Word: repos
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
WHAT WE HAVE here is across between Road Warrior and Decline of Western Civilization a fact which is readily apparent about ten minutes into Repo Man. The Road Warrior bit opens the show as the film begins with a deranged scientist named J. Frank Parnell streaking down a barren L. A. highway in a 6-4 Chevy Malibu A policeman sets off after him on a motorcycle, pulls him to the side of the road, and inquires what is in the trunk, which seems to contain something hot--literally. I wouldn't look in there, Parnell intimates, thereby piquing...
...flip side of Repo Man's bizarreness emerges in the next few scenes, wherein we are introduced to the film's chief protagonist, a young suburban punk called Otto. Otto is rootless, aimless, unhinged--of this we are made painfully aware. We meet him first in a supermarket, where he is getting fired from his job, but the scene quickly shifts to outside an L.A. home where a gang of punks are into some serious slam-dancing action. The scene and music (solid hardcore) immediately conjure up the rage of Decline, the late great documentary about the L.A. punk scene...
...then resell it on the open market at a premium price that reflected its accrued interest. Immediately thereafter, Drysdale would turn around and buy a replacement Treasury security of identical face value, but one that had less accumulated interest. The second security was then used to settle the repo account when it eventually came due. In this way, Drysdale kept its accounts in apparent balance yet continued to pocket a portion of the interest on each repo deal. High interest rates derailed the whole scheme because the bonds Drysdale had bought against the ones it borrowed failed to rise...
Chase was even more isolated from the financial community the next day, when Manufacturers Hanover Trust, which had also been involved in Drysdale repo deals, announced that it would make good to brokerage houses on some $29 million in weekend interest payment defaults by Drysdale. Only three hours later, a thoroughly chastened Chase reversed it self and said that it would also honor its commitments after...
Drysdale's repo troubles had been quietly brewing for weeks, as credit market conditions began to undermine the company's assumption that interest rates were going higher. Instead of the generous profits that Arnold had predicted, Drysdale had a steady stream of losses. The real crisis started last Monday, when the firm failed to meet $250 million in interest due to Chase Manhattan Bank, its principal repo supplier...