The Bling Ring Review

Okay, fellow movie lovers, I have been eagerly anticipating seeing this movie for months now.  It wasn’t immediately released in my city and I was super bummed.  Now that it is out on DVD I finally got to see it and it was totally worth the wait.

The Bling Ring is another Sophia Coppola jewel based on the actual group of seven teenagers and adults called the Hollywood Hills Burglars that stole an estimated $3 million in designer clothing, accessories, and cash from celebrities between 2008 and 2009. 

Written and Directed by Coppola this film took a raw and at times, comical view of the teenagers involved in this series of quite serious crimes.  Starring relative newcomers, Katie Chang and Israel Broussard and co-starring Emma Watson, this dark comedic drama brings to light many of the flawed values young people in America have today.  These kids were the product of parents who were absent either physically or emotionally, habitual drug usage, the universal plague of having nothing better to do.  They idolized these celebrities to the point where they would do anything to become a part of their society, including steal.  They partied where their favorite celebs hung out and they flaunted their crimes.  Their peers even admired their fantastical feats of thievery. 

The whole movie caught me with my jaw on the floor.  I think the most shocking thing of all, next to the incredible void these young people had in their lives that they filled with such superficial things, was the fact that nearly every one of their victim’s homes was unlocked.  Seriously??  Part of me was like your dumb behind deserves to get robbed!!  I would think anyone who lived outside of Mayberry would lock the doors and windows of their home.  Especially if that home contained so many high-cost items.  But that’s just me and my common sense.

Each of the burglars got sentenced to jail time as well as hefty fines.  I believe most of the Hollywood elite has now employed more secure measures for their homes and valuables.  I also believe Sophia Coppola has made another fine masterpiece. 

 

4.75/5 Stars

Generation Um Review

It has been nearly 15 years since I have seen an independent movie that truly fits the independent genre in scale, style, writing, and acting.  Today it seems that independents are more of a fad, being called “indie films” and featuring weirdly dressed over analytical characters all with the same modus operandi – lost in the city and lost in love.  We independent lovers have had to settle for movies that could fit the bill such as Happythankyoumoreplease and Dan in Real Life.  Though these movies were amazing and their styles could suggest some independent leanings, they were mostly about love or finding love.  I find that true independent films, the independents that made me love the genre have nothing to do with love.  They are intimate accounts of horrendously flawed lives and the events that grant revelation or progress or clarity in the middle of chaos.  Sometimes the movie ended with no point at all, like in Kids and Welcome to the Dollhouse.  The film just ended and so did your glimpse into the life and situation of someone else.  

Generation Um brings us back to the true spirit of independent films.  Starring Keanu Reeves and Daniel Sunjata and written and directed by Mark Mann the movie features two lesser known actresses, Bojana Novakovic and Adelaide Clemens, in lead roles (also characteristic of independent films).  The movie highlights Reeves who is an older, mysterious guy sharing a cheap NY apartment with his cousin and a cat.  It is not clear what Reeves does for a living until the end of the movie.  But he gets his hands on a movie camera and decides to film the ladies he works with.  He asks them probing questions about their lives and families and what brings them to where they are in life now.  The result is a razor sharp account of broken families, abuse, and lost innocence.  Though the story is not about love, this reviewer’s opinion is that the main characters’ desire for genuine human connection is strong and endearing.  This film will leave you wanting more details about the lives of the characters but thoroughly satisfied with the glimpse you got.  And just like that, independent film is reborn.

4.5/5 Stars

The Mortal Instruments Review

I was so excited to see this movie.  The trailers had me hype.  Let’s face it, after Twilight and Harry Potter ended there hasn’t been a really good supernatural thriller series on the scene and The Mortal Instruments seemed to fill the void.  Notice how I said seemed.  It came with a lot of promise.  The Mortal Instruments is based on a six-volume book series, written by Cassandra Clare and is classified as fantasy young-adult fiction; a genre that box office history tells us translates well to film. I haven’t read the books- but I did go see the movie based on the first book, City of Bones, on opening night in IMAX and I was not impressed. 

The problem with a great movie trailer is that it builds one’s expectations that there will be a great movie as well.  Sometimes our expectations are met and sometimes they are not.  Other, less frequent times, we wish we had waited for others to see the movie to make sure it’s great before we spend our money.  Since I review movies I don’t have that luxury but like those who have overcome bad life decisions I can at least warn others. 

