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jfuqua
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

July 12th, 2010, 2:52 pm

New York Times 7/12/10 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/busin ... t=cseKevin Spacey movie.From the article "This was the challenge facing the stars of "Margin Call," an independent film that deals with the high-stakes choices a group of traders must make during the financial crisis." "I am trying to humanize bankers,? said Kevin Spacey, the Academy Award-winning actor, who plays a veteran trader. "Everyone talks about facts, figures and debt. I was more interested in what they were feeling." =============They did not mention it but I hope they read "All I Could Get" by Scott Lasser---by far the best thing I've read about the work and effect on lives on Wall Street [bond traders].
Last edited by jfuqua on July 11th, 2010, 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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Traden4Alpha
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 16th, 2012, 4:40 pm

I just saw this movie (on DVD) and it's excellent especially if you like Kevin Spacey and Jeremy Irons. The movie provides an engaging study of the ethical and interpersonal tensions of the "oh shit" moment in one large Wall Street firm. The movie neither vilifies nor lauds the decisions of the participants which makes it much better than what a more ideological lens might provide. One key to the movie's success is that the writer-director's father was a 39-year veteran at Merrill so the director grew up immersed in the world and culture of high finance.
 
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SierpinskyJanitor
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 16th, 2012, 6:55 pm

Agreed T4A, its the best cinematic depiction of what exactly happens inside IBs, especially the social component, how people behave, the various levels of semantics, meeting dynamics, etc, it is very realistic, unlike other movies wherein its either hysterical or too pompous. However, IMO Paul Bettany´s performance is really outstanding, followed by the quant ( Zachary Quinto ) and Mr. Irons.
Last edited by SierpinskyJanitor on March 15th, 2012, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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katastrofa
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 17th, 2012, 12:00 pm

Good movie.
 
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DevonFangs
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 17th, 2012, 1:20 pm

Uh, even though I agree that this wasn't a bad movie at all I can't say I liked it either. Some dialogues were good, Spacey was great, I did like Tucci too and the mood in general, esp during the night-time meeting. The opening and end scenes are alright. I liked the protagonist being a risk quant -- so post 2008. What I maximally disliked was the usual aurea Michael Lewis-style they try to attach to the finance industry, like the boss (please, Jeremy Irons, really?) arrives and scares the hell out of everybody, that people make millions but when they get fired they just have to walk out of the building in 3 seconds, or that the quant guy had such an explanatory plot on his screen that everybody can figure out immediately how deep is the shit they're into just by looking at it. A little gross, or maybe just too dramatized for my taste.DF rated this movie: 7/10
 
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katastrofa
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 17th, 2012, 3:31 pm

Imagine the more realistic version: the fired head of quants leaves the young guy a version of their risk management Excel addin which was not checked in the SVN and contains a bunch of new Excel function. The young guy browses through the code, spends some time fighting compilation issues in Visual Studio 2005, then watches Excel 2003 crash a few times, finally produces a gray-and-magenta graph.How many people will be able to watch it without falling asleep? ;-)
 
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DevonFangs
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 17th, 2012, 5:38 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: katastrofaImagine the more realistic version: the fired head of quants leaves the young guy a version of their risk management Excel addin which was not checked in the SVN and contains a bunch of new Excel function. The young guy browses through the code, spends some time fighting compilation issues in Visual Studio 2005, then watches Excel 2003 crash a few times, finally produces a gray-and-magenta graph.How many people will be able to watch it without falling asleep? ;-)I LOVED this
 
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frenchX
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 7:22 am

If you want to see a very caricatural movie about finance just watch a french movie called "Krach".This is just STUPID, and the most funny part is that the scenario of the movie was written by a math guy who become a trader. All the stereotypes are in this movie. Even worst than the second Wall Street and this one was already pretty bad.Margin Call seems very promissing though. I'll watch it.
 
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EscapeArtist999
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 8:50 am

I actually found Margin call kind of dull =- it would hae worked as a play, but was hardly cinematic the way they chose to make it. Anyways, to each his own.
 
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DominicConnor
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 10:34 am

Last edited by DominicConnor on March 18th, 2012, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
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DominicConnor
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 10:34 am

Jeremy Irons was very good indeed, if I'd met that character I'd have believed he did the job he was acting, indeed a he reminded me directly of more than one person at that level doing that sort of job when he needs to do something harsh.He was well supported by a good script which was a bit short on details but as good as you could expect from a mainstream film.The Quant was particularly well played and I don't think I've ever seen Quinto screw up a role and I found his fate to be realistic in this context.The head trader (Paul Bettany) was also bang on the money, not all head traders are like that but quite a few are, if I'd worked on the film as a consultant I would not have changed a word or mannerism,The traders in general were a bit anonymous and to my view a bit too easily persauded to do what they did, though an accurate touch was the way their incentive to do bad things was precise yet arbitrary.The surprisingly good part was Demi Moore, managing to do "senior corporate woman" uniquely well, I have never seen a woman in a big firm played more like they really are than this, most are silly caricatures and although there is no chance she will get an Oscar, she and Irons deserve them.The meetings were like ones I have attended when bad shit is going down, my quibble is only that the decisions were made more quickly than I'd expect but to get the film to a watchable length that was inevitable.Stanley Tucci has a small but extremely well crafted part, again I recognised people I know in him.The drinking was not entirely right, at the start it reflected what real bankers do, but I simply don't accept that when the shit his the fan that the people involved would go back in bars, unless their roles were of alcoholics.Indeed I'd have shoved in a small subplot of the methods they'd use to try and sober up.People were shafted in the ways I would expect them to be "handled", the mechanisms were entirely plausible and reflected the way that happens in real life, maybe I'd quibble about some of the cash numbers involved.The problem with the film was Kevin Spacey.He's a truly great actor and that's the problem, the film was warped to make his unimportant and frankly dull character more important than it had any need to be, indeed I never got clear in my mind what his actual job was.He was obviously a senior exec but he didn't seem to actually be in charge of anything of have any responsibilities, so strong was this impression that I almost wonder if that was a satire on the way some real life execs don't seem to have any purpose.This is a very good film indeed, it should be compulsory for any newbie banker to watch it as part of their induction to this line of work.
 
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gbruno
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 12:26 pm

This is easily the best Wall Street movie so far.What did you think about "The Mentalist" Simon Baker's role in the film? I admit I am a little biased as I can't stand the guy but I think he played his role well given the corporate character he had to impersonate. I just couldn't see that he was a "killer" (quote Will), he seemed more like someone who loved hearing himself say "f*** me" several times in a row.
 
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DevonFangs
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 1:04 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: gbrunoThis is easily the best Wall Street movie so far.Naah, the first Wall Street is better.
 
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EscapeArtist999
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 1:25 pm

QuoteOriginally posted by: DevonFangsQuoteOriginally posted by: gbrunoThis is easily the best Wall Street movie so far.Naah, the first Wall Street is better.I agree. This does seem more like an OT thread - in fact I believe there is one over in the OT about Margin Call
 
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SierpinskyJanitor
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New Movie about Wall Street "Margin Call"

March 19th, 2012, 1:29 pm

Yeah, especially the highly realistic scene where Mr. Gekko negotiates the Annacot Stl buyout price at a party or when the young associate chases a billionaire around Manhattan in his bike. Indeed, that is the "true" side of IB movie directors fantasize about... "Wall St" may be better, as a movie, but what we´re trying to say here is that is farther from reality.
Last edited by SierpinskyJanitor on March 18th, 2012, 11:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.