Jobs

While Jobs has opened to somewhat justified mixed reviews, what is indisputable is that pretty much any movie about the life of Steve Jobs is bound to be an inspirational tale. Pure genius combined with force of personality and extreme perfectionism - Jobs shows the copybook old-school recipe for success, with enough and more roadkill on the way. The movie does trail off somewhat abruptly at the beginning of Jobs' second innings. Notwithstanding the indisputable scope of better execution on almost all fronts, Jobs is a pretty decent watch

14/20

House Down Part Deux

What were the odds of two near-adjacent posts on this blog, both based on movies about the White House going down? This time it is the disgruntled weapons lobby, led by the US President Sawyer’s (Jamie Foxx) former head of security detail – Martin Walker (James Woods) – and a team of mercenaries – that take over the White House over a series of bombings, gunfights, and hostage-takings. Once again it is up to an underdog – out-of-favour Cale (Channing Tatum), out on an ostensibly harmless White House tour with daughter Emily (Joey King), to save the White House and by implication the world. White House Down is a tad more believable than Olympus Has Fallen, with a lot more detail, and never a dull moment

13/20

Too Big a Cataclysm

Too Big to Fail chronicles the events leading to the Great Recession and the implementation of the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP). Specifically, it chronicles the events from the vantage point of HenryPaulson (William Hurt), the Fed Chairman. In this movie, you will find the hubris of Lehman Chief Dick Fuld (James Woods), the oversized egos of the Street’s leading doyens of Investment Banking, the desperate urgency among the players in question to prevent a total collapse of the financial markets, and the resultant patchwork that may have averted an out-and-out meltdown but the shadows of which persist to this day. Unlike Margin Call which is purely fictitious, Too Big to Fail has a documentary-like quality and (presumably) preserves authenticity while showcasing one of the most turbulent weeks/ fortnights in recent human history

14.5/20