The "last movie I saw" thread

[old_gregg]

the big short. what a silly, reductionist, smug turd of a movie.

[Maximus]

the big short. what a silly, reductionist, smug turd of a movie.

[Northwestcoug]

the big short. what a silly, reductionist, smug turd of a movie.

I guess you understand the crash better than us, and can explain it better and funnier than the movie.

I'm all ears.

[jay santos]

old_gregg just hit rock bottom when it comes to acting cool to impress internet friends.

[Commando]

I took one of my boys and his friend last night. My review - Meh.

With nothing else to see at the local cineplex, we saw this tonight. While a substantial majority of those in attendance seemed to love the movie, with lots of laughs, we fell into the Snowcat camp on this one. I was surprised that a movie with Albert Brooks, Kevin Hart, and Louis CK failed to come close to my expectations, but it did, although the Brooks character was pretty funny at times. It was a mighty effort, but yeah, meh.

I am amused just by hearing Louis CK speak b/c I like him as an actor. I think Kevin Hart is funny at times, too, although I'm not a huge fan. However, when the movie took a turn for the absurd w/ the "Flushed Pets" bit (and the chameleon hitting up the FP gang sign ) I was all in.

[old_gregg]

I guess you understand the crash better than us, and can explain it better and funnier than the movie.

I'm all ears.

it's just really too bad that none of the big banks, composed entirely of alternatingly stupid and malicious people, couldn't just look up from counting their shekels and see an obvious bubble. and the epilogue was counter factual bullshit. but it hard margot robbie in a bathtub!

[Color Me Badd Fan]

it's just really too bad that none of the big banks, composed entirely of alternatingly stupid and malicious people, couldn't just look up from counting their shekels and see an obvious bubble. and the epilogue was counter factual bullshit. but it hard margot robbie in a bathtub!

Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns obviously didn't see it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

The Big Short was great.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The real estate bubble and crash seem obvious to us now, but there was an enormous amount of denial in 2006.

Michael Lewis was a bond trader with Soloman Brothers back in the 80s and got his start as an author writing Liar's Poker. He's not some idiot reporter regurgitating whatever a PR spokesman tells him, which is basically what the press was doing during the bubble. The National Association of Realtors would talk about how strong the housing market was all the way through 2007 and their PR releases would be printed as news.

[PaloAltoCougar]

I am amused just by hearing Louis CK speak b/c I like him as an actor. I think Kevin Hart is funny at times, too, although I'm not a huge fan. However, when the movie took a turn for the absurd w/ the "Flushed Pets" bit (and the chameleon hitting up the FP gang sign ) I was all in.

Agreed the flushed pets segment was good, eliciting our only lolz of the evening.

[PaloAltoCougar]

The real estate bubble and crash seem obvious to us now, but there was an enormous amount of denial in 2006.

Michael Lewis was a bond trader with Soloman Brothers back in the 80s and got his start as an author writing Liar's Poker. He's not some idiot reporter regurgitating whatever a PR spokesman tells him, which is basically what the press was doing during the bubble. The National Association of Realtors would talk about how strong the housing market was all the way through 2007 and their PR releases would be printed as news.

And let us not forget Drumpf's presicent view (and excellent example of his foresight and business acumen) shortly before the bubble burst: “I think it’s a great time to start a mortgage company. The real estate market is going to be very strong for a long time to come.”

[Northwestcoug]

it's just really too bad that none of the big banks, composed entirely of alternatingly stupid and malicious people, couldn't just look up from counting their shekels and see an obvious bubble. and the epilogue was counter factual bullshit. but it hard margot robbie in a bathtub!

sounds like you enjoyed it a little more than what you're telling us...

[Color Me Badd Fan]

The Big Short was great.

My favorite part was Steve Carrell's face when the stripper tells him she owns five homes and isn't worried about the mortgage because "my mortgage broker told me I can always refinance." Then they Sprint to the airport utterly convinced of the bubble.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I felt the movie maybe didn't get enough into the rating agencies' role in the whole thing. It boggles my mind that an investment bank could just shop around for a AAA rating and the rating agencies feared losing business unless they gave them that rating. It's a massive conflict of interest that enabled the whole thing.

[old_gregg]

sounds like you enjoyed it a little more than what you're telling us...

i will not downplay my enjoyment of that

I felt the movie maybe didn't get enough into the rating agencies' role in the whole thing. It boggles my mind that an investment bank could just shop around for a AAA rating and the rating agencies feared losing business unless they gave them that rating. It's a massive conflict of interest that enabled the whole thing.

i think this is right. if any system was broken it was industry capture of ratings agencies. the movie gets at that some. it also tries to generate sympathy for people who bought mortgage products they didn't understand. that's fine to sympathize, but consumers that made bad financial decisions are not blameless. and the epilogue implies that the regulation climate didn't change materially after 2008, but that's flat out wrong. financial institutions operate in a very different way than ten years ago. it also conveniently omits that tarp funds were repaid with interest within a pretty short time frame. i don't know who they wanted to go to jail, either, and what charges should have been brought. it was stylistic and entertaining, but generally not very faithful to what actually happened.