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December 29, 2020 December 28, 2020 / skoce	/ Leave a comment
Yes, God Yes – A really fascinating and accurate look at Christian youth groups and communities. Judgment instead of support and values as cudgels, even for people who really believe. ****
Holidate – I've got to be honest, I watched this near the start of the month and only remember largely disliking it. It just felt kind of sour and tired. *1/2
Back to the Future – Its great *****
Back to the Future Part 2 – It is also great. *****
Over the Moon – Netflix trying to do a Disney movie, directed by a veteran of the Disney animated renaissance. It didn't quite work. It looks good, but the songs are painful and the jokes really don't land. It's just a bit of a miss. **1/2
Hillbilly Elegy – This is getting savaged, and that feels a little unfair to me. The book definitely has some problems with how it frames things, and some of that is carried over here, but it is a better made movie than it is getting credit for. I don't know that it actually has much to say, though. It just appears to. **1/2
The Princess Switch, Switched Again – There is nothing here. It is an excuse for Vanessa Hudgens to play three different characters, but the actual switching is disappointingly brief. Otherwise, it is just a lot of Christmas nothing. **
Aladdin – I watched this with my brother, who hadn't seen it. I actually still like it quite a bit. It is not the animated movie, and not nearly as good, but there is still fun to be had here. ***1/2
Truth Seekers – I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. I don't know if I would have given this show a shot had they not been involved. I liked it, though. It isn't the best thing ever, but there is some pretty great supernatural spookiness in most of the episodes and it builds up well. This was a solid way to spend a few hours.
The Queen's Gambit – This might be the best show of the year. It is a lot of really interesting stories. It is a sports story, a coming of age story, a story about addiction and about changing values in the 50s and 60s. At the center of everything is Anya Taylor-Joy's Beth Harmon, a chess prodigy orphan. She learns chess from the janitor at the orphanage she spends her early years in. She also gets addicted to tranquilizers handed out to keep the kids docile. When she is adopted, it is by a troubled, stifled woman trapped in an unhappy marriage. Her personal life is constantly in turmoil, but her professional life flourishes. It is riveting to watch.
The Liberator – There is a lot that is really good about The Liberator, but I really didn't care for how it was animated. It is a kind of traditional WWII story; it hit s all the beats you expect and there are some really gripping sequences. It builds to some true horror near the end. I constantly struggled with the look of the show, though.
Fargo S4 – I want to have a lot to say about this newest season of Fargo, just like I really wanted to like this newest season of Fargo. But I neither have much to say about nor liked it all that much. I expect both of those things might change with a rewatch, where I am paying closer attention to themes rather than just anticipating the plot. There is a lot here that I liked; on its own I liked basically every piece of this season. However, I am not sure it really coalesced into a coherent story. It was much looser than the previous three seasons. Even the somewhat (and wrongly, in my opinion) maligned Season 3 told a fairly tight story of one series of crimes. This is a broader, more expansive look at warring crime empires, but the stakes are never quite as clear as you would hope. I enjoyed watching Fargo S4, but so far I don't think it will stick with my like the previous seasons did.
November 23, 2020 November 14, 2020 / skoce	/ Leave a comment
Fargo – One of the Coen Brothers' best movies. It just felt right to give it a watch, what with the new season of the show starting up. The movie remains a complete classic. *****
The Addams Family – This comes on a lot near Halloween, even if there really isn't anything Halloween related about it. It is one of my favorite movies from the early 90's. It does just about everything right and is a ton of fun. Christopher Lloyd, Angelica Huston, and Raul Julia are all great. *****
Addams Family Values – The sequel to Addams Family is even better than the first. This is just a great movie. I love everything about it. It is perfect. *****
Hubie Halloween – A surprisingly charming effort from Adam Sandler. It isn't anything particularly great or particularly funny, but it is amusing enough and overall kind of charming. It is fine. **1/2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – I really enjoy this movie. It is so quiet and leaves so much for the viewer to suss out on their own. Every time I watch it I find something new. It makes me want to keep watching it. *****
Trial of the Chicago 7 – This was pretty entertaining. I have some problems with some liberties this took with the true story, but as a movie it is pretty entertaining. Good performances, some great dialogue. It is missing something that brings it all together as something better than the sum of its parts. Still, it is a good movie. ***1/2
Moneyball – Pretty solid. I don't know that I like it as much as some people, but it is really entertaining and an interesting and unique take on a sports movie. Brad Pitts is great. Just a well made movie. ****1/2
Back to the Future Part 3 – Yup, I still like the last part of this trilogy. ****1/2
Rebecca – This is a remake of a Hitchcock classic, or more accurately another adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel of the same name. It is gorgeous and mostly well made, but kind of feels a little like the production doesn't match the story. This is a dark, gothic story, but it is mostly shot as bright and beautiful; it does not really match. Still, the movie is largely entertaining. ***1/2
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm – I'm not the biggest Borat fan, and I really didn't think he needed to come back. But this movie was shocking and shockingly funny. Sacha Baron Cohen is still among the best at what he does, and this time Maria Bakalova, playing his daughter, is there to keep up with him. It gets into politics, which would be better if the people it was shaming were capable of being shamed. ****1/2
The Witches (2020) – This is a weird one; it is based on a Roald Dahl book so I guess that goes without saying. Still, it is an incredibly dark kids movie about a few kids trying to stop a coven of witches who hate kids. The kids all get turned into mice and have to turn the witches transformational formula against them. Anne Hathaway plays the lead witch and really gets into the role. It leans a little too hard on the special effects and not so much on the plot, but it is still decently entertaining. ***
John Bronco – An interesting mockumentary about a fake spokesman for the Ford Bronco that is actually a commercial for the new Bronco. It is pretty entertaining, in large part thanks to Walton Goggins in the title role. It is fine.
Justice League – My brother hadn't seen this. It is still a mess, and one that I don't think the Snyder Cut is going to fix, and maybe not even improve. ***
Schitt's Creek S6 – This last season brought everything to a close excellently. I don't know what else to say. This was always a low key show that was just easy to watch and generally incredibly funny. It remained that in the last season and got to go out on a high note. This was a very good show and I expect it to remain in my rewatch rotation for years to come.
The Boys S2 – This actually brought it home in the last episode, aside from one sour note it hit right at the end. The show managed to go deeper with its characters and mostly make its satire smarter and more focused. This show is despicable and it revels in its depravity, but there is just enough heart around it to keep the viewer caring.
Carmen Sandiego S3 – This was a short batch of episodes, but they were good. I generally really enjoy this show, and it feels like it is getting more confident in its characters and storytelling. This was a fun block of episodes.
