Norma and I saw "Margin Call" three days ago, and are still talking about it. This is a film where the plat synopsis won't get you there. The brass at a Lehman Brothers-like investment bank discover that they're over leveraged and exposed past the entire worth of the company, and have one day in which to deal with it. It's all talk, but it's as exciting, and intense as a caper flick, and you watch the principles deal with the moral implications of the fact that the only way out is to commit fraud that will both save their financial asses, and end their careers and most of what passes for friendship. As with Shakespeare, there are no totally evil characters. There is also not a false note anywhere. Stanley Tucci, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Paul Bettany, all give performances that have to be considered for Oscars. You'll believe, and you'll care.
http://www.margincallmovie.com/
32 comments:
I want to go right now. I love movies that keep me awake all night thinking about them.
The morning after we saw it, the Corzine financial fraud was all over the news, and we immediately understood what happened, how, and why.
Spacey, Tucci, and Irons should all be up for Oscars on this one.
This is the way I felt about Inside Job. It was amazingly good. And it did win the Academy Award for a documentary. If you haven't seen it, you should!
And how about Oakland?! Who ever thought we'd see these kinds of street actions again in our lifetimes?
Tomorrow nurses will march on the Treasury to demand a tax on financial transactions to help get us out of the mess Wall Street got us into. Very exciting times. We are the 99%.
Yes, John Corzine was the first thing that came to mind. Maybe the Occupy Movement will get enough traction to bring some real change to how the system works, but we need alot more people to get involved. It does seem to be growing and I'm starting to think about pitching a tent myself. I understand the theory but I think some focus will be needed to take this to the next level.
It did get B of A's attention for what that's worth!
I was just watching Lawrence O'Donnell on CNN. He has offered to pay any and all legal expenses for any of the 3 women who want to come out of the closet against Herman Caine. Go Lawrence!
Strange co-incidence today...Earlier today I was swapping emails with an old friend who I hadn't talked with in years.He is now Port Director/CEO of one of the nations largest ports. A few hours later I heard that the Occupy Movement had effectively shut down the Port of Oakland. Life is too strange.
Get out your tent! I take food and supplies. We are all 99%!
(I used to be called one of the 10 percenters -- they were the ones who didn't participate in the school. "There's always ten percent who want to ruin it for everyone else" or something like that. Nice to be part of a bigger group now!).
Margin Call is coming to the independent theatre in town -- takes awhile to reach Montana, but it'll get here eventually. Look forward to it.
I emptied and closed my citi bank account yesterday and the teller was really ticked with me!
Good on you Carol. Screw the banks! We've been with our credit union going on 30 years.
Hope last nights vandalism in Oakland dosen't ruin the Occupy effort for all the others. I'm afraid that was just the excuse the city was waiting for to bring the hammer down hard.
I'm a credit union person too or I'd be doing the same thing. Apparently the banks have already lost thousands of customers, which is great!
Anyone care to speculate who's responsible for the embedded violent faction of the Occupy Movement?
There's a group of anarchists who show up at these things in black clothing and balaclavas. They don't care about the cause. They simply want to break stuff and cause trouble. The Occupy Movement needs to find a way to distance themselves from them publicly.
Just my opinion but I think they were either placed, paid or somehow encouraged to be there. What better way for the opposition to undermine the Occupy Movement. I'm not a conspiracy theorist but that just seems like a perfect strategy.
I was just watching Michael Moore on the Rachel Maddow show. He metioned he was at the Occupy Grass Valley protest a few days ago and there were over 400 people in attendence. Very cool!
Here's a bit about the black clad provcateurs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_bloc
And no, I would not be at all surprised that some of them are infiltrators. OWS is frightening the Money.
Michael Moore's comments last night sounded odd or conspiratorial -- his comments often do. But then it turns out he's usually right.
By chance I caught this film on PBS on Independent Lens last fall:
http://betterthisworld.com/
If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. A stunner! Best to watch without reading too much about it like I did. If you don't know what's coming it will be doubly chilling.
Michael Moore's sister lives in our area, he comes often to visit. We live in a really great community, quite active in the arts and the 99% movement. I was going to go, but ran out of energy.
Want to see those movies, but waiting for them to show here.
Helen, you might be able to see Better this World as a repeat on t.v.
It is a PBS movie about two idealistic young men from Texas I think who protest at the 2008 Republican convention, and they show it in the context of Katrina and some of the other Republican shenanigans.
I didn't follow all the protests or the so-called nomination process on the Republican side so a lot of that part was new -- but what happens to these two young protesters is simply amazing. Like the police turning on the 99%ers in Oakland. What kind of a country are we living in anyway?
I think I've discovered why the banking industry keeps failing......they appear to not know fractions and percentages. Check it out yourself.....banks list 0.10% rates/apy mean 1 percent and 0.01 means 1/10 of 1 percent. Ask a fifth grader.....0.10% is ten percent......0.01% is 1 percent. How do they get away with this?
oops....the financial industry fails while the banking industry flourishes....
6 months ago Bob pulled out our many millions from a large bank into a local one.
I'm thinking of depositing my total negative net worth in B of A. That should doom them to failure!
I'm dumping Wells in favor of our local, Westamerica Bank.
Math was always my week point, but it's pretty obvious to me that:
1% is 1%
0.1% is a tenth of that.
0.01% is a hundredth of that.
From Mark Engler:
“While it’s hard to tell precisely how many people followed through on their threats to close accounts on Saturday itself, over the past month credit unions have added 650,000 new members (as opposed to 80,000 in a regular month), resulting in more than $4.5 billion in new deposits. As Sarah Jaffe at Alternet noted, ABC News aired a remarkable report calling the exodus of customers a ‘bank revolt’ and stating, ‘as of today, 1 million consumers are hurling a lightning-bolt warning at the big banks, moving their money out in protest.’”
Actually, it would appear that my spelling isn't all that stellar either.
That can be our wourd of the weak.
11-11-11 news:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/11/1035479/-Ten-stories-of-people-moving-their-money,-despite-bank-efforts-to-stopthem?
This movie I keep watching for, but in our small community it hasn't showed up yet. Pam told Bob not to see it because it would upset him to much, of course now he's dying to see it, me to. Got my favorite actors in it.
I'm in luck! Margin Call opens today in our little independent theatre. If it makes it to Montana, Nevada City can't be far behind.
Powerful film. Thanks for the heads up.
I saw Chris Matthews, whom I really like in spite of his flaws, interview Kevin Spacey about this film when it first came out. He said the film made the entire mess understandable, but he also called Spacey's character evil. Spacey took offense at that characterization, as do I. His character was one of the "moral" forces of the movie. But in the end, he just did what he had to do. Made the ending all the more devastating.
Great to see so many filmmakers taking up this subject. Inside Job and Too Big to Fail area also excellent. Bob and Helen I'm sure it will come to a theatre near you soon. Amazing film. Should not be missed.
Helen, you may be able to see it via cable/satellite if you have video on demand:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2011/11/margin-call-box-office-video-on-demand.html
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