Before you do a job search for finance jobs, watch a few of these top finance movies. Maybe they will give you a little insight into the world of finance!

Trading Places – starring Dan Akroyd and Eddie Murphy. Funny, funny comedy.
Wall Street – Greed is Good in this movie.
Barbarians at the Gate – All about the Fall of RJR Nabisco
Rogue Trader – How one man gets involved in illegal trading and tries to cover it up.
Pi – A mathematician searches for a number that will unlock the mysteries of the universe.
Other People’s Money – corporate raider vs. mom and pop.
Boiler Room – College dropout becomes trader, but is it legit?
Glengarry Glen Ross – sell, sell, real estate that is.
American Psycho – investment banker hides his psychotic alter ego
Pretty Woman – prostitute meets wealthy financier and things click.

Julie Dawn Cole played Veruca Salt in the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory that premiered in 1971. Julie was born October 16, 1957 and is an English theater, movie and television actor. She was 12 years old when she was first cast in the movie. She was only payed 600 pounds (about $950 in today’s money) for the movie. She still has two of the original props: the Golden Ticket and the Everlasting Gobstopper.

Of the five children in the movie, Julie is the only one who has continued acting.

I always find it interesting to research movies filmed in tiny towns or small cities. It gives the films such charm instead of being filmed on a Hollywood set. The film Nights in Rodanthe starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane was filmed in North Carolina. Some of the scenes were filmed in Manteo (information from Askville):

Start your movie trail in the town of Manteo, where some scenes were shot at the boat slips downtown. Both Richard Gere and Diane Lane were spotted here often during filming, as both stayed at the Tranquil House Inn on Manteo’s waterfront. Treat yourself like a movie star by dining at the Inn’s restaurant, 1587, or explore the town’s rich history and boutique shopping.

As with many towns around the US, you will find a number of Manteo foreclosures, but if you are looking for a cute town to retire to, lower housing prices could be right for you!

Whatever happened to the cute little girl who played ZuZu in It’s a Wonderful Life?

Karolyn Grimes was born July 4, 1940 in Hollywood, California. Her mother started her in the acting business She appeared in her first film in 1945. Some of her other films included Blue Skies with Bing Crosby (1946), The Bishop’s Wife with Cary Grant (1947) and Hans Christian Anderson with Danny Kaye (1947). Due to her mother’s failing health, she wasn’t able to act as much. Her mother died in 1954 and her father died a year later in a car accident.

Karoyln was sent to live with an Aunt and Uncle in Missouri in what she called a “bad home.” After completing high school she got married, attended college and became a medical technologist. She has suffered from serious setbacks in her life including the death of her first husband, a son’s suicide and death of her second husband. However, after a financial setback in the 2000s, she decided to make a career of advocating the film “It’s a Wonderful Life.” She travels, give speeches and memories about the films and signs autographs.

One of her favorite memories about the film is at the end when Jimmy Stewart is holding her and they are singing Auld Land Syne. Karoyln did not know the words and so was pretending to sing along. Stewart found it amusing and you can see him laughing in the film.

My son is now old enough to be interested in The Lord of the Rings. I recorded all three films and we watched them together. How I wished we would have had a home theater and home theater seating to take in the grandeur of the movie.

He is now watching the old Hobbit animated film and is enjoying it. We can’t wait until The Hobbit comes out in 2012 with, hopefully, some of the old cast of revising their roles. The movie might be in two parts. Unfortunately, the film may not be made in New Zealand as the trilogy was due to labor disputes.

I saw the first Wall Street movie years ago before I really understood the greed and corruption that goes on there. After reading a few books, I now understand how greedy people can get (Kurt Eichenwald’s Serpent on the Rock and Conspiracy of Fools are both good reads). I still don’t understand trading very much, guess I should invest in Forex training seminars, but I am looking forward to the new Wall Street movie starring Michael Douglas and Shia LeBeouf. Here is the trailer from the movie:

John Huston was one of my favorite directors. He directed such films as The Maltese Falcon, The Asphalt Jungle, The African Queen, Moby Dick and The Man Who Would Be King. He was also a screenwriter (The African Queen, Moby Dick and more) and an actor. Unfortunately, he was also a heavy smoker. He suffered from emphysema and saw him several times with a device such as a evergo oxygen concentrator to give his lungs more oxygen.

Huston died on August 28, 1987 at the age of 81, but his great work will live on.

My kids have been waiting a long time for this movie. My older daughter can’t wait to see it since she grew up with the older two movies. Let’s hope she has a better time at the movies this time, since the last time she went someone went out the wrong door and set off the exit alarm.

The first Toy Story movie was released in 1995 starring Tom Hanks as the voice of Woody and Tim Allen as the voice of Buzz Lightyear. The story resolves around toys who come to life whenever humans aren’t around. The all star cast included Don Rickles, Jim Varney, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts and Wallace Shawn.

Toy Story 2 soon followed and was released in 1999. The same cast returned with the additions of Joan Cusack and Kelsey Grammer.

Toy Story 3 can be seen in 3D and was released June 18, 2010. Unfortunately, Jim Varney, who played Slinky the Dog passed away in 2000. His role is taken over by Joe Ranft. The Opening Weekend saw a gross of over $100 million dollars.

The second movie poster is from the great film Breaking Away starring Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern (his first film role) and Jackie Earle Haley (who definitely needs to try the best acne medication). These four friends live in a college town. It is about trying to find yourself and the obstacles that you my find. The 1979 film is one of my favorites.

The past couple weeks have been very busy for me so I haven’t had time to post. I have been helping my high school daughter with her brochure printing project and my 5th grader with her end of year projects too. I recently came across some cool old movie posters that I thought I would share. The first one is Creature From the Black Lagoon. Whenever you mention old horror flicks, this movie, released in 1954, is sure to come up. The movie was not in color, but in black and white.