This movie is bad for several reasons but for the purposes of time I will only address three:

1)   The main character, Clary Fray, played by Lily Collins, is SUPER annoying.  I mean before it was over I’d completely lost interest in her survival and her plight.  Though her champion, Jace, played by Jaime Campbell Bower, kept calling her brave, I was hard pressed to find the proof of said bravery in her performance.  Couple that and the absolute lack of any realism in her character- down to the fact that after climbing buildings, running from vampires and fighting demons this chick’s manicure is still impeccable- and you have an altogether uninteresting protagonist. 

2)   This movie is dark.  Very dark.  The whole time you’re in the theater you want to cover yourself in holy water and anointing oil and call on the Lord!  An atheist would be praying after watching this movie.  I couldn’t believe how harsh it was.  Even in the supernatural fantasy genre there is some trait about the main characters that lightens even the most intense parts of the story.  Example- in Harry Potter we had their childhood innocence and the universally relatable experience of school life.  In Twilight there was the timeless and pure love between Edward and Bella.  Here we had three semi-humorous lines from the Jace character that barely balanced the intensity of the scene much less the whole movie.

3)   The storyline was not well crafted.  There is a reason why stories work.  There is a clearly defined hero and villain.  There is a clearly defined mission, a climax, and a resolution.  When I tell you this movie had NONE of that I’m not exaggerating.  Not even a little bit.  You couldn’t tell who were the good guys and who were the bad guys.  The whole time you did not know who to root for or whom you could trust; it was frustrating.  The characters weren’t well developed at all.  You knew very little about who they were and for what morals they stood.  To increase your frustration a budding romance between Clary and Jace gets crushed to smithereens when Jonathan Rhys Meyers’ character, Valentine, reveals a very Flowers in the Attic-type plot twist.

City of Bones did have great special effects and a kick-ass sword fight scene toward the end.  But that wasn’t enough to make going to see it worth the time or the money.  Just trust me when I say that unless you’re cool with all I’ve listed above, you may want to choose a different movie. 

2/5 Stars

Negotiation in Entertainment

Negotiation is a vital part of the entertainment business.  Whether you’re a grip, an actor, an agent, or the head of a network or studio chances are you will find yourself negotiating at some point along your professional journey. 

I recently had the opportunity to interview Fred Shaheen who is the Vice President of Acquisitions at family entertainment cable network, INSP.  Shaheen is a television industry veteran with a career that has taken him from Ohio to Los Angeles back to Ohio and finally to the east coast in the Charlotte, North Carolina area where he currently resides.  He has produced such shows as the original People’s Court, Press Your Luck, ABC’s Home Show (that eventually got replaced by The View), and HGTV’s Room by Room.  Now, as the VP of Acquisitions for INSP he finds himself constantly in the middle of negotiations with major distributors for content.  For this reason I decided to get his input on the negotiation process.

Q:  Positional Bargaining is basically defined as haggling.  It’s arguing over positions only, not interests and it involves holding on to a fixed idea or position while How do you utilize positional bargaining in your negotiations to acquire content?

A: Yes!  First I research, that is a large part of what I do- researching to find what shows we want for the network, about how much they cost, sometimes I even check with other networks to get a good idea on pricing.  

Once we’ve decided that we want to pull the trigger on a show, we’ve done our due diligence and we know it will be good on our network and about what we want to pay for it I start off by making a phone call to the distributor.  Because our deals are multifaceted depending on exclusivity (full exclusivity means that no other network can air the content purchased during the entire term of the contract, partial exclusivity can be for a certain time period during the contract or that only one other network can air the content during the contract) and number of telecasts (runs on the network during the contract).  Both of these factors contribute to the overall price.  The first thing I do is make the distributor give me a price first to start negotiations.  If I have to go first I will present a number lower than what I think it is.  After the initial phone call I will send my terms in writing via email, which is a common request.  I will have this email ready before I make the phone call so I can get it to them right away.

Q: Are you ever in a position to use a BATNA or Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement?   In your situation this question would translate as do you have a back-up plan should you not be able to reach an agreement with the distributor?