What I Watched September 2020
Psycho – Peacock has a collection of Hitchcock movies and I am trying to eat my movie vegetables and watch them. Of course, watching Hitchcock doesn't really feel like eating my vegetables at all. I'd never seen Psycho, but I knew most of it through cultural osmosis. It is really good and entertaining. *****
Marnie – I found this to be significantly less good than Psycho. I like Connery and Hedren, but large parts of this come off as amazingly sexist and the psychological explanations are simplistic. ***
Draft Day – I ignored this movie when it came out, but thanks to some persistent talking up on the podcast FThisMovie and a desire for both some sports related content and Chadwick Boseman performances, I gave this a shot. It is tremendously entertaining. Boseman is great in a small role, Costner is great in the lead. ****
Mr. Right – This sounded like it should be good; I like Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell and the concept sounded good. But almost none of it works. It is just miserable. *1/2
Don Verdean – Another movie I wanted to like, but it just didn't work for me. There is a lot of fertile ground for comedy here, and a lot of talented people trying to find it, but it just kind of doesn't work. **
Love, Wedding Repeat – A romantic comedy that plays what if with the seating arrangements and hijinks at a wedding, show several variations of the same basic scenario. There is a really good idea here, but this movie executes it competently at best. I just never found anything to really latch onto as these scenarios played out. **
The Babysitter: Killer Queen – I liked the first Babysitter; I thought it was a clever premise, kind of a reverse slasher, that was presented in a fun, exciting way. The sequel tries to run it back, with a new group of cultists and returning nearly every character from the first. There are parts that work, but it mostly feels like a tired retread of the first. **
Molly's Game – There is a lot of well written dialogue, but I don't know that it comes together all that well. It is close, but not quite there. Worth watching, but not all that memorable. **1/2
Sergio – A biopic about UN diplomat and humanitarian Segio Viera de Mello, who died in a bombing in Iraq in 2003. It's fine. ***1/2
Bill & Ted Face the Music – read review here. ****1/2
Onward – I didn't hear great things about this movie when it came out, but I liked it a whole lot. It might not rank in that pure top echelon of Pixar movies, but it does land squarely in the middle, being equally enjoyable and affecting. It is just a really good movie. ****
The Italian Job – This is the most 2003 movie I can think of. Just everything about it, from all the Napster jokes to the uncritical sexism. I loved this movie when it came out and still mostly enjoy it, if only because it is the movie that introduced me to Charlize Theron, Jason Statham and Mos Def. ***
American Assassin – Just kind of dull. It doesn't do anything particularly well, and the politics of the story are kind of gross. *1/2
Cuties – There was a lot of hubbub about this movie supposedly promoting pedophelia, but what it really is is a heartfelt look at the difficulties of growing up, with forces encouraging young girls to act more adult than they are and the struggles of immigrants to adjust to life in a new place. ****
Tombstone – This movie is fantastic. Just a who's who of 'that guys' in the cast, anchored by a thoroughly badass Kurt Russell and an out of his mind Val Kilmer. It is just so much fun. ****
Desperados – The cast tries hard, but there really isn't anything new or interesting here. It feels tired before it starts. **
I Am Thinking of Ending Things – A very weird movie, with a pov that shits constantly and is just deliberately unsettling throughout. I think I liked it, but ***1/2
Enola Holmes – This was pretty delightful. Millie Bobbie Brown plays Sherlock Holmes' younger sister, who attempts to solve the mystery of the disappearance of their mother. Which gets her tangled in another mystery. It isn't particularly deep, but it is a lot of fun. ****
The Devil All The Time – Its a movie about how people corrupt religion, or about how people are corrupt in spite of religion. I thought it mostly worked, with good performances all around. ***1/2
American Murder The Family Next Door – A woman and her children disappear and the husband and father is soon pinpointed at the culprit. This whole documentary is constructed out of social media posts, telephone messages and videos taken from police and the court. The fact they can construct a complete story out this is a little distressing. ****
The Great Pretender – A really solid anime about a group of conmen. It starts with its protagonist, a small-time japanese crook, getting taken/recruited by the team and then they do several other heists by tricking other crooks. It is just a lot of fun that looks and sounds great.
Young Wallander – An okay cop show, following Detective Wallander, played by Kenneth Branagh on the previous tv series, on his first case as a detective. It deals with a lot of current political topics, though focused on Sweden, and is pretty well done, but nothing particularly spectacular.
Peaky Blinders S1 – This is fun. I've said it before, but the between the world war setting is one of my favorites, and this is just really well done. I want to watch more, and then maybe I'll have more to say.
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 S4 – Season 4 of Deep Space 9 brings Worf onto the station. This show keeps getting better; it keeps getting deeper. I was kind of ambivalent about the first couple of seasons, but I really liked S3&4. I hope the upward trajectory continues.
The Boys S2 – Most of this season aired in September. The second season of this show seems more focused than the first; it knows what it is and is more confident. It also doesn't really need to explain its characters much any more. It can still be a bit on the nose, like having its neo-nazi character use the name Stormfront, but it mostly uses its sledgehammer satire to smash things that could do with smashing.
Narcos Mexico S1 – Knowing how this ends doesn't really make it any easier to watch as it gets to that end. Michael Pena is great. The show also does an excellent job of establishing a setting, in this case 1980's Mexico, and just kind of letting the viewer live in it. I need to get to the second season sooner rather than later.
Challenger: The Final Flight – This is a solid look at the institutional failures that lead to the Challenger disaster. It explores just how it could happen. What's more shocking are the people who defend the failures that led to the Challenger disaster. This is just well done all around.
September 23, 2020 September 15, 2020 / skoce	/ 1 Comment
I loved this movie. Probably more than it deserved, but I don't care. It is easily one of my favorites of the year and I am glad to set it next to its excellent predecessors.
It is something of a miracle that this kind of late come sequel actually manages to stand alongside the originals. Most of the time, a late coming sequel like this, especially to a comedy, is a recipe for disaster. Look at Dumb and Dumber to, Blues Brothers 2000, or Zoolander 2. Whether the people behind them were returning for money or if they wanted to return to some of their most loved characters, these movies haven't really worked at all. Bill & Ted Face the Music, despite being even further removed from the heyday of the originals, doesn't have this problem. For lack of a better word, Face the Music bucks that trend by just being incredibly genuine. Yeah, it has been nearly thirty years since Bogus Journey, but Face the Music feels like a natural extension of the previous movies.
Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves step right back into the shoes of these characters and it just feels right. Winter does a better job than Reeves of feeling like his younger self; Reeves seems a bit too thoughtful to slip seamlessly back into the shoes of the dopey Ted. For the most part, though, they feel like the same dim but positive buddies you know and love. Death returns, and William Sadler is as much fun as he was in Bogus Journey. As far as new additions go, Samara Weaving and Brigette Lundy-Paine are great as Thea and Billie, Bill and Ted's doppelganger daughters. Those two do an excellent job of echoing their parents without seeming like they are doing caricature.
The plot manages a similar balancing job; feeling like an echo of the first two movies without being a carbon copy. At the start of the movie, Bill and Ted have fallen pretty far from the fame they rose to during the credits of Bogus Journey. They have started to crack under the pressure of creating the song that will unite humanity. Even their wives, princesses from Medieval England, are growing concerned. Then they are whisked to the future and told that they have to have the song in a few hours. The duo gets the bright idea to nab the time machine and go to the future, where they have already written the song. That sets them meeting up with increasingly farcical future versions of themselves as they get more and more desperate. At the same time, Billie and Thea travel backwards in time on their own mission to help their fathers, a mission that is highly reminiscent of the first movie.
There are some flaws. The movie feels rushed at times. It comes in a brisk 90 minutes and feels like there is another 30 that were cut. Splitting time, somewhat, between Bill and Ted and Billie and Thea means that at least one of those stories doesn't get quite enough time. There is a third prong with the wives that is barely worth a mention. The movie also looks kind of cheap. It feels more charming than anything, but there really isn't hiding it in some situations.
That said, Bill and Ted traveling through time meeting different versions of themselves is absolutely delightful. Winter and Reeves appear to be having a great time with these variations on the characters and most of the jokes land.
Bill & Ted Face the Music is about as much fun as I remember having with a movie in ages. It is just heart warming and joyous. Most of these late coming sequels reek of sweaty desperation; Face the Music feels like the intended culmination of a long journey.
Palm Springs Review
September 20, 2020 September 15, 2020 / skoce	/ Leave a comment
Comedies seem to have become a hard sale lately. I can think of few recent ones that are legitimately good, and even those are either not strictly comedies or actually commercial failures. While I don't know how Palm Springs did commercially, being a direct to hulu release, it is certainly one of the best comedies I've seen in some time.
Although Palm Springs uses a similar time loop concept to Groundhog's Day, it takes things in significantly different directions. Groundhog's Day is a cosmic morality lesson; he is trapped in the loop until he becomes a better person and earns his release. Palm Springs is more of a science experiment; no amount of self-betterment will free them from the loop; only understanding the nature of reality and crafting an experiment to get out of it. Compared to Groundhog Day, Palm Springs's characters are more aware of the kind of story they are in. By the time the movie has started, Nyles is already trapped in the loop. Even he can't remember how long he has been stuck there. But he has tried a bunch of ways to end the loop, failed, and resigned himself to solipsistic nihilism.
Palm Springs is largely a two-hander. Andy Samberg plays something not too far from his usual goofball character. He charms his way through the movie, appearing frivolous but not stupid. His counterpart is Cristin Milioti, best known to me for playing tragic, yet supportive wives on tv shows, as Sarah, the sister of the bride at the wedding that is every day. Here, she proves every bit a match for Samberg in both the comedy and the romance. He is already defeated at the start of the movie, using the repeating wedding as a playground to satisfy is every absurd whim. Sarah is the more dynamic character, going from disbelief to attempted escape to resignation, to renewed determination. Her desperation has more poignance than Nyles'. He is an interloper at this wedding, she is there for her too perfect sister, waking up to her greatest failure of a person every morning, not able to move on. The chemistry between the two of them is also excellent. You see what draws them to each other, and also what splits them up in the usual rom-com third act separation. Palm Springs feels both very familiar and also delightfully original. Combined with winning central performances, it results in a very entertaining movie.
While other attendees of the wedding filter in and out of the film, the biggest role outside of the protagonists is JK Simmons as Roy, who adds another layer to the already complex time loop problem. He is alternately scary and fatherly, with his own perspective on the predicament Nyles and Sarah face.
