Margin Call

J.C. Chandor, 2011 (8.2*)

Another spooky film about how flimsy and corrupt western capitalism is at the top levels, those megalithic banking corporations that control everyone’s money and who always start what they like to call “investor panic”, when it’s really just the pros themselves making all the panic moves to cover their own assets.

This story involves massive layoffs at the trading floor of a major unnamed banking corporation. As one departs, he tells an underling he was working on something big and to be careful; the the junior risk analyst checks it out, the ripples become immediate and far-reaching.

Stanley Tucci is the laid off analyst, who unfortunately doesn't have a large enough part here. Dr. Spock look-alike Zachary Quinto (Star Trek) is the junior analyst whose work starts the whole cookie crumbling. Simon Baker (British accent and hair and all) is miscast as a division head bereft of any ethics. Jeremy Irons is credible, though untaxed, as the CEO of the entire corporation, who is, of course, self-serving and short-sighted. Demi Moore is perfect in a small part that added little to the story other than a female actor. Kevin Spacey is seeming a little tired in his too familiar part, as a experience trading group manager, a long time corporate employee with a little conscience remaining, since he came from the old school.

This repeating mistake usually involves someone big basically admitting all the “paper” they’re holding is generally worthless, whether it’s corporate bonds, mortgages, credit swaps, derivatives, and other worthless stuff they seem to invent daily while the feds look the other way - so they decide they have to start dumping theirs, and anything else they're holding, before everyone else does, and salvage what they can in the ensuing debacle.

This is sadly the recurring story of western capitalism: people with too much concentrated money and therefore financial power start taking too much risk for the amount of actual money they have. When they either collapse or start liquidating everything, it has ripple effects throughout all financial markets and millions of people lost trillions in wealth in a few hours. For some reason, this sort of sociopathic insanity is not only endorsed but seems to be allowed to control of nearly every western economy – or more accurately, has gained control of every western economy.

This version of the inner workings of high finance will be boring to many, but I found it quite riveting and totally credible. It is rumored to be the story of Merrill Lynch, who basically became bankrupt and was turned over to Bank of America for resurrection. (We don't allow corporate failures, just millions of individual ones by average citizens).

This story has happened far too often in my lifetime of 60 years. After awhile, you realize this is the scam. You extract as much money as you can from a corporation, then declare bankruptcy. If you an figure out a self-sustaining scam, you'll succeed longer - but remember that the world first corporation, The Dutch East India Trading Company (who are the 'bad guys' in the Pirates of the Caribbean series), also declared bankrupcty after years of success, so the pattern and con is as old as the first time it was pulled off. It's the oldest grift in the west and legal if you can get away with it.

First time director J.C. Chandor (left) won seven awards for this, and received an Oscar nomination for screenplay directly for the screen (it lost to Woody’s Midnight in Paris). For a debut film, this is quite professional, and bodes well for the films of Chandor’s to follow.

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One, Two, Three

Billy Wilder, 1961, bw (8.6*)
One of Wilder's funniest films, a spoof of both capitalism and cold war politics. This is also the last film of James Cagney, and it's a fine one to bow out with - I can't think of any other comedy of his that is this funny from beginning to end, never marred by a message or anything serious (such as Wilder's The Apartment, or Cagney's other late comedy gem in Mister Roberts).

Cagney plays the Coca-Cola man in Berlin, and he's chomping at the bit to open up the "commie market" behind the Iron Curtain, and sell Coke to another 200 million people. At about this time, he gets the air-headed daughter of the Coke CEO, Pamela Tiffin as Scarlett, dumped into his care until her dad's arrival, along with her leftist slogan spouting boyfriend from East Berlin, Horst Bucholtz, who is dim enough to not really understand what he's talking about.

Cagney's dilemna is the impending arrival of the CEO (Howard St. John) - he's got to somehow either get rid of Bucholtz or convert him to capitalism quickly, so this puts a countdown timer on the film's plot. There are other plot twists I won't reveal here.

