​One of my favorite subjects growing up was Egyptology. I was fascinated on how the civilization thrived over the years in the desert with only one source of water. That is the today me talking, when I was a kid, I loved the pyramids and all of the ancient carvings that seemed to be impossible to do back then without any sort of technology and looking back at it today, I am still very intrigued. The structure of their Gods was also fascinating to me as they all had powers over one thing and were able to use them to the fullest, but my favorite was Anubis, the god of the underworld, his designs looked really cool back then and even now.

Evelyn Carnahan is trying to make a name for herself working in her museum, but there is always something holding her back.  Despite her extensive knowledge about the ancient Egyptians, the staff of Cambridge College will not fully accept her into their ranks. While her brother Jonathan is living is life to the fullest and messing around in a sarcophagus, Evy finds that he has a secret of his own that could change the perception people have of her.

With a map in hand, Evy has to find some way to find the ancient city of Hamunaptra, a.k.a., The City of the Dead, to uncover one of the greatest treasures known to man. But her quest quickly goes nowhere since no one has ever found the ancient city. Everything changes however when she discovers that there is a man that is sentenced to death that may be able to help her. Rick O’Connell has been to the ancient city and has no reason to return, but when his life is bargained for by Evy, he feels obligated to lead her to the lost city. Regardless of the warning signs that precede their quest, Evy, Rick and Jonathan start their search, but they are not the only ones that want to uncover Hamunaptra’s secrets as there is another crew that has the city in their sights.

With the two groups searching for the same place, it is a race against time before one comes out victorious, but they did not expect to be met by another group that is trying to protect the ancient city’s secrets. The Magi have been in charge of keeping the secrets hidden about the lost city and have done very well, but when they are not able to stop the new explorers from obtaining their goals, they are prepared for the evil that comes along with it. When reading form the Book of the Dead, Evy awakens a monster that no mortal weapon can stop and as the ancient priest feeds on the living, his power grows and the world will not be safe until he can be bound by the sands of time once again.

This is a joy of a movie that is filled with myths, legends and lore that you might not have ever heard of, even while in school. When doing a little bit of research, some of the things that are included in this movie are right out of the books and that just makes you want to find out more. I loved how the story played out over the entire film, but since I am not a huge fan of the romantic aspect of the story, I understand why it is included…sequel. A harmless movie that will make you believe that if you put your mind to something, you will always be able to accomplish it and that just makes it a feel-good movie as well. With plenty of character growth, you will not feel cheated in the least, unless of course you are feeling like Imhotep should be given free rein to bring back the love of his life.  Happy Viewing.

When not being around your family for extended amounts of time, it is difficult to come walking back into their lives. Even if you have the best intentions of making things right for everything that you have missed over the years, you may find that you are not welcomed with open arms. It gets harder if kids are thrown into the equation, especially if they do not really know who you are. You just need to stick with it and try to be a part of their lives and not shy away from the difficult times, especially if you are the one asking for their love.

With a new task being thrown at her by the top brass at the CIA, Vivi knows that she will not be able to accomplish it without help. Seeing that one of the agency’s top killers is headed for retirement with brain cancer, she may be able to offer him something to live for. Being able to track down Ethan Renner and knowing everything about him, she offers him an experimental drug that could take the pain away, but on one condition, that he helps her locate a foreign operative, The Wolf.  With nothing to lose and everything to gain, Ethan reluctantly takes the job but quickly finds out that he is not being given all of the information that he needs to fulfill his contract.

Returning to his flat in Paris, Ethan is surprised to see that there is another family living there. Although he needs his space for spy work, he makes a deal with the family to hang around until their unborn baby arrives. Needing a place to stay, he is able to convince his wife to allow him to stay at her place with their daughter Zooey. Not knowing if the drug that he is being given will extend his life, Ethan knows the importance of being a part of his daughter’s life and will do anything to be with her. When Tina is called away for work, Ethan is left in charge of keeping Zooey out of trouble, but he also has the task at hand to follow the breadcrumbs and find The Wolf. Needing to juggle the jobs of being an assassin and a father is taxing on Ethan however and when the side effects of the drug take their toll on him, he finds out that this will not be an easy transition.

You know, when you think about spy movies where one is about to retire, you think that they might lose a step, but Ethan seems to be entering his prime. With the side effects of the drug causing his heart rate to skyrocket, the only way to keep them at bay is a couple of drinks of vodka, and Paris seems to have plenty of it lying around. I really liked the interactions between Ethan and Zooey about life lessons and watching as he taught his fatherless daughter to ride a bike was just precious. But what I loved about the movie was the interrogations that took place and how Zooey always seemed to need him while he was working. Needing help to become a better father, Ethan turns to a mark for advice whenever the going gets rough and finds out that parenting cannot always be done on the fly.

