Episode 46: Making an Economic Crisis

Published: Jan. 16, 2016, 10 p.m.

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It\\u2019s a double-header of greed, murder, and intrigue on this episode of the Screeners, but before we dive into the underbelly of society, we thought we\\u2019d make a quick pit stop. The Golden Globes are pretty much the entertainment industry\\u2019s way of satirizing itself\\u2014a bunch of rich people get together in a big room to get drunk, give each other awards, and put The Martian in the musical/comedy category. Ricky Gervais hosted, though, so at least everyone was uncomfortable. Other than those two things, though, was there anything the Screeners could have found worthy of comment?

No? OK; let\\u2019s just head to the main event.

Some People Go to Jail; Some Don\\u2019t...No One Knows Why

First on the list is another movie Chris swears isn\\u2019t a comedy, presumably because it uses big words. The Big Short focuses on the most digestible, straightforward topic of the last few decades\\u2014shoddy financial products invented to disguise other shoddy financial products by chopping them up into tiny pieces, bundling them, then selling them to high rollers on Wall Street. You know, the stuff that tanked the economy about 8 years ago. They\\u2019re covering it in elementary school now, right?

There might be a bit of a generational difference among the Screeners when it comes to The Big Short, but diversity\\u2019s always a good thing\\u2014unless, of course, you happen to be casting a movie about the financial industry.

After everyone\\u2019s done reliving their experiences of house shopping in the age of foreclosures, it\\u2019s time to move on to material that might be even more depressing: The documentary that\\u2019s become Netflix\\u2019s most recent cultural phenomenon. Making a Murderer follows a Wisconsin man wrongfully convicted of a crime in 1985, his exoneration after 18 years in prison, and his subsequent arrest and trial for murder (the title wouldn\\u2019t have had the same punch if he\\u2019d been charged with a DUI, would it?).

Like we mentioned, the series has lit up debate on both sides of the aisle, and the Screeners just can\\u2019t help throwing in their two (four? eighteen hundred?) cents on the issue. Does the 10-hour distillation of the 10-year process work as a documentary? Is it a fair treatment? Most importantly, what do our favorite armchair lawyers think of the case\\u2019s merits?

Once again, the Screeners are short on topics, but long on talk. Join us next time for our yearly retrospective\\u2014we\\u2019ll go over everyone\\u2019s favorite and least favorite movies of 2015, find out about some underrated films you might have missed, and answer the most important question of all:  Did Josh actually see 10 movies last year, or is he just plagiarizing his lists from Buzzfeed? Until then, as always, join us on Facebook!

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