The humor in Palm Springs tends to the dark, despite the bright color palette. The movie deals with hopelessness and despair, and mines that for laughs that sometimes hurt. That lack of hope leads to the characters to do reprehensible things, to just treat the world like a pointless playground. And that sort of attitude is funny for a while, but the movie maintains its humor while also showing the emptiness of it.
Palm Springs is not an especially complex or profound movie. What it is is charming, well considered and outright funny. It is the perfect antidote to quarantine.
What I Watched August 2020
American Pickle – This whole movie rests on Seth Rogan, playing a modern character and his ancestor miraculously preserved in pickling vat for more than a century. It is about the past and present meeting and about honoring family. It is fine. ****
Class Action Park – I have some qualms about how positive this seemed about the subject of the documentary at times. This is a horrifying story presented as a "those darn rascals" romp. It has fun with all the crazy things people did and the wacky dangerous rides they made. Then it gets to the part where a handful of people died from the negligence and outright flouting of safety regulations. It is fun, but it feels a little glib when it gets to the actual consequences. ***1/2
Drunk Parents – God, this movie is terrible. Just nothing about it works, despite a cast that keeps bringing in ringers for a scene or two. It is just not funny. *
The Sleepover – This honestly works better than it should. A lot of it is stupid kid stuff that maybe kids will enjoy, but the rest works pretty well. Ken Marino, always welcome, shines as a somewhat dim, well-meaning dad who doesn't quite know what is going on. He is a lot of fun. ***
Project Power – This feels like Netflix trying to jump on the blockbuster train and it doesn't quite work. Stealing from another review (if I could remember I'd link to it), the movie tills some fertile narrative soil and proceeds to plant nothing. It sets up a lot of interesting ideas to explore with superheroes, and then tells a pretty conventional action movie story. Still, it is well done enough, more disappointing for missed potential than actually being bad. ***
Umbrella Academy S2 – A new season, a new time period, but the same dysfunction. At the end of last season the family was tossed back to 1960's Dallas. Unfortunately, they all landed there years apart, with no knowledge that the rest of the team made it. So they all go their own separate ways to deal with the fallout from last season. It is mostly some good stuff. You want to see them get things together and get it at least a little figured out, but the magic of the show would be lost if the team operated with any sort of coordination. Since this season doesn't really have to introduce everyone it seems to have more time to let them all bounce off of each other. It is really good.
Last Chance U S5 – Less completely dysfunctional as the last season, but still as compulsively watchable. Not much to say.
Cursed S1 – This one kind of missed the mark. It isn't really badly done, but it feels a little muddled. I also hate how it uses Arthuriana. Some things feel like legitimate counterparts to the actual legends, some parts feel like they wrote this story and then just haphazardly added an Arthurian name to a character. Still, it feels like more of a near miss that a complete misfire. There are some good and interesting things here. If it gets a second season, hopefully it can refine those things.
Teenage Bounty Hunters S1 – I am not sure what to make of this. Like I honestly don't know if it is good or not. There is a lot of soap opera nonsense, but also some good character work. It has a laugh out loud moment or two every episode, but other parts just fall flat. I think I liked it? There is some really good stuff here. This show deals with Christianity better than most shows, or at least in a way that is familiar to me as a person who went to a close enough to southern high school. The Christian doctrine you are taught is treated as a given, even if the kids don't follow or really even understand it.
High Score – I feel bad, because this is a great story for people who are not experts in video game history. It presents a handful of important moments from that history and explains them effectively. It adds in some important and less well known personal stories. But despite being a big fan of this kind of history, this is really not for me, because I knew most of this already. In many cases in more depth. Still, it is very good for what it is.
Columbo S9 & 10 – A full Columbo post is in the works. Columbo looks older with this return episodes, but the show is just as good as ever. There are some really interesting episodes here, and I don't think I'd ever get tired of watching Peter Falk.
Doom Patrol S2 – I absolutely loved the first season of Doom Patrol, but season 2 seems to have gotten a little lost. Maybe that is because it lost its season finale due to coronavirus. Perhaps that last episode would have tied all the disparate threads of this season together into a coherent story. That is possible; the characters's storylines all share some common themes. I still don't think it would be enough to pull this season up to the level of the first, and that episode does not currently exist. Still, there is a lot to love about this show. All the fundamentals remain strong.
Stargirl S1- I was ready to be disappointed by this show. I really like the comic it is based on and honestly, this is the first time one of my absolute favorite comics characters gets a show. It mostly knocked it out of the park. The two leads, Brec Bassinger as the title character and Luke Wilson as her step-dad, are great. It does a good job of building the characters and their relationships. It might have jumped into the JSA stuff a bit too fast, not giving quite enough time to either the team or to the Whitmore family, but it mostly just worked for me. I can't wait for season 2.
Inuyasha – Man, was this a throwback to Freshman year at college. Every night I would watch adult swim, from the American comedy shows through the anime. Inuyasha was never a favorite, but it was watchable. It still is. Effective and mostly fun, if never outstanding. I ploughed through the first 50 or so episodes and mostly enjoyed it. I don't know if I am going to keep going, but this was fun.
Wizards: Tales of Arcadia – This Arcadia series, not just a miniseries, focuses on magic and brings in some time travel. This superseries continues to be very entertaining. This feels a little rushed, but what is here is pretty great. This one ties in more closely with Trollhunters, leaving 3Below feeling a little like the odd man out. I need to write a full wrap up on these series, hopefully before the movie that should tie it all together comes out.
Whatever else one might think of Spike Lee as a director, he is not one to under deliver with his films. Da 5 Bloods is no exception; it has a running time of more than two and a half hours and manages to explore an array of facets of the African American experience, largely as it relates to the Vietnam War but also just existing in America. There is no way that Lee could have known it would be such a timely release, except that many of the problems and fissures it explores have existed as long as this country. Da 5 Bloods is one of Spike Lee's best films.
Da 5 Bloods is about a group of war buddies going back to Vietnam to bring back the remains of their friend who died there. While that is their legit mission, they have an ulterior motive; to find a secret cache of gold they hid during the war. The four of them are joined by the son of one of the four. Each of the old guys has a different perspective and experience during and after the war. Former medic Otis has connections with people who can launder the gold for them; he also discovers that he has a child in Vietnam. Eddie did fairly well after the war, running a car dealership. The driving force of the movie is Delroy Lindo's Paul, a cantankerous, combative man who still has nightmares about the war and has aged into an angry reactionary. The movie takes its time setting up these characters, letting the viewer get to know them and their struggles as the group begins their trek into the jungle to find their treasures.
Interspersed are scenes from their time in the war. An interesting choice, seemingly at least somewhat forced on the movie, was doing flashbacks to the war and using the same actors in both time periods. There, the fifth member of the Bloods, Chadwick Boseman's Norman, provides guidance to his friends. The flashbacks not only play with the ages of the characters, they also play with aspect ratio, color and contrast. They are very interesting looking.
Eventually, things start to go sour and the movie goes in a pulpier direction. The group starts to splinter. There are betrayals and misunderstandings as plans go awry. It almost feels like a completely different movie, but one that is equally entertaining as the largely character based drama that proceeds it.
Weaved throughout all of this are insights on history and how African Americans have been treated in this country, about the systemic injustice that still exists. There are also references and comments on the history of Vietnam war films, from specifically calling out trash like the Rambo sequels or the Missing in Action movies, to referencing Apocalypse Now.
While there is not a bad performance in the film, it is hard to overstate just how good Delroy Lindo is in this movie. He is not a likable character; he's a MAGA hat wearing asshole who manages to insult or irritate everyone else in the movie. But while his anger is misdirected, it is not unwarranted. And Lindo brings the viewer along as he goes further and further off the rails.
There was a lot of warranted adulation for BlackKklansman, but I think Da 5 Bloods is the more entertaining film.
The Old Guard was a pleasant surprise. Netflix tweeted out descriptions of movies they were planning early in the year, and this sounded good. Then the trailer hit, and it seemed like the most generic attempted franchise starter I'd ever seen. Still, it starred Charlize Theron, so I was going to give it a try. I am glad I did; The Old Guard turned out to be a lot better than its bland trailer suggested it would be.
Charlize Theron stars as Andy, the leader of a group of immortal mercenaries who heal and spring back to life whenever they are killed. A new such immortal, a US Marine named Nile, appears, and Andy goes to recruit her. While still integrating Nile with the team, someone who has learned her secret captures the team with the hopes of figuring the secret to their longevity through medical experiments, leaving only Andy and Nile to rescue them.
