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'The Laundromat' the Movie September 1st Release

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panamajames
  8/19/2019 03:51 EST

The 'Panama Papers scandal that rocked financial centers around the world and brought politicians, business leaders and tax dodging sports and entertainment celebrities into a spotlight they for once didn't seek, has been made into a movie that depicts the disgraced protagonists Ramon Fonseca and Jurgen Mossack as seductive lawyers who helped hide billions of dollars from national treasuries.

'The Laundromat' with a star-studded cast including three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, will be presented to the world by the renowned director Steven Soderbergh on September 1 at the prestigious Venice film festival, under the Netflix label. It will also appear at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). founded by Henk Van Der Kolk who launched the Panama festival IFF.

Alongside Streep will be Spanish actor Antonio Banderas, Gary Oldman, Jeffrey Wright, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Cromwell and Sharon Stone, telling the story of the now-defunct Panama law firm " Mossack & Fonseca ".

Antonio Banderas will play Ramón Fonseca Mora and Gary Oldman his partner in crime Jürgen Mossack. who were advisers to then-president Juan Carlos Varela whose activities were exposed by an international consortium of investigative journalists

In the production, Streep, winner of three Oscar awards and eight Golden Globes, plays Ellen Martin, a woman who, during a 'dream vacation takes a wrong turn and leads her down a rabbit hole of shady dealings that can all be traced to one Panama City law firm, run by the seductive partners . She soon learns that her minor predicament is only a drop in the bucket millions of files linking an off-shore tax scheme to the world's richest and most powerful political leaders.

cc532
  8/26/2019 14:23 EST

Thanks for sharing...
During one of my visits to Panama City, first news of this incident became public on the world stage.

Interestingly, when I walked by the offices the day before, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The day after the news hit, I noticed a security guard in front of the building.

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panamajames
  8/29/2019 23:43 EST

Here is the You Tube trailer for the movie 'The Laundromat' a story about the Panama Papers and featuring a host of stars like Meryl Streep and Antonio Banderas, to mention a few.......

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=wuBRcfe4bSo

StanleySankey
  8/30/2019 17:50 EST

The movie no doubt, doesn't mention anything about the long term harm that the ingrained corruption that defines Panama to the international business community does to the economy.

For example one of the multi-nationals that I contract for, used to have a head office in Panama. After this scandal broke, the investors became nervous about investing in any company associated with Panama. As a result, the board of directors orded that the head office be moved and all operations in Panama be shut down. So it is now a Swiss based company and all the former Panamanian employees were let go. Only myself and my boss still work for them, nominally based out of Switzerland. I am sure they are not the only investors with cold feet.

The irony of it is that while Panama doesn't make the list; Switzerland shows up in third spot on the top 10 money laundering countries. In fact 5 out of the 10 are EU countries.

Hypocrisy reigns, and perception is more important than fact.

https://www.businessinsider.com/britains-international-money-laundering-hotspots-according-to-the-treasury-2015-11

panamajames
  8/31/2019 13:29 EST

Here is another Panama movie, an action thriller, about Panama in 1989 featuring Frank Grillo as an ex marine and Morgan Freeman and simply called PANAMA

https://movieweb.com/panama-movie-cast-morgan-freeman-frank-grillo/

StanleySankey
  8/31/2019 20:17 EST

Speaking of movies, there was also Tailor of Panama, 2001 based on a John Le Carré book.

Starring: Pierce Brosnan, Geoffrey Rush, Jamie Lee Curtis

A tailor living in Panama reluctantly becomes a spy for a British agent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if887QzvTiw

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panamajames
  8/31/2019 22:03 EST

You may have seen this on the Panama Newsroom regarding movie dates of September 27th in theaters and October 10th for Netflix for The Laundromat................

'Panama could see its already shady financial image, further tarnished with the Sunday, September 1 premiere of The Laundromat, a biographical reprise of the money laundering activities of the now-dead Mossack Fonseca law firm, one of whose principals was an adviser to former president Juan Carlos Varela. While the other sat on a government committee.

The exposure of the company’ files by investigative journalists revealing how they hid billions of dollars from tax inspectors for criminals. Businessmen, entertainment, and sports stars, even politicians sent a tsunami through world financial centers and led to panic-stricken reactions in Panama, including the setting up of an investigation team including a Nobel prizewinner and a prominent Swiss lawmaker. Both walked away after what they saw as hamstrung by the government. The scandal became known as The Panama Papers.

