Here is a Review of The Movie from Anthony Quinn of the Independent: Inside Job The Independent review: Dirty rotten scoundrels By Anthony Quinn Friday, 18 February 2011 The title makes it sound like a heist movie, and in one sense that's what Inside Job is. It's actually a documentary about the financial crisis of 2008, explaining how a small bunch of Wall Street operators robbed their own companies and clients blind, with the difference that, instead of being prosecuted by the government, they were abetted by it. They didn't wear masks and carry guns, because they didn't have to: some of them now occupy senior positions in the US administration and academia. Who says crime doesn't pay? This is the shameful history addressed by the film-maker Charles Ferguson, already acclaimed for No End in Sight, his documentary on the Iraq war. Faced with a primer on the intricacies of financial misrule, I would ordinarily have ducked it and watched The Killing on BBC4 instead. But Inside Job lays out with perfect clarity and a proper sense of occasion why the global economy has reached the state it's in, ie. a mess. I have seen it described as a "classroom" documentary, which, in this case, is precisely what many of us require. By the end of it you won't be drumming your fingers and waiting for the bell; you'll be outraged and possibly horrified at what you've just learnt.

Narrated by Matt Damon, the film traces the origins of the crisis to the deregulation of financial markets that began under Ronald Reagan. Banks now preferred to reward high-risk profiteers instead of looking after their customers. This is not a simple expose of Republican self-interest, though; the commitment to deregulation continued during Clinton's term of office, and positively thrived under Bush. Alan Greenspan is seen in this context as the Dark Lord of fiscal laissez-faire, carrying the day on behalf of deregulation. We are led through thickets of money talk – "credit-default swaps", "subprime loans" – yet we are never allowed to lose sight of the basic facts. Predatory lending took off, liability went out the window, bad loans created a pandemic of foreclosures and job losses. The banks – notably Lehman Brothers – collapsed under debts that ran into billions. The ripple effect across the world was (and still is) catastrophic. What this film argues is that the catastrophe might have been averted. Marshalling a succession of interviewees between Wall Street and Washington, Ferguson offers the spotlight to consultants and economists who saw the trouble looming. (Iceland's economic meltdown was the canary in the coal mine). One of them, Raghuram Rajan, as chief adviser of the International Monetary Fund, delivered a paper to the top dogs of Wall Street in 2005 warning of the crisis ahead – and found himself ignored. It's interesting to note that Rajan and others (Charles Morris, Robert Gnaizda) who correctly predicted chaos don't go in for crowing; there's nothing smug or overbearing in their testimony. Then listen to those Masters of the Universe and CEOs whose personal involvement in the crisis might have caused them at least a show of contrition, or humility, and the contrast is instructive. Far from acknowledging responsibility, they block and stall and say just about anything that might deflect blame from them. When Federal Governor Frederic Mishkin explains how he baled out at the height of the storm in order to "revise a textbook", hoots of derisive laughter exploded from the stalls. Glenn Hubbard, the economic adviser who helped design Bush's 2003 tax cuts, is nettled by a perfectly valid question about conflict of interest and suddenly snaps: "You have one more question," he tells the interviewer with a sneer, "... give it your best shot." One might at least credit Mr Hubbard for daring to present himself before the camera. His companions in this hall of shame – Greenspan, Lawrence Summers, Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson, Timothy Geithner, et al – refused to be interviewed at all. Ferguson for the most part keeps a lid on his indignation, but occasionally an exclamation of incredulity ("You're not serious!") escapes him. He's not tempted by the Michael Moore school of stunts and confrontations, and his film is the better for it. Only when he interviews "Wall Street madam" Kristin Davis, whose business furnished prostitutes to many investment bankers, do the scales feel overloaded. Well of course these moneymen billed hookers as a business expense, what did you expect? It is a squalid sidelight on a corrupt culture, but I think Ferguson might have better served his argument by concentrating on how they defrauded people, not what they spent their money on. I much preferred the scenes of courtroom deposition, where a Goldman Sachs CEO is questioned about selling clients a financial package privately regarded by his own people as "a shitty deal". You can almost hear that CEO squirm in his chair. Inside Job adds up to cinema's most remarkable indictment of financial chicanery since Enron: the Smartest Guys in the Room in 2005. The difference is that the rogue traders of Enron courted nemesis and provided the story with a happy ending: they got jail. This new film has no such comeuppance. Far from it: the men (they are mostly men) who propelled the financial system towards ruin not only kept their gigantic personal fortunes, they found themselves in cushy new jobs. Obama, having made stern promises to bring the banks to order, has filled his administration with the same old faces from Goldman Sachs and elsewhere. As someone ruefully remarks, "it's a Wall Street government". So people whose behaviour somehow did not amount to actually breaking the law are now entrusted with the honour of making the law. What a con. What a country.