It is not the most complex plot, but the movie more than makes up for it with the care it invests in its characters. The movie spends its time giving the characters history, showing their pasts and how eternal life has worn them down. It also takes the time to show more of Nile's life before her awakening. More so than most action movies, The Old Guard really seems to care about who its characters are outside of what motivates them for the action scenes. It is an investment that pays off, making it easy to invest in an otherwise flimsy plot because you care about who it is happening to. Andy and her team are weighed down by history. They have lived through countless years and countless battles. They have long, not always pleasant histories with each other. Newcomer Nile still has connections with the present day, a family that will miss her when she turns up missing. The movie makes sure you feel the weight that all of these characters feel, the tiredness and the struggle. It really works to make what would be fairly rote action fare feel like it has more depth.
The advertising positioned this movie as Netflix's answer to superhero movies, but that really isn't the vibe it exudes. It does not have the slick, pop feel of the Marvel movies. It is more like John Wick than Iron Man; a little darker and a little meaner than one would look for from a superhero movie. Another impressive aspect of The Old Guard is the action. The team may be unkillable, but they use very human fighting tactics. Though nothing in the movie reaches the heights of action sequences in the masterful John Wick movies, there are several impressive sequences in The Old Guard. Teamwork and a combination of old world and modern day fighting are the order of the day. Andy frequently reverts to using an old school battle ax when she has to lay down her machine gun.
The Old Guard isn't quite like anything else. And once again, Charlize Theron proves that she is a premier action star if she wants to be.
What I Watched July 2020
August 27, 2020 August 24, 2020 / skoce	/ Leave a comment
Godzilla: King of the Monsters – I don't think my thoughts have changed since first seeing this last year. I find it delightfully ludicrous. ****
Scoob – This certainly was a choice. I would be more than happy to watch a Scooby-Doo movie. It has a brief origin story, unnecessary but inconsequential. The stranger choice was to use the Scooby-Doo characters to try to springboard a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe. Not just bringing in some other HB characters, but making it as much a Dynomutt and Blue Falcon movie as a Scooby-Doo movie. It doesn't quite work, but there are still things to enjoy about it. **1/2
Ford v Ferrari – Another rewatch. This is still a very entertaining film. Just a solid and well-made movie; proficient in every way. For me it lacks the tiniest thing to take it from a movie I really enjoy and respect to one I love, but I was more than happy to watch it again. ****1/2
Hot Rod – Still one of my favorite comedies of the 00s. I can watch this any time. *****
Palm Springs – review coming, I swear ****1/2
The Old Guard – review coming, I swear ****
Three Musketeers – This is the 90's Disney version of this movie. It is not as good as I remember it being. The fencing is not as good as I remember and the movie, though it tries very hard, is not as 'cool' as it wants to be. Still, I generally enjoyed it, and it is hard to not enjoy Tim Curry having as much fun as he was here. ***
Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace – I think I liked this movie on this watch more than I ever have before. All it took was challenging some of the common criticisms I've seen of it and actually experiencing a truly bad Star Wars movie. I am thinking of doing some Star Wars posts, maybe one for each of the trilogies, but for Episode 1 two things stood out to me. The first is how great a character Qui-Gon Jinn is and how tragic his death is at the end of this movie. The other is just how much of a discordant miscalculation Jar Jar is. I see how Jar Jar is intended to be this replacement for C-3P0 and a bit of Chewbacca, but there is simply too much of him and he constantly draws negative attention to himself. Still, I really liked the movie. ****
Jaws – This is a perfect movie. I can always watch Jaws. *****
Star Trek Deep Space Nine S3-4 – I was not fully in on this show early. It was darker than I wanted out of Star Trek and honestly, the cast did not grab me initially. But the show really finds some depth as it goes on, and through three full seasons has continued to get better and the addition of Worf in season 4 brings in a well liked old friend. The Past Tense two-parter in Season 3 is among the prescient sci-fi I've ever seen. I hope to get through the back half of this show pretty quickly.
Better off Ted – An old favorite. This is a show that should be rated up there with Arrested Development and 30 Rock as great shows of the 00s, but I don't think near enough people have watched it. I've written about it before, and I don't have anything new to say. It is a great show.
Home Movies – HBO Max has Home Movies. That almost justifies a subscription for me. This show, something of a predecessor to Bob's Burgers. I know I've written about this show before. It is one of my all-time favorites and was really easy to just put on in the background as I did other things.
Brave New World – Peacock's prestige launch show seems to have gotten a pretty mixed reaction, but I really enjoyed it. It does its best to stay true to the source material while both adapting it to a new medium and making its future fit a little more sensibly with the now. It takes a little bit to find its grove, but eventually it really finds itself. I think I need to do a full rewatch to make sure I fully understood what I watched, as much because I watched while distracted as because of any real complexity of the show, but there is complexity there. I especially like Alden Ehrenreich, who is the closest thing to an audience stand in as the newcomer to New London, but is far enough from any real connection to the viewer. His is not the greatest journey on the show, but his relative relatability works to compare the journeys of the other against. I think the show works really well, and hope it gets another season or so to tell its story.
Columbo S6-9 – Yeah, Columbo is great. I've transitioned from the original run to the revival, but the show doesn't miss a step. I could watch Peter Falk as Columbo forever.
What I Watched June 2020
July 20, 2020 July 17, 2020 / skoce	/ Leave a comment
Blow the Man Down – An interesting little black comic thriller, something like a lesser Coen Brothers work. Two sisters in a small northeastern fishing town get mixed up in a murder plot, which leads to airing a lot of the towns dirty laundry. It's pretty good. ***½
The Vast of Night – It's hard to describe the movie without spoiling it. It is a very old school alien invasion movie, following a couple of young people looking into a possible alien sighting. It is very low budget but entirely captivating. ****½
Sukiyaki Western Django – A delightful mix of western and samurai movies. It is basically just Yojimbo/Fistfull of Dollars. An unnamed gunman wanders into a town that is at the mercy of two warring gangs. Things escalate and a lot of people get shot. It is a lot of fun. ****
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey – I still love this movie. I can't wait for the sequel. *****
An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn – I did not like this at all. Someone else described it as absurd but humorless, which is pretty accurate. That is doubly disappointing because it is full of people who generally do stuff I like, but this was a misfire. *½
The Nice Guys – yup, it's still great. *****
Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade – I watched a lot of comfort food movies this month. It felt necessary. *****
The Night Clerk – A would be erotic thriller starring Tye Sheridan and Ana de Armas. It doesn't quite work. Sheridan is a man with Asperger's who works as a night clerk at a hotel. He ends up as the lone witness to a murder in the hotel, as well as possessing video evidence of the crime. He is transferred to another hotel and meets a beautiful woman. Thriller things happen without any particular verve. **½
Da 5 Bloods – Review coming soon. (Hold me to this) This movie is pretty great. ****½
13th – This should be required viewing for everyone. Just an amazing film. *****
The Disaster Artist – My thoughts on this haven't changed. It is largely enjoyable. ***1/3
Back to the Future Part III – Nothing new to say. I love this series. *****
Hail, Caesar! – This movie rises in my estimation every time I watch it. I think it is the most underrated Coens movie. *****
For Love or Money – Michael J Fox and Gabrielle Anwar are charming to sell this movie, but it feels like a setup without a story. I guess it works, I enjoyed my time with it, but it still feels like a missed opportunity. ***
Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – There is a lot of Ferrell's work in stuff like The Spoils of Babylon and Casa de mi Padre in this, while also not being too far from his more commercially successful stuff like Talladega Nights and Blades of Glory. Rachel McAdams is again excellent. This is a sweet, largely funny movie. Definitely worth a watch. ****
The Last Days of American Crime – I hated this movie; it is ugly and incompetent and I don't want to say anything more. *
The Great British Baking Show – I have watched everything Great British Baking Show related available on Netflix. I wish there was more; I love it.
