alexisp@ihuxk.UUCP (06/13/83)
Trading Places: stars eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd not even Eddie Murphy was able to save a poor script. The laughs were half hearted, the story was prepostorous (for example eddie murphy turning into a financial whiz in about 5 min flat...) and I thought the movie was 1) racist: somehow, no one laughed very hard at any of the racist jokes, mostly because they didn't come across as jokes... 2)sexist: for no apparent reason, we get treated to several women showing their breasts, without ever adding to the story. (i have to admit I didn't know Jamie Lee Curtis had such a nice body though...). this kind of nudity is unwarranted, and reinforces the point that women are sex-objects. Also, we had one more example of that famous male fantasy, the golden-hearted whore. this makes even less sense when you realize that at no time is the fact that Curtis is a prostitute really have anythging to do with the movie!! 3) a rip-off: one scene in particular was a DIRECT rip-off of one of richard pryor's funniest moments ever, the "I'm BAADDD" routine in Stir Crazy. conclusion: sophomoric movie that wasn't very funny, and not worth seeing. 2 stars. Alexis Porras ihuxk!alexisp Bell Labs, IH
silver@csu-cs.UUCP (06/26/83)
Somewhat predictable, simple plot. Nonetheless enjoyable, very entertaining. Some parts not "believable". Fast-paced, varied. No violence, some cursing, generally tasteful sexuality. Nice ending. Overall: worth seeing, 8/10. PS: I found it amusing that Jamie Lee Curtis's sexy cut in the coming attractions, where she's wearing a tight red top, was actually a nude scene in the movie.
cwd@ihuxq.UUCP (06/29/83)
I wasn't completely paying attention when the pawn broker came on the screen, but my glimpse of him makes me think it was Bo Diddly (Diddley ?). He has been in a revival mode lately. The MTV video for "Bad to the Bone" by Geo. Thoroughgood has him playing Geo. at pool. A great video!!!!!!!!! CWD-ARIES
rsg@cbscc.UUCP (06/30/83)
I fully understand how the Duke's lost money at the end of the film, but I do not understand how the heroes gained a fortune. Does anybody out there understand the commodities market enough to explain it?
mauney@ncsu.UUCP (07/01/83)
References: cbscc.114 Q: I understand how the Hunts (I mean the Dukes) lost money at the end of the film, but how did the good guys make money? (---------Minor spoiler---------------) A: Simple, they sold high and bought low. High when the Dukes were trying to corner the market, low when the market panicked. Notice that since they were able to buy back all the OJ they'd sold, they didn't necessarily have to own any in the first place (selling short).
israel@umcp-cs.UUCP (07/03/83)
What I believe happened (and I'm not an expert on the commodities market either) is that: First, Louis and Billy Ray waited for the price of frozen OJ stock to get up to $1.40 and then they sold. This is called selling short, which means that they were selling options that they didn't have yet. This is a binding transaction on them, which means that they have until the transaction is completed to actually acquire ownership of the necessary papers. Second, the announcement that the orange crop was going to be a full crop was released. This immediately lowers the worth of the frozen orange juice stock, which starts to plummet. When it got down to twenty-nine cents they bought up the necessary paper to cover their first transaction (which was what they had sold earlier in the first place). So what they effectively did was to buy thousands of shares at twenty nine cents apiece and sell those shares at one dollar and forty cents each. The order of the buying and selling doesn't matter. If the price had gone up, then they would have had to buy options at a higher price to cover what they had sold at a lower price, so they would have lost money. Are there any commodities experts out there who can confirm or deny this? -- ~~~ Bruce ...!seismo!umcp-cs!israel (Usenet) israel.umcp-cs@Udel-Relay (Arpanet)
tombl@metheus.UUCP (07/04/83)
Regarding commodities trading: commodities brokers cover only a fraction of the cost of a commodity they buy or sell. They can, and frequently do, undertake transactions which exceed the total capitilization of their company. What happened in the movie was that the "buy" went out in anticipation of a rise in the price of orange juice concentrate futures. What the broker will be expecting to do is hold the commodity, perhaps for only for a matter of minutes, and then sell at the new (higher) price. In the movie, everyone got a "sell" at the same time (Dept. of Ag.) announcement. Clearly, the broker will want to unload the commodity as soon as possible -- but at that point no one was buying. Hence the drop in price as brokers become increasingly desperate. The buy at 30, or whatever it was, was a buy by our heroes, who at that point were holding nothing. They could reasonably expect the price to rise (so also could anyone else who happened to be following the action), probably to a level not too different than 100 where it started. Presumably they had the cash to cover themselves in the meantime, or could raise it either from other sources or by selling out part of their holdings at a lower price. The other brokers may not had the cash, or the confidence, to wait for the price to rise. Also, they had an opportunity cost to factor in.
syko@hou2b.UUCP (07/05/83)
I saw Trading Places last night. I highly recommend it. A very funny movie. Danny Sykora hou2b!syko
Caro.PA@PARC-MAXC.ARPA (10/26/83)
"Trading Places" has been out for quite a while now, but you can still catch it at the discount places. Starring Dan Ackroyd and my man Eddie Murphy. Rehash of the "Prince and the Pauper" under the guise of a "scientific experiment" conducted by two VERY RICH old fogeys. Eddie Murphy steals the show, as usual. Dan is ok, but a bit lack-luster. Jamie-Lee Curtis (??) does a good bit as a soft-hearted, but right-headed hooker. No gratuitous sex and very little violence, sorry. The movie includes a five minute lesson on the commodities market, and the old adage "buy low, sell high" is proven, once again, to be true. On the Commodore's Scale of Merit (6 bells being all's well) I'd give this a 4 (one comedian does not a good movie make.) Commodore Perry Next week (with any luck): "The Right Stuff"