OK, one more thought on Bernie Madoff and then I'll let it go (for now). Is it just me or does he look like he could be Harry Shearer's brother?
Bernie Madoff 
Harry ShearerIn other news, I got out last night and saw a double-feature of two really good films: Frost/Nixon and Slumdog Millionaire.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar with these films, Frost/Nixon is a fictionalized recount of the interview of Richard Nixon by David Frost 3 years after Nixon resigned from office and the circumstances leading up to it. It is famous because it was in these interviews that Nixon finally admitted to being part of a coverup and that he let the American people down. Here the story is largely told from Frost's perspective, and I think that is the correct choice. Frost was viewed as basically the Jerry Springer of his day (or, at best, the David Letterman). Someone who could be entertaining but was not given serious credibility for having the journalistic chops to pin down someone like Nixon and force him to answer the tough questions. In fact, that's pretty much the reason he was granted the interview. He offered Nixon $600,000 (much from his own personal accounts) and was seen as someone who would toss softballs all night and allow Nixon to start to repair his image. Frost, on the other hand, sees this as an opportunity to prove that he has what it takes to be taken seriously and (he hopes) will springboard his career back to success in America. This type of approach makes us realize that there is a lot on the line for Frost here too. Had the film focused on Nixon's point of view, why would we care about some hack journalist asking him questions? Whatever your opinion on Nixon, you have to admit that he's a fascinating, enduring figure whose legend just seems to grow with time. One of the great ironies of the film is that many of the characters talk about how one of the worst outcomes of the interview would be if Nixon was somehow able to exonerate himself. The interviews did not do that, and I wouldn't argue that the film does either, but it's certainly succesful at turning Nixon into a sympathetic (if never really likable) figure. In the end, it doesn't argue that people should forgive Richard Nixon for his crimes, but that they should understand that he definitely did not "get away with them." One of the lines in the film (which, incidentally, Nixon never actually said) is "no one can know what it's like to resign the Presidency of the United States." And that's the key. I can't think of another person in history that has fallen so far, and had to live with that fact for 20 more years. To have been the most powerful man in the world and then been reduced to the point where you will never just be "former President Richard Nixon"; always "disgraced former President Richard Nixon."
A quick word on Frank Langella's performance. He doesn't really look like Nixon, and he only passably sounds like him. Nevertheless, he IS him. From his mannerisms, to his walk, to his style of speech, to the way he fills up a room and just exudes power, he really is the embodiment of the man. If you have never understood why Nixon was so hard to pin down during interviews and investigations, I can guarantee that you will understand after you see this film.
Don't want to sleight Slumdog Millionaire, which I also thought was very good, but I don't have a whole lot to say about it. It's really a conventional rags-to-riches/love story set in a very unconventional setting (Mumbai, India) and told in a fairly unique way. It's about a "slumdog" (i.e. poor boy from the ghettos) that is one question away from becoming a millionaire on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire". He is suspected of cheating because how could someone from such a background know all these answers? The remainder of the story is told in a series of flashbacks as he takes us through his life and we learn how he acquired his knowledge. Ultimately, it's a skillfully made if rather conventional story. Definitely worth seeing though, if only to see some great shots of a foreign country that haven't really been seen before by US audiences. Be warned that much of the movie is subtitled.
8 comments:
Thanks for the review on Slumdog Millionaire. I'm planning on seeing it on Friday. It's nice to know I don't have to spend time looking for a replacement.
Ooh, scary subtitles.
You should watch The Amazing Race. Every season they make it a point to run through India and spend 5 or 10 minutes showing American reaction to poverty.
Hey Guys (and Gals), what are your thoughts on this?:
http://tinyurl.com/56rrb3
and this:
http://tinyurl.com/52a5jm
I'm quickly starting to agree with those "worst President ever" people.
1. I hate tinyurl. In fact, because you have NO IDEA where the link will take you, I generally do not click on them. Please take 30 seconds and learn to use the 'anchor' html tag. Thank you. I did, however, give you the benefit of the doubt.
2. I like how you pretended to provide two sources. You have the first source (which I've never heard of,) and then the second link is a Reuters article that is essentially one big long quote of the first source. Kind of funny.