Community – This might need its own post. I planned on it having its own post, but I also assumed that I would enjoy watching this show. I have liked watching it when I've caught episodes here and there, but I never really sat down and watched Community during its run. It showed up on Netflix recently (I know it's been streaming elsewhere, but it showing up on Netflix was my motivator to get to it.) I really did expect to enjoy this. There was that prime era of NBC sitcoms in the late aughts and early teens when they were airing The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and Community all at the same time. People whose opinions I respect told me that Community was the best of the bunch. I was deep into The Office at the time, slowly warming up to Parks & Rec and 30 Rock, and mourning the loss of My Name is Earl. I only ended up catching Community on repeats of just the occasional episode. Watching it all in order did not do anything to make me like the show. It's fine. It has a great cast. There are some really funny bits. But overall, the show seemed really impressed with its own cleverness. It was trying to be clever not to be funny, but to show off how clever it is. And it wasn't actually that clever. Fans of the show hate on the fourth season, but I ended up liking it more than the surrounding seasons. Season 3 felt desperate, with actively not funny recurring bits like Professor Spacetime becoming more and more prominent. Season 5 came back spiteful, eager to settle grudges that led to the change of showrunner in Season 4. Season 4 meanwhile, seemed happy to just execute the premise of the show, that a motley group of community college students had formed a study group. I feel like the show bought its own hype.
Arrested Development – I am sure I've written about this show before; for a long time it was my absolute favorite show. I don't know that it still is. That is not because I think less of the show or because the Netflix seasons (which I like quite a but) but because I think some of the shows that came up in its wake, like 30 Rock, are maybe just a little bit better. Still, rewatching it from the start for the first time in a couple of years was fun. This show hits the ground running and maintains a high level of excellence throughout its original run.
What We Do In the Shadows S2 – This show somehow got better. It is managing to build on the mythology of the show and have some forward progress for its characters while still being largely an episodic sitcom. Everyone on the show is great, but I am really growing to enjoy Colin Robinson. This is probably the best show currently running.
Columbo S4-6 – I have a partially written long post about Columbo and how much I love the show. I promise to finish that soon. These three seasons were 15 or so very good episodes of Columbo. Some really memorable murderers, like William Shatner, Patrick McGoohan, Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan, and Janet Leigh. Good stuff.


With our Serfan Chelsea Boots in Brown you are dressed fashionable and stylish for any occasion. This men's shoe is an ideal companion for nice and classy business outfits, as well as for a casual everyday look. The black spandex inserts are a great contrast and are also providing an optinal fit and huge wearing comfort.
Our products are manufactured in Spain by hand. Each product goes through different process steps. These are conducted by experienced and long-time cobblers. Our premium producer only use full calf leather for our Chelsea Boots. The Serfan Chelsea Boots are made in a fair short run.


You are visiting the placeholder page for Patty Clark. This page is here because someone used our placeholder utility to look for Patty Clark. We created this page automatically in hopes Patty Clark would find it. If you are not Patty Clark, but are an alumni of Bellevue High School Bellevue, WA, register on this site for free now.


Of all these strategies is the Forex break out strategy surely one of the most popular. This Forex strategy is so popular because it is fairly easy to learn the Forex market and you can easily achieve with profits still interesting. Based on the support and resistance levels, you can build in safety. This increase the chance to make a good choice and so the opportunity to make a nice profit. A break out is, as the name suggests, an outbreak of the price. This outbreak caused by a new fact or a rumor. This data can be found through fundamental analysis in Forex. Causing this outbreak The time to recognize the outbreak is very important in the break out strategy because you can make money.
The safety plays a major role. Forex with this strategy, the break out strategy, there is an outbreak with every swing. Through the use of two tools, resistance and support levels can be created more certainty. The support level is the lower limit of the price of the currency unit. When an outbreak occurs during online trading below the support level then you can make money in a falling rate. The opposite of support level is the resistance level, this gives the upper limit of the price.
This limit will be broken when the currency is going to rise suddenly hard then so is talk of break out. You earn money by responding to a break-out quickly. Additional safety can be created by the use of secondary support and resistance levels. Sets a second level which should be spoken before a break out broken. Sells at such time or buying currency on the Forex market online. By setting a second level, you lose money, but it provides you with more safety for online trading. It will be thus a choice made. The risks that arise when trading in Forex on the basis of the break out strategy you will need to cover. This can closely monitor the price developments and by setting the secondary levels.
Forex break out strategy trading strategy you can use as after the outbreak wait until the exchange rate again breaks through the previous support or resistance level back and that in the other direction. It sells or buys you then hope that here the rate will recover to the old price. This creates a profit because you estimated that break out not continue for online trading. Use the break out strategy in online trading in Forex and make sure that you are investing money in the right way. Try this strategy along with a free demo account giving you the strategy completely mastered.
The break out strategy discussed above is also a specification, the London break out strategy. This Forex strategy is designed for traders who prefer to enjoy more safety when trading online. When you use this trading strategy, you have more safety. In addition to these safety can be achieved nice profits. Well by using this strategy It came with the break out strategy already forward, but at the London break out strategy is to recognize. Even more important outbreaks at the right time Ensures that the masses follow and not else, because this will make you a lot of money with Forex. Characteristic of the London break out strategy is getting up early, you should namely to stand before the exchange opens. This is the moment that you could win high profits. The exchange of Asia plays a major role in the London break out strategy, this exchange is open when we sleep in the Netherlands.
Looking at the developments that has taken place at the exchange in Asia look or opportunities for you to the London break out strategy to apply. A rule of thumb that is used in the strategy is that a third of the volatility changes may be, but no more. When there is little traded during the opening of the Asian market will be much traded after the closing time, which offers many opportunities for you to London break out.
Important in the London break out strategy, the first 15 minutes and herein specifically the course of candlesticks. If a break out from Asian Range really is closed, this is a sign given of a position that is open. If this break out downside is you sell your currency and a rising rate you buy of course. To avoid false break out candlesticks developments are the first 15 minutes of interest. If the rates seem to recover, you can make big profits. Usually, the first exchange to return to support or resistance corpse of Asian, and large break-out will take place. Are you alert then this break out strategy might be something for you to earn within the online Forex trading money. Choose one of the brokers that are compared on the website and apply this strategy when trading.


This 48-hour hackathon will take place in Helsinki, Finland over the weekend of August 25th – 27th. Elsevier has tasked participants with identifying today's challenges in medical education and developing innovative mobile or web solutions to solve them.
Elsevier Hacks '17 is an amazing opportunity to for participants to connect with peers from around the world and experiment with Elsevier data and APIs, while being mentored by top med-ed influencers.
Medical students from around the globe, currently enrolled in University, are invited to register to participate. Students, whose applications are selected by Elsevier, will be offered travel and accommodation provisions for the trip.
Finnish developers and designers are also invited to register. Each team will need their coding and design expertise to build great prototypes.
Helsinki Think Company, a great co-working space, will host Day 1 and Day 2 of the hackathon. Day 3 of the hackathon will move to the AMEE Conference venue, where teams will demo their prototypes for the judges. Winners are presented on stage during the official AMEE Conference opening plenary.


Disney released details today on a few select dishes from the new Guy Fieri–designed menu at Planet Hollywood Observatory, and we're just going to assume this entire menu is conceptual art.
This dish (pictured above) includes a heaping scoop of "s'getti" plowed into a lobster carcass. A one-way ticket to Flavortown, clearly this delicacy is Planet Hollywood's finest food, stuffed with its second finest food. Also, the fork you see in the picture is optional; just eat this with a big wooden salad tong.
Love. Peace. Burger grease. Oh yeah, Guy gets meaty. A pile of fried onions, bacon, mac & cheese and his signature donkey sauce rest comfortably above a big juicy burger patty. Now remember, as Guy says, "You don't have to eat a whole cheeseburger, just take a piece of the cheeseburger." We're just disappointed there's not a hot dog wedged in here somehow.
This dish is perfect for all you poultry heads who wish you could eat crisp chicken tenders nestled in a bird's nest, inside of a chicken sculpture. Look, when you're calling Flavortown, my man, these golden-fried chicken tenders are the crunch ring back tone.
A reimagined take on lasagna with Bolognese sauce, roasted garlic cream and tomato basil sauce. A dish also known in some circles as "Guy's Thighs."
According to Planet Hollywood Observatory's website, reservations are currently being accepted as of Jan. 16, though an official opening date has not yet been announced.
Anyway, we can't wait to eat these dishes as loudly as possible.
Correction: Distancing themselves from the spaghetti lobster, Guy Fieri's PR team reached out to us to clarify that only the Big Bite Burgers and Knuckle Sandwiches will be provided by Guy. The other menu items are pure Planet Hollywood.


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Ireneusz Białek
Facebook - Moffin
Moffin
Economic development Disability Development & Prosperity Health & Fitness
This description of Ireneusz Białek's work was prepared when Ireneusz Białek was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2017 .
