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
- 61 Points
| Title Released Trust Weighted Summary Genre Viewable | |||||||
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Wick
– with 60 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. 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. Ric… |
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Wick
– with 60 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 the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Big Lie comes when the characters playing the senior staff of the US Treasury blame the sub-prime mortgage crisis 100% on Wall Street, asserting that Washington’s only fault was too little regulation. In fact the push for sub-prime mortgages came from Federal Government regulations, ultima… |
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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 60 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 can’t really 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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Wick
– with 60 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… |
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Wick
– with 60 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? |