Cagney is quick and sharp in this, with perfect comic timing. There's plenty of rapid-fire dialogue to help, similar to the Howard Hawks gem His Girl Friday. The pace may seem a little exhausting, but it works in comic farce like this one. Wilder also gets to poke fun at both sides in this one, making them all look like caricatures of idealogical propaganda, as Cagney thinks getting communists to drink Coca-Cola will turn them into capitalists.

Wilder shot this film in Berlin (at one point using the Brandenberg Gate), and complete it just one year before the wall was built.

Wilder is one of the great directors, here's a small list of his best films:
The Front Page, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Lost Weekend, The Spirit of St. Louis, The Seven Year Itch, Sabrina, The Apartment, Some Like It Hot, Witness For the Prosecution, The Fortune Cookie.

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Lord of War

Andrew Niccol, 2005 (8.6*)Nicholas Cage plays arms dealer and Russian immigrant Yuri Orlov, who learns early in life in Odessa that guns rule, and gun dealers make money. He eventually elevates himself up to a level that makes him a worldwide target for Interpol, with agent Ethan Hawke doggedly on his trail.

Cage deals with anyone with the money, for him it's just a business, a way out of poverty; his brother Jared Leto thinks otherwise. There are some major revelations here about how the major arms dealers operate, and their impact on hot spots around the globe. Cage is in his element here, cool and confident while dealing with some of the most dangerous people on the planet.

This has some exciting action as well as the feel of a Bond film, but it's based on a true story.

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Vitus

Fredi M. Murer, Switzerland, 2006 (9.0*)
One of the more unique stories I've seen about a child music prodigy, in this case a young boy named Vitus von Holzen, who could play a keyboard when he first sat in front of one. He is played by Fabrizio Borsani at age 6, and Teo Gheorghiu at age 12, who has most of the film and who does the real playing. His gifts were foretold at birth in a horoscope from a friend of his parents. His mother, Julika Jenkins, diligently makes him practice daily while not allowing him a normal childhood that might injure his hands.

Julika Jenkins as the mom instructs Fabrizio

Borsani as Vitus at age 6

Meanwhile, his grandad, joyfully played by the gifted and versatile Bruno Ganz (who played Hitler in 2004 in Downfall), schools the young boy in happiness, in finding your own dream. His was always to be a pilot, so he passes along his desire to fly to young Vitus. His dad, Urs Jucker, is a hearing aid engineer, who makes enough to keep them comfortable and allow music teachers for Vitus.

Of course, this story is full of metaphors. Vitus is almost too smart for the mundane daily affairs of the world (his IQ is 180), and he begins to resent his lack of freedom, so the flying references are a little obvious. Still, this is a good G-rated film, a rarity these days, one with no violence, no sex, no danger, just character growth and development, and self-discovery.

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Silkwood

Mike Nichols, 1983 (8.3*)
This film is based on a true story and a mystery that has never really been solved. A metallurgy worker named Karen Silkwood (Meryl Streep) begins to notice many safety violations at her Kerr-McGhee nuclear plant, some involving exposing workers to radioactive material. She begins to file complaints and instead of conditions being made safer, she begins to get harassed and threatened as a result. She is contaminated, perhaps on purpose, as are other workers at the plant.

Cher and Kurt Russell play her roommates with credible performances. Cher, Streep, and Nichols were all nominated for Oscars, and Cher won a Golden Globe for supporting actress. With the threat of a possible meltdown looming in Japan, and the question of nuclear plant safety now on the front burner worldwide, this will be an important film to re-watch for many viewers.

Her story has been the subject of an A&E documentary, this film by famed director Mike Nichols, and many other smaller news stories. Her story has been shown to kids in school. The end result is that the nuclear plant was shut down a year later, and many lives in Oklahoma were likely saved as a result. Her story proves that U.S. corporations value the bottom line above people's lives, as if anyone doubted that in light of recent economic developments; in fact, just a few individuals value their own wealth more than the well-being of the nation or even the world.

