1922

Based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name, 1922 is a new released American horror-drama film. 1922 is the sixth film adapted from Stephen King’s novels in this year. Stephen King is a well known author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. My blog post Gerald’s Game is another horror film based on King’s novel of the same name. Both Gerald’s Game and 1922 were based on the protagonist psychological activity.

1922 is about how a selfish father destroyed his own family. The main protagonist in this movie is a farmer, Wilfred who killed his wife, Arlette, with aid from his son Henry in order to keep their land. Wilfred and Henry murdered Arlette and throw the corpse into a dry well. Arlette's body was bitten by thousand of rats. Their son Henry became quiet and soon started to hate the murder, which made his girlfriend Shannon concerned. Henry and Shannon ran away after Shannon was discovered to be pregnant and was required to stay in a religious institution and then give away the children.

In the winter, Wilfred’s house became infected with rats, and he has his hand amputated due to the infection caused by rats. In the other scenes, Shannon was shot when they robbing people, and she died in the next morning, followed the suicide of Henry. Coincidentally or deliberately,  their bodies were tore by rats like Arlette’s body. Wilfred finally decided to move into city, however his rest of life was accompanied by rats. The whole movie was composed of scenes of rats: rats were biting the corpse, rats were standing on the bed, which makes the audience sick.  

This movie  can be considered as a reflection of the urbanization in the United States. With the process of industrialization, the urbanization rate increased dramatically in 1920s. Due to the industrialization, which made a great impact on the traditional agriculture, many farmers moved to cities to seek for the opportunity. However there always some old fashion people like Wilfred chose to stay in his land and protect their lands. There is nothing wrong to keep their land, but the protagonist in this movie should never protect his land by murdering his wife, and according to the movie, the land should belong to his wife. Wilfred’s way to teach children is totally unacceptable. How could a father tell his son to murder their beloved family.

I feel Stephen King likes to teach people something in his works. In 1922, the protagonist wrote down his confession and kept saying there always ways to solve problems. However, it was too late for Wilfred to realized that he could solve the conflict between selling the land and keep it.

In conclusion, 1922 has a good story reflecting the history and telling people there always more than one way to solve the problem. With the compact but flat storyline, film 1922 is neither a good nor a bad movie.

What Happened, Miss Simone?

Hey, Mr. Schroeder. Remember me? I was in your music class and band in middle school. I was always very good at that game with the class where we guess the song played, or at least my mom tells me that you're still impressed with me about that. Well, suffice to say, I may have gotten even more musically inclined (in that I've listened to so much more music than I've ever blinked), but that's a story for a different time. For now, I've been assigned a writing assignment (this blog post) in which I have to write to you and you have to respond back. So, being a music teacher and musically inclined, and my class pertaining to Netflix, I decided to watch something musical and educational, so a documentary was the obvious answer. That led me to What Happened, Miss Simone?

What Happened, Miss Simone? is, as you could probably tell from the title, a documentary on the life and legend of acclaimed jazz musician and civil rights activist Nina Simone. It details her life from childhood, where she learned to play piano, to her stardom and activism in civil rights in the 60's, to her downfall and resurgence, and all in between. ALL in between. A great chunk of this documentary about Nina's battles with her personal demons and their effect on her family, friends, and career. Things like been stressed out with having to perform, being away from home from her daughter, and some other reasons I don't want to spoil because A. it's shocking and a bigger gut punch if you don't previously know about it, and B. it's quite depressing and I really don't wanna type it out. In fact, a lot of this documentary will have you feeling melancholic because, as I said, it showcases her personal demons. Granted, there are happy moments and even a (relatively) happy ending, but a lot of it is very hard to stomach emotionally. Another fair warning, halfway into it it starts getting quite political in an extreme sense (as she was heavily influenced by people like Malcolm X and Stokely Carmichael), so depending on where you stand with the issues of nonviolent vs. violent protests, it may be a bit uncomfortable to watch.

On the whole though, this was one of the most emotionally moving films I've ever seen, let alone documentaries. I had previously listened to Miss Simone's music in the past, but I never knew about her backstory and her life and her struggles. But now that I do know, I think her music is gonna be VERY different the next time I listen to it. Now, I don't know if you've listened to Nina Simone before (though I wouldn't doubt that you have), but I may recommend listening to some of her songs BEFORE watching the film. When you get the meaning behind them from the film, the songs become much more (and if it helps, the film also splices in some live performances too, albeit with commentary over it). So, in summary, this was a very great and very emotional film, and being the music guy you are, I'd suggest watching this as soon as possible.

