Do you remember those teenage movies from the 1980s? Remember how no film seems to recapture that time as well? Remember how the movies seem to capture moments in montage moments that stirred the soul?
Movies such as Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Back to the Future and so forth were the embodiment of my childhood and early teens. The movies that had montage moments were also cool.
So lets look back at some of the movies that had stirring montage moments that were decidedly hammy:
This will be the last movie I see in a cinema I declared to somebody in a cue standing anxiously in line, impatiently waiting to watch the last in George Lucas Star Wars Pre-trilogy. It wasnt because I hated the film, but it was because over the past few years cinema tickets in my local area has increased something like 20-25% within 6 months and I was determined not to be suckered into another movie hype-fest like Charlies Angles *(shudders)*
Yeah, but this is the movie where we get to find out why Vader said You should not have come back in A New Hope plus we get to see why Vader turned to the dark side! replied the colleague, who by now had drank all of his 2 litre Pepsi soda which he was saving for the movie.
Somehow I sighed I get the feeling this is going to be like Titanic, where you know whats going to happen in the end. I retorted, looking at my watch.
When we finally got in, I sat near the front which was really my mistake because it took forever for my eyes to focus on the big screen but that didnt matter.
By the end of the movie I felt it was neither bad, nor good it was sort of in-between. I liked it, it wasnt too bad it sure made up for the previous two Star Wars films where nothing really happened.
The things that really brought it down were the sub-par story-telling and poor lines delivered with wooden performances, especially by Hayden Christensen who for some reason looked like he was on drugs.
Ian McDiarmid plays the insidious Supreme Chancellor Palpatine with a hefty dump of cheese and relish not seen since Return of the Jedi, and I think this is really a movie about Palpatine, not Vader.
I was also disappointed how we didnt see or hear much from Vader. His reasons for turning to the dark side are okay, but I dont think it was really enough to value his fall from good to evil. Although having said that Vaders sub-par delivery of comedy value of Vaders cry of NOOOOO! will probably go down in history alongside Kirks KAHHHHHNNN! and Brandos delivery of STELLLLAA!
Overall Star Wars III, in my opinion, wasnt a bad movie it wasnt a good movie it was fun, it was interesting and it was the best of Lucas pre-trilogy.
Overall, I’d give this movie: 6/10.
Jeffrey J Fox is the bestselling author of “How to become a Rainmaker” and “How to become CEO”. Fox has won numerous awards from the business community and is highly rated as one the top 100 marketing gurus in the world today.
In his latest book, Fox writes a concise and practical guide to the elements for success for every small business owner.
The book, which is 150 pages long has a title that doesn’t really reflect what the book is about — in fact, it doesn’t actually give you any new ideas on how to actually go around to make big money from your small business.
Rather, this book is about the *responsibility* each business owner must fulfill – and describes what the rewards for sacrificing time, money, assets and resources will bring.
The concise nature of this book may upset many because it is little on detail and can be described as simplistic. If you’re starting a business you’ll find this book is more of a “pick-me-up” – it drills down business into two/three small pages.
Personally, I like this concept – and its almost unique to Fox’s books. Personally, for me – this book gets to the heart of the matter, quickly, effectively and promptly.
Fox does provides quirky insights and ideas on how to be successful, for example – he explains why you should “hire an ex-paperboy” instead of a University graduate – and how “picking up paperclips ” can save you money.
Unlike Rainmaker, I don’t believe this is ‘essential reading’, but it can help in defining what your responsibilities as a small business manager is – and how to bring new customers to your business.
Bottom line – The book is no “rainmaker”, but is an easy book to read that offers good insights and reminders about the responsibility that business people have – which is, to make money, bring in sales and delight customers.
Buy “How to make big money in your own small business” from Amazon
Napoleon Hill is widely recognized as the founder of the modern genre of personal success literature. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time.
After interviewing over 500 of the most affluent men and women of his time, he uncovered many secrets to obtaining great wealth. These secrets are based on the notion that if we can learn to think like the rich, we can achieve it.
Al Pacino is set to return as Tony Montana in a video game version of Scarface.
Apparantly Tony Montana didn’t die at the end of Scarface, or so a new video game tells us. Al Pacino and a load of heavyweight hollywood actors will bring the world of Tony Montana to the small screen.
The Guardian has an excellent range of how to… guides on technology, and how to make the Internet work to your benefit.
The how to guides include:
For more information, visit the Guardian’s how to guide section.
The Guardian has an interview with Nick Leeson, who lost 1.3bn. Last week he was appointed commercial manager of Galway United in the Irish second division.
So, who’s going to win the UK election, and do we really care? I think we do, we care about issues – not about politics, I think we care about how we’re going to pay the bills, save enough money for a pension, a holiday – I think we care, as a nation, how well our children eat and the sense of entrepreneurship.
Political blogging is big business in the US, in fact it took off during the last election – but the UK is catching up, there’s reports of parties buying up domain names left, right and center to be used for their own ends, and I’ve found the Guardian’s UK Election Blog really good reading – I don’t really watch TV reports on the news, because they are skewed or cut, or edited or done in a certain way to suggest one thing.
Another thing is, I keep hearing how its about “having a say”, I don’t want to have a say – I want to make a difference, and I want the person I elect to make a difference, to lead, to take charge and be fully accountable.
Who I’m I electing for? I dunno, it really depends on who stands in my local area, and what they stand for – I probably won’t vote, but I haven’t made my mind up yet.
Do we care? The issues matter. Politicians don’t. Its as simple as that.
One of the most common questions I used to ask before I started a business was do I really need a business plan? You might be in a situation where you are asking yourself the same question.
The bottom line is; it really depends on what you want to do.
An age old question, cliche or cynicsim I always hear from people I meet is that “enterprenuerisim cannot be taught, you are born with it”.
Personally, I don’t believe that. Passion, motivation, desire, willpower can be trained, it can be mustered from people with the help of other people.
Naturally – you’ve got to want to do it, be it to stay longer at work, to help out on a weekend, or bring more business to your company. This is where I fundamentally believe that enterprenuerisim is being taught, because you are learning it first hand – you see it first hand – you reap what you sow and you adapt to the situation because the situation demands it.
Can you learn enterprenuerisim at school? Well it depends, there are lots of schools out there, you can learn it at University, or at schools like Nesta which is offering a fantastic 10-month programme. There is also CMI Enterprisers, which I had the pleasure of attending, and the Cambridge MIT Institute (note: there are lots more too).
So, what’s the answer to the age old question of whether enterprenuerisim be taught, or is it something you’ve got to be born with? The answer really lies with you. If you don’t feel confident in yourself, your skills, your abilities, your self worth, your career or your future, then find out more about these schools, find out if they will help, then take action.
If you’re worried about the cost, don’t be – try to qualify the benefits of the school, the courses, like you would do for a car – really delve deep into what you personally want to achieve, want you want to do – then pursuit it.
Find confidence in these schools, contact the main tutor and try to explore this – if the school is good, and I mean really, really good – you can learn not just how to be enterprenuerial, but how to be yourself.