No Easy Day - Book Review

From the robust brotherhood amongst the SEALs to how they work situationally within missions of the last decade in the Middle East and elsewhere, No Easy Day by Mark Owen brings you into the world, works, and characteristics of a Navy SEAL.

Owen’s story begins in 2004 at the training site in Mississippi and takes the reader on a ride, while it tackles being away from home, the author’s very first experienced kill, and one of the most important missions in American history: the raid that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden through the eyes of a true American hero. Owen mentions everything that preceded the mission, including training, conversation, and personal thoughts, to the complete aftermath up until the point where President Obama personally invited the whole team to the White House for a beer.

Click to read more ...

Just Don't Fall - Book Review

A few years ago I stumbled upon Josh Sundquist, a YouTuber, amputee, and motivational speaker. It wasn’t long before I found myself reading his autobiography, Just Don’t Fall. I wanted to read it to learn more about the guy, but the book itself is actually really good.

Autobiographical books that tell and not show are generally not only publishable but acceptable as well— they’re nonfiction. They supposedly don’t have to take you through a flowing, poetic novel that draws you in. A lot of autobiographies I’ve read haven’t quite mastered the “show—don’t tell” rule, and are a borderline list of facts that coincide events in the author’s life

A few years ago I stumbled upon Josh Sundquist, a YouTuber, amputee, and motivational speaker. It wasn’t long before I found myself reading his autobiography, Just Don’t Fall. I wanted to read it to learn more about the guy, but the book itself is actually really good.

Autobiographical books that tell and not show are generally not only publishable but acceptable as well— they’re nonfiction. They supposedly don’t have to take you through a flowing, poetic novel that draws you in. A lot of autobiographies I’ve read haven’t quite mastered the “show—don’t tell” rule, and are a borderline list of facts that coincide events in the author’s life

Click to read more ...

Footloose 2011 Movie Review

Years ago an announcement  was made that the 1984 Kevin Bacon classic was being given the dreaded 00's remake treatment. At the time Zac Efron (High School Musical) was set to star with the "High School Musical" director on board, giving the film a negative level of appeal for a male in his late 20's (me). Both Efron and the director left the project and Craig Brewer stepped in to rewrite the script and direct. Brewer's involvement gave me an automatic interest in the project after being completely amazed with his two previous films, "Hustle and Flow" and "Black Snake Moan.

Click to read more ...

The Ides of March 2011 Movie Review

George Clooney directs, co-writes, and co-stars in the cynical political thriller "The Ides of March." The film follows a young  smart relatively high positioned staffer on the campaign of a senator/ potential democratic candidate for the next presidential election.  The staffer is played by Ryan Gosling (Drive and Crazy Stupid Love) and the candidate is played by George Clooney (Up in the Air and Ocean's 11). Gosling's character has worked on many campaigns prior to Clooney's but it seems that this is the first candidate that he truly believes in, not only his politics and platforms but also a belief in his follow through, if elected. Paul Giamatti (Win Win and Sideways) plays the head staffer on the other democratic front runners campaign and the source of much conflict and underhanded dealings.

Obviously the film has an outstanding cast also including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood, but Clooney's direction is some how able to pull a great performance out of each of them from headliners to the supporting cast. Most things on the surface of this film I expected would come across as boring or played out, but instead it has an overall feel of suspense and a edge of your seat thrill of what's going to happen next.

You don't have to be into politics to enjoy this film, in fact you might be better off if you are not. At times in the film Clooney's character is openly speaking his very liberal political views. This might be a turn off to half of the films audience  because these views are portrayed as ideal asking the audience to root for Clooney, which fails from a film perspective if you have different beliefs.

The most interesting element of the film and what makes it work so well is the feeling of being on the inside of what is really going on behind the scenes of a major campaign and election. Many of the characters are forced to throw out their ideals to get what they want. What would it take for someone to compromise their values and who really even has values and not just the facade of a belief? Great acting, intense situations, intriguing ethical dilemmas, good movie.

Rating: 7.9/10

Life in a Day 2011 Movie Review

Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland and State of Play) and many others co-direct the often times beautiful documentary "Life in a Day." Macdonald and the producers sent out a world wide request asking anybody and everybody to video document their lives over the course of one day. That one day was July 24th, 2010.

I find myself wondering what questions Macdonald was asking himself while he waited for footage come in, "Will I get very many responses? What kind of nasty or disturbing footage will I end up receiving?" "What type of film will this be?" It would be difficult to put that power into the hands of strangers, but I think that's what makes this so interesting.

"Life in a Day" received over 80,000 submissions equaling 4,500 hours of footage. Imagine sifting through all of that material and narrowing it down to 90 minutes. That is a task I wouldn't wish upon my worst enemy. Macdonald pulled it off and somehow delivers a pretty and interesting 90 minute film.

The end product is compiled of what feels like hundreds of different people telling their stories or a very brief segment of their stories. The direction the film takes is mainly trying to show that no matter where you live, race, sex, or ethnicity, we all have similarities as well as differences. It avoids showing the "Jackass" crazy antics that I assume were submitted and instead shows regular people in their everyday life. This makes for a much less entertaining story but a much more real and genuine look at mankind. A fifteen year old boy documents the first time he shaves his face and a young woman discusses how she doesn't feel that she has anything to offer the film, showing her insecurities. These moments are easily the strongest.

"Life in a Day" is slow at times and does feel more like a project then a movie, but it is an interesting watch and a great conversation piece. If you have ever wondered what else is occurring at the same moment that you are being active or even sitting around contemplating things, then you might find this a satisfactory answer. (Especially if you were contemplating things on July 24th, 2010)

Rating 7.5/10