A: That’s one thing I wish we did differently in our acquisitions process.  What generally happens is we do our research and we identify a specific show we want and I start negotiations.  We never have a back-up title where I can say in a negotiation, “This is my bottom line either meet it or I’ll go elsewhere.” 

Because of this I lack positioning power when I go in to negotiate for content.  So I at this point I don’t have a best alternative but we’re working towards it.

Q: In your negotiations for content have you ever come across the use of dirty tricks on the part of distributors?

A: Yes! Yes, definitely.  I’ve noticed some schemes with one distributor in particular.  Without naming any names it’s known throughout the industry how this certain distributor conducts business. 

Q: How do you deal with them when they use tactics like dirty tricks?

A: I’m definitely more skeptical.  In addition to doing my research and getting everything in writing like normal I will be sure to check and recheck every correspondence to make sure none of the terms have changed.  I also have to gear up mentally to interact with them.

Q: In difficult negotiations, such as ones where the distributor is using dirty tricks, do you find it difficult to separate the people from the problem?

A: It is.  I mean the person that I work with is great and probably very nice but she is the mouthpiece of the company she represents in the negotiation. 

I know she’s only doing what she’s told and at a different place she probably wouldn’t act the same but in this case she represents the company I’m negotiating with and I can’t view her individually apart from that.

Q: How did you learn how to negotiate, specifically for the position you’re currently working?

A: I’ve been negotiating my entire television life.  As a producer I would negotiate for crew, with hotels for a good price to put up my host.  I feel like up to now God has been preparing me for this position.  I like negotiating; my father was in broadcast sales.  I negotiate as part of my everyday life- for cars, for services.  Why pay more if you don’t have to?  You’ve got to be up for the game and plan ahead.

Pacific Rim Review

Calling all moviegoers, sci-fi geeks, action hounds, and those who just enjoy a good fight- Pacific Rim is the movie to see!  This cleverly written futuristic alien invasion movie is like nothing you’ve seen or at least seen lately.

Starring Sons of Anarchy’s Charlie Hunnam as Raleigh Becket and Luther’s Idris Elba as Stacker Pentecost, the story begins on earth in the year 2020 when humongous alien life forms called Kaiju cross over into our world wreaking havoc in their wake.  Once humankind concludes these monsters will continue their deadly attacks they formed a new grade of weapon called jaegers to fight them.  I recognize the story has some similar elements of other action movies I’ve seen such as Avatar and Independence Day, however, Pacific Rim does stand on its own bringing more drama and first rate special effects.  The fight sequences were extraordinary, well timed, and expertly animated. 

The requisite love story told in every such apocalyptic thriller is freshly redone here told with an unexpected mix of intimacy and innocence.  Rinko Kikuchi, a relative newcomer to the American film scene, plays Mako Mori, a tough, yet vulnerable young woman with a passionate will to fight.  

Adding comedic quips, quick wit, and conflict- in that order- Charlie Day, from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Horrible Bosses fame, veteran actor, Ron Perlman, also from Sons of Anarchy and CBS’ drama series Beauty and the Beast, True Blood’s Robert Kazinsky and Revenge’s Max Martini round out this all-star cast.

Now just last night I was talking with a friend who had also seen this film and wanted to debate the lack of detail and complication in the secondary story line.  I would fervently disagree.  The main characters each had carefully unraveling back-stories that enhanced the film’s drama factor.  This movie presents the audience with something all great movies give- the opportunity to relate to the characters.  I was able to find parts of my own personality in at least three of the main characters and it truly made me appreciate this film even more.

So, if you are looking for a summer blockbuster that is original and well done- Pacific Rim is the way to go.  For the full experience, I highly recommend viewing in IMAX 3D.

Rating: 5/5

Shocked and Appalled but Moving On

Seriously?

Last night I was at home studying and occasionally scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed when I all of a sudden I see people posting that a verdict had been reached in the Trayvon Martin case and at first I think it’s a joke because, though it may happen often, I have never seen a jury reach a verdict on a Saturday.  Then I log on to news websites to find that it really is true and the verdict really is not guilty.  After picking my jaw up off the floor- and I really was shocked.  I know some people weren’t surprised but I was.  I was leaning more toward manslaughter than murder but I thought the dude would at least get something.

