The Big Short; an American biographical comedy-drama film

The Big Short is a 2015 American biographical comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Adam McKay. It is based on the 2010 book of the same name by Michael Lewis, about the financial crisis of 2007–2008 brought on by the build-up of the housing market and credit bubble. The film stars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt. Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film began a limited release in the US on December 11, 2015, followed by a wide release on December 23, 2015. The film is nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

In 2005, eccentric hedge fund manager Michael Burry (Christian Bale) discovers that the U.S. housing market is extremely unstable, being based on subprime loans that are high risk and providing fewer and fewer returns. Predicting that the market will collapse sometime in the second quarter of 2007, he realizes that he can profit from this situation by creating a credit default swap market, allowing him to bet against the housing market; he visits numerous banks with this idea, and the banks, believing that the housing market is secure, accept his proposal. This earns the ire of Burry's clients who believe that he is wasting their money and demand that he stop his activities, but he refuses. As the predicted time of the collapse approaches, his investors lose their confidence and consider pulling their money out, but Burry puts a moratorium on withdrawals, much to his investors' anger. However, the market collapses just as he predicted and he produces 489% profits from the plan.

Trader Jared Vennett (Ryan Gosling) hears of Burry's actions from one of the bankers he dealt with, and soon realizes that Burry's predictions are true. He decides to put his own stake in the credit default swap market. A misplaced phone call alerts hedge fund manager Mark Baum (Steve Carell) to his plans, and Baum is convinced to join Vennett. The two discover that the impending market collapse is being further perpetuated by the sale of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), groups of poor loans that are packaged together and incorrectly given AAA ratings due to the conflicts of interest and dishonesty of the rating agencies. 

When Baum attends the American Securitization Forum in Las Vegas, he interviews a businessman who has created synthetic CDOs, making what is described as a chain of increasingly large bets on the faulty loans; Baum realizes, much to his horror, that the scale of the fraud will cause a complete collapse of the economy. Baum's business partners convince him to go through with the credit default swaps, profiting from the situation at the banks' expense.

Eager young investors Charlie Geller (John Magaro) and Jamie Shipley (Finn Wittrock) accidentally discover a paper by Vennett and also decide to become involved in the credit default swaps. Since they are too inexperienced to pull off the trades necessary to profit from the situation, they enlist the aid of retired banker Ben Rickert (Brad Pitt). The three visit the mortgage securities forum in Las Vegas, where they manage to successfully make the deals. Shipley and Geller are initially ecstatic, but Rickert is disgusted by their essentially celebrating an impending economic collapse and soon-to-be-lost lives. The two are horrified, and take a much more emotional stake in the collapse by trying to tip off the press and their families about the upcoming disaster. Ultimately, they profit immensely, but are left with their faith in the system broken.

Burry semi-retires and invests only in water, Baum refuses to say "I told you so" to the world and continues his career, Rickert returns to his retirement, and Shipley and Geller unsuccessfully attempt to sue the ratings companies with one of them electing to move to Charlotte to raise a family. Almost nobody involved in the creation of the CDO bubble is arrested, and Bespoke CDO are soon sold again.

Casting

• Christian Bale as Dr. Michael Burry
• Steve Carell as Mark Baum
• Ryan Gosling as Jared Vennett
• John Magaro as Charlie Geller
• Finn Wittrock as Jamie Shipley
• Brad Pitt as Ben Ricker
• Hamish Linklater as Porter Collins, a top staffer at FrontPoint

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Ride Along 2; American action comedy film

Ride Along 2 is a 2016 American action comedy film directed by Tim Story and written by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi. It is the sequel to the 2014 film Ride Along. The film stars Ice Cube, Kevin Hart, Ken Jeong, Benjamin Bratt, Olivia Munn, Bruce McGill and Tika Sumpter. Universal Pictures released the film on January 15, 2016.

The film starts in Miami on the boat of crime lord Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt). His hacker A.J. (Ken Jeong) is going through a list on the computer. Pope calls Port Commissioner Griffin (James Martin Kelly) on the phone and accuses him of stealing money from him. With one of his hitmen in the room, Pope has Griffin killed in his apartment, then orders his men to find whoever stole his money.

