The Forgotten Wall Street Movie That's Dominating Amazon Prime Video

Have you wondered why everyone on social media has started talking about the stock market all of a sudden?

While terms like "short selling" and "bear market" have normally been reserved for rich-looking guys in suits, it seems like everyone has received a lesson in Stocks 101 this past week as a group of Redditors caused Gamestop's stock to soar from a few bucks each to over $300 a share. This has made hedge funds on Wall Street very angry, and you can get a more thorough explanation of what exactly happened over on Grunge. 

The aftermath of all this is that hedge funds have lost billions of dollars while everyday folks have gotten a system that normally only works well for the 1% to play in their favor (via Business Insider). As such, more people than ever before seem to be taking an interest in the stock market, hoping to reap similar riches. It also seems to have caused a Wall Street-centric movie from 2015 to become a hot rental on Amazon Video, according to the latest metrics from FlixPatrol. When it comes to understanding finances, you can get the long and short of it by renting The Big Short on Amazon now. 

Prior to The Big Short, director Adam McKay was known for making raucous, ridiculous comedies like Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. However, underneath all the silly jokes are clear political satires, with the former film focusing on the upheaval of gender norms while the latter tackles the ideologies of George W. Bush-era conservatism. In 2015, the director made his interests in combining comedy with topical interests abundantly transparent in The Big Short. 

The dramedy is based on the real events that led up to the 2007-2008 recession, and it all starts with a man by the name of Michael Burry, played by Christian Bale. He's one of the first people to see how the entire housing market in the United States has a foundation of unstable, high-risk subprime loans. He sees the writing on the wall and believes the market will collapse in 2007, so he decides to "short," or bet against, mortgage-backed securities. It gets... complicated quickly, but luckily, the film has a comedic bite to it. Everything gets explained in humorous non-sequiturs by the likes of Margot Robbie, Selena Gomez, and the late Anthony Bourdain so that general audiences can discern what's actually transpiring. The movie also stars Brad Pitt, Ryan Gosling, and Steve Carell. 

The Big Short was well-received upon release and even won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It also proved to be a fruitful venture for McKay, who went on to direct other fervently political films like the Dick Cheney biopic Vice and the upcoming climate change allegory Don't Look Up. For now, you can check out The Big Short, which will make you laugh and then make you very angry.