From whence I came…

Now, in practically all of my political beliefs I tend to lean uber conservative.  I’m pro-life, pro-guns, pro-personal responsibility, and a fiscal conservative where government spending is concerned.  However, I disagree with the overall unspoken conservative consensus that it is okay to be hateful to people in order to get your point across.  I sincerely believe you can disagree with someone’s point of view or lifestyle choice or even their outfit without taking it to the mattresses with out of pocket remarks.  I was even of the belief that President Obama should not have made the statement that if he had a son he would look like Trayvon Martin.  Though, at the time, and now, I believed George Zimmerman to be guilty, I did not think that the POTUS should have made a statement that alluded to his opinion because, unlike myself, he is the leader of the free world and should always make an effort to be unbiased- at least publicly.   All of that said, I still feel the same way about practically all of these issues- but, unlike my conservative compatriots I cannot get on board with believing this ruling was just or right or made purely on the basis of the facts and evidence. 

The power of a choice

Why do I think this?  Simple- Mr. Zimmerman could have chosen to stay in the car like he was advised to do by the dispatcher. He chose to pursue, he chose to engage, and then he chose to pull the trigger.  At no point in this whole encounter did he not have the upper hand.  He could have chosen to follow directions and let those who are trained to handle situations like this handle it but he made the choice to do his own thing and his life will be forever changed as a result. 

Where do we go from here?

Today many conservatives are taking issue with the African American community’s offense over the outcome of this case, citing everything from the fact that most violence towards Blacks is from other Blacks (which is statistically true) to the underlying Liberal agenda to cause enmity between the races at every turn.  But I have to say plain and simple- OBJECTION- RELEVANCE?  Should the fact that most of the violence against Blacks comes from other Blacks lessen the impact of this case and the implications it has for Blacks in America?  By no means!!  I think we, as a community should definitely work on eradicating Black on Black crime and we should start by not going completely bitchcake bananas and tearing up the town in Florida.   What will a riot achieve but to prove political pundits who think us to be low-class, ghetto, violent monsters, unworthy of due process correct?  I think it would be more effective to pick ourselves up, dust off this trial, pray for the Martin family and even George Zimmerman, and as a community improve.  Let’s use the same camaraderie we protested Trayvon’s death to lobby for better education, to influence our communities, to raise our children, and to not be used as a pawn by any political agenda and in so doing rid ourselves of the cultural schizophrenia that is rampant in the Black community.  There should be public outcry about every injustice- including the alarming rate of abortions in the Black community equivalent to legal genocide.  Including the rate of poverty, including violent crimes, including education, including lack of personal responsibility, including intra-racism.  Let’s take a stand against all of these issues and as a unified population embrace our identity as Americans and take ownership that this is our nation too.

The Benefits of Participating in Professional Organizations

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Professional organizations are groups specialized to your field of expertise.  They provide opportunities for learning, enrichment, networking, and mentorship.  What these organizations provide is vital for any professional, especially if they are a minority in their field.  I recently honored to be able to join WICT- Women in Cable Telecommunications.   This is an organization dedicated to developing women as leaders in life as well as in the field of cable telecommunications.  WICT is the oldest and largest organization-serving women in cable telecommunications, which includes all aspects of cable television- from marketing to sales to production to technology to human resources.  WICT serves all women working in every area of cable.

WICT is at the forefront of the television industry and works to advance the position and influence of women at a national and a local level.  WICT sponsors leadership programs and events to educate its members, some of which are men!  Recognized throughout the cable television industry, WICT works to collaborate with companies and challenge them to create opportunities for the advancement of women.  Established in 1979 WICT is known for its leadership training and empowerment as well as its advocacy. 

I was most impressed with the amount of programs they offered to help younger women in the field learn they skills they needed, not only to advance but to be an effective leader and member of the overall team once they did advance.  I am involved in the mentor program called, Mentoring Circles.  In this program a group from my local chapter meets monthly to discuss specific topics related to leadership and how we can adjust to different situations.  The discussions are in-depth and personal and kept confidential.  We are also given an accountability partner to ensure that we meet the goals that we set for ourselves and to talk with in between meetings and air professional concerns. 

So far I’ve found this organization to be well worth my time.  I can already see a benefit to not only joining but also being involved in such an organization.  As with anything you get out of it what you put in to it.  As you decide which professional organization is right for you and your career remember don’t simply join but try to take advantage of all the opportunities the organization has to offer.  It could be just the extra umph your career needs!