Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Things to See and Read

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of seeing "The King's Speech". This may be amazing news to readers of this blog who are students, but it is possible to make a fantastic film without blowing up a boat or using CGI to create monsters or a new world. And it doesn't even have to be 3D! Colin Firth and Geoffry Rush are brilliant in this witty film about having to overcome one's weaknesses. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

I am currently reading, and enjoying very much, "All the Devils are Here". There were a lot of books that came out right after the financial crisis about how it's causes, mostly focused on what had happened in the mid-2000s to cause the trouble. With a bit more time to do research and put the whole story together, Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera have put together a more complete story, going back to the creation of the mortgage backed security. If you are looking for one person to blame for the mess, you will be disappointed, as it took a long trail of actions by the financial industry, regulators, Congress, and several Presidential administrations to bring about the perfect storm we witnessed.

Finally, the other night I watched a documentary called "Waiting for Armageddon" via Netflix (I am, by the way, very much enjoying being able to download Netflix movies to my TV via my new Sony DVD player). I think many of us who are not Evangelical Christians will be shocked to find out exactly what these people believe, and how it may influence are Middle East policy. Quite scary to think these people are walking around loose. The documentary is done without commentary, so it is the participants telling their own stories about what they believe. Quite an eye-opener!

1 comment:

josh said...

Since you can stream netflix, you should check out two other great films available: A Prophet and Exit Through the Gift Shop. The first is a great French crime drama and the second is, on the surface, a documentary about street art.