18 of the Greatest Films About Capitalism, Business, and Working

Labor Day has passed, and with it a moment to reflect on the place working has in daily life. Despite the occasional Norma Rae, Hollywood tends to not be interested in producing a lot of movies that explore the nature of business and working in America or anywhere else, despite the fact that most adults’ jobs are the major concern of their lives.

Great films about the blue- and white-collar world tend come along every decade or so. Here is a list of some of the ones that have endured the test of time and, due to their artistic merit and social insight, remain relevant today:

The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
A high-profile Hollywood morality tale of naked greed and the quest for the "American Dream" played out in a hunt for gold.

Marxist Movie Reviews 11: The Boss (2016)

Marxist Movie Reviews attempts to look at modern and classic films from the perspective of what they say about society and social conflict.

The Plot: A former multi-millionaire (Melissa McCarthy) is indicted for insider trading, loses all of her money, and goes to prison. When she gets out, she tries to make a comeback selling girl scout cookies with her former assistant (Kristen Bell).

The Best Part(s): Melissa McCarthy’s performance

The best you can say about this movie is that Melissa McCarthy is a wonderful comic actor and can elevate even mediocre material into something halfway watchable. The rest of the cast just doesn’t match McCarthy’s charisma. There are some very talented people in supporting roles (Kristen Schaal, Peter Dinklage, Cedric Yarbrough) who simply cannot overcome a weak premise and script. Attempts at slapstick, parody, and cringe humor fall flat throughout the movie’s run time.

Marxist Movies Reviews 10: Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Marxist Movie Reviews attempts to look at modern and classic films from the perspective of what they say about society and social conflict.

The Plot: A group of friends from a small Texas town reunite to mark the anniversary of their James Dean fan club, where they experience revelations and long-hidden secrets about each other

The Best Part(s): Strong performances by the cast, including Cher, Karen Black, and Kathy Bates

One of my favorite recent quotes from a movie or TV show is from The Sopranos, when Tony advises one of his associates that “‘Remember when’ is the lowest form of conversation.” That bit of advice speaks to the toxicity of nostalgia, even as it dominates American thought in pretty much every area of life. Political ideologies and million-dollar ad campaigns are built on the longing people have for some mythical past when everything was better.

How to Rob a Bank (According to the Movies)

written by Clarence Ewing [originally published Spring 2009]

The economy’s got you down. The bills are due and your pockets are empty. You walk down the street and eye the local bank. All that money, just sitting there for the taking.

“How hard can it be?,” you ask yourself, thinking of the expert planning, the daring execution, the successful getaway, and you sitting on a beach, officially Retired. Bank robbing is as American as apple pie. Pull off that one big score and you’re on Easy Street.

But hold on a second. Grand larceny isn’t as easy as it may seem in your head. If you don’t believe me, scrape together a little of what cash you have left and rent some movies. They can show you just how dicey these schemes can be.

Here is a sampling of techniques used by people in films trying to rob banks (or other places that house a lot of money), and what they can tell us about how (un)successful the real schemes might be.

Option 1: The Stickup or Smash ‘n Grab

Seen in: Bonnie & Clyde, Dead Presidents, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Set It Off

The Plan: Walk into a bank during business hours, preferably wearing a mask or other disguise. Using the threat of physical violence, demand that whoever has access to the money hand it over to you. When the money is received, get away from the bank as fast as possible.

If the bank isn’t open, break open the vaults using brute force and take whatever’s inside, followed by a quick getaway.

Steve McQueen and The Evolution of The Action Hero

[This essay was part of the Steve McQueen Blog-a-Thon, sponsored by Jason Bellamy of the blog Cooler Cinema. Click here to check out more bloggers’ thoughts and opinions about the Hollywood legend.]

by Clarence Ewing

Without a doubt Steve McQueen is one of the most popular American actors to ever walk the silver screen. He was also one of the most successful – at his peak he was the highest paid actor in Hollywood and he still ranks among the top earning deceased celebrities of all time.

