Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

It appears that 8 Hollywood years have passed in the last 23 real world years. But then again if you factor in the court time and appeals etc, the ratio may be much closer. Either way, and the bottom line is, this sequel is not as good as the original. Hopefully they will let it end at that.

Michael Douglas and his character make one helluva comeback here. Charlie Sheen and a few others from the original make cameos. But the story is really about young idealistic lovers played by Shia LaBeouf and Carey Mulligan. It is also about Fathers and Daughters; greed and trust; and a small dose of redemption mixed in.

If you have not seen the original I recommend watching it first even though you may feel let down by the second. A decent job is done telling the back story because so many of today's movie public never saw the first one. But having seen the original I didn't have to spend any time trying to figure out who did what to whom.

Watch this movie with someone who does not understand the financial industry bailout.

An Education (2009)

This is a very interesting coming-of-age story all young women should watch. The acting by all is first rate. But the best part of this movie, to me, is the soundtrack.

Carey Mulligan was amazing and well deserved her Oscar nom here. We'll hear from her again no doubt. Peter Sarsgaard is equal parts charming and creepy. Alfred Molina is perfect as the father. The rest of the cast is perfect.

Among other things this is an enjoyable, if not regrettable, look back at some 1960's mentality. How far have we come? That's up to you.

If you are a young woman heading to college, or if you have one in your household, I highly recommend watching this movie. It is rated PG-13 so there is not much to worry about. If you are a Daddy of the aforementioned daughters, you should watch too.

Watch this with someone who has a dream of going to Paris.