Blackberry

Don't really know what to make of this film.

I know it was awesome when blackberries were huge and a Canadian company was performing exceptionally well internationally. I know we excel with minerals and potash and maple syrup and wheat, but a huge tech sensation, that was something new for me (more so than the Canadarm). 

I imagine there are thousands of new innovations being made in Canada every year by crafty individuals, blackberry just generated more media attention, and took on companies like Apple.

Could you have had the iPhone without Research in Motion?

Probably. I imagine someone would have invented something similar around the same time regardless, but trying to make something even more impressive than the Blackberry may have driven dynamic creative iPhone progenitors.

The film closely follows the paths of RIM's ambitious CEOs, Mike Lazaridis (Jay Baruchel) who spearheaded the design, and Jim Balsillie (Glenn Howerton) who was able to market it.

As their prominence grows they both become consumed by power, Lazaridis losing his relatable cool (and cancelling Movie Night!), Mr. Balsillie transforming into a megalomaniac. 

The co-founder who questioned Balsillie's methods gets away with a lucrative sum (Matt Johnson [who also directed] as Doug), and he's right, when you're working insane hours it's things like Taco Tuesday or Movie Night that make the job worthwhile. I don't know how many books and articles have to be written about the subject, it's pizza and jazz that make jobs fun.

And they make you want to work harder, make me want to work harder anyways, it's like working in Montréal, you work super hard during the day to build up the economy, and then prosper after hours with the amazing night life.

I liked how Blackberry the film suggests that sending RIM's manufacturing jobs to China ruined the company. I don't know if that's just something that made the truth based story more coherent, but the more jobs we keep in Canada and Québec the better.

I've heard about companies wanting to set up shop in Canada and Québec precisely because our population's so educated. With mass education you create a bright people that can handle complex tasks and intricate interactions.

Were Balsillie and Lazaridis that brutal, did all power corrupt, perhaps, who am I to say?, the pressures they were under as presented in the film were extraordinary, but that's no excuse for alienating and abandoning your workforce.

I don't like how the film seems to be severely critiquing the company and poking fun about how they're not around anymore, however (I love the CBC, but blackberries didn't have government funding).

I've heard it's 10 times harder to live the American dream in Canada.

For a short time period, RIM made it happen.

Wish Blackberry was still around. Those were cool times.

The more jobs kept in Canada and Québec the better!  

*Heard they had AC/DC at their Christmas party one year. I don't know if that's true. But imagine that. AC/DC at a private party in Kitchener/Waterloo. I wouldn't have believed that could happen in the 1980s. 

The Christmas Chronicles

The Christmas spirit has hit a critical low as people across North America stubbornly refuse to believe.

And Santa's (Kurt Russell) in trouble.

His sleigh having encountered unexpected turbulence, he's lost touch with his reindeer, and crash landed in Chicago.

He needs help, and even though he provides the adult world with ample evidence to prove he's authentic, expressing himself in different languages and reflexively presenting the perfect gift, its cold shoulder is still bluntly given, and he must therefore improvise distraught on the road.

Those who have stowed away for the journey, or part of the journey, find themselves lost in hostile streets alone, within which wits must be developed then relied upon, as potential ends for corrupt pastimes ring true.

While Santa heads to prison.

His characteristic charm and overflowing goodwill ensure he still makes the most of it, but at points things do seem rather grim, like Who-ville on lockdown, or blind commercial obsessions.

Yet true believers still remain committed to setting him free.

With hopes he will finish his work.

And save the Holiday Season yet again.

In The Christmas Chronicles.

Wherein innocence is exonerated.

A bit too hasty, perhaps, time is an issue, but naive assumptions don't compensate for productive tension.

If Santa's appeals in the restaurant had been less confident, and his audience had been more willing to listen, for instance, the result wouldn't have seemed so rushed, and stronger emotions could have been sincerely generated.

Chronicles excels at critiquing hard-hearted dismissals of the season, but still stuffers from a surplus of disbelief, which creates a bleak atmosphere, much less infused with seasonal mirth making.

Santa can't do it all himself, although Russell impresses.

Try not to misunderstand, as far as Christmas films go, it's better than many, and Santa's blunt spirited enthusiasm is endearing.

But the film's more like a video game than a movie, like Santa has to boldly pass level after level, quickly, instead of just reacting and commenting within a deep narrative.

The binge viewing aesthetic is oddly like a video game, or at least much less like a broadcast television show.

Rather than lure viewers in with great stories, perhaps binge oriented series are trying to make them feel just as great for having finished an episode as they would have had they passed a level?

Thus, although presenting hearty protagonists reverently dedicated to the holiday season, The Christmas Chronicles would have benefitted from a little more time and patience.

That perfect gift doesn't just materialize out of thin air or show up thanks to formulae or speculation.