Abstract: The Art of Design and Why I Miss My High School English Teacher

Murray,

In no means is the point of this to be sappy. I respect your resistance to warm hugs and butterflies, but I have to tell you, after graduating and leaving your English class behind, I really do miss it. You taught me how to see things in a new light and, most importantly, how to turn that into a form of expression. For my current writing class, I watched this neat documentary entitled Abstract: The Art of Design. The documentary told the story of a talented illustrator, Christoph Niemann, and every so often I caught a line or two from him that reminded me of some of the best lessons you taught me.

1. "Is it about me or is it by me?"
In your sophomore English class I quickly learned that there were so many more important things than myself as an individual. There's no better example to pull from than the one you never let me forget: the group project with Sean and Lili that went up in flames. It was in that moment that you made Sean and I lead a sinking ship that I realized my part of the project was not the only part that mattered. The project was not about me. It sounds so silly, but that was my first realization that truly working with people to come up with a concept as a whole group is so much more valuable than only doing your part and hoping they do theirs too, because that doesn't work out as often as I'd like. From that point on, I've never forgotten that group projects, and projects in general, are not about me, but simply by me.

2. "Abstraction is getting rid of everything that's not essential to making a point."
This one was a tough concept to grasp. I genuinely enjoy adding lots of detail in my writings, so getting straight to the point was an interesting shift, but you helped me get through it. This point is fairly straight forward, so I'll just say thank you for forcing me to take out all the unnecessary fluff.

3. "The highest compliment you could hope for is 'well, I don't really have a problem with that."
I'm really not sure if it's possible to impress you. That being said, in your class I continued to try and get that sort of response in everything I submitted. 9/10 days of the week one is likely to hear you utter something like "these papers are going to be horrible," which is scary all on its own, yet invites a sort of challenge too. You helped me get accustomed to the criticism and brutal honesty of the real world which is 110% better than sugar coating it, so thank you for that.

This blog post really is not how I envisioned it going, nor is it how it's supposed to go. Normally, I explain a little about the show I watched, discuss some features of the film dynamic and then form some sort of concluding idea, however I've done quite a few of these blog posts and really wanted a change in the flow. The moral of this story is, thank you for making me more of a fearless writer, Murray.

All good things,

Kayla

Dystopia?

Dystopia. The opposite of a utopia. What makes those frightening for me at this point in my life is that a lot of those stories have a chance to happen depending on what choices we as people cause. Having had experiences that I don’t usually share with people, and maybe you don’t even know, gives me a kind of glass half empty outlook on life. What happened to Monday? Is a movie with that kind of outlook. This movie was premiered on Netflix in August in France.

I want to look at the plot and how it fits a dystopian outlook. Dystopian novels are classified as, “a genre of fiction writing used to explore social and political structures in a dark, nightmare world.” (Booker, “Dystopian Literature: A Theory and Research Guide”) When explained in high school my teacher used the most widely used definition: the opposite of a utopia. So instead of finding a story with shoed everything we wanted out of this world, instead of finding the American dream, I found a movie about despair and what could happen based on poor decisions or better yet on decisions made for me, not by me.

In What happened to Monday? the world’s population has grown and is continuing to grow exponentially, weaning the world of our resources. The more people on the earth meant more mouths to feed, but the amount of crops weren’t growing. So they genetically engineered them. That enhancement also affected the people eating them though; whatever they did to the crops made it so nearly every woman only got pregnant with multiple births. Doesn’t help their cause right? So how they continue to deal with the overpopulation is to do what China has had from 1979 to today and according to them will continue in the future: a one child law. You had to choose which of your children you would keep because you could only have one, and the families were told that their other children are being cryogenically frozen until a time comes when they can live freely on their world.

Spoiler. They lied. The main characters’ grandfather decides to keep all seven of his identical granddaughters and name them each after a day of the week, and that is the only day they are allowed out of the house, unless they want to be killed. They all live one life, with one name on their day. Only in their home could they be themselves, and as assumed by the title one day Monday doesn’t come back.

Just from that description I would say that this movie classifies as a dystopian film. This film explores a political and social construct currently in use in one part of the world. It takes this idea and shows what could happen if we continue in that route, but in a dark and almost sinister light. The morals shown in this movie are what make dystopian novels so compelling. No one who would watch What happened to Monday?  Would think that this movie ends like a fairytale romance.  This type of movie or book is made to make you think about humanity and where we are headed. Is that world somewhere I would want to live? How would we go about fixing that kind of world? I personally liked What happened to Monday?, but if you know me, you know I love dystopian things.

