Saturday, May 24, 2008
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Enron - The Smartest Guys In The Room
Are people really sheep? Most, disappointingly, are. Some are wolves. And a rare few try to keep the wolves from the sheep. They are haplessly outnumbered however. In the 1970s, Stanley Milgram conducted a series of social psychology experiments, in which he measured the willingness of people to obey an authority figure that instructed them to inflict pain on others. Surprisingly, a great deal of us would obey an authority figure, even if the acts we are asked to perform, goes against our morals, ethics and conscience.
The Milgram Experiment
It is no surprise then to learn of the evil that transpired at Enron during its rise. Enron, for those who don't know, was an energy company founded in 1985, that at its peak, had a claimed revenue stream of $111 billion. Of course, there wasn't much substance to Enron. At its heart, it was a financial company, trading in energy futures. It was also a slave to the market, and from the top down, it practiced a culture of making money and maintaining its stock price, above all else. Even if that meant breaking the law; stealing; committing fraud; and manipulating governments. With friends in high places -- CEO, Kenneth Lay, was very good friends of both Bush senior and junior -- Enron did what it wanted, and its accomplices, which included the largest US investment banks and accounting firm Arthur Andersen, ripped off countless Americans. All of this and more is chronicled in the documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room -- which can be seen in its entirety below.
The Milgram Experiment
It is no surprise then to learn of the evil that transpired at Enron during its rise. Enron, for those who don't know, was an energy company founded in 1985, that at its peak, had a claimed revenue stream of $111 billion. Of course, there wasn't much substance to Enron. At its heart, it was a financial company, trading in energy futures. It was also a slave to the market, and from the top down, it practiced a culture of making money and maintaining its stock price, above all else. Even if that meant breaking the law; stealing; committing fraud; and manipulating governments. With friends in high places -- CEO, Kenneth Lay, was very good friends of both Bush senior and junior -- Enron did what it wanted, and its accomplices, which included the largest US investment banks and accounting firm Arthur Andersen, ripped off countless Americans. All of this and more is chronicled in the documentary, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room -- which can be seen in its entirety below.
Koyaanisqatsi: Life out of Balance
Prepare to experience a truly remarkable filma cinematic masterpiece so extraordinary that it regales the senses, stimulates the mind and actually 'redefines the potential of filmmaking (The Hollywood Reporter). Celebrated director Godfrey Reggio, innovative cinematographer Ron Fricke and Golden Globe-winning* composer Philip Glass have created a 'spellbinding [film] so rich in beauty and detail that with each viewing it becomes a new and different film (Leonard Maltin). Unique profound mesmerizing and thought-provoking (Boxoffice), Koyaanisqatsi contrasts the tranquil beauty of nature with the frenzied hum of contemporary urban society. Uniting breathtaking imagery with a hauntingly evocative, award-winning score, it is original and fascinating (People) one of the greatest films of all time (Uncut).
This is the full movie. 85-minutes. Sit back, turn up the volume and prepare to be blown away.
S. Darko ... coming in 2009
When business and creativity meet, usually creativity gets beaten to a pulp. The latest disaster in the making is a sequel to Donnie Darko, S. Darko, which follows Donnie's younger sister, Samantha, seven years after his death. Richard Kelly is apparently not involved in this disaster in the making.
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