As for the content, I am skeptical. I've never heard of Celent before, and based solely on the "About Us" page on their website I find them suspect. This is a consulting firm that works for "Banking, Securities & Investments, as well as Insurance." I imagine it would behoove them to put the credit crunch/crisis in the best possible light for their clients. (I'm not saying they're wrong, but you provided a press release from a consulting company which I have to weigh against just about everyone else in the world.)
All that being said, most of the economics here go way over my head. I do know, however, that the DOW is holding steady at ~8,500 down from highs above 14,000 and everyone I've ever heard talk about why says that the reason is somewhere between partially and totally the fault of credit lenders.
1. Don't be a tool... if you don't like tinyurl, ignore my links.
2. Don't be a tool... if you don't like my "sources", don't request them in the future. I read the article, found the Celent website, and included it as a convenience. I didn't endorse either link and I wasn't trying to stir up any crap. I was just interested in someone else's opinion than mine on this matter; mostly John's actually, but I figured I'd include everyone in the potential discussion rather than just emailing John.
Who peed in your cornflakes today?
Weir, please show us on the doll where tinyurl touched you. It's ok. It's not your fault. Need a hug big guy?
Anyway, initial thoughts are that certainly anything is possible. I don't think anyone would be truly stunned if it turned out that a few "very smart people" turned out to have misdiagnosed the problem and taken everybody down the wrong path.
Still, I am of course skeptical. The report would have us believe that not only is the U.S not having a credit crunch, but neither is Europe or Japan. I would think that at least a few notable economists in the world would be standing up and saying "hang on a minute" if this were really true. Again though, that doesn't mean it's wrong; just unlikely. It's also hard to really analyze without seeing the full report. In hunting around to get some reaction to this article, I did find this report , which appears to be saying something similar. I haven't read through most of it, but I probably will tomorrow as I am sitting in Midway airport waiting for my flight to take off in what looks to be a blizzard.
The one graph that Celent does provide doesn't really let you draw many conclusions. If you were to graph the amount of money I've borrowed from creditors over time there would be a direct correlation between the times when I've borrowed the most and the times when my credit has been in the worst shape. And it was the times where I had the highest amounts on my credit cards that I've seen my credit limit dropped and interest rates hiked up. I think that's exactly what's going on here too. I'd like to see that graph overlaid with the total amount of available credit (not sure if that data really even exists though). I bet you'd see a convergence, meaning that while businesses continue to borrow more and more they are getting closer and closer to not having the ability to borrow any more.
Anecdotally, I know that the program Christy and I used in buying our condo no longer exists and we were initially told that we should be able to refi in 6 months only to be told later that no refis are happening anywhere unless you have at least 10% equity in your house. I also know that when Joe bought his condo he was planning to put down 5%. Then in March, 2 weeks before his closing date, he was suddenly told that he needed to come up with another 5% because they weren't lending with less than 10% down anymore. Dan was a loan closer and he's told me that if you're buying a property for investment many places are requiring 40% down now.
I know that a few examples don't speak to the overall health of the credit market, especially since all of them had to do with the real estate market. But if there really is no credit crunch, boy it's sure wearing a good disguise.
http://tinyurl.com/2g9mqh
I hate tinyurl because you don't know where you're going. So that can happen. Or something unsuitable. Or something malicious. Incidentally, the link above is benign and should be clicked on.
And the source thing is a legit complaint. If Kellogs puts out a press release saying how great their cornflakes are, and then AP writes an article using just the Kellogs press release as a source, both lack any credibility.
I like what John had to say about availability of credit and loan conditions. I'm not educated enough to talk about banks lending money to each other, but John is right when he talks about regular people getting loans. And that is tied to bundled high risk loans, and the foreclosure rate etc... And that leads into banks not having money to lend and having higher loan requirements, and, and, and...
Also, I tried to read that link, but I had to read the first paragraph three times to grasp it so I felt the rest of the paper should be left alone.
Now I am going to go try to find some cornflakes.
As a film aficionado the end of the year is difficult, with so many top 10 lists, but I liked this list for no other reason than it contained a bunch of flicks that I had never even heard of. Thought you might like to give it a read.
Yet another top 10 list.
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