Narcos

Dear Mrs. Stanley,

Narcos is Set and filmed in Colombia, and tell the story of drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, who became a billionaire through the production and distribution of cocaine, while also focusing on Escobar's interactions with drug lords, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, and various opposition entities.  It is told through the perspective of Steve Murphy, an American DEA agent working in Colombia. The series depicts how Escobar first became involved in the cocaine trade in Colombia. He was an moving trucks worth of illegal goods (alcohol, cigarettes, and household appliances) into Colombia during a time when this was strictly forbidden, when introduced to "Cockroach” who made cocaine he pitched the idea that they go into business together, with “Cockroach” producing and Escobar distributing the new, profitable drug.

I believe that this is a show that you would absolutely fall in love with if you watched it. In high school I had you for so many different classes including Criminal Justice and Spanish, through these classes and various other times spent with you I learned a lot about you and both of these subjects. I know that you have visited South America many times and absolutely loved it, I feel like the aspect of the show being shot down there and portraying It well you would really enjoy. Along with the fact we’ve had Criminal Justice together and even talked about Pablo Escobar and how he ran the drug trade, he was easily the best drug trafficker of his time. I know that you really enjoy talking and learning about drug trade and things of that nature and really think you would enjoy watching it and hearing the story from a perspective instead of reading about it. It is a unique opportunity to feel like you are right there front and center with the action.

I think that both of these aspects of this show are things that are very important to you and you really enjoy. Together they sit well and make it an even better fit for you. I really enjoy the show because even though it is not real a lot of the facts and general substance of the show and information on Pablo Escobar is extremely accurate. They used mostly correct information and because of this you can see yourself In a way how all of this went down including how Escobar got around and how he profited all the way to how cocaine is made and distributed. For me I feel like this was really interesting and a lot more enjoyable to watch and learn that way rather than reading it and trying to make an image in my head.

Overall I think you would really enjoy this show and you should definitely watch it sometime and see if you like it just as much as I do. 

Lesson Learned

Narcos is a show that is all about drugs and money and power and sex. People make think that there nothing else to get from this show than the topics stated. Well, in my opinion, they are wrong. Why would they be wrong Brandon? Well this is because the show shows how to take care a family, it may not be the right way , but one subliminal message that they convey and something that we can learn from is "Get it by any means." Do not get me wrong, there are other ways to get what you need in life but some people just don't have it as easy as other people. Some people can just go to college or school, get a simple degree and live a simple life. There are also some kids who are born into wealth, and do not have to do anything except sit there and accept inheritance. Then are the kids who never had anything, the kids who have to steal what they need because their parents are dead or drug addicts who abuse their children. The saying goes "If you lie, you will cheat, if you cheat, you will steal, if you steal you will kill."

In Narcos Season 1 Episode 3, Escobar is being targeted to end his political ambitions. As this is going on, Escobar is, from the civilians in Medellin as they complained to Agent Penas, heard to be opening more schools and building more hospitals. He built and did these things in his hometown for his people because he knew what it was like growing up the way he did. It wasn't easy but he knew what he had to do after Pablo saw his first dead body. Another episode in Narcos during season 2 was when the police were actively looking for Escobar to kill or arrest him. It was very cold at the time and The Escobars were using one of their last escape homes. With no clothes or heater to warmth themselves, Pablo used money to keep them warm. He burning millions, according to his biography, to keep his wife and kids home. Think about this for a second. If Pablo was only in it for the money, would he be burning his money to keep his family warm when he could've kicked them out or have them killed if he didn't care. The root of all his actions were "Get it by any means; for yourself or your family."

I do not have much to say than that to be honest. Narcos taught me, and possibly other men and women out there, that if there is a positive way to do things with your life go ahead and do them, but if there is no other way but the wrong way, do whatever it takes for the sake of your life and your families lives.

The OA pt 2

After watching the entire first season of the show “The OA”, I wasn’t sure exactly how to interpret the ending. So, me being me, I went and did a little research on it. I guess I should add in a little spoiler alert, as I didn’t pick up a clear moral or lesson until the very end. In the show, The OA educates her new found friends on her life and where she had been the past few years of being missing. Towards the end, the friends she’s made begin to question if she was really telling the truth about her experiences. Though, in the end, they decided to believe her and ended up saving a lot of people in their school. While this may sound a little cheesy, I feel as though the OA was meant to show to teach how to unquestionably be able to trust people, no matter how crazy something may seem. The OA’s friends, towards the end of her story, the people that had been helping her along the way and listening to her story began to find holes in her story, and think that she might be crazy and she made the whole thing up. Some believe her therapist planted evidence at her house to make everyone think for sure that she based her story off of many others. So, eventually, her friends stop believing in her and leave her side. However, the OA starts having dreams that lead her to believe something terrible is going to happen. She’s trying to figure it out in order to save others, but at first it simply confuses her. A month passes, and the OA comes to realize what is about to happen. After a school shooter goes to the school all her new friends attended, they all came together to perform the movements she had taught to them. In the end, they aid in saving the majority of their school, and the OA potentially dies in the open fire. In the end, they realize all they had to do was put some faith into her and her story. The show demonstrates how some people may not seem logical, they may not seem trustworthy, and maybe even a little crazy. However, sometimes people just need a little faith, and good things could come their way, and tragedy can be prevented. While, in the end, the OA may have perished, she still was able to save the many by gaining friends and showing them how to help others.  