Five Takeaways

1. Always read the side effects of a drug that you are taking, no matter how many pages it is.
2. Vodka is a cure all, make sure to have some around if you are a CIA agent.
3. If you get into a fight at a deli, make sure to use the Panini press, it makes for a good weapon.
4. Always make sure that the family that lives in your old home is cool with you bringing over visitors to beat up in the bathroom.
5. NOBODY likes a purple bike.

Everybody thinks that marketing is just what you see on television or in magazines, but it is so much more than that. Marketing is making your own brand that you have to show to everyone that you meet in the streets. Creating an image of who you are determines how people choose to view you and how far you are able to make it any career. It is important to put out a positive image of yourself from the get-go, since first impressions are hard to break and can hold you back if they are far from positive. 

Trying to make a name for himself in New York, Scat has pulled out all of the stops, but it is still not enough to be noticed yet. With his roommate Sneaky Pete by his side however, Scat knows that things will be on the up and up sooner rather than later. Not being able to come up with ideas on demand, Scat is shocked when he sees that he has discovered the next great energy drink that everyone will need to buy, Fukk. Knowing that it is all about marketing the product and nothing else, Scat is able to score a meeting with Six who runs the marketing department at Abby Cola and she is ready to run with the idea, but there is one little problem, Scat does not own the copyright to his idea. 

Running down to the patent office, Scat is shocked to find out that his best friend Sneaky Pete has stolen the idea from him and has inherited his riches. Not knowing what to do next, Scat falls back to the jobs that pay the bills, but a chance meeting with Six shows him that he is in more demand than he expected. With her baby Fukk being given to Sneaky Pete, Six wants to squash his marketing campaign and get her stock on the rise again, because while she is a marketing genius she struggles in coming up with new ideas. Reaching a deal with Scat that places him in her apartment until they are able to come up with a new marketing campaign, Six starts to show a little joy in having him by her side, but is unwilling to admit to it. Being able to come up with the perfect idea after a dispenser falls on him, Scat and Six are on the high road once again, but with Sneaky Pete being in charge of the brand, he will have to pull another ace out of his pocket to retain his own reputation.  

I love watching commercials and asking myself what the heck they are trying to sell me is one of my favorite parts of watching television. But when nothing inventive is present on the screen, I get sick of them very quickly and after the first viewing, it seems like they are trying to ram their product down my throat. That is marketing in a nutshell, make an impression, and this movie does a great job in making that apparent. But what I really liked about this movie is the personal marketing that the characters all do and while they may fail at some things, this is not one of them. Making themselves out to be stronger, darker, unattainable, bitchy or whatever, they all pull it off great. If you ever want insight as to what marketing really is, you may want to check this movie out and yes, there is a little love story going on as well.

Five Takeaways                                                       

1. Sell yourself first, then worry about your product. That will get you the job.
2. Nobody cares what you are selling, as long as you convince them that they need it.
3. If you ever meet a woman with a numbered name like Six, don’t try to woo her, it is a waste of time. Stay with lower numbers like Three.
4. Marketing people get upset if you ask them what something tastes like, they don’t care.
5. The catchy names will always win out, especially if they sound dirty.

​It is hard to imagine what will happen when someone gets elected to office in Washington D.C. They can tell us all of their plans in the public forums, but when they get to office, their agenda can drastically change. You see it all of the time from both parties and they never seem to focus on what got them elected in the first place. Not knowing who the good and bad politicians will be until they get into their room of power is something that everyone needs to keep an eye on, since these are the people that are supposed to be the voices of the people and there are some good ones that are able to make a difference.

Charlie Wilson has been called a lot of things in his long career in Washington, but never has he been called ethical. While on a short trip to Vegas to visit some friends, Charlie is more concerned about what he is seeing on television than the beautiful women that are sitting right next to him. Watching as Dan Rather is reporting from Afghanistan about the insurgents from Russia moving in, Charlie knows that there is something he will be able to do to help with the problem. Escaping back to his office in D.C., Charlie keeps up on the story and doubles the covert ops budget from five to ten million dollars.

After word spreads about what he has done, Charlie gets a call from his favorite Miss Cotton Bowl, Joanne Herring, that brings more of what is happening in Afghanistan to light for him. Getting a meeting with the president of Afghanistan, Charlie hears the cries of the nation, along with the people that have been moved from their homes into refugee camps in Pakistan where it is more difficult to get weapons than food. Knowing that they need America’s aid to fight this war they are in; Charlie needs to gather the best thinkers in the CIA to figure out how to get the weapons they need to the country without being accused of being involved. 