It takes love, foresight, originality, and spontaneity, to demand it be purchased.

Or placed upon a heartfelt wish list.

Written with care.

Mailed due North.

Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor/Orton O'Brien), all grown up, suddenly finds himself forced to work overtime.

He has a good job and is somewhat of a success, but his wife (Hayley Atwell as Evelyn Robin) and daughter (Bronte Carmichael as Madeline Robin) miss him dearly, and they had plans to spend the weekend together in the country.

Evelyn aptly observes that it's been years since he laughed, he's constantly preoccupied, rarely attempts to have fun, and doesn't spend nearly enough time with little Madeline, even if bills are paid on time and the pantry's always full.

He tries to mansplain his way out of it and she harrumphingly backs down, but he knows his life is missing something, even if he's not aware what it is, can't quite put his finger on it, has lost touch with his fantastic imagination.

Which was incredibly bright in his youth.

After his family departs, an old friend magically appears, in possession of the innocent wondrous knowledge that once transcendently defined everything around him, a bear, a pooh bear, a pooh bear named Winnie the Pooh (Jim Cummings), who's in search of his closest most cherished friends, no doubt manifested as Mr. Robin lamented his gloomy relationship with Madeline, as real as the rising or setting sun, primed to start a commotion should anyone else accidentally glimpse his earnest candour, as curious as ever, as thoughtful as peach-lime-blossom.

Christopher listens as Pooh honestly philosophizes without ever having been familiar with the word, his witty unpasteurized conversation patiently reminding him of alternatives long past.

Forgotten, while navigating the world of business.

Obscured by tight occupational blinds.

It's easy to get caught up with the hustle and bustle.

To be so busy and concerned that the lighthearted in/graciously passes by unnoticed.

Sometimes you're so busy you work all night in your dreams too and there's nothing you can do to escape or get away from it.

But as Christopher Robin enchantingly reveals, keeping one's mind open to the fascinating world of unbridled youthful exploration can lead to professional innovations that worldly frustrations often fail to inspirationally consider.

If you have a family, or remain perennially youthful, you can tap into the unrestrained childish wisdom kids freely present every day, and perhaps conjure revelations that can redefine your career if you add that bit of unconcerned elementary enlightenment to your daily working life.

While making sure not to appear too silly or distracted.

The film's perhaps too mature for youngsters since it spends a lot of time dealing with the adult world.

It could be one that kids keep coming back to throughout their lives, however, consequently, as they search for new meaning every couple of years or so, without realizing it's keeping an unassailable part of them young.

Like a fountain of youth.

Like dreams everlasting.

Where to Invade Next

Not as hard-hitting as some of Michael Moore's other documentaries, Where to Invade Next still reverberates with conscientious humble social democratic charm, as he invades Europe and Tunisia in search of reforms to bring back home.

He makes it clear early on that he's looking for flowers, not weeds, so the film generally overlooks postmodern day European civil unrest, to its advantage, its progressive assemblage of socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural innovations blossoming within the cheeky comedic collage, modest comparisons with corresponding realities in the U.S understated in their unsettling disparities.

Some of the bewildering institutional civilities he shares include the lunch breaks and vacation times enjoyed by many Italian workers, the healthy options available daily at an average school cafeteria in France, conversations with the thrivingly productive German middle-class, interviews with facilitators of learning in Finland who have managed to create the world's no.1 educational system by eliminating homework, the accessibility of Slovenian higher education, differing attitudes regarding the treatment of convicts in Norway, the decriminalization of marijuana in Portugal, and the ways in which women are making significant and progressive impacts in Iceland and Tunisia.

He points out how Iceland prosecuted members of its financial sector after the 2008 crisis.

How the elimination of private schools brings people together throughout life by encouraging the growth of friendships between persons from different economic backgrounds by having them attend school with one another where they playfully learn that they're really not that different from an early age.

How the only financial institution in Iceland to survive the economic crisis was run by women.

How Italian managers and owners don't mind paying their workers more because they care about the health and quality of their lives.

How German workers often make up significant portions of German boards of directors because their culture recognizes the impacts workers make and genuinely respects them as a humanistic economic competence.

How Norway took the punishment out of its rehabilitation centres (prisons) to teach its inmates how to live a respectable life rather than resolutely humiliating them for living a problematic one.

After viewing a film about rehabilitative techniques years ago, and trying to understand why a culture wouldn't punish violent criminals severely, it occurred to me that if you live a desperate life, surrounded by desperate people who can't find good jobs and have been scraping by living meagre paycheque to paycheque for years, pissed-off because they never get anywhere, filled with anger, while watching images of how wonderful it is to be wealthy on television and in films regularly, that violence becomes normal, that if you've never known calm or respect of friendship and you have to push back all the time to avoid being abused, then a criminal justice system that serves to punish you severely if your actions become criminal only serves to replicate the miserable situation you were pushing back against to begin with, replaying the role of the oppressor, and one which suddenly treats you with respect, teaches you to be calm, respectful, and to make friends, does a better job at preparing you to be civil, a break from the ubiquitous bedlam, especially if society doesn't dismissively exclude you after your release.