Food: The Portal of Connection With the Community, Family, and Yourself

Food is wildly important to all people; literally food is vital because organisms need energy to live, but Netflix's Cooked, a documentary focused on the intersection of food and culture, explores the fundamentals of food: fire, water, air, and earth in an effort to remind people to get back to basics and enjoy time together.
In the first episode, best-selling author Michal Pollan rediscovers fire. Through the super interesting history of aboriginal hunters in Australia that used fire as their primary hunting tool and a more modern, yet classic, style of fire-based cooking, southern barbecue, he explains why cooking on raw fire is essential.
throughout the whole episode, Pollan argues that the community aspect of food is lost in modern times. He begins by stating that everyone has good memories of someone they love cooking them food and from that have an appreciation for it, yet nowadays the respect and appreciation is lost because there are less home-cooked meals. I think that's very true in that knowing somebody spent hours upon hours cooking a meal for you is an obvious act of kindness that is kind of rare, at least for me. Because so much of today's diet is fast food, or just restaurants in general, it's really easy to take food for granted. Perhaps because it isn't made by somebody you know, or perhaps it's not even "good" food, the fact of the matter is that people just don't care as much.
In reality, there is so much we can learn from cooking food. even mores, understanding where the food comes from and the history behind the meals. In the aborigine culture, the men hunt for dangerous game, kangaroo and bush meat, while the women primarily start the fires and use big metal poles to find burrows if a certain type of lizard, which constitutes for the majority of the diet. The act of hunting for the food that they need actually brings them a whole new level of appreciation for the animals and their meal. Additionally, Pollan worked side by side with a North Carolinian pit master named Ed Mitchell who learned his skills from his father, grandfather, and so on. In his case, barbecuing is a way to keep his ancestors alive and reconnect with them, which is a really cool way of looking at cooking.
Not that everyone needs to go out and hunt for their every meal or barbecue every night and reminisce on the good ol' days, but there are for sure some things that could be improved upon to shift back to meal time being family time. The message here is that cooking meals together and sitting down to appreciate the hard work that everyone's put in for that meal is really important and Cooked did a great job outlining the tradition in that idea.

Lesson from cartoon

Nowadays, movie is one of the best ways which people choose to entertain when they are bored. With awesome visual effect, catchy music, and attractive plot, movies can easily have an attention of the audience. Most of the people watch the movie for the amusement, but there is one sentence from my dad which I always remember: "There is always a lesson from what you do every day". Therefore, besides watching a movie for pleasure, we can learn many useful things through every scene of the movie. To make this blog more outstanding, this week I will choose to write about a cartoon movie because many people think that we cannot learn anything from kid movie but they are wrong. Two lessons which I am going to discuss are the ethical lesson and cinematic lesson.
This week The adventures of Puss in Boots is my primary choice for the blog. Firstly, I want to mention about the sound effect of the movie. Only listening to the music, the audience can easily understand what the scene wants to talk about; furthermore, maybe they can figure out why the filmmakers use that sound in particular scene. The opening music knows how to follow the spirit of the movie. Start with the flamenco music which is played by the guitar, the audience can right away recognize that this series follows the spirit of Spain, the country which famous with guitar's performance. The fast and lively flamenco can light the fire inside every audience, especially kid under ten years old. This is a small trick which the filmmakers use to increase the view of the series. Because the purpose of this movie is to focus on children who are under ten years old, so they cleverly use the music which has vibrant tone. Moreover, because children are easily attracted every time they hear the vibrant music, so after watching the opening, they will get excited and want to watch the entire show. Therefore, the view will increase which can benefit to the filmmakers. Furthermore, during the fight scene, the viewer can quickly notice that the drum and the horn will be raised. Because this movie is made based on Spanish spirit, so Puss will be built following the el matador. In every fight with the bull, the horn and drum will be played to encourage the spirit of the fighter, so in every fight scene, combining with the sound of the hitting swords and scream of the people, these sound will form a dramatic scene which the audience will be interested.
Secondly, we also can learn some important lessons which connect to our life. In the first episode of the series, after stealing a coin from a secret temple, which causes a serious trouble for the hidden city, Puss tried to escape from what he has done. However, at the end, he decided to stay and solved his own problem. Through his action, we can learn one thing that we cannot run forever from what we have done. We have to face it and solve it. It is okay to run away if you can live the rest of your life in regret. Furthermore, this cartoon may reshape our perspective about the outlaw person. Although criminals usually do crazy stuff and break the law, they sometimes help others get out of the deadly situation. Like in the movie, Puss might be an outlaw, but he always helps children and poor people from the tyrants.
In conclusion, besides watching a movie for enjoyment and entertainment, we can learn many things from it. All we have to do it paying attention to every detail in the movie and related it to our daily life.

