(no subject)
Saw both Wall Street movies. They're both good, but the second one is gutless. Unlike the first, it's a fairy tale with happy endings for everyone, no matter what awful human beings they are. And that reflects what we've learned since the 80s: there really is no justice in this world we've built for ourselves. In America since the 80s, once you become a Wall Street trader and make your first mil or ten, you're made. Nothing you ever do again, no matter how horrible, will ever hurt you. You can always just write a check and make the consequences go away, no matter what they are. It's a generalization, of course, but it's pretty accurate as those things go. I don't know how long it will stay true, but it looks like it will stay true for at least a while.
The first one, at least toward the beginning, was a pretty careful study of what the day to day life of a trader was like, with lots of time on the floor and on the phones. It was also a very careful study of the new rich and all the clothes, art, and bad decisions they wound up making in the 80s. On the other hand, maybe the 2010 version is every bit as much of a carefully studied time capsule, and it just won't be apparent for 25 years.
The second flick also screwed up by including a fair amount of really gratuitous and useless computer graphics and one spectacular failure of an unnecessary flashback montage. But it's great fun all the same, packed with silly motorcycle sequences and gorgeous shots of New York City, and full of clever little references back to the first one that you'll only get if you watch them both close together.
The first one, at least toward the beginning, was a pretty careful study of what the day to day life of a trader was like, with lots of time on the floor and on the phones. It was also a very careful study of the new rich and all the clothes, art, and bad decisions they wound up making in the 80s. On the other hand, maybe the 2010 version is every bit as much of a carefully studied time capsule, and it just won't be apparent for 25 years.
The second flick also screwed up by including a fair amount of really gratuitous and useless computer graphics and one spectacular failure of an unnecessary flashback montage. But it's great fun all the same, packed with silly motorcycle sequences and gorgeous shots of New York City, and full of clever little references back to the first one that you'll only get if you watch them both close together.