The Big Short

[BishopMVP]

I know we have a movie thread, but I think this one might be worthy of its own. I hate overhyping movies or telling people anything is a must see because having really high expectations can lead to a slight backlash, but I was really apprehensive from the marketing for the movie thinking there was too much going on, or it was too serious a tone, or how the heck could you make Mortgage Backed Securities, Credit Default Swaps and the Housing Crisis interesting? But it ended up being absolutely hilarious and should be nominated for a lot of Oscars as well. I went in figuring it'd be like Moneyball or The Blind Side - solid movies which weren't as good as the book - and somehow the guy who directed Anchorman and Step Brothers managed to pull off what Scorsese tried to with Wolf of Wall Street (which I still liked, but clearly wasn't an Oscar contender or something I feel I want/need to re-watch.)

[digamma]

I'm excited to see the movie, though I didn't particularly enjoy the book. Weird point of view, I know.

[Logan]

Really liked it and thought the performances were great. The method they used to explain some key concepts was hilarious and unique.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by digamma

I'm excited to see the movie, though I didn't particularly enjoy the book. Weird point of view, I know.

Trying to remember if I actually read that book or just an extended article he had in like The Atlantic Monthly or The New Yorker summarizing it. I've definitely read a few of his other ones (Blindside/Moneyball/Liar's Poker, which was even more acutely painful because I read it after the 2008 collapse and it was basically the same shit), and I agree that he can be a little overrated. He goes off on a lot of long tangents, which I love, but it doesn't always make for a cohesive narrative. Plus I think he's in that zone with like Malcolm Gladwell and Neil DeGrasse Tyson where they're really good at taking esoteric topics and in effect translating them for an average person, but when they actually talk about a subject you know really well they're off by like 10%, so you wonder just how much they're bullshitting on the other topics.

Like I said though, I was also really skeptical they could turn that book in to a movie, but it's not like Blindside and Moneyball were faithful adaptations of the books either. Again I don't want to spoil stuff, but the director pulls off some stuff that makes absolutely zero sense on paper and it completely fits in seamlessly. And from my limited experience he comes a lot closer to nailing how actual Wall Street people act as opposed to Wolf of Wall Street that was so ludicrously over the top it was hard to go along with the story or pretend it could even claim to be "based on a true story" at times.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Logan

Really liked it and thought the performances were great. The method they used to explain some key concepts was hilarious and unique.

Indeed. McKay should get a Best Director nom, and Steve Carell a Best Supporting Actor one. A lot of the other ones were great too, but just didn't have enough screen time to really qualify (and I'm a little Christian Bale'd out at this point - it's at Daniel Day-Lewis level where I'm not even impressed anymore, I just expect him to nail any role.)

Spoiler

What McKay did with the 3rd wall was pulled off to perfection. Sometimes we'll have a narrator, sometimes people will talk to the camera mid-scene, sometimes we'll have them literally telling the audience this isn't what actually happened but it's close enough and funnier this way so just roll with it, and of course sometimes we'll just have Margot Robbie in a bathtub or Anthony Bourdain or Selena Gomez and a freaking U Chicago Econ professor jumping in for an expository cut scene together despite being polar opposites in pretty much every sense of the word. And it all worked, and it was the guy who directed Stepbrothers and Ricky Bobby: Talladega Nights?!?!?! (a criminally underrated comedy imo, but still I did not see McKay pulling off a "real" topic like this or basically putting on a masterclass in how to break the 3rd wall.)

Funnily enough, the one thing he did that kind of took me out of the story was having the SEC lady wearing post-eye dilation glasses during their meeting. Really, the SEC was blind to what was happening :eyeroll: :wankmotion: Laying it on a little thick there buddy

Btw, I also read your sentence like 6 times and I'm still trying to figure out what Quiksand edited it from? Did you initially say the performances were dominate? Ugh, worst puzzle ever!

[stevew]

Performance's maybe?

[Logan]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Btw, I also read your sentence like 6 times and I'm still trying to figure out what Quiksand edited it from? Did you initially say the performances were dominate? Ugh, worst puzzle ever!

No it was because I wrote "very unique" instead of just "unique". To which I'll respond to Quik that Billy Joel is the greatest musician of all time because his ballads are so very very very very VERY unique.

Suck it.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Logan

No it was because I wrote "very unique" instead of just "unique". To which I'll respond to Quik that Billy Joel is the greatest musician of all time because his ballads are so very very very very VERY unique.

Suck it.

I might even go so far as to say that method was the most unique method I've seen!

[korme]

Originally Posted by Logan

No it was because I wrote "very unique" instead of just "unique". To which I'll respond to Quik that Billy Joel is the greatest musician of all time because his ballads are so very very very very VERY unique.

Suck it.

that's bizarre

[clemsonfan]

Loved the movie. It and Steve Carrell should get a nomination.

[Fidatelo]

Saw it a couple hours ago, super good.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I saw it last night and loved it. Great movie.

[QuikSand]

Originally Posted by Logan

Suck it.

Sorry about that, I'm really not sure what possessed me to make the edits. It was bad form, and I apologize.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Sorry about that, I'm really not sure what possessed me to make the edits. It was bad form, and I apologize.

Just messing around. No worries at all.

[Johnny93g]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

and somehow the guy who directed Anchorman and Step Brothers managed to pull off what Scorsese tried to with Wolf of Wall Street (which I still liked, but clearly wasn't an Oscar contender or something I feel I want/need to re-watch.)

What? WOWS and the Big Short aren't even similar. Scorsese didn't try to make a Big Short like movie and fail. I don't see any connection whatsoever.

And for the record, I enjoyed the Big Short, i enjoyed it alot.