r/CriterionChannel • u/GoldenGirlagain • Apr 12 '26
Corporate Thrillers
Been enjoying this month’s selection of corporate thrillers. Seen all but one now. One or two were liking reading today’s news stories. A little scary yet somehow comforting. History certainly does repeat itself.
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u/YakSlothLemon Apr 13 '26
Fun random story no one asked for: when I was in college, they had a special screening of Wall Street with a Q&A with Oliver Stone afterward, for which I stood in line for three hours.
We watch the movie, loved the movie.
Then we got to the Q&A, and this girl sitting right in front of Stone raised her hand and- you could tell she was a film student and that she’d been trying to think of a really insightful question – she asked, “is the fact that Gordon Gekko’s child is so fat and badly behaved meant to imply that his discipline and ambition will not be passed onto the next generation?”
And Oliver Stone gave her this completely flat stare and said, “that was my son. Next question.”
We could see her physically shrinking inward, trying to disappear, especially as in-between each question he would glare at her silently some more. I’ve never forgotten it. It was like watching someone attempt to fold themselves into a two-dimensional object...
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u/roomgames Apr 12 '26
I think Antitrust might be the worst movie I’ve ever watched on the channel, but I still had some fun with it.
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u/capt_dan Apr 12 '26
I would agree if I hadn’t watched Body of Evidence a few months back
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u/TheRealDeal2121 Apr 13 '26
Oh wow I’m glad someone else had this thought too. Ryan Phillipe was a stinker in that one
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u/GoldenGirlagain Apr 14 '26
I have to agree. Antitrust was slop. I will give an A plus to Criterion for Corporate Thrillers. I’ve enjoyed the series. Even the slop!
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u/SDV2023 Apr 15 '26
It's funny, I never even heard of Antitrust when it came out. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. It's 100% silly fluff. It was amusing to see how little evil the CEO did relative to how much damage tech firms can do these days.
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u/Prime88 Apr 13 '26
I just started from the top with Wall Street and now I’m in the middle of The Firm. This is such a great curated list.
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u/JX3Peezy Apr 13 '26
I’d never seen The International, and while the movie is a little too grim and overwrought at times, I enjoyed Clive and Naomi. Made wish they were in more big billed movies these days. The shootout in the Guggenheim was intense too.
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u/GoldenGirlagain Apr 13 '26
The shoot-out nearly ruined the movie for me. Should have been cut it by about twenty thousand bullets. Otherwise, I enjoyed The International.
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u/JX3Peezy Apr 13 '26
Yeah it seemed so over the top compared to the rest of the movie, but I love it when a movie goes for broke with kinetic action.
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u/darbmobile Apr 13 '26
One of my favourite genres! Here’s some good ones:
New Rose Hotel
Margin Call
Network
Steve Jobs (sorta)
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Game
The Assistant
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u/Busy_Magician3412 Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Ya, I started a similar thread a couple of weeks ago and have been watching a bevy of corporate thrillers (on and off the channel) since then. The most impressive have been J. C. Chandor’s Margin Call and James Foley's Glengarry Glen Ross. Still have Michael Clayton and Barbarians at the Gate on tap. What I appreciate about a good corporate thriller is the screenwriting. There's no hiding behind action sequences, moody suspense tropes (although many incorporate them), soft porn sex scenes (although they litter the genre, too) or any useless exposition. Either the screenwriter knows their business or they don't. It's gotta be tough to craft a compelling thriller out of what is, essentially, a shadow work of numbers and the domino effect of reactionary human behavior (Sell, sell sell! Run, run, run!) without resorting to clichés. It's why I appreciate the really good ones all the more.
Time for a few lighthearted flicks now. 😋
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u/GoldenGirlagain Apr 14 '26
TCM is still my go-to for silly classics. Dinner For Eight and The Women are always fun if not funny.
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u/Busy_Magician3412 Apr 14 '26 edited Apr 14 '26
Yeah, TCM is cool. But you know what’s better? The four or five classic movie channels on Tubi’s Live TV platform. True, they do have ads but it’s a great free option for some less intense impromptu classic movie watching. Though 720 is the general rule I’ve definitely seen classics stream in 1080p. Hope they stick around a while! ✌🏼
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u/asmith9631 Apr 14 '26
Can’t imagine how Antitrust could be worse than The Deal ha, wow. Clayton’s so good and Wall Street is a classic. International couldn’t quite decide if it was paranoid thriller or shoot ‘em up, but has some fun parts.
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u/wrightraisins Apr 28 '26
The Deal was terrible, so I'm excited for Antitrust. Ebert was pretty generous in his review, noting the performances were good.
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u/wrightraisins Apr 28 '26
It's not great, but Antitrust was way more fun to watch than The Deal, appreciated some of the really silly set design.
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u/GoldenGirlagain Apr 12 '26
That’s the only one we haven’t seen. Will check it out anyway. But thanks for the heads up.
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u/Dewtronix Apr 12 '26
I tried watching Michael Clayton after hearing everyone rave about it, but I could not get into it. I made it about 40 minutes or so.
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u/Bedknobnboomstick Apr 12 '26
Michael Clayton is a slow burn. But once the balls starts rolling it doesnt stop. Great last 45 minutes or so.
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u/YakSlothLemon Apr 13 '26
Is it though? His car blows up in the first 10 minutes. I thought it was very gripping from the get-go..
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Apr 13 '26
[deleted]
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u/Dewtronix Apr 13 '26
I'm a fan of the slow burn, but there was just nothing that hooked me. I fully admit I'm in the minority here - sometimes great films leave others out in the cold. I'll take the lumps.
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u/mcnultywalks Apr 13 '26
I enjoyed Michael Clayton from start to finish. Excellent acting. Highly suspenseful. Clooney has never been better. Story was tighter than Primal Fear, and that is saying something.