At IMDB, it's only been rated by 5000+ fans, which is miniscule for such an important film. It always amazes me how when a film gets a couple of decades old, the public entirely loses interest, while in terms of geological time this is not even one second in the history of the earth.

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Inside Job

Charles Ferguson, 2010 (9.0*)
Best Documentary (AA)
This is probably the most important documentary made in our lifetime, as it covers the biggest financial crime ever committed which will have worldwide repercussions for decades to come. Actor Matt Damon narrates a story that is pure nightmare become reality, one that has touched most of the world by now in one way or another. (Many lost jobs, houses, life savings, pension plans - the rest will pay higher taxes and have higher inflation as a result)

Director, author, producer Charles Ferguson does a good job explaining exactly how this all happened, and won an Oscar® for documentary as a result. I for one am glad he included the repeal in 1999 by a Republican Congress of the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933, which was put in place to prevent banks from taking unnecessary risks in order to prevent the exact scenario which took place within a decade after it's repeal. (me and many financial experts predicted this exact outcome over time - my friends called me a "doomsayer"; now they don't call me at all - they're probably broke; I pulled all my money out of the market in 2003) Every time you hear someone ask for "deregulation", remember that it's NEVER WORKED YET, so get ready to be fleeced again by con artists. (it was deregulation that caused strikes, riots, and death squads in Argentina; it was done as a condition for a loan from the World Bank, controlled by the U.S., which was, of course, to allow corporations to pillage Argentinians as a test)

This film shoud infuriate everyone. Hopefully, many people not currently in prison will be put there eventually, especially the fat cat execs at the superbanks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, etc.. One of these guys (Fuld at Bear Stearns?) pulled 246 million out of his company in "compensation" just before it went bankrupt. Good grief, this would bankrupt 99% of all companies in America. How could we NOT have gotten his money back? If this nation was any more spineless, we'd have to be reclassified as earthworms, and at about that level, for letting these crooks get away with pillaging the world's wealth for their own private benefit.

The most maddening part is that Obama hired many of the same criminals himself - perhaps they really work for the Corleones and Sopranos and everyone has a gun to their heads. That's the only possible explanation for this entire baffling chain of events, especially giving the same crooks even more money to throw into their private coffers.

This film will hopefully ignite a fire under someone here with BALLS - it's obvious that NO ONE in our government has any, and the populace is suffering as a result. This truly is a government "of, by, and for the corporation", as Jim Cramer on MadMoney termed it. We are living proof that "democracy" just plain doesn't work, due to the corruptable nature of humans, who will sell out to the highest bidder, in this case the corporations willing to pay them off in the guise of "campaign contributions", so it has the appearance of legitimacy.

How typical that NY Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, interviewed here, who tried to go after some of the crooks, was then painted with the "immoral" brush for using hookers, something the Wall Streeters did by the tens of thousands, according to one high price escort madame interviewed in this film. He paid a personal price while the crooks have gotten off scot free so far. If I were these guys, I'd not only leave the U.S. for good, but I'd hire a small army of bodyguards, as they won't be able to sleep safely anywhere in the world now that Al Quaeda and everyone else knows who they are.

Share this film with everyone you know!

Note: everyone should read journalist, and former corporate corruption investigator for the insurance industry, Greg Palast's eye-opening expose of U.S. corporations and politics "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy", about how all western politicians are controlled by big money who simply buys the favorable legislation they want, and who also control the media that refused to report or even print his findings. In England, the government ransacked his office and gave him death threats, likely due to pressure from the U.S. "Freedom of the press" and "free speech" are just expressions used by politicians - if they have to tell us that we have them, then we really don't, which is obvious to everyone by now. In fact, in the Smother Bros vs CBS trial, U.S. government lawyers testified for CBS, and said "freedom of speech is only for owners, it was never implied for individuals". That was news to nearly everyone who has read the Constitution.

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The Social Network

David Fincher, 2010 (8.4*)
I love David Fincher but was not as impressed with Social Network as some of his other films, such as The Game, Fight Club, and Zodiac. Network is well-crafted, but these other films had an existential edge that put people in life or death situations.