In Atlanta, James (Ice Cube) is with his partner Mayfield (Tyrese Gibson) as they try to infiltrate a car meet to find a drug dealer named Troy (Glen Powell). Ben (Kevin Hart), fresh out the academy, is eager to get in on the action, but James has him staying on the radio. James gets close enough to Troy, but Troy pulls a gun on him. Ben sees this over the camera and sneaks out to help. He rides into the meet in a showy car with hydraulics and draws unwanted attention to himself. He tries to threaten Troy by acting tough, only to drop his badge in front of the crook, leading to Troy making his escape. James and Ben go after him, with Ben nearly getting himself run over, though James follows Troy long enough until Troy drives out of a parking garage and onto another car. James arrests Troy and swipes a necklace around him that is also a flash drive.

James reprimands Ben for his actions since he got Mayfield shot in the chaos. Lt. Brooks (Bruce McGill) assigns James to go to Miami and see who Troy was working for. Ben wants to go so that he can prove himself ready for detective work, but nobody believes in him, especially after the mess he just caused. At home, Ben is planning his wedding to Angela (Tika Sumpter), but he clashes with the wedding planner Cori (Sherri Shepherd). He tries to assert himself, but gets knocked out by the ceiling fan. Later, as Angela tries to seduce Ben, he complains about not being able to go to Miami. Angela calls James and tries to get him to take Ben, not just for himself, but so she can have him out of her hair while the wedding is planned. James refuses, but then changes his mind when he thinks he can prove that Ben doesn't have what it takes to be a detective. He goes to their house and officially invites Ben to Miami. James and Ben drive down to Miami and meet Captain Hernandez (Carlos Gomez). Ben gets off on the wrong foot with Detective Maya Cruz (Olivia Munn) as he checks for info on her desk. James takes a liking to her when she gets Ben with pressure points.

Ben starts his detective work by trying to blend in with the locals as they search for A.J. The two of them find the hacker, and he tells them about a safe in a club that contains something important, but first they have to meet with someone there. The guys go to the club for work, but A.J. gets Ben to enjoy himself with an impromptu bachelor party. However, the man they are supposed to meet is also Pope's hitman. A.J. causes a distraction and escapes while James engages in a brief shoot-out with the hitman. Afterward, the two are met by Maya at the crime scene. The safe turned out to be empty. Before the guys can leave, James realizes a bomb was planted in his car, which goes off and destroys his car.

Ben realizes he kept A.J.'s phone on him, so they find his girlfriend Tasha to get a lead on his whereabouts. Ben convinces Tasha to spill the beans when he shows her that he's been hooking up with other women and given them unique ringtones, while Tasha is left with the generic Apple ringtone. The guys locate A.J. once more and bring him in on the investigation. He reveals to the team that Pope is the real crook, despite him having a public image as an entrepreneur working alongside the new port commissioner Nunez (Robert Pralgo). The team is at the home of Maya's friend/associate Alonso, whom Ben accidentally shoots after getting scared. Despite getting shot, Alonso backs up A.J.'s word that Pope is a crook.

James, Ben, and Maya go to a party hosted by Pope in his mansion. Maya distracts Pope by dancing with him while James and Ben gather info, and A.J. is their eyes and ears. Ben gets attacked by an alligator in the backyard. They get their information, but Pope catches them and knows they're cops, though he lets them go. The team uses their information to locate a group of shipping trucks that may be carrying Pope's contraband. However, when they attempt to stop the trucks at the port, they discover that the trucks are empty. Hernandez scolds the team, as Pope shows up and acts angry for what the team did. Nunez then shows up and calls Hernandez over. Brooks is informed of the screw-up and orders James to be suspended and for Ben to be fired.

The team goes to a bar to think about what they did wrong. Maya then questions as to why Nunez would have shown up so fast at the port. A.J. mentions that Nunez's name was on a list of guys on Pope's payroll. James realizes that Pope knew he would have gotten caught, so he had a decoy in the trucks, and the real contraband items are being brought in somewhere else at the port. James, Maya, and A.J. go after Pope, but Maya handcuffs Ben to a pole after James says he wants Ben to stay so he can take care of Angela. However, Ben breaks free and goes to Alonso's house to get the cuffs off.

James, Maya, and A.J. are at the port in the morning to catch Pope. They have a shootout with Pope and his goons, when Ben arrives and moves a truck to knock over a container with flammable barrels, causing them to explode. Pope runs and grabs A.J., then tries fleeing in a truck. James goes after him, but Ben knocks a container into Pope's path, causing him to crash. James runs to the truck and doesn't find Pope. Pope tries to shoot James, but Ben jumps in the way and takes the bullet. James shoots Pope a few times to bring him down, then sees that Ben was wearing a bulletproof vest. Pope rises and shoots again, but James uses Ben as a human shield, and Maya shoots Pope once more for good measure.

