Matthew’s Blog

In my last post I talked about Malcolm Cohan and his coming to Minnesota.  I also said he was re-editing some of his earlier works.  Well today he just released one of the them.  It’s awesome.   It speaks to what he’s up to.

I just love the backdrop this round.

Malcolm Cohan, Vision Story creator extraordinaire, is coming in from Australia to meet all of us wonderful thought leaders and change magicians! Malcolm is the Visionary who started the ViSION Statement craze on YouTube. Malcolm is helping people create POWERFUL Vision Story/ Statement videos.

I was introduced to this man when George Johnson sent me this link along the lines of “You’ve gotta see this! You’re really going to align with this guy!” Boy was he right!

At the time Malcolm’s website had three really powerful vision stories that just knocked my socks off. One was called “Think It So” and the other “Vision for Humanity. The second made me cry. He is currently redoing those two movies and will show the later at our gathering, but I found a copy of the original Vision for Humanity on google.

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George was so inspired that I think he is becoming Malcolm’s business manager. George has a 2 minute talk about why he invited Malcolm to come to Minnesota. view video

Malcolm will be here for about a week where he’ll be meeting with the great thought leader energy that Minnesota attracts and keeps.

COME MEET HIM!

George and I have coordinated, well mostly George, an introduction to Malcolm evening program at Horst Rechelbacher’s (founder of Aveda) newest endeavor Intelligent Nutrients. If you haven’t been there you are in for a real treat! Amazing atmosphere, great food, and conscious business.

It will be from 5-7 Tuesday evening the 5th of June at The IN with free hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS.

Preregister with me if you want to come to the Tuesday evening event so we get a proper head count.

What is a Vision Story/Statement?
It’s an awesome little movie that you make about your future. Write down some very bold statements about what you want, combine this with powerful royalty free images, add in a music track that totally inspires you and there you have your audacious vision of the future.

Want to see some examples click on any of the movies on Malcolm’s homepage, these were all made by students, colleagues, friends of Malcolm.  They are awesome.
http://www.malcolmcohan.com.  If you come to Rocket Ship Minnesota you can learn how to make one too.

Rocket Ship Minnesota Seminar
Malcolm will also be giving on SUNDAY the 10th of June at the Holiday Inn Select (MCA’s new home) in Bloomington from 10am-6pm. Malcolm calls these seminars Rocket Ships because it will take you to a place you have never been before. In this seminar you will learn how to make a ViSION Statement Video and about Malcolm’s “Vision for Humanity.”
To register for the seminar and to learn more about Malcolm goto www.entrevis.com

I woke up from a dream this week with a clearer understanding of Conscious Capitalism. A less technical one than what has been proposed before.

It started with what capitalism has become at the end of the 20th century – Unconscious Capitalism

Unconscious Capitalism had no concern or conflict with the taking advantage of people (employers, communities, or consumers) or the planet (locally or holistically) in the name of profit or shareholder value.

Conscious Capitalism is an awakening to capitalism now being a truly symbiotic relationship where all stakeholders benefit or suffer because of the actions or inactions of one of the components.

The emergence of Conscious Capitalism has leveled the playing field.

Conscious Capitalism becomes an active practice of the “Platinum Rule.” – “Do unto others as THEY would do unto themselves”

In Conscious Capitalism we need each other for our very survival.

I had totally forgotten about this blog posting. I started my reviews in October and then they got lost in the shuffle. Several of these films have been released or are being released currently. Some never will be.

2007 marked our 7th Annual pilgrimage to the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). My parents & I see 10 movies in 3-4 days out of the 300+ movies that are showing during the 10 day festival. This year I lucked out and got to see 11 movies and they were for the most part fun and worth seeing.

FYI my rating system is split between the movie and the film (the movie being the escape/entertainment value, the film being the artistic form value)

The Italian, which was not really about an an Italian but rather a Russian boy who is living in an orphanage where he has been chosen to go home with the Italian couple looking for a boy. One day the mother of one of the children comes to claim her son only to find that the son was sold to a European couple just a month before. This gets the boy to thinking. . . The story is well told and believeable. It is taking place in present day Russia. It brought back odd and fond memories of my trip to the USSR in 1986. If you like well told foreign films with subtitles, you’ll enjoy The Italien. It reminds me of some of the feelings I had about the movie Kolya (sp?)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450450/ available on netflix
Movie: +++++ 5/5
Film:++++-4/5

2:37 – Refers to the time when a tragedy hits a high school. Someone has committed suicide. We don’t know who. Dial back 12 hours and replay the day from POV storytelling. We follow a group of 6 youth who are dealing with all the regular high school issues and concerns and myopathy as they go through the day. By the end of the film you realize that any one of these youth could be the one, but which one. Not only is this film well timed suspenseful, it is film/cinematographer’s dream movie to experience. The film was directed by a then 19 year old and starred real high school students. The film was shot on steady cam and some of the audience commented in the talk back that you almost sensed another character because of the steady cam. Another interesting tweak the film had was the use of mindwaves. This is the first time this has ever been done for a movie. Apparently if you have different frequencies being heard separately in each ear it is possible to guide or effect our emotions through subtley changing the frequencies. What they did was apply a mindwave mask to all of the soundscape so that even the laughter and leaves falling had a pulsing rythm. Very well done film. I am not sure if it will be released in the states. It is an Australian film and very much worth seeing if you are a film buff. A word of caution there are two scenes that are incredibly painful to watch and at the same time crucial to the story (one is a rape scene and the other the suicide after we determine the identity). Not a movie for the faint hearted.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472582/
http://www.twothirty7.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2:37
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