Having lost sight as a child, Irek perfectly understands the challenges faced by persons with disabilities both in the labour market and at university. After turning around the policy and standards related to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in university education, he now focuses on solutions in the area of employment. He empowers diversity and CSR managers so that they become true ambassadors of change transforming the corporate culture from within by employing staff based on their talent and ensuring equal treatment and a good working environment for all.
Although companies declare they want diversity in their teams, it is not really happening. In Poland in 2016 only 23% of persons with disabilities in working age were employed. Half of those 23% worked in sheltered workplaces, so not in regular enterprises. Employment rates of people over 54 years old in majority of EU countries is over 20% lower than employment rates of those between 25 and 54 years old. On the other hand, Google announces on it's website that 2% of it's employees has ethnicity black. In tech departments it is only 1%.
Ireneusz envisions a society in which employers believe and act upon the belief that each person, irrespective of physical and mental ability, age, ethnicity etc. can become an active contributor in the society based on his or her potential and talents. Nevertheless, reaching diversity at the workplace is difficult because it requires in-depth understanding of the diverse and complex needs of each minority group. While CEOs created new positions such as CSR or diversity managers to show their commitment, they provided them with no professional support, resources, know-how or a peer support group to learn from, find solutions and share experiences with.
One of the reasons why diversity in a workplace is not happening, is because it is a very complex issue. Much more complex than CEOs think. Every minority is different, - persons with disabilities, elderly persons, persons with psychological challenges, ethnic minorities, - they all have different needs and require different solutions and adaptations. Usually the CSR or diversity managers dedicated to those tasks, have no way to effectively address those issues alone and without professional support. And there is no professional support. They have neither resources, know-how, skills, nor a peer support group to learn from, find solutions and share experiences with. As a result, those truly devoted individuals don't accomplish their tasks, companies do not employ "different" people and they don't benefit from their abilities and talents.
Irek identified those lonely agents, CSR and diversity officers within companies, as a latent asset. He realized that empowering them, equipping them with skills, know-how and a peer support group was key to transform companies from within and make them truly open to diverse sources of talent. Irek created a simple but efficient way to shift their role from "fig leaves" (covering the fact that their companies did not do a great deal when it comes to diversity) into true intrapreneurs, changing their teams and their organizational cultures.
Although companies claim to support diversity in their teams, the statistic show otherwise. In Poland in 2016 only 23% of people with disabilities (of working age) were employed. Half of those 23% worked in so called institutions of job safety, not in regular enterprises. Employment rates of people over 55 years old in the majority of EU countries is 20% lower than employment rates for those between 25 and 54 years old. On the other hand, Google announces that 2% of its employees are black. In global tech departments it is only 1%. The percentage of persons with disabilities hired by the Polish local and central administration is 0,6%.
Unemployment and economic inactivity are commonly present in Polish and European market. The extensive evidence on far reaching negative consequences of job loss is clear: the lack of a job can lead to worse mental and physical health and even higher mortality rates. Unemployment, known as learned helplessness, brings consequences such as withdrawal and discouragement from other forms of social life such as culture or simple socializing for example.
This concerns groups that are usually targeted by diversity programs - people with disabilities, elderly, women, minorities and migrants, as well as persons with mental disorders. Young people with immigration background are 70% more likely to become NEET (not in employment, education or training) compared to nationals. Those declaring of suffering some kind of disability are 40% more likely of becoming NEET compared to others.
Although companies declare they want diversity in their teams, it is not really happening. The leading employers of the Top Employers Poland 2016 Award do not employ persons with disabilities at all. As Diversity Barometer shows, managing diversity in Poland has only one dimension and it is seen as women employment. Only 26% of companies have a document called "diversity strategy", 31% of companies monitor a pay gap according to social-demographic features and only 23% run special programs for certain groups such as persons over 50 years old or persons with disabilities.
One of the reasons why diversity in a workplace is not happening, is because it is a very complex issue. Much more complex than CEOs think. Polish District Employment Offices refund remunerations for unemployed persons with disabilities but offer no instructions nor guidance explaining how to do that in a way that would be beneficial for both – the employer and the employee.
The Polish State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons does support employers in creation of a workplace for a person with disability, but does not allow to use the funds for trainings. Many employers consider paying fees for not employing persons with disabilities to the State Fund for Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, to be a better solution than creating workplaces for people with disabilities – better equals simple. It is visible in the annual report of The Responsible Business Forum, where from 880 good practices only 13 were submitted in the field of human rights, which cover topics such as diversity. Those 13 examples were mostly communication campaigns promoting diversity among employees, as projects aimed at preventing exclusion in the workplace.
Usually the CSR or diversity managers dedicated to those tasks, have no way to effectively address those issues alone and without professional support. And there is no professional support. The several external experts present on the market have no track record of successful instilling of the diversity culture into companies. Obviously their work is an additional cost for the CSR budget. CSR managers can train themselves during dedicated post graduate studies. But the curricula of those do not cover such topics as practical solutions for diversity, or employment procedures for people with special needs. Generally CSR focuses more on external and internal communication. And in this paradigm, a CSR or diversity manager can't really admit to its peers that he or she lacks resources to drive change.
The organizational culture of many companies is also against the task of CSR managers. Companies are very competitive, and thereby corporate culture doesn't allow to share challenges as it nurtures results and achievement. There is no place for the weak.
As a result the CSR managers instead of being the change agents in their companies, become frustrated, powerless employees who have neither resources, know-how, skills, nor a peer support group to learn from, find solutions and share experiences with. Most of CSOs working on diversity refuse to contact CSR/diversity managers stating that they have no impact, no influence and are helpless. Those truly devoted individuals don't accomplish their tasks, companies do not employ "different" people and they don't benefit from their abilities and talents.
Irek himself is visually impaired. As a young person, he thought that graduating from a faculty was the best way to get a career on a regular job market. The first challenges he has faced were the ones related to education. This is why he has spent over 15 years adapting the higher education institutions in Poland to the needs of persons with various disabilities. The solutions that he has implemented cover such diverse areas such as top-notch technology that these days allows access to various resources for disabled persons. Irek has stimulated the creation of the first association of the University Disability Ombudsmen in Poland which has allowed them to work on certain standards and policies of how a higher education institution should be prepared for teaching persons with special needs.
Irek managed to successfully adapt the University through a practical application of systemic solutions for persons with disabilities. Thanks to Irek's work, the Jagiellonian University became the first in Poland with special programs for those students and academics who suffer from mental illnesses. They became an example and a mentor not only for number of Polish, but also international Higher Education Institutions.
It is also thanks to Irek that since 2008 the percentage of persons with disabilities with a university degree grew from 5.4% to over 10% in 2014. And yet Irek noticed that only half of those persons did actually get a job (46%) and usually this was a job related to the higher education institution of their graduation. Only 6% of all persons with disabilities work in other sector than agriculture and farming, construction or cleaning and maintenance. They are also employed by small private companies which is great but it excludes them from international corporate careers and wages.
Irek's strategy is very much based on his personal experience, as well as those of many persons with disabilities who have graduated from higher education institutions and have no possibility to get regularly employed by a renowned company. But instead of preaching and teaching business that it's leaders should be more open, Irek decided to work with people who are not high in the corporate hierarchy but who have the empathy and openness to start a conversation. Most CSOs working on employment of persons with disabilities strategically decide to ignore the CSR or diversity managers knowing from their experience that they don't really have influence on the decision-making processes in their companies. Seeing that their potential is being wasted, Irek decided, against the overall practice, to work with identified lonely agents, CSR and diversity officers within companies.
Irek was in this situation himself, when 17 years ago he has started to change the Jagiellonian University in order to assure the rights of its' disabled students. Many years later he realized that empowering those dedicated individuals is the best way to start the system change from within. Irek knew that equipping them with skills, know-how and a peer support group was key to transform companies and make them truly open to diverse sources of talent. Irek founded an organization called MOFFIN Managers of the Future in 2013 and started his work in Kraków – a Polish city which is a European hub for shared services centers. He started by strategically choosing companies that provide services where diversity is an advantage.
Irek found the first change-lever in creating space where CSR and diversity managers/officers from various companies join their potential as working groups focused on a given diversity issue. The group of diversity or CSR professionals interested in a specific diversity related topic attend regular meetings that are structured in a way that assures a deep and practical transformational experience. At the moment, Irek's organization facilitates the work of three task-forces – one working on disabilities, one on ageism and one on cultural diversity, involving around 30 people from companies employing altogether over 8000 employees. Those working groups receive facilitation, training, skills, know-how (also on potential funding sources for their activities), contacts and support group of other professionals in the field.
