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Category Archives: Occupation/Type of Work

Office Space (1999)

12 Jan

89m; US

Director: Mike Judge

Writers: Mike Judge (Milton animated shorts), Mike Judge (screenplay)

Cast: Ron Livingston, Jennifer Aniston and David Herman

Synopsis (IMDB): In the Initech office, the insecure Peter Gibbons hates his job and the abusive Division VP Bill Lunbergh that has just hired two consultants to downsize the company. His best friends are the software engineers Michael Bolton and Samir Nagheenanajar that also hate Initech, and his next door neighbor Lawrence. His girlfriend Annie is cheating on him but she convinces Peter to visit the hypnotherapist Dr. Swanson. Peter tells how miserable his life is and Dr. Swanson hypnotizes him and he goes into a state of ecstasy. However, Dr. Swanson dies immediately after giving the hypnotic suggestion to Peter. He dates the waitress Joanna and changes his attitude in the company, being promoted by the consultants. When he discovers that Michael and Samir will be fired, they decide to plant a virus in the account system to embezzle fraction of cents in each financial operation into Peter’s account..

 

 
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Posted by on January 12, 2012 in A: Highly Recommended Labor Films, Big Business/Corporations, Comedy, Romance, Technology, White Collar

 

The Apartment (1960)

01 Jan

120m; US
Director    Billy Wilder
A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2012 in Comedy, White Collar

 

The Axe (Le Couperet) [2005]

01 Jan

122m; France

Director: Costa-Gavras

Cast: José Garcia, Karin Viard and Geordy Monfils

Synopsis (IMDB): Bruno Davert, a chemist working for a paper company, is fired. After three years he’s still unemployed, too much competition for the few job position he could fit in his sector. He sent tons of resumes, he attended many qualifying courses, he tried everything but there is nothing to do: no job for him in the industry. The only healthy company in the sector is “Arcadia”, but joining it is just an impossible dream. At this point Bruno is desperate. What he could do: to kill all the competitors? Could he?

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2012 in A: Highly Recommended Labor Films, Big Business/Corporations, Comedy, Drama, White Collar

 

Horrible Bosses (2011)

06 Nov

98m; US
Director: Seth Gordon
Stars: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis

For Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day), the only thing that would make the daily grind more tolerable would be to grind their intolerable bosses (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston) into dust. Quitting is not an option, so, with the benefit of a few-too-many drinks and some dubious advice from a hustling ex-con (Jamie Foxx), the three friends devise a convoluted and seemingly foolproof plan to rid themselves of their respective employers… permanently. There’s only one problem: even the best laid plans are only as foolproof as the brains behind them.
— (C) Warner Bros

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2011 in Comedy, White Collar

 

Rosie the Riveter (1944)

06 Nov

75m; US
Director: Joseph Santley
Writers: Dorothy Curnow Handley (story), Jack Townley (screenplay), and 1 more credit »
Stars: Jane Frazee, Frank Albertson and Barbara Jo Allen

In wartime 1944 in California,defense plant workers Rosalind “Rosie” Warren and her friend Vera Watson must share, on a rotating schedule, the town’s last available rental-room with Charlie Doran and Kelly Kennedy, who work the other shift at the plant. The landlady, Grandma Quill , also has her grandchildren, Buzz Prouty and Mabel Prouty , and her daughter Stella Prouty —who is on the outs with her husband Clem —living with her. Rosie doesn’t tell her fiancé, Wayne Calhoun, about the living arrangements, and is also plotting with Vera to re-unite the Proutys. Rosie pawns the engagement ring Wayne gave her for money for Clem and Stella. Rosie and Charlie fall in love and get their picture in the paper. Wayne huffingly breaks the engagement and wants his ring returned. Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net> IMDB

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2011 in Comedy, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Romance, Women

 

Chance (2009)

06 Nov

91m; Panama
Director: Abner Benaim
Writers: Abner Benaim, Lino Georg von Saenger
Stars: Francisco Gattorno, Rosa Isabel Lorenzo and Aida Morales
This hilarious comedy tells the story of Toña and Paquita, the housekeepers for the aristocratic González-Dubois family. These domestic employees have been mistreated for quite some time and they are tired of their situation. So when the family plans a shopping trip to Miami, the maids have a plan of their own; to take control of the mansion. Unexpectedly, they will also discover a family secret. (Written by Chicago Latino Film Festival)

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2011 in Comedy, Service Workers

 

The Apartment (1960)

06 Nov

120m; US
Dir: Billy Wilder
A man tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2011 in Comedy, Romance, White Collar

 

Dish: Women, Waitressing and the Art of Service (2010)

05 Nov

58m; Canada
Color, DVD, French/Japanese/English, Subtitled

Director: Maya Gallus
View trailer

Why do women bring your food at local diners, while in high-end establishments waiters are almost always men? DISH, by Maya Gallus, whose acclaimed GIRL INSIDE (2007) won Canada’s Gemini Award for documentary directing, answers this question in a delicious, well-crafted deconstruction of waitressing and our collective fascination with an enduring popular icon. Digging beyond the obvious, Gallus, who waited tables in her teens, explores diverse dynamics between food servers and customers, as well as cultural biases and attitudes they convey. Her feminist analysis climbs the socio-economic ladder—from the bustling world of lower-end eateries, where women prevail as wait staff, to the more genteel male-dominated sphere of haute cuisine. Astute, amusing observations from women on the job in Ontario’s truck stop diners, Montreal’s topless”sexy restos,” a Parisian super-luxe restaurant, and Tokyo’s fantasy “maid cafés”, as well as male customers’ telling comments, disclose how gender, social standing, earning opportunities, and working conditions intersect in the food service industry.
– Women Make Movies

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2011 in Documentary, Service Workers, Women

 

24 City (Er shi si cheng ji) (2008)

29 Oct

112m; China
Director: Jia Zhangke
Stars: Jianbin Chen, Joan Chen and Liping Lü

Follows three generations of characters in Chengdu (in the 1950s, the 1970s and the present day) as a state-owned factory gives way to a modern apartment complex.
Cinema Guild, Ryan Krivoshey: rkrivoshey@cinemaguild.com

“Change and a city in China. In Chengdu, factory 420 is being pulled down to make way for multi-story buildings with luxury flats. Scenes of factory operations, of the workforce, and of buildings stripped bare and then razed, are inter-cut with workers who were born in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s telling their stories – about the factory, which manufactured military aircraft, and about their work and their lives. A middle-aged man visits his mentor, now elderly; a woman talks of being a 19-year-old beauty there and ending up alone. The film concludes with two young people talking, each the child of workers, each relaying a story of one visit to a factory. Times change.” IMDB; written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

 
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Posted by on October 29, 2011 in Drama, Industrial/Mine/Manufacturing, Working Class

 

1877: Grand Army of Starvation (1987)

25 Oct

30m; US (click above for excerpt)
James Earl Jones narrates the first film made by the American Social History Project’s series on American working people and U.S. history. Using rare documents and pictures, it explores the massive national railroad strikes of 1877, a watershed event in Pittsburgh and U.S. history

 

 
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Posted by on October 25, 2011 in Documentary, Drama, Strikes-Strikebreaking-Lockouts, Transportation

 
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