A Grave Keeper’s Tale – is the story of caste, honor, duty, and love. A girl is born into a family of gravekeepers in India. The story is somewhat predictable. The filming left a lot to be desired. The lead role was played by a beautiful and famous Bollywood actress. Movie: +++– (3/5)
Film: +—- (1/5)

The Host: Hilarious, gripping, campy, and thrilling North Korean monster movie. Like the old Japanese Godzilla movies, but with modern effects. Basic plot: Greedy Americans don’t care about pollution and dump their problems down the drain. The problem mutates and starts to terrorize the city. There is a family living by the river in their home/convenience store. The mutant gobbles up people. The military is brought in. The reporters get involved. The military medical staff don’t believe the hero. There are several great chase scenes through tunnels, the river and the river banks. There is genuine suspense and ewe factors. The little girl saves the day. The boy man grows up takes responsibility and saves the day. You leave the film entertained, smiling, amused, and full of rich geo-political undertones.
Release Date 2006 – Touring US art houses in 2007
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0468492/
available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5) (Campy)
Film: ++++- (4/5)

Penelope
Sweet darling Penelope. Penelope is a girl born of a family of blue bloods. Life should be easy for her. Except for the fact that her family has been cursed. You see, back in the good old days of the heirs fell in love with someone beneath them (a servant). When the family found out they forced an end to the relationship and jilting the lover. The town witch was infuriated and cast a curse on the family that the next girl born to the family would have the face of a pig. Well several generations passed without the birth of a girl child until modern day when Penelope is born. It is a story of 1st impressions, love, stations, class, true love, curses, and adventure. I would go as far as saying that this film has the potential to be this generation’s “Princess Bride”
Release Date: 17 August 2007 – now February 2008 (as of 10/6/07)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472160/
http://www.penelopethemovie.com/
Movie: +++++ (5/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

Venus This is what last year’s ShopGirl wasn’t! This film has depth of characters that you are genuinely interested in learning more about and understanding how they see the world. Peter O’Toole does an incredible performance as Maurice, a famous stage and screen actor in his extreme later years, who is in love with all women. When his acting pal need to bring in a home assistant in comes a brash young teenager (the friend’s niece) who makes Maurice’s head spin. There is clearly sexual tension in the room which is charming, awkward to watch, and tender all a the same time. There is a very good review at http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/ If you are a fan of O’Toole and solid acting this is a worthy watch. It is slow paced, not predictable, and refreshing look at this classic tale of old men and young women.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489327/ available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: ++++- (4/5)

Confetti is a mockumentary about a wedding magazine that decides to run a competition on who will have the most original wedding of the year. They have hired two wedding arrangers to coordinate the three finalist couple’s weddings. The choices are a couple who LOVE tennis, a couple who are nudists, and a couple who want to have a musical (hollywood heyday style). It is a fun flick. If you liked “Best of Show” you’ll enjoy this film. Given the puritanical nature of the American audience I doubt this will get wide spread showing in the US.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427089/ available on netflix
Movie: ++++- (4/5) Fun Flick
Film: +++- – (3/5)

Citizen Duane Every year we go to the Toronto Film Fest we make a point to see at least one Canadian Film. We could have chosen better on this one. Citizen Duane is a story about Duane Balfour a teen-aged odd duck born into a family of odd circumstances and spectacular failure. Duane decides to run for mayor to reclaim his family honor and arrest the positions from the powers that be. There is a little romance. A lot of oddity. But all in all it was not worth watching in the theatre. Maybe video if it ever gets released, but I’d wait till comes on as an afterschool special.
Movie: ++— (2/5)
Film: ++—(2/5)

The Last Kiss. Not being a fan of movies about infidelity, I ended up mentally walking out of this movie as it is the movie’s core theme. What I did see was poor acting and unbelievable characters. Young wed couple discovers that she is pregnant. Husband (of course) is panicking about his life. Husband is hit on by a college girl who likes older men. Wife finds out. Then something happens between girl and husband. Wife takes him back after forcing him to sleep on the front steps of the house for days. Grow up. Movie: +—- (1/5)
Film: ++— (2/5)

Stranger Than Fiction – Hi entertainment value. Well done movie. What if your life was really being written by someone else? What if that person lives in the same town as you? What if that author is going to kill you in her book? What do you do? Well, Will Ferrill is that man with an ordinary life who Emma Thompson (the afore mentioned author) is going to snuff. Will Ferrill really comes into his own in this film. The actor comes forth here. In many respects its like the turning point that Jim Carey had with the Truman Show – the actor emerged, not the comedian. This is not to say he isn’t funny. The movie is a riot. I have to say I am totally smitten with Maggie Gyllenhaal who plays a baker that Ferrill comes to audit and as things would be written – fall in love with. One of my favorite film feature is the mathematical equations and mapping that get drawn on the screen while Will is being who he is (an IRS auditor – assessing and measuring and categorizing).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/ available on netflix
Movie: +++++ (5/5)
Film: +++++ (5/5)

All the Kings Men
Sean Penn became Governor Willie Stark. Powerful performances by all. Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet to name a few. Jude law has the toughest role being the stand up guy and first hand lieutenant to Willie Stark. I have never seen the original 1949 movie, but was quite impressed by this one. Politics, progress, at what cost. Historical Fiction at its best.
Movie: ++++- (4/5)
Film: ++++- (5/5)