KING CORN - Ian and Curt, best friends from college on the east coast, move to the heartland to learn where their food comes from. With the help of friendly neighbors, genetically modified seeds, and powerful herbicides, they plant and grow a bumper crop of America's most-productive, most-subsidized grain on one acre of Iowa soil. But when they try to follow their pile of corn into the food system, what they find raises troubling questions about how we eat, how we farm, and the stuff we're really made of. http://www.kingcorn.net/

MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES - A striking new documentary on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Internationally acclaimed fro his large-scale photographs of "manufactured landscapes" - quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams - Burtynsky creates stunningly beautiful art from civilization's materials and debris. The film follows him through China, as he shoots the evidence and effects of that country's massive industrial revoluation. With breathtaking sequences, such as the opening tracking shot through an almost endless factory, the filmmakers also extend the narratives of Burtynsky's photographs, allowing us to meditate on our impact on the planet and witness both the epicenters of industrial endeavor and the dumpting grounds of its waste. http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/film.php?directoryname=manufacturedlandscapes

MONEY AS DEBT -  Where does all this money come from? How could there be that much money to lend? The answer is ... there isn't. Today, money is debt. If there were no debt, there would be no money. If this is puzzling to you, you are not alone. Very few people understand, even though all us of are affected. This fast-paced and highly entertaining animated feature by artist and videographer Paul Grignon explains today's magically perverse debt-money system in terms that are easy to understand. http://www.moneyasdebt.net/

THE MONEY MASTERS: How Banks Create the World's Money - The Money Masters traces the origins of the political power structure. The modern political power structure has its roots in the hidden manipulation and accumulation of gold and other forms of money. The development of fractional reserve banking practices in the 17th century brought to a cunning sophistication the secret techniques initially used by goldsmiths fraudulently to accumulate wealth. With the formation of the privately-owned Bank of England in 1694, the yoke of economic slavery to a privately-owned "central" bank was first forced upon the backs of an entire nation, not removed but only made heavier with the passing of the three centuries to our day. Nation after nation has fallen prey to this cabal of international central bankers.

The success of the central banking scheme developed into a far-reaching plan described by President Clinton's mentor, Georgetown Professor Carroll Quigley, "to create a world system of financial control in private hands able to dominate the political system of each country and the economy of the world as a whole. This system was to be controlled in a feudalist fashion by the central banks of the world acting in concert, by secret agreements arrived at in frequent meetings and conferences. The apex of the system was to be the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, a private bank owned and controlled by the world's central banks which were themselves private corporations. Each central bank....sought to dominate its government by its ability to control Treasury loans, to manipulate foreign exchanges, to influence the levels of economic activity in the country, and to influence cooperative politicians by subsequent economic rewards in the business world."

Several short-lived attempts to impose the central banking scheme on the United States were defeated by the patriotic efforts of Presidents Madison, Jefferson, Jackson, Van Buren and Lincoln. But with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, America was firmly lashed to the same yoke, so that a small number of very rich men have been able to lay upon the masses a yoke little better than slavery itself. That yoke inevitably grows heavier with ever-compounding interest, and totals over $20 trillion of debt owed by the American people today ($80,000 per American) ultimately to these bankers.

This vast accumulation of wealth concentrates immense power and despotic economic domination in the hands of the few central bankers "who are able to govern credit and its allotment, for this reason supplying, so to speak, the life-blood to the entire economic body, and grasping, as it were, in their hands the very soul of the economy so that no one dare breathe against their will." http://www.themoneymasters.com/

NEWS WAR - Drawing on more than 80 interviews with key figures in the print, broadcast and electronic media, and with unequaled, behind-the-scenes access to some of today's most important news organizations, FRONTLINE correspondent Lowell Bergman examines the challenges facing the mainstream news media, and the media's reaction, in "News War," a special four-part series.