A meeting with CIA operative Gust Avrakotos will turn Charlie’s dream into reality when he sees what the older agent has to offer. Flying all over the world to get promises made by friends and enemies, Charlie has a plan to ask congress for forty million dollars to fund the war and when it gets approved, all of the wheels are put into motion. With a three-man team of CIA agents and Charlie working together, they are able to help the Afghan forces push back the Russians for a short time, but when the invasion starts to ramp up, more money and resources will be needed. Heading back to defense committee to ask for more funds, Charlie has to rely on his friendships to get him past the difficult votes and get Afghanistan what its people need to fight and win the war.

I am not a huge fan of political movies, unless of course it is satire, but this one has to be one of my favorites. Watching as a single senator is able to secure the funds to a purpose that he knows is right and deal a blow to a superpower, well, just wow. This just goes to show that if you are willing to stand up and fight for what you believe in, you may actually be able to accomplish it. It is too difficult to call out a favorite character in this movie since they are all great. Charlie is able to use his position of power and influence to make things happen, Gust is able to get battle plans together and tell Charlie exactly what is needed, Joanne is able to use her influence to make things happen and also raise awareness of what is happening across the world. It is great to see what a group is able to accomplish when the rest of the world does not seem to care, and I surely hope that thinking like this goes on as we bring in our next round of politicians. Happy Viewing.

There comes a point where every writer out there, reaches a crossroads in their career. Where they aren’t quite sure if the current path their career has taken, is the right one when all is said and done. It’s a quandary some of the greats of our time have faced. For George Romero and Stephen King both had concerns about potentially being pigeonholed in the genres that they excelled within and that motivated them to both branch out and try new things before coming to realize that horror was their jam and they were excellent in creating it, when they gave it their all, and the world is thankful that they came to realize that particular fact.
 
But when some writers are pressed with this conundrum, panic can in fact ensue. Because the thought of being away from what makes them great or what brought them notoriety is a terrifying prospect, one that might alter the course of their career in negative light. But the irony of that thought process, is that often times, sticking with what works can add greater expectations, or put undue pressure on the writer that they’re not aware of, which prompts them to make some dubious storytelling choices. And one has to wonder, if that particular line of thinking is what led M. Night Shyamalan down an unfortunate path after his first two big hits. Because while The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable were regarded as masterpieces in their own right, his next entry has not held up as well over time.
 
Which is due in large part to the fact that Signs has some serious plot holes built into its framework, the kind that are glaring when watched multiple times. But before we dive too deeply into said flaws, we do need to take a moment today and celebrate some of the successes present in this film. Because this is a motion picture that oddly enough, has some wonderful elements in it as well, such as its cast. Because Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix are electric in this film and their portrayal of two broken men looking for some kind of meaning in this world adds gravity to the story since disaster helps them heal when they realize what they have in the moment matters more, which leads to the best part of this movie; it’s exploration in regard to loss and grief and faith.

​Something that is handled primarily by Gibson’s character, Graham Hess. For Graham is a former minister who came to believe that there is no God after seeing his wife die before his eyes in terrible fashion and well, what his character transforms into following this tragedy is what makes his journey so fascinating. Because in essence, Graham is going through the motions, getting by and biding his time in safety so he no longer has to deal with tragedy and pain. But disaster comes calling, and it forces him to live again and watching him grow before our eyes and seeing him take risks to keep his family safe is powerful for certain and the message about living life is clear as day in this particular tale and it is a shame that Shyamalan didn’t focus more on this.
 
Because the Sci-Fi and Horror elements present here oddly do the film a disservice, despite the fact that the jump scares and the eerie atmosphere are indeed effective. But a true character study on faith seems shoehorned in as the story rolls along since the aliens take the center stage and well, it’s the grand finale of this film that truly stands out as its greatest mistake. Because the alien invasion being stopped by divine intervention simply doesn’t jibe in the slightest and it really does play out in awkward fashion in retrospect and to make matters worse, these aliens have to be the dumbest/smartest creatures in the galaxy. After all, how in the heavens could a spacefaring species that figured out faster-than-light travel and cloaking technology, not bother to check as to whether or not the liquid that covers 71% of this planet is toxic to them?
 
In the end, all of these poor storytelling choices simply ruin what could have been a powerful story, one that could have bookended the concepts present in The Sixth Sense. But truly, it seems as though the pressure was getting to M. Night, and he seemed to believe that he had to deliver a big ending that dropped jaws and well, he rushed this one and the end result is an inconsistent story that features some laughable moments. And to complicate matters further, this wouldn’t be the last time that M. Night would do an odd job of combining an outlandish twist ending with a powerful story. For his next project would follow a similar blueprint and the fallout from The Village brought about all kinds of questions about M. Night’s skills as a writer and whether or not he would maintain a successful career in Hollywood.

For every action in the universe, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Science has proven this time and time again and when it comes to our daily lives, we do our best to apply this fact to the world that is around us on a more philosophical level.  