Social Network only put people in lawsuit situations as the film was about a liar, a cheat, and a thief, played with little acting by Jesse Eisenberg, who is about as bland as a computer bytehead ought to be; and about a white collar criminal, who, rather than serving time, has been made a billionaire by this unscrupulous system. It's more enraging than entertaining, a sad statement on the current economic reality, that if you're willing to steal data, hack into proprietary computer systems (with immunity I might add), and cheat your partners, such as CFO Eduardo Saverin (effectively played by Andrew Garfield), then maybe you too can become an American billionaire and a folk hero. And who needs old friends, many new ones will flock to the money once you have it, especially the babes; and who cares why they're there - the important point is that they're hanging around.

All in all, this is not a very respectable businessman, or even a worthy human being. In the film, he has no friends for a good reason, he's pretty much a despicable egotist with obvious disdain for most others. The film even begins with a display of his egotism, which causes his current girlfriend, Erica Albright (Rooney Mara) to break up. In spite he embarasses her in his blog online, which is really a slanderous offense, so I hope she later got some money from this all-American jerk.

This is how the founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg got his start: he hacked in and stole The Harvard Facebook, which was an online directory of university students with ID photos, very much like an online yearbook. He then had a 'rate the girls' contest with the photos of the female students, in which he paired two at a time on his blog site. His penalty when caught? Academic suspension for six months, which then gave him more free time to do more hacking and stealing. He then did the same to some other universities, committing a federal crime in each case. Where the heck was the FBI?

A couple of entrepreneurs, who row crew for Harvard, came up with the idea for a Facebook styled reference just for Harvard U. that he agreed to work on for them. Rather than show them anything, he kept stalling them while he created Facebook for himself. So there's the story in a nutshell; it's public knowledge, this film just adds a few personal confrontations and anecdotes, and is told is flashback style from some legal depositions for the lawsuits, as this immature kid created nothing but enemies. He had no real original ideas, just a few minor enhancements to existing networks, such as the 'relationship status' of the individual (whoopee..) and he didn't even create a unique name. This is very similar to simple online resume and job sites, all that was basically added was a message system like the 80's style bulletin boards. So, combine personal resumes with 80's level internet, and 'boom', instant success with very little work.

Ironically, in California to seek venture capital, he teams up with Napster (ie, stolen music) creator Sean Parker (an effectively obnoxious Justin Timberlake), who admits "everyone was suing us, so I just said 'fuck it' and declared bankruptcy." Yep, avoid all liability and punishment by just going bankrupt; what a clever system the lawyers have devised to protect guilty capitalists at the public's expense, as only corporate not personal wealth is at risk; you can keep whatever you managed to steal or get as 'compensation', and if the corporation is 'bankrupt', none of the guilty lose anything except a job, but someone else crooked will always hire a crook with experience. It's only fitting that these two should team up in Facebook's early success.

Fincher and the film will apparently win many awards this year, but I preferred the fight for survival in the austere crime film Winter's Bone, and the mind-blowing complexity of the sci-fi film Inception. However, this belongs in the short list of films worth seeing about capitalism, which includes Wall Street, Rogue Trader, Boiler Room, Executive Suite, The Hudsucker Proxy, Putney Swope, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Tucker: A Man and His Dream. Ironically, only Suite and Tucker were about anyone with any real ethics and original business ideas, the rest were about con artists, thieves, and manipulators.

Awards page at IMDB, it's up to 55 so far.. it's also #167 on the IMDB top 250 films..

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Up in the Air

Jason Reitman, 2009 (7.6*)
This is pleasant fluff that spends a lot of time traveling but ultimately arrives nowhere. I suppose it's George Clooney's clout in Hollywood that got this film a much higher total of Oscar nominations than it really deserved. I can see maybe one for screenplay, maybe one for Vera Farmiga's supporting performance if you can overlook the fact that the two lead actresses here had perhaps the worst hairdos in a major film in recent memory - really, they were so bad that it was distracting to me.

