When I heard about this documentary, I really wanted to see it. The thing that attracted me first was that Alex Winters was attached as director. I know he has put in the work to become a talented director since he ended his brief acting career. This documentary covers the leaking of data from a prominent Panamanian law firm called Mossack Fonseca. An anonymous source released evidence of crimes and shady dealings committed by the wealthy people of the world. It was all done through loopholes established by using offshore bank accounts, tax havens, and other legal yet unethical methods. The situation was insane when it came out but not that surprising in retrospect. As somebody who works in the legal profession for the good of honest people, it was interesting. The documentary is very well done and there are a lot of insightful interviews with the journalists all over the world who helped to break the story. They had to work in absolute secrecy to protect the story and then they unleashed it on an unsuspecting world. I definitely recommend this movie.
The Laundromat
This movie is also about the Panama Papers but is more a dramatized version that tells stories about the effects of Mossack Fonseca’s services and the actions of their customers. Although the movie’s subject is obviously very dark, the movie tackles it in a comedic almost satiric way. The movie is narrated by Mossack and Fonseca themselves (Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas). They help the viewer understand what is going on and plead their case as mere facilitators rather than collaborators, a claim that falls apart fairly quickly. The movie follows three stories and an epilogue. The first story stars Meryl Streep and David Schwimmer as two people caught up in the aftermath of a pleasure cruise accident and how shell companies absconded with the insurance money. The second story follows an African billionaire who has moved his family to the United States and tries to use his money to dig out of a bad situation that he created. It stars Nonso Anozie, Jessica Allain, and Larry Wilmore among others. The third story is a dramatization of an actual event wherein a British businessman was murdered by the wife of a prominent Chinese politician due to blackmail over Mossack Fonseca shell games. The epilogue shows the media fallout of the Panama Papers release, the raiding and fall of Mossack Fonseca, and the arrest of Mossack and Fonseca. The movie continuously points out that much of what the law firm did was legal yet highly unethical and that plenty of other people have done the same (namely Delaware). I definitely recommend this movie.
The Post
This movie is about the release of the Pentagon Papers, an event from which The Panama Papers derives its name. Until the Panama Papers, the Pentagon Papers was the biggest data leak in world history. Basically, a Department of Defense study was released showing that the government knew that the Vietnam War was hopeless long before the US withdrew. It was proof of a massive betrayal of the American people in light of the many deaths that resulted in sticking with a pointless and hopeless war. The movie centers on the offices of the Washington Post which was the second publication to publish parts of the Pentagon Papers. They faced possible fallout from an injunction and risked the ire of Nixon’s White House, a grudge that Nixon carried to the end of his presidency. Meryl Streep plays Katharine Graham, the owner of the paper which is on the verge of becoming a publically traded company. Tom Hanks plays the paper’s editor, Ben Bradlee, who is looking for some sort of edge in competition against the New York Times. When the Times releases part of the Pentagon Papers and is hit by an injunction, the Post must decide if they will publish the papers or back down. The movie covers the leak of the papers, the anxiety of the decision, and the subsequent court case that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The movie is good but I feel like you could have made several movies from the story. When it ended, I felt like it ended too quickly. Still, it is a great look at a moment when the Press did not back down and acted as a check and balance to our government’s power. I recommend this one too.
Weekly Update:
– This week’s theme is “Data Leak”
– I started Bob’s Burgers Season 10
– I started The Good Doctor Season 1
– I watched more VODs of AGDQ 2019/2020 and SGDQ 2019
– I watched more Stumptown Season 1
– I watched more Prodigal Son Season 1
– I watched more Rizzoli and Isles Season 1
– I watched more Elementary Season 1
– I watched more The Chilling Tales of Sabrina Season 2
– I finished The Witcher Season 1
– I finished Locke and Key Season 1
– I finished more Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 3
Wolf of Words 