We firmly believe that for every good person out there, there is a person that is equally as vile, and it fuels our consistent discussion of good versus evil. But what if this was 100% the case? What if there was a true foil for each and every one of us out there, both in the psychological and physical sense? These are fascinating questions that were addressed in the thought-provoking film, Unbreakable.  

David Dunn is nothing short of a miracle, since he is the sole survivor of a horrific train crash. In fact, there isn't a scratch on, him leaving David feeling lost and confused after the crash. But a mysterious man named Elijah Price believes that he has the answer as to why David was spared any kind of injuries, in that David is invincible and his invulnerability was gifted to him to that he can serve a greater purpose to the world, as a savior of men. 

Released in 2000, the second film to be written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan was a vast departure from his first film, The Sixth Sense since he traded the scares for a story that explores the mythos of comic book characters and in the process he was able to gift us with a new breed of hero in David Dunn, and the end result of this bold experiment is nothing short of spectacular.  

Not only does M. Night get everything right when it comes to comics, he does it in a slow methodical fashion that allows our hero to grow and discover that he is truly something special to the world. It gives a depth to superhero characters we have never seen before since David Dunn is about as blue collar as it gets and unlike other heroes in the genre, while he has a base idea of his power and his ability, he simply chooses to ignore and forget his abilities.  

Yet what is equally as fascinating when it comes to Unbreakable are the underlying themes it presents.  Not only does it address the idea of our opposites walking the earth, but it also goes deep into the realm of finding our purpose in the world and truly accepting it. It makes for a fascinating film to watch and quite frankly it is the finest film of M Night's career. Comic fans check this one out, movie fans, do the same, you won't be disappointed with this thoughtful and surprisingly uplifting motion picture.  

At some point or another, we’ve all played a hearty game of ‘What if?’ when it comes to particular moments in our lives. We’ve often wondered where we would be if we hadn’t turned down a particular job, or if we bothered to ask that one particular person out that we were afraid would shoot us down. The list simply goes on and on and it’s a game that we will forever play since one cannot go back and change the past, or predict the future, and also because, our brains and in turn our imagination, thoroughly enjoy feasting upon the unknown and all the possibilities that come with it.
 
After all, how amazing would our lives be if we could see what’s coming our way, and know exactly how to avoid a particular decision that would cause us harm and our curiosity surrounding that has led to many a great story in our time that explores that particular notion and the wonder, or horrors that can come with it and recently, I took the time to revisit a film that dug into the possibility of what life would be like if we could predict the future, and the consequences that could come about from that kind of power, in Minority Report.
 
Now in this particular film, we are transported to Washington D.C. in the year 2054, wherein a miracle has been achieved. The D.C. Police Department has worked out a way to stop murders before they can happen by way of a trio of special human beings known as ‘PreCogs’ who can in essence, see the future, and their powers have helped bring the murder rate in our nation’s capital to zero. In fact, the program works so well, that PreCrime is about to go national and as the Federal Government digs into the program one more time before launching it, PreCrime’s Captain, John Anderton uncovers some oddities from an early case for the division and unfortunately for John, digging deep into the past will uncover dangers untold for his future…

​I distinctly recall that when this film came out in 2002, everyone marveled at the technological advancements present in the story and fawned over them since good science fiction makes us wonder about the possibilities of our own world and it did raise some questions about privacy that we are dealing with today. But, while all of that is fascinating in its own right, the film’s examination of power and how it can corrupt is downright incredible since the power to predict the future does indeed cause more harm than good here and I love that this particular matter is presented in the film as a grey area since Burgess more or less justifies his actions as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good.
 
But what truly amazed me about this motion picture, is the story’s in depth look at how the past can haunt us and control us since John Anderton is a man trying desperately to escape it and he works to heal his own pain by helping others, and while that makes the character incredibly noble, it also exposes all of his flaws since he goes home to sheer misery since any particular moment he’s not focusing on work, he’s torturing himself with drugs and memories of his lost son and well, you just don’t see that kind of character development in big budget science fiction films in this day and age and I love that this movie took a chance on adding something that important into the mix.
 
If anything, this is one of those motion pictures that I always take the time to watch when it’s on, simply because it offers the audience plenty to chew upon and it always seems as though I discover a new nuance when it comes to the characters and the story when I find it on cable, because this really is a thinking man’s film when all is said done, but I appreciate the fact that it offers something for everyone. Because if you’re not in the mood to ponder upon the ideas the film has to offer, there are some breathtaking and fun action sequences to be found as well and kudos to Steven Spielberg for bringing to life a movie that can entertain and fascinate and this is a movie that I personally feel time will be kind to as the years go on since it is such an intelligent and powerfully captivating story.