As a result, the members of a working group become what Irek calls "managers of the future" – people who really know how to include talented persons into the teams in their companies no matter how different they are. "Managers of the future" then train other managers in their companies of origin, so that they know how to benefit from the abilities of various minority representatives in their teams and how to face challenges that their differences may cause. This creates a cascade effect within companies, radically changing attitudes of their employees and executive teams and thus the organizational culture. Managers of the future get certified and create knowledge products distributed far beyond their companies. As the members of the working groups work back in their respective enterprises on the same issue at the same time, the impact is more visible, sharing know-how and experiences is easier and the results are more impressive. Irek has also created a platform for CEOs interested in diversity issues creating more support for their intrapreneurs inside their organizations.
To provide a common space for sharing the revelation of implemented novelties – Irek convenes an annual celebration of diversity. Once a year he organizes an international conference called Come CloSeR Show that encourages more enterprises to join in the vision by highlighting the impressive results of the intrapreneurs work. The Show attended by CEOs and CSR/diversity of over 100 various companies fulfills three aims: position building, sharing know-how products and encouraging more companies to join the movement. CSR managers build their position within organizations as well as local offices build their reputation in their global network, since global CSR/diversity leads are part of the conference. Guidebooks and other materials created by members of the task forces are being shared and discussed during the Show to prove and illustrate the work completed during the whole year.
Aiming to enhance the impact, Irek is developing a multifunctional and fully accessible eLearning platform which will allow intrapreneurs to solve their internal diversity issues by peer to peer support as well as to engage certified managers of the future as experts when needed. Irek's plan is to reach most of the big companies operating in Poland and through those local chapters to get to their global headquarters helping them to benefit from the richness of diversity for their teams in next 15 years.
During the three years of implementation of his business-oriented strategy, Irek has built partnerships with a dozen of big companies such as Capgemini, Roche, Google, Shell, Ikea, CISCO and several others, including local enterprises. As a result of Irek's work Capgemini started employing persons with disabilities and raised the number of persons with disabilities employed in its Polish chapter by 160%. Other chapters of the organization are now implementing the new model of employment.
Irek, based on the e-platform and Managers of the Future network, plans to build a professional, intellectual and know-how diversity support center by 2030. It is designed to fill the intellectual and professional gap that neither business nor universities alone have the intention or capacity to fill. The center will provide support for big transformational diversity-oriented processes in organizations. The ultimate goal is a mind shift towards inclusion, where todays representatives of various minorities with special needs are included and can fully contribute to the society. According to Irek, in the future all managers need to be aware, open and inclusive. Irek named his organization MOFFIN Managers of the Future, because he envisions all managers to be the way "his" Managers of the Future are nowadays.
Irek lost sight at the age of 14, however it did not stop him from attentively looking at the social problems of transformation. He quickly learned Braille . Despite the challenge of having no PCs with speech synthesisers like today. He also learned how to move independently and perform daily activities. Still, he had to complete primary school at a so-called Special Centre. It was a life-changing experience as he could make comparisons between the standard public school, still fresh in his memory, and a facility for blind children spending many years there and trained only in few professions imposed on them as the "appropriate" ones.
He continued his education in a public secondary school, where he was the only pupil with visual impairment. As a teenager he started his adventure with the radio, where shortly after he started to broadcast on various social issues. Through those experiences Irek decided to become a journalist. When he was accepted for Journalist Studies at the Jagiellonian University he had heard from the dean, that "university is not a place for cripples". He graduated from the Jagiellonian University while working in the radio at the same time, where he paid attention to unemployment, very common in Poland in 90s.
In 1999 he was employed as an Ombudsman of persons with disabilities at his Alma Mater, as the first person on this position at the Jagiellonian University and the third person in Poland. There was no Polish examples to follow, no budget, and no one was really interested in the success of this undertaking. However, the needs were real and Irek was determined to succeed. He, himself was in a position of many CSR/diversity managers of today - they have goals no one believes in and thus have no real support. His task was not a priority for the University, he was alone and had no team, and there was no one in Poland to learn from. He managed to get external funding to go abroad and learn how to do it, he initiated gatherings of Ombudsmen of people with disabilities from other Polish Universities and he has built a team. His own experience allows him to believe that empowering CSR/diversity managers is the path to follow.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Lilibeth Almonte-Arbez
Director - Maritime Southeast Asia, International Trade Policy, Travel & Tourism, and Transport, Infrastructure & Manufacturing
Lilibeth Almonte-Arbez joined the Council in September 2018 and now serves as a Director in the Washington, DC office. She specializes in international trade policy and international law. Prior to her role at the Council, she was Director for International Economic Policy & Negotiations at the Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs and headed the Economic Section at the Philippine embassies in Washington, DC and Stockholm, Sweden. She has negotiated bilateral and regional free trade agreements with ASEAN, the EU, Japan, and Hong Kong including the 16-nation Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). She managed trade in services issues at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
She started her public service career as an attorney handling treaty, consular and administrative law.
She is admitted to the Philippine bar and New York State bar. Lilibeth has a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University and was a Fellow at the Institute of International Economic Law. She is also a proud alumna of the University of the Philippines College of Law and the Ateneo de Manila University.
Last updated: 12 April 2022


Stan Moody, former state representative and chaplain at the Maine State Prison, is the author of "Crisis in Evangelical Scholarship" and "McChurched: 300 Million Served and Still Hungry." He currently serves as pastor at the Meeting House Church in Manchester. His Web site is www.stanmoody.com.
Are Maine prisons out of control?
Cain's redemption or mark of Cain?


Viacom is home to premier global media brands that create compelling television programs, motion pictures, short-form video, apps, games, consumer products, social media and other entertainment content for audiences in more than 165 countries and territories. Viacom's media networks, including MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, BET, CENTRIC, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., TeenNick, Nicktoons, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central, TV Land, SPIKE, Channel 5 (UK), Tr3s, Paramount Channel and VIVA, reach a cumulative 3.2 billion television subscribers worldwide. Paramount Pictures, America's oldest film studio, is a major global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment.
Managing and communicating the digital programming schedule for all Comedy Central international original short form series – managing the content calendar, suggesting social media spend plan to episodes based on performance, creating social posting plans, collating extra social assets (gifs and memes) and communicate to territories.
Editorially manage the international Comedy Central website - managing editorial and - layout of site homepage using content management tools.
Strategy: organize workshops on digital strategy together with VP Content strategy and VP Digital based on analyses, best practices and business goals.
Super organised. A short-term and long-term planner who's unlikely to panic when something inevitably goes wrong.
A doer and a multi-tasker. Prepared to juggle multiple responsibilities, deadlines and personalities in a fast-paced environment focused on quality, adapting swiftly to a changing landscape.
A team player. Able to communicate and collaborate with editors and writers across all platforms, video producers, designers, sales and marketing and business development.
A pop culture junkie. Your day begins online, scanning your phone and the internet to find out what you missed.
An affinity and familiarity with Comedy Central and its brand values.
This job description is a guide to the work you will be initially required to undertake. It may be changed from time to time to meet changing circumstances. It does not form part of your contract of employment and as your experience grows you will be expected to broaden your tasks, suggest improvements, solve problems and enhance the effectiveness of the role. THIS FORM SUMMARISES THE MAIN ASPECTS OF THE JOB BUT DOES NOT COVER ALL THE DUTIES THAT THE JOB HOLDER MAY HAVE TO PERFORM.
At Viacom, we value and celebrate difference. We want to ensure that we fully represent the make-up of UK society in our workforce as well as bringing diverse perspectives to our business. We want to make sure that Diversity and Inclusion are not just buzz words; we truly want to foster an authentic inclusive environment, where all employees feel that they can bring their whole selves to work.
Our Recruitment Privacy Notice for Viacom entities in the EEA and Switzerland is available at our website.