And takes steps to reduce the poverty that creates such desperation by sincerely caring for its fellow citizens as part of its civil responsibilities.

One of my favourite features from Where to Invade Next is Moore's interview style, his questions, where he warmly asks various people from different countries where their cultures came up with the ideas for their reforms and they continuously answer, the United States of America.

The United States is therefore making Europe and Tunisia much nicer places to live, where people aren't excluded for having a conscience and can enjoy a productive work/life balance.

Perhaps it's time, as Moore consistently suggests, to bring some of these ideas back home?

Donald Trump will not bring these ideas home; it's superhighly doubtful anyways.

His public persona has been crafted by firing people, he's openly racist, has no political experience, and reacts abrasively to criticism.

Is this the person you want controlling the world's largest military?

No, no it is not.

Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will also fight ISIL and make terrorists pay.

They'll also likely take steps to truly make the United States the greatest country in the world again, the country Michael Moore hopes it can be, a great country for someone from any cultural background, a great country, for everyone.

You shouldn't have to be excessively wealthy to have a voice, to take a vacation, to speak freely, if you live in a democratic country that values human rights.

Thinking as in individual is important. It's important to develop your own specific way of living to gain inner-strength and learn to confidently express yourself.

But thinking as a member of a group is important as well. If you truly want reform, if you want to bring the things Michael Moore presents in Where to Invade Next back home to the United States, you need to think collectively and take collective action.

A collective composed of strong individuals can achieve great things with someone like Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders at the helm.

High-paying jobs and 40 hour work weeks are not bad things. Having more time to spend with your family is not a bad thing. Vacation time to relax during the Summer is wonderful. Atmospheres of mutual respect promote well-being.

In the greatest country in the world, these things should be omnipresent, these things, should be everywhere, not simply reserved for an exclusive elite, some of whom oddly don't care about the plight of their fellow citizens, but readily available for each and every American.

Why not seek to enjoy your life outside of work, even at work, when a working day isn't that serious?

Why be at each other's throats constantly?

That's no way to individually live.

That's no way to collectively progress.

You do have to work hard at work, your company has to turn a profit.

But when 95% of that profit is shared with 4% of the workforce, that's odd.

Especially as the cost of living increases.

Love Michael Moore's films; hope we don't have to wait 6 years for the next one.

He really does care you know.

As do Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

Be Kind Rewind

In Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind, two down on their luck eccentric individuals decide it's time to sabotage a local power plant. Jerry (Jack Black) is convinced that the government is using that power plant to manipulate minds, and, ironically enough, after Mike (Mos Def) abandons him during the act, a bolt of electromagnetic something or other blasts him, magnetizing his brain. Which wouldn't be all that bad, but Mike works at Be Kind Rewind, a struggling video store in New Jersey which only has two months to bring its building up to code and avoid demolition. Jerry's new brain erases all of Be Kind's inventory, leaving them with only one way to get around bothering vacationing store owner Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) with the bad news: create their own home videos as quickly as they can and supply them to their customers as alternative versions (what they call "sweded") of their favourite films. At first the idea seems ludicrous, but as Ghostbusters, Robocop, and Rush Hour II come off without a hitch, their revolutionary idea pulls ahead full-throttle.

Be Kind Rewind seems ridiculous but its intellectual salute to forms of disenfranchised discourse demonstrates how the poor can take back the means of production and forge for themselves a dignified existence, where their insights and means of expression matter (a manifestation of what Žižek refers to as 'The Art of the Ridiculous Sublime'). It’s slightly off-beat but ludicrously effectively, emphasizing the value of friendship and the benefits of creativity.

We Are the Strange (Fantasia Fest 2007)

M dot Strange's new film We are the Strange is sincerely bizarre. A battle between the forces of good and evil is being waged in Stopmo City, the sinister chauvinist Him taking on noble outcasts Rain, eMMM and Blue. Blue has a disease of sorts that causes her skin to break out in scales whenever she speaks and eMMM is in search of cataclysmic ice cream. The battle scenes are intense, as is the scenery. The amount of depth worked into each of these split second scenes is incredible, leaving the hungry critic with an arsenal of symbolic material to analyze. While I wasn't too impressed with most of the dialogue, the following line is one of the most inspiring I've encountered in some time (concerning the saviour): "He will return and strike down evil with a fist made of aluminum foil. Then we will eat many scoops of ice cream."

Weird.