Review (Guest) (DVD): The Social Network

5 Star, Biography & Memoirs, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Change & Innovation, Consciousness & Social IQ, Culture, DVD - Light, Information Society, Reviews (DVD Only)
Amazon Page

Jesse Eisenberg (Actor), Andrew Garfield (Actor), David Fincher (Director)

Review by Jon Lebkowsky

The David Fincher/Aaron Sorkin film collaboration called “The Social Network” is not about technology, though there are scenes that suggest how code is produced through focused work (which actually looks boring when you’re watching it “IRL” (in real life), without Fincher’s hyperactive perspective – but is so engaging you can lose yourself totally in the process when you’re the one actually producing the code).  The film is more about the entrepreneurial spirit, what it takes to have a vision and see it through. The real visionary in the film, Mark Zuckerberg, appears far less intense IRL than Jesse Eisenberg’s interpretation would suggest, but his drive and work ethic are undeniable. It’s not an accident that a guy in his twenties produced a billion-dollar platform; he could have been derailed if he’d lacked the persistence of vision and intent that the film shows so clearly. And, of course, he was kind of a jerk, probably without meaning to be. That kind of focus and drive tends to override comfortable social graces, kind of ironic when you’re building a social platform.

Continue reading “Review (Guest) (DVD): The Social Network”

Review (DVD): 2012

5 Star, Complexity & Catastrophe, Culture, DVD - Light, Reviews (DVD Only)
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Normally a Four, Seek to Balance Threes

August 25, 2010

John Cusack

This movie held the attention of my youngest son and myself, and that is a non-trivial accomplishment. Despite the usual and totally insipid tear-jerking moments, the movie is over-all startlingly effective with truly awesome creative graphics and augmented reality.

On multiple levels, I found this movie worthy, and while I would normally have made it a four, am kicking it up to a five. I like the comments of the top reviewers, but disagree with their three ratings.

Review: Shooting the Truth–The Rise of American Political Documentaries

6 Star Top 10%, 9-11 Truth Books & DVDs, America (Founders, Current Situation), Atlases & State of the World, Atrocities & Genocide, Banks, Fed, Money, & Concentrated Wealth, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Censorship & Denial of Access, Communications, Consciousness & Social IQ, Corruption, Culture, DVD - Light, Culture, Research, Democracy, Economics, Education (General), Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, History, Impeachment & Treason, Information Society, Iraq, Justice (Failure, Reform), Media, Military & Pentagon Power, Misinformation & Propaganda, Peace, Poverty, & Middle Class, Power (Pathologies & Utilization), Secrecy & Politics of Secrecy, Threats (Emerging & Perennial), Values, Ethics, Sustainable Evolution, Voices Lost (Indigenous, Gender, Poor, Marginalized), War & Face of Battle
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Both a Tour of Substance, and an Eye Opener for Book People

July 29, 2010

James McEnteer

This is a 6 Star and Beyond book and is so categorized at Phi Beta Iota, the Public Intelligence Blog, where one can browse all 1600+ of my non-fiction reviews sorted into 98 categories and easily found with keywords–I've tried for years to get Amazon to give us this functionality and finally created it for my own work.

I was so impressed, so engaged, so absolutely educated by this author that I spent no less than four hours, and it might be as much as six, creating a table of all 120 films that he mentioned, with the directors, the year of release, and hot links. The complete list with hot links is at Phi Beta Iota, and should have been an appendix–I certainly give the list to the author should he wish to post it anywhere.

A few highlights, followed by the complete table of 120 films:

Review (DVD): Saving God (2008)

Culture, DVD - Light, Reviews (DVD Only)

5.0 out of 5 stars “Ving” Rhames Phenomenal, Movie of Raw Life and Real Hope,

May 10, 2010

Ving Rhames

From Wikipedia in English: Irving Rameses “Ving” Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor best known for his work in Pulp Fiction, Don King: Only in America, and the Mission: Impossible film series.

I put that up there because for me he will always be one of the main actors in Entrapment (Special Edition) where he very strangely has not received the credit he deserves as a supporting actor.

I am glad that all the Christians like this movie, but for me is is not a Christian movie per se, but rather a movie about raw life, the contradictions and challenges, and more often than most people realize, the unexpected openings for salvation and a new direction. The end is gripping, it can inspire tears.

Ving Rhames is the lead actor here (as he was in the sequel to Kojak as a series) and I would very much like to see him featured in other movies. Solid as a rock and that refers to his mind and his presence, not his body.