The Netflix film, called for Latin America "La Lavandería", is directed by Steven Soderbergh, with a screenplay by Scott Z. Burns. It stars Meryl Streep, Gary Oldman, Antonio Banderas, Jeffrey Wright, Matthias Schoenaerts, James Cromwell and Sharon Stone. With that star-studded base look out for Oscar nominations.

It will be released to movie theaters on September 27 before digital streaming on Netflix on October 10.

“ The giant of the streaming platform shows the Panama Papers scandal and the investigation that uncovered this case of tax fraud worldwide, which could impact the interest of foreign investments in the country. Panama is already on the gray list. If the government and society do not make the corresponding adjustments to our legislation, if they do not strengthen the justice system, if they do not make the adjustments, they can scare away the investments ”, warns lawyer, Ernesto Cedeño.

Jazzmann
  9/1/2019 11:26 EST

Like the line in the 1937 movie Lost Horizons concerning the people of Shangri La. They are moderately honest and moderately chaste. In Panama politicians are moderately corrupt. But as you say, perception trumps reality.

panamajames
  9/2/2019 12:04 EST

Meryl Streep paid tribute on Sunday, September 1 in Venice to the work done by the 300 journalists who revealed to the world the scandal of the Panama Papers. the theme of “The Laundromat” black comedy of Steven Soderbergh that was presented to compete for the Golden Lion award.

"The reason why The Panama Papers came to light is that there were journalists who worked for it and some have died," said the triple Oscar winner at a press conference at the Venice International Film Festival and specifically mentioned Daphne Caruana Galizia, who died in a car bomb attack in front of her home in Malta.

"It's a comedy, yes," she said in reference to the comedy-drama tone chosen by the director, "but a joke that all of us have exhausted," she added. "This is a fun movie but also very important."

Streep was accompanied by Soderbergh and Gary Oldman, who in fiction plays one of Mossack Fonseca's partners, the law firm that starred in the scandal. Antonio Banderas, who plays the second partner, was not in Venice.

The film that competes for the Golden Lion reconstructs the real events behind the unveiling in 2016 of 11.5 million documents detailing the financial circuits that followed by major fortunes of the world to avoid paying taxes.

But it also introduces fictional characters and details: Streep is an already retired woman who suffers an accident on her vacation that leads her to discover a false insurance policy, which turns out to be the end of a thread of a capital scandal.

panamajames
  9/10/2019 13:37 EST

Here is another Panama movie if you like DC Comics. The plot for The Suicide Squad from DC Comics is set in Panama,

09/10/2019 A rumored plot surfaces for James Gunn's 'The Suicide Squad' which looks to involve an alien monster and two villains.

According to the rumor, the plot for The Suicide Squad is set in Panama, Amanda Waller sends the Squad there to find an Alien monster locked inside an old prison that was being used during World War 2 by the Nazis. The Monster is now being used by two evil dictators - The Mayor and The General.

While the plot isn't too revealing, bear in mind "The Monster," "The Mayor," and "The General" are most likely code names to hide actual DC Comics characters.

I'm not that familiar with the Suicide Squad comics, so I don't know if this at all sounds familiar, but I wouldn't put it past James Gunn to do an original story.

According to what I was told at Comic-Con, The Suicide Squad will be told from the perspective of the villain or villains, and that it's going to be "awesome" and "bad a--" and something that not only DC fans will love, but Marvel fans as well.

I've also been told James Gunn will be returning to the DCEU following Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy 3 as Gunn is a huge DC fan.
Gunn will also be holding a table read this week and is said to start filming on Sept. 23.

The Suicide Squad gets released August 6, 2021 said to star Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Idris Elba in an unknown role, David Dastmalchian (Polka-Dot Man), Daniela Melchior (Ratcatcher), German comedian-actor Flula Borg in an unknown role, Steve Agee (King Shark), and Nathan Fillion and Taika Waititi in unknown roles, Peter Capaldi is going bald for a role, Pete Davidson in a cameo, in addition to John Cena rumored as Peacemaker.

https://cosmicbook.news/james-gunn-suicide-squad-rumored-plot-villains

panamajames
  9/13/2019 20:44 EST

Heading to Panama for about a month,..................................


