I was living in New York in September 2008, and took some time a couple of days after the stock market crash to visit way downtown Manhattan and see what was going on. The quietude was shocking, as the alarms being sounded on cable news networks made it sound like I shouldn’t be surprised to see brokers peddling on the street, people running around on fire for no apparent reason, or CEOs segway-ing off of cliffs. As I rarely visited the Financial District, I had no idea whether or not this was normal. Maybe the crash had invoked a necessary meditation or speechlessness, a rare time of reflection for capitalists-run-amok. But the truth was that such panic wouldn’t be visible on the street amongst the common folk (houses around the country owned by low and middle-income families told that story), rather the chaos was happening inside the buildings themselves. Oliver Stone’s latest entry into his “W” trilogy dealing with major 21st century American events (alongside World Trade Center and W.), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, is an attempt to inquire on the conversations that may have gone on in those buildings.

Put simply, it’s going to be a populist kind of year. Once again, the likes of Avatar and Star Trek, along with The Hangover, are hanging around during awards season.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their list of the final group of 15 films that will contend for the Best Documentary Feature award this week, and with said announcement comes a twinge of bittersweetness.

This week on a very special episode of Reject Radio, we discuss spoilers (what they are and where to find them), zombie attacks, and why Ricky Gervais really loves being told he’s a fat slob.

It’s $25 million dollars this weekend for the hit Zombieland, proving that the zombie movie genre is alive and well. As for the other movies — all I gotta say is where the hell ARE you people?

Kevin Carr takes a look at this week’s movie releases, including Zombieland, Whip It and Capitalism: A Love Story.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is still in theaters making money, but it sure looks as if the defending champ could fall victim to a concerted attack by the zombies and other things.

Neil returns from the pit of the Great Unwashed, otherwise known as Fantastic Fest. Kevin is stunned that he actually saw some movies this week but understands the Vegas odds of that happening when five flicks head into wide release. The Fat Guys talk toys, roller derby, capitalism and zombies.

It’s time now to turn our attention to the fall though, and what’s traditionally known as Awards season, but nestled between the blockbusters of summer and prestige films of fall is a little dumping ground Hollywood calls September…

Overture Films has released the first trailer for Capitalism: A Love Story, the latest documentary from the king of shock-docs himself, Michael Moore.

Despite the fact that he’s made his name in the world of documentaries, director Michael Moore has dabbled in the world of narrative filmmaking before. And it appears as if he’s about to do it again.

The Venice Film Festival has announced it’s 2009 line-up this week, showing off the films that will make-up it’s 66th annual fest.

Even Adam Smith is groaning at Michael Moore. Hey, but speaking of capitalism, can we borrow five bucks?