Clooney plays a confirmed bachelor with no attachments who spends 80% of his time on the road as a corporate hit man, performing layoffs that the home companies don't have the guts for. His only stated goal in life is attaining the "10 million mile club" of American Airlines. He runs into Farmiga (hey, change your name!) on the road, who becomes his love buddy. His 'fresh out of college' cohort has a scheme to save all the travel expenses for his company: firing people over a webcam. The Oscar nomination for Anna Kendrick was hard to believe after seeing this - all I can say is "weak year for films" as this one defies belief.

This will entertain you for ninety minutes, but without much humor; then you'll forget about it when it's over. It makes a few comments about lifestyles but without digging too deeply or trying too hard, relying more on Clooney's charm than much else.

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Elmer Gantry

Richard Brooks, 1960 (8.2*)
This terrific expose of organized religion and revivals exploiting the faithful masses was based on Sinclair Lewis’ novel, set in the midwest in the 20’s. Burt Lancaster was never better, winning his only Best Actor Oscar as the title character, a grinning salesman enlisted by a revival preacher, Sister Sharon (well played by Jean Simmons) to help “sell the Lord”. Her minions were in a bar, and heard a sales pitch he was giving and said “this is the kind of man we need”!

I forgot how scathing an attack this was on "the business of religion", arguing over appearance fees, how many people they can add to churches, etc.. One preacher objects, "Is filling churches the aim of religion -there were once only 13 Christians, was it a failure?" - and the greedy materialist totally misses the point, "Kee-rect! today it's a world-class enterprise, successful in every country!" This is an especially appropriate film to see after the Bush-led “Christian right” has led our country to the brink of financial disaster and collapse. It’s a primer on how the masses are duped by the media, business, and government working in collusion to take what little money we have left. Arthur Kennedy is a reporter out to expose the phoniness of the whole industry, and Shirley Jones won a supporting actress Oscar as a prostitute. Down a star for just being so pessimistic. 5 nominations, 3 Oscars (add Screenplay for Brooks to those above)

Quote: "What I great night, I get drunk, then I get saved - drunk and saved!" – a sinner
Quote2: “It’s about time you played ball on God’s team, and that team’s captain is none other than Jesus Christ himself” – Elmer Gantry
Quote3: “but the law allows them to collect money and invest it in real estate, tax-free – and who knows what they do with the money?” – Arthur Kennedy
Quote4: “Can he save people? Boy, I’ll say – standing up, laying down – he’s got a lotta ways to save you!” – Shirley Jones

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How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

David Swift, 1967 (8.4*)
Window cleaner Robert Morse, in a career-making musical comedy role, buys a book with shortcut methods to get ahead in the business world and applies them with hilarious success. One of the pointers is to create a name with an initial, so he comes up with J. Pierpont Finch, and joins the poorly run multinational Worldwide Wicket Co.

He starts in the mailroom, then uses the book’s tips to quickly rise to vice president in charge of advertising, and falls for secretary Rosemary Pilkington (Michele Lee). Frank Loesser wrote the songs, Bob Fosse choreographed the dances in this screwball satire of corporate capitalism. Silly, fun entertainment

The Coen Brothers did their own variation of this as The Hudsucker Proxy, without the music, as Tim Robbins is promoted from the mailroom to CEO to drive the stock price down so the board could take over all the shares cheaply.

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30 Rock

Adam Bernstein, Don Scardino, Gail Mancuso, 2006 (9.3*)
Emmy, GG for Best Comedy

I’m hesitant to watch any commercial tv, so I hadn’t seen 30 Rock until checking it out on dvd, and it’s brilliant. Tina Fey as show head Liz Lemon, has never been this funny on SNL, in fact, producer Lorne Michaels (SNL creator) has never done anything this funny, so I assume all the credit goes to Fey. Her multitude of awards for this so far (four Emmys alone for her, 9 overall, plus Golden Globes) are all well earned, for acting, writing, best comedy awards as creator/producer.

