All Is Lost (2013) - Chandor's Redford-lost-at-sea is compelling filmmaking

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+ Best Survival Movie of the Year

Robert Redford is lost at sea in J. C. Chandor's All Is Lost

'Our Man' (he remains nameless) is alone on his sailboat on the ocean, - why we can only guess, - when his ship gets damaged by a container floating around. His journey soon develops into a struggle for survival.

Robert Redford (All the President's Men (1976)) has the screen presence that can make a film like All Is Lost, - with only one character and nearly totally bereft of spoken words, - float. He gives one of his career's best performances here, definitely Oscar-worthy. The film's only Oscar recognition was in the form of a nomination for Best Sound Design, though.
All Is Lost is incredibly well-made, Spartan in concept, both visually and in its fine score, made by Alex Ebert (A Most Violent Year (2014)).
It is a nerve-tearing thriller nearly from the very beginning until it's over. All Is Lost is also thought-provoking and works on more than one levels. An excellent film.
It is written and directed by J. C. Chandor (Margin Call (2009)) as his second feature.

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Margin Call (2011) or, Suit Creeps!

Yes, J. C. Chandor's All Is Lost also deals in sharks ...

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 8.5 mil. $
Box office: 13.6 mil. $
= Big flop
[The film was shot in two months in Mexico's Baja Studios with only 2-3 days of shooting in the actual ocean. It premiered out of competition in Cannes and was met with great reviews but still underwhelmed commercially: It made 6.2 mil. $ (46 % of the total gross) in North America.]

What do you think of All Is Lost?

Margin Call (2011) or, Suit Creeps!

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The poster for J. C. Chandor's Margin Call implies that stuff will go down in more than one sense ...

QUICK REVIEW:

We follow the events of a major Wall Street company in a 36 hour timespan, as one fired employee's memo reveal to all that their values are turning obsolete, which leads to a fire sale.

I was positively surprised at how soberly this, one of the only films so far to deal with the 2008 financial crisis treats its subject, SPOILER not even spicing it up with a single murder. It is the auspicious independent feature debut from writer-director J. C. Chandor (All Is Lost (2013)), and even its score (by Nathan Larson (The Skeleton Twins (2014))) is very minimalist. It is based on the goings-on in major Wall Street companies like Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns.
The film contains many good scenes with top-acting Kevin Spacey (House of Cards (2013-15)), Jeremy Irons (Appaloosa (2008)), Demi Moore (Bobby (2006)) and Paul Bettany (Firewall (2006)).
Margin Call is an excellent film and a good introduction to some of the reasons for the financial downfall that struck the world; but it might bore those who are not interested as such in the clever shenanigans of free-falling Wall Street crooks.
Chandor has most recently released A Most Violent Year (2014) and has co-written the coming Deepwater Horizon (2016), based on the major 2010 oil spill.

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 19.5 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Margin Call was extremely highly regarded by a wide range of US critics, and Chandor got an Oscar-nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Nevertheless, the film only made 5.4 mil. $ in North America (28 % of the total gross).]

What do you think of Margin Call?
Other films about the 2008 financial crisis and its consequences?