Bergman traces the recent history of American journalism, from the Nixon administration's attacks on the media and the post-Watergate popularity of the press to new obstacles presented by the war on terror and changing economics in the media business and the Internet. The topic has special resonance for Bergman, whose career as a journalist for FRONTLINE, The New York Times, ABC News and 60 Minutes has included reporting on the issues that are critical to the current controversies. "There has been a perfect storm brewing in the world of news," says Bergman. "Not since the Nixon administration has there been this level of hostility leveled at news organizations. … [But] unlike the confrontations of 35 or more years ago, today's news war sees the very economic foundations of the business shifting."  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/newswar/

NO END IN SIGHT - The first film of its kind to chronicle the reasons behind Iraq’s descent into guerilla war, warlord rule, criminality and anarchy, NO END IN SIGHT is a jaw-dropping, insider’s tale of wholesale incompetence, recklessness and venality. Based on over 200 hours of footage, the film provides a candid retelling of the events following the fall of Baghdad in 2003 by high ranking officials such as former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, Ambassador Barbara Bodine (in charge of Baghdad during the Spring of 2003), Lawrence Wilkerson, former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell, and General Jay Garner (in charge of the occupation of Iraq through May 2003) as well as Iraqi civilians, American soldiers, and prominent analysts. NO END IN SIGHT examines the manner in which the principal errors of U.S. policy – the use of insufficient troop levels, allowing the looting of Baghdad, the purging of professionals from the Iraqi government, and the disbanding of the Iraqi military – largely created the insurgency and chaos that engulf Iraq today. How did a group of men with little or no military experience, knowledge of the Arab world or personal experience in Iraq come to make such flagrantly debilitating decisions? NO END IN SIGHT dissects the people, issues and facts behind the Bush Administration’s decisions and their consequences on the ground to provide a powerful look into how arrogance and ignorance turned a military victory into a seemingly endless and deepening nightmare of a war. http://www.noendinsightmovie.com/

RETHINK AFGHANISTAN (synopsis from Flixster.com) - Rethink Afghanistan is a 2009 documentary about the ongoing war in Afghanistan. This full-length documentary campaign features experts from Afghanistan, the U.S., and Russia discussing critical issues like military escalation, how escalation will affect Pakistan and the surrounding region, the cost of war, civilian casualties, and the rights of Afghan women.
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The film interviews experts like Andrew Bacevich, Stephen Kinzer, Anand Gopal, Steve Coll, Ann Jones, Linda Bilmes, Jo Comerford, Dr. Roshanak Warnak, and more.

As part of the filmmaking process, acclaimed Director Robert Greenwald (Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers, Outfoxed, Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price) traveled to Afghanistan to meet with and interview members of Afghanistan's parliament, bloggers, women's rights organizations, and groups committed to the peace movement.

The ultimate goal of this documentary campaign is to raise the level of public discourse, compel people to ask key questions about the war, and urge Congress to hold oversight hearings. Already, the campaign has successfully helped retired Corporal Rick Reyes and other veterans testify before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and meet with members of Congress. Reyes, who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, testified before Sen. John Kerry and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

He told the committee, "Sending more troops will not make the US safer; it will only build more opposition against us. I urge you on behalf of truth and patriotism to consider carefully and Rethink Afghanistan."

THE PERSUADERS - Americans are swimming in a sea of messages. Each year, legions of ad people, copywriters, market researchers, pollsters, consultants, and even linguists—most of whom work for one of six giant companies—spend billions of dollars and millions of man-hours trying to determine how to persuade consumers what to buy, whom to trust, and what to think. Increasingly, these techniques are migrating to the high-stakes arena of politics, shaping policy and influencing how Americans choose their leaders.