I’m not a huge McQueen fan, although I’ve enjoyed all of the films I’ve seen him in. The movies I know him best from are The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, The Cincinnati Kid, The Towering Inferno, and Hell is for Heroes, all of them great films. Like anyone with more than a passing familiarity with the man, I’m also familiar with the public and personal aspects of his life that earned him the title “The King of Cool.”

The celebrity McQueen reminds me most of is Frank Sinatra. Both were good looking, driven men who came up the hard way and earned everything they got with their talent and will. They both thrived when America was entering the last half of the 20th century, with all the changes in cultural and social mores that went along with it. They were both also physically undersized men who (from my distant viewpoint) perhaps at times tried a bit too hard to prove to everyone how badass they were.

Don't Strive for a Happy Life

I've been following the YouTube video channel Academy of Ideas for a few years now. They always have interesting and insightful essays. This one is especially meaningful in a world where "happiness" is the ultimate goal of living, at least according to those in charge.

 

"The Bronson Maneuver"

This Vimeo film is very short (the last half is credits and a “making of” segment) and very funny. It’s the kind of thing that would be right at home on Robot Chicken.
 

The Bronson Maneuver - An Octocore Short from Mike McCain on Vimeo.

"Papiroflexia"

There's no other way I can think of to describe this short film except beautiful. The color palette, textures, and music all combine to make it so. And the subject matter makes a point without going off the deep end of eco-advocacy. It's a soothing 2 1/2 minute experience.

Papiroflexia from Joaquin Baldwin on Vimeo.

10 Critically Acclaimed, Wildly Successful, Extremely Popular Movies That I Don’t Like

I was perusing IMDBs top 250 list the other day, looking for some additional films to add to my rental list. There are some films on this list, for one reason or another, that I just can’t get into. The fact that I don’t particularly care for these films says nothing about their quality and everything about me. Probably some unacknowledged, unresolved issues I need to deal with. I’ve listed what I think they might be along with my two cents about the films.

The First Film Ever Made

I'm passing this item on like a chain letter: the following text is from the article "Top Ten Incredible Early Firsts in Photography" written by List Universe - I came across it from a link at The House Next Door.

"Historic films are very popular and they all attempt to recreate the period in which they are set. This film is the first celluloid film created and it gives us a true look at how people looked and, more importantly, carried themselves (in the case of the women in full corseted gowns).

The film only lasts for two seconds but it is enough time to see the characters walking. It was recorded at 12 frames per second by French inventor Louis Le Prince.

It was filmed at the home of Joseph and Sarah Whitley, in Roundhay, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England on October 14 and the people who appear are Adophe Le Prince (Louis’s son), Sarah Whitley, Joseph Whitley, and Harriet Hartley.

Ten days after filming, Sarah Whitley (Le Prince’s mother-in-law) died. Two years later Le Prince vanished mysteriously from a train traveling between Dijon and Paris. Another two years later, Alphonse was found shot dead in New York after testifying at a patent trial against Edison by the American Mutoscope Company."

Birds on the Wires

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

The Forest

This is a stunning short film about a girl who can't (and won't) fit in. One of the commentors on Vimeo cited the "visual authority" of this piece, a dead-on description of the combination of 2-D and 3-D animation used. It's a strong, clear narrative with not so much a message as an observation of the consequences of non-conformity. Great, great stuff.

The Forest from David Scharf on Vimeo.

Omar Hot Pursuit S.E.A.R.C.H.

The only way I can describe this video is that it feels like stepping into someone else's dream. The three vignettes have nothing to do with each other (nothing I can discern, anyway), but they're illogic has a logic to it, that of imagination.

 

Omar Hot Pursuit S.E.A.R.C.H. from PSST! on Vimeo.

At the Races (Test Shoot)

This beautiful, wordless vignette of the goings-on at the Singapore Turf Club is labeled a test shoot. The final product really comes together, though, with solid use of editing and music. It shows how film can bring out the beauty and poignancy in everyday events.