Absolutely recommended for viewing by anyone, not just families, and especially anyone who thinks they are “stuck.” Taking a line from Human Target: The Complete First Season, “You're not as stuck as you think you are.” BRAVO.

As a gesture of respect, and with a tip of the hat to Wikipedia where his entry is one of the better ones on substance, here are the three Mission Impossible movies he appeared in, the only person besides Tom Cruise to have this honor:

Mission Impossible – Ultimate Missions Collection (Mission Impossible / Mission Impossible II / Mission Impossible III)

Also see him with John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.

Vote on Review

Review (DVD) Human Target–The Complete First Season (2010)

Culture, DVD - Light, Reviews (DVD Only)
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Male Star is Solid–Ready for Prime Time Movies, May 10, 2010

Mark Valley

I had no idea this was a television series when someone loaned me the DVD, nor am I completely used to the idea that I am seeing stuff before it gets released on Amazon–but glad that Amazon allows those of us so privileged to add comments now instead of waiting for the material to be shipped from what is obviously a delayed system.

The star of this TV series is every bit as good as the best of the James Bond actors, and I give him very high marks for combining a physical presence with a mental calmness and a human touch that is rare in this kind of setting. His two co-stars are superb as well, and I for one am absolutely ready to see his trio offered in a prime time movie and then some.

See also:
Quantum of Solace
From Paris With Love
XXX (Full Screen Special Edition)

Vote on Review

Review (DVD): The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

5 Star, Culture, DVD - Light, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Intelligence (Government/Secret), Military & Pentagon Power, Reviews (DVD Only)
Amazon Page

5.0 out of 5 stars Five if you are former CIA or SOF, rest of world will not get it

May 7, 2010

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges

An extraordinarily talented and experienced international law enforcement officer watched this on loan from me before I saw it, and hated it. Now that I have watched it myself, I understand–if you have not been deeply engaged with CIA and all of its idiocyncrasies including remote viewing, acoustic-kitty, the pigeons that came before Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), and then over to SOF (Special Operations Forces) where “unconventional” had to go covert to survive the straight-leg generals with no clue, you will simply not appreciate this movie.

DanD nails it–this is satire and also a brilliant documentary of what can only be decribed as a well-intentioned long-running Goat F..k. The movie is a collage of several different real initiativces including the First Earth Battalion (I knew a couple of the principals, decades ahead of their time); the Peace Warrior initiative, and of course Remote Viewing, the CIA's notorious MKULTRA and LSD for unwitting victims, and so on.

At one point in the movie the two principal actors are discussing the remorse–the angst–over having used his power to actually kill a goal, and the other guy pops in with “Silence of the Goats.” That just about sums it up–this is, for someone steeped in the well-intentioned lunacy of the past–a perfect five, and I have to believe that the world-class actors that decided to do this did it knowing that it would be misunderstood by many, but a real hoot among the veterans of the seventies and eighties.

The only thing not in here, certainly worthy of a sequel to this movie, is extra-terrestial encounters, leveraging extra-terrestial technologies, warnings from extraterrestrials [humans now being in a state of quarentine for being stupid squared], and the exotic, wasteful, and generally hilarious methods used to keep Area 51 and related projects “secret.”

See also:
Peaceful Warrior (Widescreen)
First Earth Battalion Operations Manual: Reprint of Original Manual from the 70's
On the Psychology of Military Incompetence
Psychic Warrior
Psychic Warrior: The True Story of America's Foremost Psychic Spy and the Cover-Up of the CIA's Top-Secret Stargate Program
Memoirs of a Psychic Spy: The Remarkable Life of U.S. Government Remote Viewer 001
Hidden Secrets: The Complete History of Espionage and the Technology Used to Support ItHidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge
Disclosure : Military and Government Witnesses Reveal the Greatest Secrets in Modern History
Hidden Truth: Forbidden Knowledge

Vote on Review

Review (DVD): Cecilia and Bryn at Glyndebourne – Arias and Duets (2000)

5 Star, Culture, DVD - Light, Reviews (DVD Only)
Amazon Page

 5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely in every way, including unlisted Magic Flute after the flowers

May 7, 2010

Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel

 I am not an opera expert, but I like opera and I especially like duets, and that is why I ordered this knowing little of the stars.

The other reviews are more expert, for me this was a hit on voices; on beautifully timed focus on specific instruments and specific musicians contributing to the larger event (a third of the DVD); and finally, not listed and after the flowers, an “unscheduled” duet, Mozart's Magic Flute, Pan Pan…etcetera.

I will certainly use this totally satisfactory offering to search for “more like this.”