In this newest entrant to the Wall Street movie genre, this thriller focuses on a 24-hour period in a Lehman-based investment bank during the height of the financial crisis. The firm faces a possible implosion from an investment gone wrong (mortgage-backed securities) and looks at what the firm’s executives will do to weather the storm. The film’s director and writer J.C. Chandor has said the film isn’t from a specific event but from recent ones in current years. The film has an all-star cast with Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, and Demi Moore.

This Oscar-winning documentary explores the current financial crisis. It is said to be the top film for this subject, even receiving praise from industry critics. Narrated by Matt Damon, the five-part film explores how the recent policy environment and banking practice changes created the financial crisis. The film includes interviews with talking heads and business leaders, charts and a great presentation by Damon, explaining this somewhat esoteric subject. The movie’s director Charles Ferguson tackles the financial industry for the first time and describes the film as a portrait of  "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption.”

This non-partisan documentary effectively uses charts, graphs and complex information to present one of many financial issues from the recession: the federal government's rising debt problem. When the 2008 film was made, it was a less controversial issue and the movie’s tone reflects this. However, the film includes a number of interviews discussing the imminent danger of a growing debt. In addition to the film’s stance, it offers possible scenarios and solutions to create a “fiscally sound nation for future generations,” according to the film’s Web site.

While some of the facts and figures may be dated, including the current national debt, the film can be viewed on YouTube in a 30-minute version.

Oliver Stone's 1987 iconic movie Wall Street was a classic with Michael Douglas as the Oscar-winning greedy Gordon Gekko with the hungry Wall Street protégé Bud Fox, played by Charlie Sheen. Fast forward to its sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and the same success will not be found. With the 2008 financial crisis as its background and Douglas reprising his Gekko role after a prison stint looking to regain his lost empire, the film fell flat. It didn't receive the same critical acclaim as the first one---they  rarely do--and the popular Shia LeBouef as a proprietary trader dating Gekko’s daughter, the talented Carey Mulligan, couldn’t add a spark to the movie.

Few people predicted the 2008 economic crisis but Michael Ruppert wants credit for being part of the minority. In this documentary directed by Chris Smith and stylized after the great Errol Morris films, Ruppert gives an 82-minute monologue of the crisis after Smith conducted a week’s worth of interviews with him. Sure some have called Ruppert, a former Los Angeles police officer and self-described investigative reporter, a conspiracy theorist; however, his presentation provides a compelling picture of the collapse through a discussion of the financial crisis, peak oil prices, and societal trends.

Whether you will buy his theory or not is up to the viewer but Ruppert presents a thought-provoking point of view.