Emmy-winner Alec Baldwin has always been funny, now he’s in the perfect role as GE executive Jack Donaghy sent to oversee Fey’s show, starring Jane Krakowski (Ally McBeal, the bra inventing receptionist), called “The Girlie Show”. Tracy Morgan has also never been this funny, brought in to make the show more hip (in another era, 'tokenism') – his character and dialogue both suit his style perfectly.

It’s even more fun that they satire their own industry, including both NBC and GE – nothing is sacred here, even product placement. When Donaghy wants Fey to promote GE industrial turbines in the show, Fey says “I’ll not prostitute my show to include product plugs”, we immediately see about five for Snapple (a show’s sponsor), including a guy getting off the elevator dressed as a bottle of Snapple. You’ll find yourself laughing out loud, rare for network tv since they act like we're all about 11 years old. Eventually even GE's CEO does a cameo appearance..

Even the guests are great:
Isabella Rosselini has a meaty part as Baldwin’s psycho ex-wife (in a divorce proceeding, he demanded “also all the love letters of your parents”, and of course, her parents were Ingrid Bergman and Roberto Rosselini) – he also gets to make disparaging comments about her ("she always wanted to make love standing up"), and of course Baldwin’s ex is Kim Basinger.
Paul Rubens had a hilarious guest spot as the last of the male Hapsburgs in one crazy story.
Tim Conway won an Emmy as a season two guest.
Funniest ‘guest’ to me though is SNL alum Rachel Dratch’s pantheon of characters, who all seem to have bad hair and teeth. The dvd’s are generous, with eight episodes per disc.

Kudos all around on this series, it looks more like cable than a major network.

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Baby Boom

Charles Shyer, 1987 (8.5*)
Terrific feel good comedy with Diane Keaton as a corporate executive and career-oriented single woman who inherits her sister’s baby after her death in a car accident. At first she’s the world’s worst mom, as the child interferes with her work, then she gets a chance to be a good mom in a new location, with hilarious results. Sam Shepherd is a local vet who becomes her new friend. This small film says a lot about motherhood, perserverance, ingeniuty, business, and all with a big heart and with warm humor. Very rewarding film, no matter what gender, one of Diane's best.

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Thank You For Smoking

Jason Reitman, 2005 (9.1*)
Brilliant satire of both the lobbying of congressmen by various industry groups and also the PR put forth by capitalist salesmen. Aaron Eckhart turns in his best performance as a tobacco lobbyist, getting a Golden Globe nomination for best actor. He hangs out with lobbyists for other dangerous industries like alcohol and firearms, and they brag about high number of deaths each one’s industry racks up!

Nominated for numerious awards, deserved more than it got. Look for the gorgeous Maria Bello and Katie Holmes, the always perfect Robert Duvall and William H. Macy as co-stars. Director Jason Reitman’s best film yet, a classic razor-sharp satire of big business, deservedly won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay, as the script makes arguments for all sides and lets the viewer decide these issues for himself.

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The Shop Around the Corner

Ernst Lubitsch, 1940 (8.0*) bw
This is probably the most appealing and successful of famed director Ernst Lubitsch, who excelled in heart-warming comedies with original stories, which spawned generations of copycat plots. In fact Shop was remade first as In the Good Old Summertime with Judy Garland and Van Johnson (yet still took place in the holidays!), and recently as You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. None hold a candle to the original however, which also takes place at Christmas so this is actually another holiday film that is often overlooked.

James Stewart plays a clerk in a store in Budapest, Hungary (but they all speak perfect English!), working for Frank Morgan (he was the ‘man behind the curtain’ in the Wizard of Oz, also the traveling salesman). Margaret Sullivan is hired in the shop and she and Stewart don’t get along in person. However, each one has a secret pen pal who stirs their hearts and imagination, but they’ve yet to meet in person, each lacking romantic self-confidence; and of course, they are really each other’s secret admirers, and that’s all just the beginning. Down one star for some serious stuff in the middle spoiling the comedic pace, but Stewart and Morgan excel in this. This screenplay and its execution are still more original and fresh today than the copycat remakes and Lubitsch was an early comedy master, so this is a must-see holiday movie.

