This movie is not on the list.

Bonjour!

A while back I dedicated one of my posts to books dedicated to managing your money, savings, blah blah blah. But then I thought to myself, wait a second, kids don’t read anymore! What am I thinking?

So now, I’ve decided to compile a list of movies that somehow include money in the theme of the film. Some are 100% about money, others are more so about realizing that life isn’t all about money and some are just about how shitty it is when you don’t have money. I’ve mixed the up list with comedies and dramas, a documentary and a musical.

This is only my list of course and there are some that I really wanted to put up there that you probably would have, but I’m happy with it. There’s plenty of room for discussion, but I think people would be hard-pressed to disagree with number one. This list also does not necessarily reflect the view of Virgin Mobile. Any views are those of me. I’ve always wanted that kind of disclaimer. So here they are:

10) The Pursuit of Happyness
Just because I’m starting off with a sappy movie with Will Smith doesn’t mean it’s not also gonna include some bad-ass movies. But give this movie some credit: based on a true story of a father doing whatever it takes to provide for his son and chasing his dream. This is not just a movie about money and going from rags to riches, it’s about family and never giving up even when there seems to be no hope.

9) Risky Business
You’ve all seen the reel of Tom Cruise sliding across his floor in a long-sleeve shirt and underwear to Bob Seger, but have you seen the movie itself? Basically Tom Cruise plays Joel Goodsen, who wants to have some fun while his parents are away. But when he gets into some major badness, Joel has to find a way to fix the situation and that means entering a new line of work.

Rent
If you don’t like musicals, this obviously isn’t for you. To be honest, I very rarely like musicals on film and I’m not even crazy about this one. However, the musical is unbelievable and the story is incredible. Bohemians singing about sex, poverty, love, AIDS, life and paying rent. If you don’t have money, but still want to be happy, watch this and if it doesn’t work, well sorry!

7) Slumdog Millionaire
This Oscar-winning film captivated audiences with Regis Philbin…wait a second, Meredith Vieira…no, no, no, what’s that country? Bollywood? India! That’s it. This film is about a young Mumbai teen from the slums who luckily appears on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire and uses his life lessons and memories to answer the questions. The most recent film on this list and definitely a great movie to check out.

6) Office Space
Ever had a job you didn’t really like? An annoying boss? Always having to be reminded about TPS memos and not having enough flare? This classic is all about that and more and if you haven’t seen it yet, there’s something wrong with you. It also teaches you to never take someone’s red stapler.

5) Trading Places
80s comedy with Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy and they trade places. Nuff said.

4) The Godfather Part 2
Business. What’s it about? You can explain it to me with terms like management, finances, customer-client relationships, supply and demand and many more. But many men will tell you that business is summed up in this movie. Many believe it to be better than the original and they certainly have a point with this incredible sequel. These are what real bad-ass movies are made of.

3) Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room
I decided to include a documentary because it actually shows you what really happened when things like greed take over everything. This incredible documentary about the fall of one of the world’s most powerful companies is a chilling example of how money can destroy so many lives and why people don’t believe in the corporate world.

2) It’s a Wonderful Life
Classic. Absolutely classic. Networks play this movie every single Christmas for a reason because it reminds us that money isn’t everything. George Bailey is a wonderful man loved by his family and friends but loses his confidence to the point where he wants to kill himself. But in the nick of time, an angel comes from the skies to show him what life would be without him. I may be from a Buddhist family, but I’ll join George in saying MERRY CHRISTMAS!

1) Wall Street
Without a doubt, the ultimate movie about money. In Charlie Sheen’s best performance ever, he plays Bud Fox, an ambitious stockbroker who dreams of being a major player in the finance world. He manages to get his shot with the powerful corporate raider Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas. Gekko gives Fox everything he’s always dreamed of, but it means Fox must enter the world of illegal insider trading and the overall theme of the movie, greed. When Fox tries to bring in his father’s airline business to the table, his twisted ways put an entire company’s life at stake. With another powerful performance by Martin Sheen, Charlie’s real life father who plays his father in the movie, we see just how powerful greed can be.

I almost put Kazaam on the list too, but decided not to at the last minute. I mean, all your money problems are solved by having Shaq as your genie right?

Makes Cents (4)

This entry was posted on Monday, September 7th, 2009 at 2:58 pm and is filed under Arts, Money. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Tags: Entertainment, Lists, Lucas Meyer, Money, Movies, No Kazaam, Screw You Recession, Top 10, Wall Street