Warner Bros. and DC Comics is gearing up for production on The Suicide Squad, which will assemble its cast in Atlanta next week. The James Gunn-directed movie is set to begin production this month and is scheduled to shoot in Georgia for three months before heading to Panama for about a month, ComicBook.com has learned. The anti-heroes are going international.

Warner Bros. confirmed with ComicBook.com that filming with start this month but did not comment on locations of production.

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panamajames
  9/13/2019 21:57 EST

More about The Laundromat movie, which is being called a comedy, that opens in theatres on September 27th and Netflix October 10th.

“The United States is one of the largest tax havens in the world. Sixty of its large companies did not pay taxes in 2018” warns the director of The Laundromat, among the many pearls of the film, and President Donald Trump is skilled in the ways of tax avoidance.

The intricate paths of money that passes through Panama are narrated with originality and efficiency in the denunciation film ‘’The Laundromat’’, by renowned American director Steven Soderbergh, with a stubborn and combative Meryl Streep, screened at the Venice Film Festival.
The Hollywood star, who plays a widow deceived by the traps of the financial system, is the central character of a complex and dangerous mechanism narrated with humor and irony.

To tell a scandal that involved about 400 journalists worldwide and revealed the concealment of property, companies, assets, profits and tax evasion of heads of state and government, world policy leaders, personalities of finance, sports, and art, Soderberg, uses two great actors, the British Gary Oldman, and the Spanish actor Antonio Banderas.
They are the owners of the law firm Mossack and Fonseca, of Panama, whose massive escape release of documents in 2016 allowed us to discover how the rich and powerful avoid paying taxes.

Produced by Netflix, the Oscar-winning filmmaker Soderbergh says, that it is mostly a lesson, in chapters and with an ironic tone, about corruption, the economic system and tax havens, by two elegant acting masters.

"We thought that having fun was the best way to stay in the viewer's mind and also a way to alleviate the complexity of the subject," Soderbergh explained.

panamajames
  9/14/2019 23:23 EST

Here is more about the Suicide Squad movie. Apparently in Panama, the Squad will be dealing with an extraterrestrial monster. Can't wait.

James Gunn will begin production on his DCEU movie, 'The Suicide Squad' this month, with actors like Jai Courtney reprising their roles from the previous Suicide Squad film. Shooting will reportedly get underway in Atlanta, Georgia starting next week and continue for three months before heading to Panama for an additional month.

Plot details for The Suicide Squad, which Gunn will direct based on his own script, are mostly being kept under wraps for the time being. However, it's been reported that the story will revolve around Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sending the Squad to Panama to deal with an extraterrestrial monster.

Margot Robbie is also expected to return as Harley Quinn in the film, making The Suicide Squad the third DCEU installment she's appeared in after David Ayer's Suicide Squad and Cathy Yan's Birds of Prey (which opens next February).

panamajames
  9/16/2019 00:13 EST

Another Panama movie to see, if you haven't seen it already is Alita: Battle Angel...........................

Alita: Battle Angel was filmed in Panama City in the Republic of Panama. It is a 2019 American cyberpunk action film based on the 1990s Japanese manga series Battle Angel Alita by Yukito Kishiro. It was directed by Robert Rodriguez, co-produced by James Cameron and written by Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis. It was released in the United States on February 14, 2019, by 20th Century Fox in RealD 3D, Dolby Cinema 3D and IMAX 3D formats. It is the first film produced by Lightstorm Entertainment since Avatar and the last to be solely released by 20th Century Fox before The Walt Disney Company took control of the studio as part of their acquisition of 21st Century Fox on March 20, 2019. The film grossed over $404 million worldwide and is Rodriguez's highest-grossing film. It received mixed reviews, with praise for Salazar's performance, the action scenes and visual effects but criticism for the screenplay. The film received positive responses from audiences. Rosa Salazar stars as the heroine Alita, a cyborg who awakens in a new body with no memory and sets out to learn her destiny. With James Cameron as co-producer, the film was produced with the same mix of live-action and computer-generated imagery that Cameron used in Avatar. In a February 2019 interview, Cameron revealed that he set the floating city of Zalem in the Republic of Panama, specifically Panama City. He explained that the city Zalem is not floating, but hanging from a space elevator, which would only work physically near the equator. As a result of the new location, Iron City was designed with Spanish signage and Latin American architecture.

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