James and Ben are off the hook for taking down Pope and Nunez. They drive home in a yellow Lamborghini that Maya got for the wedding, with James asking Maya to be his date. Ben and Angela are married and are ready to go off on a boat ride, but Ben wants James to make a speech. Reluctantly, James speaks and says that while Ben has gotten him into a lot of trouble since meeting him, he has also saved his life, has made Angela very happy, and has helped James grow into a better man and cop. He finally accepts Ben as his new family. Ben and Angela then go on their boat ride, but Ben gets distracted and is thrown out the boat when he rides over a bump. He is then dragged through the water by a rope as Angela tries to stop the boat, all while James laughs at this.

Casting:

• Ice Cube as Detective James Payton
• Kevin Hart as Officer Ben Barber
• Ken Jeong as A.J.
• Benjamin Bratt as Antonio Pope
• Olivia Munn as Maya Cruz
• Bruce McGill as Lieutenant Brooks
• Tika Sumpter as Angela Payton-Barber
• Glen Powell as Troy
• Sherri Shepherd as Cori
• Nadine Velazquez as Tasha
• Tyrese Gibson as Mayfield

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Joy; American semi-biographical comedy-drama film

Joy is a 2015 American semi-biographical comedy-drama film, written and directed by David O. Russell and starring Jennifer Lawrence as Joy (loosely based on Joy Mangano), a self-made millionaire who created her own business empire.

Mangano was a divorced mother with three children in the early 1990s when she invented the Miracle Mop and became an overnight success, after which she patented many other products, often selling on the Home Shopping Network and QVC. The film is a semi-fictional and inspirational portrayal of how Mangano overcame personal and professional obstacles to rise to the top.

Joy received a wide theatrical release on December 25, 2015, and is distributed by 20th Century Fox. It earned mixed reviews from critics, who praised Lawrence's performance but criticized the writing and pace of the film, particularly the first half. Joy received two Golden Globe Award nominations including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy and a win for Lawrence for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. Lawrence also received a nomination for Best Actress at the 88th Academy.

In 1989, Joy Mangano is a divorced mother of two, working as a booking clerk for Eastern Airlines. She lives with her two young children, her mother, Terri, her grandmother, Mimi, and her ex-husband, Tony in Quogue, New York. Her parents are divorced, and her mother and father, Rudy, fight whenever her father shows up at her home. Joy's older half-sister, Peggy, is an overachiever who constantly humiliates Joy in front of her children. Peggy and Joy's father Rudy are very close. Joy's mother encourages Joy to give up her dreams of becoming a successful inventor although her grandmother and her best friend Jackie believe she will pursue her ideas and become a strong successful woman.

After divorcing his third wife, Joy's father starts dating Trudy, a wealthy Italian widow with some business experience. While on Trudy's boat, Joy drops a glass of red wine, attempts to mop up the mess, and cuts her hands on the broken glass while wringing the mop. Joy returns home and creates blueprints for a self-wringing mop. She builds a prototype with help from the employees at her father's shop. She then convinces Trudy to invest in the product. They make a deal with a company in California to manufacture the mop's parts at a low price. In order to avoid a potential lawsuit, Joy also pays $50,000 in royalties to a man in Hong Kong who supposedly has created a similar product. When the company repeatedly bills Joy for faulty parts they create, Joy refuses to pay the fees and tells her father, Trudy, and Peggy not to pay them.

Joy is advised by Trudy to take out a second mortgage on her home, in order to pay her costs. Joy needs a quick, easy way to advertise her product, and is able to meet with QVC executive Neil Walker. Neil is impressed and shows Joy his infomercials, where celebrities sell entrepreneur's products through a telethon system. Neil tells Joy to manufacture 50,000 mops. The first infomercial fails, but when she goes on QVC, Joy and her product become an overnight success.
Joy's grandmother dies suddenly. Rudy and Trudy send Peggy to California to conduct Joy's company business. Afterwards Peggy tells Joy that she paid excessively raised production fees. Joy is angry and travels to California to meet with the manufacturer, who refuses to pay her back. Joy also discovers that the manufacturer is about to fraudulently patent her design. Her lawyer reveals that there is nothing they can do to prevent this, and Joy is forced to file for bankruptcy. Joy discovers that the manufacturers have been defrauding her the entire time she has dealt with them. She confronts the owner, and forces him to pay her back.

Several years later, Joy is wealthy and runs a successful business. She continues to take care of her father, even though he and Peggy had unsuccessfully sued her for ownership of the company. Jackie and Tony remain her most valued advisors, and Joy is helping young women inventors develop their product ideas.

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