Black Mirror and Technology

When I first watched Black Mirror, I found myself intrigued, but also slightly intimidated. The way Black Mirror portrays certain aspects of life, albeit by exaggerating, is interesting because of the ways the feel that the world could end up as eventually. The first episode was a good indicator of what was to come throughout the season. A woman walking around in life, happy, but wanting to grow. She seems nice and everyone around her does as well. We soon see her rating people, as well as people rating her for their experiences with one another. We also find out that the higher your rating, the higher your worth. The idea being that technology dictates how we should act. If a person had a good rating, you'd feel safe, but if they didn't you'd be afraid. The problem with that was, at the end of the episode, the woman had already lost it all. She was going across great lengths to find her "friend" and get a good rating. She wasn't being the sweet woman from the start, but she was begin who she felt she truly was.

Black Mirror might be an exaggeration of the future, but the underlying message is clear. You shouldn't falsify yourself for a good rating. You should be happy and find that happiness, regardless of if it means going out into the world and going against the norm. While it isn't something you should use to teach children, using it to teach teenagers and up is a good idea. Teenagers now have much more access to social media than the generations before them. A lot of them grow up with phones and different forms of social media. A lot of the time, they'll falsify themselves to be something their not, in the hopes that they'll be recognized and stand off, and yet, they aren't happy with where they end up, or even the path that it took them. That's why, using Black Mirror to show people how bad it is to use social media to define people isn't good. You shouldn't rate anyone when it comes to being human. People have good days and people have bad days. People shouldn't have to rely on a rating to be happy. The worse problem was that if you were low, you weren't interacted with at all. You were ignored and uncared for, regardless of what you did. All it took was one day.

Overall, I think that Black Mirror is a good way to portray the dangers of social media in an interesting way. It isn't fact that that will happen, in fact, probably never, but people already judge one another on the basis of social media, so why not teach them the negatives that come with it. It isn't supposed to cause them fear, just explain to them that being a great person on social media doesn't make you a great person all around. You have to actually be good, not base it off social media.

One Day At a Time

One day at a time is a sitcom based on the 1975 - 1984 series of the same name. Penelope is a Army Nursing Corps veteran who is raising her two children with her conventional Cuba mother Lydia. Because her husband Victor is an alcoholic who suffers from post-traumatic stress, she decided to leave Victor and raise her children alone. Her civilian life as a single mother is more difficult than her life in the army.

In the first episode of the first season, Penelope wants her daughter Elena to have traditional Cuba quinceanera to celebrate her 15th birthday, while Elena doesn’t want to do this.  At the same time, her 12 years old son Alex thought he could have five pairs of new shoes for weekday because their family is not poor. These two events made Penelope feel depressive, then she decided to take the anti depression pill given by her boss Dr. Leslie. When the family calmed down and talked to each other, these problems have been solved. Elena agreed to hold a quinceanera, and Alex realized he should not care about his shoes too much, and Lydia spooned Penelope to sleep.

This show is very suitable for family with young kids to watch. The messages behind the conflicts in the shows is educational for kids and teenage. Alex was allowed to buy a pair of new shoes under 40, but he ordered five pairs of shoes out of vanity. He even came out with an idea that keep his shoe clean and return these shoes and buy new shoes circularly, therefore he does not actually pay for the shoes. He felt proud of his smart idea. When Penelope pointed out Alex behavior like a stealing, he argued that it is like a stealing but not a stealing. After receiving his punishment of getting no new shoes, but his sister’s princess shoes, Alex realized that he should not worry of his shoe, and pay more attention to other important things. Penelope found a pair of shoes is under 40 and give it to Alex in the end. This plot is teaching teens to not worry too much about the outerwear, and the inner side is much more important.

