Communication Not, Movie Reviews

It is funny the way time flies and I really mean that.  I remember turning 16 because my mother prepared me a great birthday dinner party.  Yea I know that sounds very formal for a bunch of “boys” from dusty, windy, West Texas football crazy Littlefield, Texas, but I have a photo of that night and we were actually toasting glasses of whole white milk.  Boy, have times changed.  As I search through my mindly archives I also remember when there were no cell phones, computers, ipads, tablets, or the like and we all just communicated with our voices and whatever means of conveyance we could muster.  Now that we have reached such a high degree of communication we are actually not really communicating since we are going through a bunch of motions sending texts, e-mails, etc.  I have found that working with the very much younger generation they have a tendency to trust the i-phone for everything.  When I was doing a marketing gig for Honey Milk I was with a small group of mid 20 somethings working the Colorado bicycle event, and during dinner I found myself with four of them and had to watch them text all during our meal.  I did the unforgiving thing of leaving my cell phone in the car so all I had to depend on for commo was my brain, mouth, eyes and ears. While I went ahead and ordered my meal, ate, and then suggested that we leave, it was hard to convey that since their heads were still buried in their texting mission.  If I didn’t know better I would think they just didn’t like me and wanted to ignore me by texting during the meal.  Now what I do when some one does this is just ignore them and pull out my phone.  I have found I can text with the best of them if I really want to and then I am relieved of any conversation responsibility and I can be as cool a recluse as anyone else.   Then I have also found that this social engagement challenge will inspire me to do everything I can to enter into some form of real conversation that leads to a reasonable conclusion.  What I have found is that face to face conversations can be dominated by talking about something you know a lot about but the other people know very little.  This being the case there is very little argument since they know nothing about it, but there is also very little contributing thoughts about the subject and just a blank look is offered.  One time I entered into such a conversation with two phd engineering physicists of which I entered into a subject they knew nothing about.  Normally this type of digital minded person knows a lot about their field of study and work but very little about the rest of the world.  So, I took them into my mind chamber concerning the current evolution of how the cotton farmers were adapting to the use of modern cotton material handling equipment, and how it was affecting the quality of their cotton staple, and their world market pricing. These guys might be smart but I can guarantee they all of sudden had a look of “what the hell is he talking about and why do we care??”  But, my point is made that we can be inspired to take command of our social communication environment through our own thought processes.  Ooops, sorry, spent too much time on this idea, now back to my text messages!!  

Movie Reviews:

“Whiplash”, ****, This movie is about jazz music and J.K. Simmons(a well known character actor and insurance commercial hacker) delivers an Oscar-worthy supporting performance as the tough as nails band leader at a music conservatory(he did win best supporting actor).  Miles Teller also shines(in my opinion he should also have been nominated) as the percussion student who will practice and play until his hands are dripping blood(kind of reminds me of some football drills).  The story revolves around the band leader motivating the drummer to play beyond his current abilities.  A very good movie but not five star, or maybe the next time I watch it, if I do, it will gain that additional star.  Rated R for strong language including some sexual references.  

“Boy Hood”, *****, This is another movie that you will watch and wonder, “why did I watch that?”  But on the other hand it is a movie with such a unique approach that you have to respect the originality(received an Oscar for that) and thoughts that went into it.  This movie took 12 years to make and chronicles the life of a young boy from 6 years old up to 18.  It is a true story directed by Richard Linklater starring Ellan Coltrane as the boy, Ethan Hawke as the father and Patricia Arquett.  Since it was actually filmed for 12 years and we got to watch the boy grow up and the parents age, it was really a unique story.  The photography was great and how they were able to film this for 12 years and make it look continual is a mystery to me.  While the mother and father are experienced actors the boy was not, but did a great job.  Ms. Arquett received an Oscar for best supporting actress.  At the end you wonder how they did it and there was no explanation of how they are doing now.  When you think about watching this kid grow up you first think it must be a boring movie and in some cases it is, but in the big picture it was unique and well done.  Do not expect great drama(just from the mother and some from the father) from the boy or the story line.  It just flows with their actual lives!  Rated PG-13 for some thematic material.

EA, SH.....:)!

greerman