Whether you Netflix or matinee, movies provide a cheap, albeit fleeting, diversion fromyour monetary woes. The following movies offer valuable lessons that are gleaned from avariety of sources, ranging from single mothers to stockbrokers to soulless salesmen. Asnecessity is the mother of invention, there’s no better time than the present to learn a fewlessons from the silver screen.

As we look forward to the multitude of possibilities in 2009, it's important to keep in mind that the future, while exciting, is difficult to predict. We can approach our goals with a carefully plotted precision, but even in the most calculated circumstances, sometimes things go horribly wrong. Take late night talk shows for example. The hosts do their best to keep the shows funny while maintaining the standards and practices enacted by the FCC, but that doesn’t mean they always maintain control. Sometimes the proverbial “crap” simply hits the fan.

As we all know, celebrities commonly endorse their own products: TV shows, movies, apparel lines, even bottles of overpriced fragrances that smell like rubbing alcohol. But probably my favorite strain of celebrity endorsements, simply because I take an absurd amount of pleasure in eating (particularly around the holidays), is that related to the food and beverage industry.