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Mad Men

Alan Taylor, Tim Hunter, others; 2007 (8.4*)
Emmy - Best Drama Series
As tv series go, this one is both maddeningly slow (down one star for lacking intensity) yet insidiously addictive. The title is for "Madison Avenue Advertising Men", and the show centers around the Sterling Cooper ad agency in New York City around 1959. The actors look like 50's people, so do the costumes, the interiors, the furniture, even a grocery store - in short, the art direction is impeccable. In fact, the characters smoke in every scene (even the menu explodes into cigarette smoke on the dvd!), and drink constantly, so this is a better 50's show than any done back then, when these activities were forbidden. We also see people climbing into beds and couches together, and all the men seem to cheat. This is really an adult soap opera disguised as a drama about advertising, mass psychology, an era of excess, and a general lack of morality and responsibility.

John Hamm is the lead actor (and Golden Globe winner), as the handsome, virile, and unfaithful Donald Draper, and we slowly find that he has some major skeletons in his closet. His wife, January Jones, is a Grace Kelly-type former model, and the women in the ad offices "know how to fill out a dress", especially office manager Christina Hendricks, a redheaded, blue-eyed goddess. Don't expect lots of action here, but do expect lots of 50's style and mood. Won the Emmy for Best Drama Series in its first season, and is from AMC no less, not a major network.

Note: That older partner dude in his socks playing Sterling is Robert Morse, best known for the 50's musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, so his casting here is a great film reference.

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Wall Street

Oliver Stone, 1987 (8.5*)
This perfectly cynical look at corporate culture in our wealth-hungry economic system gives us the perfectly anti-heroic capitalist in Gordon Gekko, a role with earned Michael Douglas a Best Acting Oscar. An arbitrageur / corporate raider takes a young Charlie Sheen under his wing, and soon they are attempting to take over and dismantle the aerospace company where Sheen's dad Martin Sheen works. Somehow Stone makes corporate takeover and stock manipulation a tense nail-biter with some substance. This was loosely based on the true story of Ivan Boesky, who was indicted in the 80's for violating securities laws, and unfortunately this is an all too accurate portrayal of the financial system of the U.S. This film, along with Boiler Room and Rogue Trader, are all musts for stock market participants.
Quote: Greed is good. (Gekko, giving a speech)

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Boiler Room

Ben Younger, 2000 (7.7*)
Ranking right up there with Wall Street, this is another expose of stock market scams and capitalist ripoffs commonly employed. The term refers to a stock brokerage that pressures its clients to buy stocks they want to push, some of which don't even represent real companies. Some are nothing more than signs stuck on doors of empty warehouses. We are reminded of the electronic sales company Crazy Eddie's, which had government auditors counting empty boxes as valid inventory when it went public as a 'high flying stock'.

Giovanni Ribisi stars with some buddies who are new to the industry, and soon find that the stock market isn't exactly what they thought it was. Rather than real investment deals like the big boys, they are constantly pressured to sell hot air to naive investors who don't have a lot to lose, and certainly no extra capital. Not big budget like Wall Street, this small indie film is still a must for stock traders.

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Network

Dir: Sydney Lumet, 1976 (9.1*)
Best Picture (AA)

AFI Top 100

This movie about a tv show has proven to be very prophetic, network producer Faye Dunaway (Oscar nomination) is looking for something new and groundbreaking, and a talk-show host having a breakdown comes her way. Peter Finch’s terrific performance as Howard Beale is now legend, he also won the only posthumous Oscar in history as he died shortly after filming; ironic, as his character "dies" nightly at one point. William Holden (Oscar nomination) gives one of his best performances as a tv executive with a conscience in a world without one, his wife was Oscar-winning Beatrice Straight, also terrific . This film foresaw reality tv, schlock-show hosts, and live terrorism.
Quote: I’m mad as hell, and I’m not gonna take it anymore! (Finch)

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