Mosca
Mosca
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Joined: Dec 14, 2009
October 31st, 2011 at 4:09:16 PM permalink
This is an interesting situation; Margin Call has been released simultaneously in theaters and also for download via Netflix, Blockbuster, etc. Saturday night we were in anticipation of the USC/Stanford game when the dish went black from the snow, so we fired up the Roku box and watched Margin Call. We bought it from Amazon Prime.

Technical details: The stream was pretty much flawless HD video. I didn't see any artifacts. The movie buffered for about 45 seconds and then played right through. Cost was $8, and there were three of us watching, me, Mrs, and my dad, who'd come for the game.

The movie itself was pretty decent. I'd call it even handed in its treatment of the financial crisis of the last mid-decade; those involved aren't portrayed as either heroes or villains, but as people faced with choices, all of which damn them. For a plot that essentially takes place almost entirely through dialog, it's tense and riveting. The look of the film complements the "action" nicely, getting heavy handed in a few spots but overall serving the film well.

Great ensemble cast. Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Zach Quinto, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, and others. All of them melted into their roles, I didn't see actors. I saw characters.

As I watched, I tried to imagine what it would look like on the big screen, and I thought about how I would prefer to watch it. I think it's better served as a smaller movie. For all the large implications of the meltdown, the movie isn't about that; it's about the people. If you have the ability to stream it, watch it that way.

I'll give it a solid B+. Good flick, leaves you thinking.




(If you want to stream movies to your TV set, and need the hardware, I recommend Roku. A Roku box costs about $80 or so. It's simple as hell to set up; plug it in and follow the instructions and you're connected in about 10 minutes. Once you're set up, you can add services like Hulu, Netflix, etc. If you are an Amazon Prime member, there are tens of thousands of (worthwhile) movies and shows that are FREE, in addition to a lot of pay-as-you-go content.)
A falling knife has no handle.
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