In "The Persuaders," FRONTLINE explores how the cultures of marketing and advertising have come to influence not only what Americans buy, but also how they view themselves and the world around them. The 90-minute documentary draws on a range of experts and observers of the advertising/marketing world, to examine how, in the words of one on-camera commentator, "the principal of democracy yields to the practice of demography," as highly customized messages are delivered to a smaller segment of the market.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/persuaders/

THE POWER OF COMMUNITY: HOW CUBA SURVIVED PEAK OIL - The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil was the recipient of the 2006 People's Choice Award for Best International Film at Aotearoa Environmental Film Festival.

When the Soviet Union Collapsed in 1990, Cuba's economy went into a tailspin.  With imports of oil cut by more than half and food by 80 percent, people were desperate.  This film tells of the hardships and struggles as well as the community and creativity of the Cuban people during this difficult time.  Cubans share how they transitioned from a highly mechanized, industrial agricultural system to one using organic methods of farming and local, urban gardens.  It is an unusual look into the Cuban culture during this economic crisis, which they call "The Special Period."  The film opens with a short history of Peak Oil, a term for the time in our history when world oil production will reach its all-time peak and begin to decline forever.  Cuba, the only country that has faced such a crisis - the massive reduction of fossil fuels - is an example of options and hope.  www.powerofcommunity.org

TELL THE TRUTH AND RUN - This Academy Award nominated biopic of muckraking journalist George Seldes is a piercing look at censorship and suppression in the media.

80 years a newspapersman, Seldes became America's most important press critic. Through Seldes's encounters with Lenin and Mussolini, the tobacco industry, J. Edgar Hoover and "The Lords of the Press," Tell the Truth and Run raises profound ethical, professional and political questions about America's news media. Seldes at 98 is witty and still impassioned about his ideas and ideals. With Ralph Nader, Ben Bagdikian, Daniel Ellsberg and Jeff Cohen of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). http://www.mediarights.org/film/tell_the_truth_and_run_george_seldes_and_the_american_press.php

UNCOUNTED - Uncounted is an explosive documentary that shows how the election fraud that changed the outcome of the 2004 election led to even greater fraud in 2006 - and now looms as an unbridled threat to the outcome of the 2008 election. This controversial feature length film by Emmy award-winning director David Earnhardt examines in factual, logical, and yet startling terms how easy it is to change election outcomes and undermine election integrity across the U.S. Noted computer programmers, statisticians, journalists, and experienced election officials provide the irrefutable proof.

Uncounted shares well documented stories about the spine-chilling disregard for the right to vote in America. In Florida, computer programmer Clint Curtis is directed by his boss to create software that will “flip” votes from one candidate to another. In Utah, County Clerk Bruce Funk is locked out of his office for raising questions about security flaws in electronic voting machines. Californian Steve Heller gets convicted of a felony after he leaks secret documents detailing illegal activities committed by a major voting machine company. And Tennessee entrepreneur, Athan Gibbs, finds verifiable voting a hard sell in America and dies before his dream of honest elections can be realized.

Uncounted is a wakeup call to all Americans. Beyond increasing the public’s awareness, the film inspires greater citizen involvement in fixing a broken electoral system. As we approach the decisive election of 2008, Uncounted will change how you feel about the way votes are counted in America. http://www.uncountedthemovie.com/

WHY WE FIGHT - Why We Fight is the provocative 2005 documentary from acclaimed filmmaker, Eugene Jarecki (The Trials of Henry Kissinger) and winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival. 

Why We Fight describes the rise and maintenance of the United States military-industrial complex and its fifty-year involvement with the wars led by the United States to date, especially its 2003 Invasion of Iraq.  The documentary asserts that in every decade since World War II, the American public was told a lie, so that the Government (incumbent Administration) could take them to war and fuel the military-industrial economy maintaining American political dominance in the world.  Interviewed about this matter are politician John McCain, political scientist and former-CIA analyst Chalmers Johnson, politician Richard Perle, reporter William Kristol, writer Gore Vidal, and public expert Joseph Cirincione.

Why We Fight - documents the consequences of said foreign policy with the stories of a Vietnam War vetern whose son was killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, and who then asked the military to write the name of his dead son on any bomb to be dropped in Iraq; and that of a twenty-three-year-old New Yorker who enlists in the United States Army because he is poor and in debt, his decision impelled by his mother's death; and a military explosives scientist who arrived to the U.S. as a refugee girl from Vietnam in 1975.