Tonight at The Screen, Andrew and Leslie Cockburn are in from Washington, DC to show and discuss their new documentary, American Casino. The muckraking husband and wife made a name for themselves through years of international investigative reporting; they also co-wrote and co-produced the 1997 George Clooney/Nicole Kidman flick, The Peacemaker.

I just watched American Casino—well, most of it—and it's very good. Critics for the New Yorker, New York magazine, and The New York Times, thought so, too. It's unusual for a movie about finance by left-leaning filmmakers to get so much attention, but not so puzzling, what with the recession and all.

"People want to know. They want to know what's happened," Andrew Cockburn tells SFR. "The system has taken a terrible buffeting... You know, there's a real sense at the moment—it may go away—that the system that was so enthused over—deregulation, free markets, financial innovation—suddenly stands naked before us as a complete disaster. I think that's why they're prepared to pay attention."

Look for an interview with Andrew, who co-wrote the film, in next week's issue of SFR. In the meantime, watch the trailer...


...and go to the screening tonight at 7pm. Andrew promises a "lively" Q&A session.

Yesterday, while playing navigator on the way here, he asked SFR: "“Does New Mexico get a lot of income from speeding fines?”