Elena refused to have quinceanera mainly because she felt there is no reason for her to do this. This is correct that sometimes we don’t have to do something just because everybody else is doing it. After Elena understood that her mom wanted to her to do that because her mother wanted to show people that she, a single mother can raise child by her own, Elena decided to have a quinceanera in her 15th birthday. Elena changed her stance immediately after she understood the meaning behind it.  

Penelope’s mother, Lydia stop Penelope from taking antidepressant and told Penelope that she would be fine, and she didn’t need these pills. Penelope told Lydia that she wanted hugs from a man and people to spooned her to sleep. Lydia soon realized her daughter need to be comforted and hugged her. Before they went to sleep, Lydia shew up in Penelope’s room, and spooned Penelope. It was so sweet moment when Lydia hugged and spoon Penelope. Lydia used her action to tell Penelope that she does not have to be strong all the time, and Lydia would always be her strong backup.

This episode is telling teens not to care too much about outside and using the bug of free return is not good. It is also trying to tell people that our family are people who try to understand you and try to comfort you as much as they can.

The Fundamentals of Caring

The Fundamentals of Caring was recommended to me by a close friend, who over the last three years, I have learned I should listen to the first time because she really understands me as a person. She told me to watch this movie a long, long time ago, knowing that I didn’t like movies, or often take the time to allow myself to watch movies. Throughout our friendship I have learned to hold more respect for people with different opinions, backgrounds, and strengths. This film is a perfect example of what she has taught me along the way. There are multiple definitions for respect, but the one I think this movie focuses in on has to do with recognition of one’s worth.

While this movie has other important takeaways, such as caring and stepping outside of your comfort zone to experience life, neither of those things would have been possible for Ben and Trevor, without respect first. Respect is a concept that is learned over time, and is the basis of many relationships. The level of respect differs in many situations, but there has to be some for the relationship to function.

While Ben has a lot of inner turmoil from his past, it ultimately leads him to this point of deciding to be a caregiver. While it is hard to watch Ben struggle with the loss of his son, and seeing the flashbacks, it makes it realistic to viewers. He is able to put most of this aside while letting it remain a motivation for the choices he makes. While we see Ben and Trevor play a large amount of practical jokes on each other, they’re all in decent humor. If they didn’t respect each other I could see the jokes either not existing, or being exceptionally hurtful. Going along with that, if Ben did not respect Trevor, he would not have offered to take him on a cross country trip. We can see from the way that Ben talks to Trevor he respects him, and his opinions.

Ben makes Trevor go ask Dot to come inside the restaurant. He has Trevor attempt this to reinforce to Trevor that he is capable of doing whatever he desires. If Ben merely cared for Trevor, he might have gone outside and asked Dot to join them. Because of this respect, he pushes Trevor to use his own ability to do it for himself. He also allows and encourages Trevor to go to dinner with Dot alone. If he had merely cared for Trevor, he probably would have gone with them, and sat at a table nearby. However, Ben sits in the room where he can still see them, relaxes and has a beer. Even though it is his normal routine, that night Ben has enough respect for Trevor to allow him a night to be freed from his CPAP machine. Trevor is old enough to make his own decisions regarding his healthcare, and Ben respects this choice.

While this movie may not exactly teach us how to respect someone, it definitely shows us how to use the respect that we do have. We won’t always understand the motivation or the “why” that someone does something, however we can choose to see their worth and significance.

A cool thing I picked up from the second time I watched the movie is the significance of the 1 in 3500. We know that Ben goes home and actually does his research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and when Dot’s father asks about how rare it is, Ben responds that it affects 1 in 3500. From this we see why Trevor always asks to pick a number between 1 and 3500.

Wheelman

For this week, I decided to watch Wheelman, directed by Jeremy Rush and starring Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Purge Anarchy) as a getaway driver who has one bad night where everything seems to go wrong. The film also features bit roles from established actors Shea Whigham (Silver Linings Playbook) and Garret Dillahunt (Deadwood).

To start off this review, I cannot skip over the brilliant style of the film. Much like the Tom Hardy vehicle (pun intended) Locke, Wheelman takes place almost entirely following Frank Grillo's character driving around. This is both brilliant and risky. On the positive end, when it is pulled off right, it seems unique, fresh, and can also help intensify the suspense. On the other hand, this style can also lead to an incredibly boring film. Thankfully the former is true, not the latter. I think the major reason the film is as enthralling as it is is due to the excellent editing, writing, and directing. This combination led to a well paced film that had me on the edge of my seat several times throughout. Additionally, the film feels very much like a gritty 1970s-80s crime film in the veins of Taxi Driver, Mean Streets, and Death Wish. As a sucker for this style, I very much enjoyed it and really wish more films had this kind of style to it. 