Canon 1DmkIV at the races - test shoot from Dan Chung on Vimeo.

"Flight Patterns"

This is a really cool video that tracks the flight of those swarms of bugs that congregate under light poles on cool nights. I hate those things, but I really like the images they create...


flight patterns from Charlie McCarthy on Vimeo.

"Choices"

Another choice Vimeo pick, this one a public service announcement from United Way Romania...

CHOICES from WeAreOm on Vimeo.

17 Best Picture Winners the Oscars Got Right

(written by Clarence Ewing, winter 1999)

It’s always fun and instructive to point out the times when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes a bad decision for their annual Best Picture winner. The Academy, to its credit, doesn't make a habit of giving its most important award to movies based on hype or something other than quality. It does happen, though, and as the years go by it becomes apparent just how bad or, as is more often the case, mediocre these films really are.

When Crash beat Brokeback Mountain and Good Night and Good Luck in 2005, one could make the argument that Hollywood played it safe by picking a movie that would not ruffle feathers. The English Patient, seen as sweeping and epic when it won in 1996, is now regarded as alternately tedious and pretentious (a sentiment, I'm proud to say, I held when I first saw it), while its competition Fargo has taken its place as a modern American classic.

1998's winner Shakespeare in Love doesn’t make a whole lot of appearances on cable TV movie channels, classic or otherwise, while its competition Saving Private Ryan has become a staple on the Memorial Day and July 4th viewing schedules. Another beneficiary of the Miramax marketing machine, 2002's winner Chicago, doesn't seem to get a lot of attention in the secondary viewing markets or among film buffs now. And when was the last time you read a gushing retrospective about 1985's Best Picture winner Out of Africa?

Time is the key ingredient that determines if a film is truly great, "great" meaning it still commands attention and admiration from some segment of the movie-going public. Hindsight being 20/20, it’s easy to second guess. There are times, though, when the American entertainment masters do get it right and hand the award to the film that, honest debates notwithstanding, truly deserved it. Such as these:

Why the Oscars Still Matter

[originally written in 2009]

Another Oscar season has come and gone. The broadcast was good, although I must admit I was expecting more thrills and spills that would wow the TV audience in a slim 2 ½ hours, the kind the commercials suggested we were going to get (“The movie event of the year? That’s laying it on a bit strong,” I thought. “I’d better tune in to see what it’s all about.”).

The opening number was hysterical and the ceremony started out great. Hugh Jackman more than pulled his own weight - that guy really is talented. But then the show had to get down to business, and in doing so fell into its familiar pattern – announce category, present winner, repeat.

Tina Fey and Steve Martin were funny. Kate Winslet finally won (and it’s never a bad day when Kate Winslet gets the spotlight). A baffling mid-show dance number that tried to name-check every movie musical of the past 40 years didn’t quite hit the mark. By the time it was all over the show was no better or worse than the others. The running time was pretty much exactly the same too.

All in, all, I got what I wanted out the show – some nice additions to my NetFlix list, some good conversation about movies with friends, and another chance to look at Kate Winslet (that’s the last time I will mention her in this article). I think asking for much more is bound to end in disappointment. Producing that show really is Mission: Impossible. There is almost no way a producer can win because if they change too many things in the lineup people will throw accusations of not respecting history. If you go with a nice, normal awards show, other people accuse you of being boring.

"Ocean Size"

This is an incredible piece of work. The animation is top-notch, and it’s clear that the people who created it really get filmmaking. It’s not just about how many pixels you can squeeze onto the screen, it’s about creating dramatic tension and effectively crafting action.

It’s pretty much guaranteed if a studio was involved in this production, they would demand a rework to the ending (which says more about the film industry than these producers), but it’s a fantastic visual experience nonetheless.

Oceansize from Oceansize Team on Vimeo.

"Galactic Mail"

Who knew someone could make package delivery so exciting? Check out this fantastic piece of animation...

 

Galactic Mail from Douglas Lassance on Vimeo.