluckiness, honed through a… |
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Not really about the Great Recession but damn sure set in the Great Recession.
Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Very Good
Discuss
Star power in service to dark humor makes Killing Them Softly an entertaining time at the movies, and will make it seem even more entertaining as an on-demand rental soon enough. This second m… |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Good
2 Forum Replies
Woe is me – what I felt watching The Company Men, perhaps because that's how its characters felt. Notwithstanding its glorification of self-pity, the movie tells a surprisingly good story, touching on many familiar elements of our current woeful economy. People living beyond their means, in debt up to their eyeballs and driving leased cars they really can't afford are one thread. Companies that put management's interests above those of shareholders are another. When management thinks only of management, employees and shareholders get shafted. A big-name cast doing very good w… |
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BigdaddyDave
– with 5 Trust Points – rated it
Good
2 Forum Replies
Hard hitting documentary that shows how greed, corruption, and status quo created the great financial meltdown of the past three years. In easy to understand language, the film shows how finanancial institutions engaged in reckless behavior that could have easily been prevented, creating the economic ctastrophe that has touched so many of us. What I found most interesting was the cast of characters, who still lead the headlines today. The very same people who helped to create and foster this epic failure of our economy, now teaching at the nations leading colleges, or serve in governmen… |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Barely OK
Discuss
The NY Times' take on the banking crisis endgame gets reenacted in this made-for-HBO docudrama. Notwithstanding the Big Lie told in the middle, the movie otherwise seems to competently essay the mechanics of the fall of Lehman Brothers, AIG and the imposition of TARP. The Big Lie comes when the characters playing the senior staff of the US Treasury blame the subprime mortgage crisis 100% on Wall Street, asserting that Washington's only fault was too little regulation. In fact the push for subprime mortgages came directly from Washington regulations, ultimately morphing into a torrent o… |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Barely OK
2 Forum Replies
Anybody seen a golden Hollywood crown? Tom Hanks lost his by directing, starring in and co-writing this disappointing dramedy. Notwithstanding Hanks having Hanks – the most likable leading man this side of Jimmy Stewart – and a resonant au courant theme, Larry Crowne barely rises to second rate Capra. It ain't even Capracorn. If only. It does include a terrific movie moment: Tom Hanks' celebration after his big kiss with Julia Roberts, proof that A-list stars can light up the screen in an otherwise bad movie. The rest is a mawkish mess. Tom, we'll always love you as "Woody":htt… |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
OK
Discuss
Not especially funny or thrilling, Tower Heist does offer a proven cast of name actors and a topical story. In fairness, I viewed it on an airliner seatback screen. While seeing it in the theater is no longer an option, viewing it on a big flatscreen in a home theater may have stimulated a higher rating. Then again, why watch it at home when there are so many other choices? |
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Wick
– with 66 Trust Points – rated it
Barely OK
1 Forum Reply
Second-rate performances by first-rate stars in a second-rate thriller with a heavy-handed political agenda make Arbitrage a third-rate movie. Don't believe the praise it's received from the Mainstream Media. They're in love with writer-director Nicholas Jarecki's politics more than his movie. About that agenda, Arbitrage opens with the big lie of Leftist economics. "Competition for this limited amount of dollars out there can make the best of us manic," quoth Richard Gere's hedge fund billionaire. "See the Reality commentary below":http://www.viewguide.com/movie_reviews/3690-ar… |