I also really need to give some credit to Frank Grillo, who was really good in the lead role. Grillo is in nearly 100% of every shot in the film, so it was vital to get an actor who could pull off such a hard role. While Grillo is a solid supporting actor, I never really saw him as lead material. That changed after seeing this. Grillo, in my opinion, has the potential to be the next big action film star with his strong screen presence and believability as a hard nosed, rouged bad ass. I honestly think he probably should would have been great as the Punisher for the Netflix Marvel Universe (apologies to Jon Bernthal). While no other actor has more than a few on screen scenes, whenever they do pop up they seem to do a pretty good job, in particular Whigham who is absolutely chewing the scenery as a lunatic bank robber and  Caitlin Carmichael as Grillo's estranged daughter. 

As an action film, this is definitely one of the best I've seen this decade (excluding films like Star Wars and comic book adaptations). It's far too common nowadays to see films focus way too much on the action, leaving very little for other necessary aspects (think the Taken sequels). This is an action film without being "action-packed," which I think is great. The film also did a great job making me feel that Grillo and his family were vulnerable and very human, something most action films fail to do. I actually believed that these characters could die at an given notice. Another great aspect about the action: it was very realistic. When guns are shot, they feel powerful like they should. When someone gets shot, they are very much in pain and die. This isn't the kind of film to sugarcoat gun violence and make it seem like the protagonist can just soak up bullets while acting as if he were getting hit with pebbles instead of bullets. I personally am not a fan of action films in the least bit unless they are done right. This one does it right.

I want to finish this review by looking at the dialogue of the film, which is also very good. Mr. Rush also penned the film, making this both his directorial debut as well as his writing debut, something that should not be lightly glanced over. Being both an action and crime film, the dialogue could have gone in one of two bad ways: bad action dialogue that includes way too many puns and one liners or crime dialogue that is super pretentious while trying to replicate Goodfellas. This is something that these type of films do all of the time (Martin Scorsese who directed Goodfellas even did it himself with Casino). Thankfully, this film doesn't verge into either of these two territories. Instead, the dialogue here goes for a more realistic strategy. Characters curse when they would in real life, they're silent when the would be, and the shout, scream, and cry where they would. I don't understand why more films don't just go for this style as it to me makes the film far more immersive. Unless you're Quentin Tarantino or David O. Russell, the Goodfellas style usually doesn't work and the action style only works if the film has no intentions of being taken seriously. 

By no means is Wheelman going to be winning any Oscars come February next year nor it is going to become some kind of classic. That said, the film is very solid and, in my opinion, didn't seem like it much cared for a statue or status. To me, this film only wanted to be a fun, gritty thrill ride which I think it pulled off perfectly and was a very good start to Mr. Rush's young and hopefully bright career. So far, this is my second favorite Netflix original film that I have seen and would definitely give it a strong suggestion to someone wanting to have a movie night. 

Manipulation in House of Cards

Specifically season 1 episode 2 of House of Cards largely focuses on power, manipulation, and using that manipulation to get ahead and make change in one’s favor.  Given that House of Cards is a show about politics, it makes perfect sense that many episodes revolve around power and how to obtain it.  The show explores how political colleagues use and manipulate one another to advance their political career, whether it be through spying, covert communication with the media, or plain bribery.  Nonetheless, the events that occur throughout the show are set pieces that another character seemingly set in place long before they occured.  Frank Underwood, the main protagonist and a politician, demonstrates his ability to manipulate people and events, while slowly moving toward an ultimate goal.  In his career, however, the effects of a lust for power and the use of manipulation on those around him are prevalent.

Episode 2 centers around Frank putting pieces for future events in place by manipulating others.  At the beginning of the episode, Frank mentions that one of his younger colleagues who had tremendous political potential chose money over power.  He goes on to say that money is temporary, it does not last and loses its worth, while power is ephemeral, it has permanence and leaves a lasting effect.  This sets the precedent for the rest of the episode.  Early in the episode, Frank meets with his colleagues to discuss a failed education bill.  Later, Frank is about to persuade one of his other colleagues, Donald Blythe, to take the fall for it.  In their talk, Donald is visibly stressed about how events are turning out, yet Frank was still able to covertly maneuver Donald into a position where blame would fall on him.  Without making it apparent and despite Donald already having several issues to deal with, Frank was able to add one more thing for Donald to worry about without him even knowing.  

