Although we usually write about investing advice, today we’re going to head in a slightly different direction and look at some entertaining films about the financial credit crisis. Hollywood was a bit slow, to get these movies released but now the movies on the crisis are coming quickly. Attempting to recover from the credit crisis is still dominating the economies of Europe and the USA.
Gold has been performing quite well as the markets worry about the aftermath of the credit crisis and the large amount government debt in many rich countries. Movies can provide some distraction from the worries about whether we should avoid risks in of the the stock market at the moment, if it’s a good idea to invest in gold via bullionvault.com or whether BRIC countries might really be where the action is. Movies certainly will have their version of action.
A popular movie about the financial crisis is ‘Inside Job’ (clip above). Directed by Charles Ferguson, who’d previously made the highly acclaimed ‘No End In Sight’ about the Iraq war, and given a voiceover by Matt Damon, the film won the Oscar for documentaries in 2011. It gained positive reviews all over the world for it’s simple explanations of a very complex topic.
Meanwhile on the other side of the Atlantic ocean, British director David Sington made ‘The Flaw’. This flaw in question refers to the admission by Alan Greenspan (former Federal Reserve Chairman) that his model of how the world works did not match up to the weird and wonderful nature of reality. Greenspan admitted that had mistakenly put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets. The film has not been as widely reviewed as Inside Job, but The Economist said that while it is unbalanced, it is worth a watch.
Wherever there is an obvious political point to be made, there is sure to be Oliver Stone not far behind yelling it out. ‘Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps’ stars young Shia LaBeouf as a Wall Street trader learning from the master: Gordon Gecko. The film even has a few cameos from figures from the financial world and is generally thought of as a good beginners guide to the crisis.
Finally, two films currently in production that look at the crisis. Firstly, Paul Giamatti will be starring in the fictionalization of Andrew Sorkin’s best selling investigation into the crisis, Too Big To Fail. George Clooney is also reportedly getting in on the act with ‘700 Billion Man’, centred on Neel Kashkari, a one time Goldman Sachs executive who helped build the gigantic Troubled Asset Relief Program, aka the financial bailout.
We can’t guarantee these films will be balanced, but they should be interesting. Enjoy.