It seems everyone is talking about it: the recession, the near fatal economic crash, and the greedy market makers of Wall Street . It is the stuff of great films, and both director Sandra Mohr ("Stock Shock-The Short Selling of the American Dream) and Michael Moore ("Capitalism, A Love Story") have come out with movies exposing government and corporate corruption. Even directors Oliver Stone and Ridley Scott have financial films in the works.
Michael Moore's new movie screened at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend and received dozens of reviews. Time Magazine wrote "Moore's films are among the top-grossing documentaries in history because they are pertinent populist entertainments. The question remains: will Capitalism: A Love Story rouse the rabble to revolt? Or will audiences sit appreciatively through the movie, then go home and play the cat-in-the-toilet video?"
The movie "Stock Shock," released in June 2009 on DVD, has already apparently inspired a grassroots effort demanding government protection from illegal "naked short selling" and stock market manipulations such as "flash trading." According to reports, viewers of the film sent their DVD's directly to the Securities Exchange Commission with angry letters claiming the movie producers had done more to investigate wrong-doing than the government agency. Since then, the SEC has taken their first case of illegal naked short selling to court.
"Stock Shock" is available now on regular and single-view DVD at Amazon.com or stockshockmovie.com. "Capitalism: A Love Story" will be in theaters September 23, 2009.