Frank’s wife, Claire, also has a knack for manipulating others to further her own goals.  In episode 2, Claire begins with her plan the expansion of her organization.  In order to do this, she planned for her company to let go of 18 people from staff.  Already, Claire’s cutthroat business style is displayed; she willingly let go of 18 people who supported their families with the job they had while hardly giving them a reason for their involuntary separation.  Additionally, before the firings were made, Claire was in a meeting with her office manager.  Her office manager argued that there was no good reason for letting go of these people and that it would ultimately be bad for the company.  Claire ignored the warning and proceeded with the firings, all of which were delivered by her office manager.  Immediately after all 18 firings, Claire informed her office manager that she would also be let go.  Once again, her cutthroat business model based on manipulation and an increase in power was used to further her career, while hurting others’ careers.  

Power and manipulation are the driving forces behind the careers of many characters in House of Cards.  This style of leadership, however, necessitates that there will be those who are hurt in the process.  This style of leadership also requires a lack of remorse and sympathy for others.  Frank’s use of manipulation not only has a negative effect on those who are the victim of the manipulation, but it is also evident that Frank’s closer colleagues do the same thing.  The lust for power and manipulation have far reaching effects that may or may not be apparent to the abuser.  

To Round Out The Series: Marvel's Defenders

To round out the mini series of the Marvel shows we have the Defenders. The TV version of the grittier Avengers. Allowing the Netflix Universe heroes to meet up and fight a singular foe that has been built up over the course of the individual character's shows. I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much out of this show. It's just the way these things go, you have different narratives, and different characters from different shows, written by different writers, and something is just bound to got the way of Murphy's Law.

Fortunately, I can say that it mostly hasn't, the characters are mostly intact. Save for Jessica Jones going from being mildly abrasive to everyone to being a full on bitch. Now that I mention it, all characters are a little strange. Daredevil can't seem to decide if he wants to be the wise crack of the group or a slightly more broody Batman. Luke Cage is mostly untouched as a character, of course he's less comic relief than his initial appearance, no doubt to make way for the hilarious wise cracks of the Catholic Batman. With Iron Fist they seem to have doubled down on the weird monk thing. Iron Fist and Luke Cage also have this really contrived group dissent that really doesn't add up to anything other than a fight.

The plot itself is refreshingly simple compared to most plots of the super hero genre. Evil secret group exists, they want to destroy a city, and our heroes are trying to stop them. All characters and subplots can dance around that. It has the same pacing that I've come to expect from the rest of the shows except the smaller arcs are super condensed and the larger arcs are really extended. To be honest I only really watched the show as long as I did because I wanted to see these characters fight as a team. You know how long that took to get them on screen together? 3 hours, and it wasn't really them fighting as a team so much as four people flailing around with other opponents.

To keep harping on that overarching plot's pacing I'm going to talk about how the subplots fit into it. They are the plot, and not in the good way. They instead feel like miniature stories strung together in the same vague way everyone gets into a fight during a fighting game. The story feels disjointed in this manner, and it doesn't help if you haven't watched all of the shows. To give an example in the vaguest sense, Luke Cage and Iron Fist meet and fight in an alley. In the last scene we saw Cage he was tracking down a kid that he didn't know the location of. The same kid that Iron Fist was about to beat up. It doesn't really flow and all it makes me do is wonder when they'll all fight together. I know that the more work you put into something and the longer you wait the more rewarding something is. At this point all they have to do is slap a single guy in unison and I will make like a butcher.

I know I seem like I'm being hard on this show, but I feel like I have some pent up aggression after watching these shows back to back for a month, or my increasing mental instability, (lets not dwell on that). If there's a lesson here it's that, no matter how good an individual scene is, if it doesn't fit the narrative, or generally doesn't make sense you should remove it. If you have a show based on mostly strong scenes with little connection, then the show will crumble if you really look at it. Do I recommend it? To give the most bland and cop out answer, if you liked the other Marvel shows you will like this one.

I do feel like there's an obligatory tier list expected of me after doing all the shows mostly in sequence and here it is

1. Daredevil (no surprise, I know I took some digs at the character this episode, but I think he's the most interesting and has the most at stake as a character)

2. Luke Cage (by far the most fun, and I always liked Cage when he's on screen)

3. Defenders (For the most part I scaled this by fun, and quality of the show itself. I seemed hard on it, but I think that is Marvel fatigue. It's fun when it wants to be)

4. Jessica Jones (There are two people in this world, those who adore this show and those that don't. I feel like I went the hardest on this show. I do think it's well put together, and I can see why so many people enjoy it)

5. Iron Fist (Yeah… I know I talked all last week about how much I enjoyed this, but I did say that is was mostly because how dumb it could be. I watched it further past the review and it started to really show its cracks)

I like to think that these posts have varied in quality to match the show I was discussing. A perfect way to round out the series.