Thursday Movie Picks (Seven Deadly Sins Edition): Greed

In the 14th week of 2020 for Wandering Through the Shelves' Thursday Movie Picks. We return to the subject of the Seven Deadly Sins in the theme of greed. A theme that play into the dark aspects of humanity as it’s more about wanting more and making sure no one else has anything. Considering the times we’re in and that here in America, we have a personification of greed who not only runs the country but is also putting its people down the fucking toilet. Here are my three picks:

1. Shallow Grave

Danny Boyle’s feature film debut isn’t just a fascinating subject on the theme of greed but also in its exploration of human nature. It’s about three flat mates from Edinburgh who take in a mysterious man only to later find him dead but with a suitcase full of money. It is where the film really takes hold as these three people figure out what to do as some are willing to spend while there is someone who becomes unhinged about where the money comes from and all hell starts to break loose. It is an incredible debut film from Danny Boyle which also features longtime Boyle regular Ewan McGregor in his one of his first film roles.

2. There Will Be Blood

Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s Oil! is a film that is dark representation of greed in how a man whose discovery of oil and the oil boom that would emerge in Southern California in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century. Featuring Daniel Day-Lewis in a terrifying yet monstrous performance as a man who goes into the oil business is a study of obsession and power. It shows what a man is willing to do to succeed but also has to endure moments that would shake him but also the sacrifices he would make into his success but at the cost of his own morality and lack of compassion.

3. Knives Out

Rian Johnson’s mystery-comedy is definitely one of the finest films of the 2010s so far as it explores a family whose patriarch had died suddenly as they wonder who will gain his inheritance while an investigator wonders what happened. In the middle of all of this is a young nurse who was caring for this patriarch who created an empire of novels yet had plans about his inheritance as it leads to family members wanting that inheritance. It’s a film that is full of twists and turns that also include some dark secrets as well as revelations about members of the family and why they might’ve been cut off from the inheritance. Daniel Craig’s performance as the investigator Benoit Blanc is a joy to watch as is Chris Evan’s performance as the family’s black sheep in Ransom. Yet, it is Ana de Armas that is the real break out as the nurse Marta who cares for the patriarch played with such reverence by Christopher Plummer.

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