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Web Page sponsor Oxley Developments
www.oxleygroup.com
12 Dec 05. Honeywell has received FAA certification for its Nitrogen Generation System (NGS) for Boeing's 747 airplanes. The Honeywell NGS or inerting system is based on technology that reduces the risk of flammability of a fuel tank by injecting nitrogen-enriched air into the aircraft's fuel tank. The nitrogen displaces oxygen within the fuel tank thereby reducing the risk of a fuel tank fire or explosion. Using micro fibers, nitrogen enriched air is produced by separating oxygen from conditioned engine bleed air through components supplied by Parker Aerospace. Honeywell is also in the process of certifying Nitrogen Generation Systems for other Boeing commercial airplanes, and has been selected to provide a similar system for the Navy's new Multi-Mission-Aircraft. The company is currently proposing an inerting system for a number of other commercial aircraft
13 Dec 05. Robert Bosch, the German automotive parts manufacturer, is in concrete talks with several carmakers on hybrid engine cars. The company stated that it was in the process of submitting offers and that a decision was expected within the new few weeks. The company is negotiating with European, US and Asian car manufacturers. German suppliers such as Continental, ZF Friedrichshafen and Siemens VDO are also bidding to supply manufacturers with hybrid engine parts. It is thought that the first series of hybrid engine cars will be introduced in 2008. Bosch could supply key components such as electric engines, control units and electrohydraulic brakes. Hybrid cars combine an electric motor and an internal combustion engine. Many carmakers have joined forces to spread out the costs of developing hybrid cars. (Source: FT.com/Abstracted from Handelsblatt)
13 Dec 05. The new planning system developed by EADS for the Tiger combat helicopter of the German Armed Forces combines for the first time operational command and control with technical logistic support of a weapon system. This means the system increases operational efficiency and enhances the deployment capabilities of the helicopters at the same time. As the company announced on Tuesday, the Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) has awarded EADS Defence Electronics a contract worth € 10 m.
With the Operations Support System (OSS), the German Armed Forces will be in a position to guarantee up-to-date command and control capability as well as a status check both for the tactical operational deployment of the Tiger and in the technical logistic area at all times. This includes mission planning, briefing, debriefing and logistic workflow components. The Operations Support System ensures that pilots and maintenance staff have much more operational flexibility and as a result guarantees more safety for both man and machine. This means that the German Armed Forces now have a system for obtaining an up-to-date status report on their Tiger helicopters at all times and for giving pilots support during operations at the same time.
12 Dec 05. Harris Corporation today unveiled an advanced sensor system product line that offers remote, unattended intrusion detection and surveillance capabilities ideally suited to the defense of military installations and perimeters, as well as for the protection of borders and other assets associated with homeland defense. The Harris Falcon Watch(TM) Remote Intrusion Detection and Surveillance system was developed by the Harris Sensor Systems Group, which is part of a new growth initiative within the Harris RF Communications Division, chartered to design products that are synergistic with the division's highly successful tactical radio business and adjacent markets. The Falcon Watch system includes the RF-5405 Intelligent Gateway, a communications node that receives alarms from multiple sensors and fuses the data into actionable reports for relay to command centers; and the RF-5400 Falc
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Florian Kleinhansl (born 11 August 2000) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for  club VfL Osnabrück.

Club career
Born in Nürtingen, Kleinhansl played youth football for , Stuttgarter Kickers and VfB Stuttgart before making his senior debut for VfB Stuttgart II in August 2019. In July 2021, Kleinhansl signed for 3. Liga club VfL Osnabrück, with both the transfer fee and the contract length remaining undisclosed.

International career
Kleinhansl has represented Germany internationally at under-18 level.

References

External links

2000 births
Living people
German footballers
People from Nürtingen
Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region)
Footballers from Baden-Württemberg
Association football defenders
Stuttgarter Kickers players
VfB Stuttgart players
VfB Stuttgart II players
VfL Osnabrück players
3. Liga players
Regionalliga players
Oberliga (football) players
21st-century German people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The Lee Rigby Foundation is working to provide a place of complete peace and safety, where people can get away from all the pressures of the outside world, de-stress, and begin recovering from bereavement, or trauma, or both.
The stresses of bereavement and the consequences of traumatic experiences can be highly acute and profoundly life-changing, and such circumstances apply all too often to Forces' families, active duty personnel, and Veterans. Often, they find that there is no escape from their personal anguish, which can drag on and on, and become an ever-heavier and more intense burden. Without the opportunity to 'lift this weight' from their shoulders, they are at risk of developing depression, succumbing to hopelessness, and experiencing the disintegration of their lives.
Lyn Rigby has raised awareness of the problem relating to Forces' families. After the loss of a serving loved-one, the available support is limited by pressures on available resources, and this is perhaps unsurprising, but it leaves many families unsupported in their time of greatest grief and need. Lyn and Ian Rigby and all Lee's siblings had to cope with Lee's loss alone, and Lyn is in touch with many other families who have felt similarly isolated at such a difficult time.
However, even immediate families who do receive support can find that that their burden is not eased – as the mother of one fallen soldier has said, "Just being able to get away from all the questions and reminders would have been a huge help".
Veterans too have expressed great interest in being able to escape to a place of complete peace and seclusion. It is not easy for Veterans to ask for help, as they have had lengthy and intensive training in being self-sufficient, but they are still thinking and feeling human beings, and are far from immune to the consequences of bereavement, stress, and even PTSD.
In fact, it is often the family which seeks help, because a Veteran may be so fully committed to just 'coping' with their feelings, but their need for help and their inability to seek it often result in their lives and relationships falling apart. One Veteran has said that just being able to get away to a place of complete peace and quiet would have enabled him to relax enough to finally have a good night's sleep, which would have been immensely helpful to him at a time when he was "…in a bad place", and help him to begin the healing process.
The Lee Rigby Foundation aims to support all people in these circumstances, give them a much-needed break from their troubles, and help them find the inner peace and strength they need to carry on into a positive, bright, and enjoyable future. By providing bereaved and traumatised people with a place where they can simply escape from the pressures of their lives and properly relax – often for the first time in a long time – they'll have a starting-point for regaining their strength and perspective, and the ability to begin re-building their lives.
The need for facilities to help these people is most pressing, and we're working hard to meet it.
On a secluded private estate in the beautiful Staffordshire Moorlands, we're setting-up a deeply peaceful place for bereaved families and Veterans. The closest comparison might be a Royal British Legion 'Break House', which are essentially hotels in holiday resort locations, and while they provide much-needed and undeniably welcome escapes, they are only available to serving members of the Armed Forces and their families, whereas our facilities will be available to a much wider community, and will offer the opportunity to totally relax in a beautiful and tranquil countryside setting. You're not completely isolated, however – if you want to have fun, Alton Towers is only half-a-mile away.
The Lee Rigby House is a 2-family house has been made available for our Foundation's use by partner charity, The Kendo Nagasaki Foundation. It's a lovely 'Retreat' get-away for those who need to escape from their everyday pressures and find complete peace and quiet. Set amidst beautiful mature trees and overlooking paddocks to the south, it's an idyllic getaway with a wonderful natural atmosphere.
The House is now open and is available to any family who has lost a loved one in military service, no matter how long ago, and for Veterans and their families who need a getaway break.
It's fully-furnished and has 4 bedrooms, 2 sitting rooms, a generous kitchen, several TVs, and free internet access.
The house is free of charge and self-catering – all you need to bring is yourselves and food for your stay, which can be just a day or two or a couple of weeks – it's up to you.
Take a Tour of the Lee Rigby House!
If you and your family would like to stay at the House, please phone us during office hours on 01538 702949, or 07956 254145 or 07769 698268 at other times, or email us on bookings@leerigbyfoundation.org. We look forward to welcoming you.
The "Annexe" is an extension to Grade 2 Listed Moor Court Hall, which is owned by the Kendo Nagasaki foundation, and they have made it available to our Foundation. Built in 1914, the Annexe has served as various kinds of accommodation in various guises up to 2005, and we're delighted that we'll soon be able to dedicate it to Veterans in need of a serene getaway. There will be 13 rooms, a sitting room, a kitchen, and the facility will be fully catered. We're refurbishing the building now (with the help of some incredibly skilled Veterans!), and we hope to have it available during the 3rd quarter of 2017. At the same time, in an adjacent building, we're refurbishing a large 4-foot-deep therapy pool, a gym, and an art room, and these facilities will be available to those staying at the Annexe and the Lee Rigby House. Your help can make all this happen sooner – just hit the "Donate!" button below, or get in touch with us if you can donate furniture or other goods, or your skills and time.
Just up the hill a little from the Lee Rigby House is the building that will become the home to the Lee Rigby Lodge. It is good and sound, but it needs refurbishing and equipping with such things as new windows, a new heating system, new sanitaryware, and new furnishings throughout. We're now working towards raising the necessary funds for all this work – this is a big project, which we are looking to start as soon as we are able to accommodate guests at the Lee Rigby House and the Annexe building, so, once again, your donations and support will make this happen sooner.
Veterans and forces families have already visited the site of the House and Lodge, and have universally said that the location seems to automatically lift any feelings of stress and tension, and that staying there for a week would be very calming and empowering. We look forward to welcoming them back to the completed 'retreats', so that they can indeed relax, de-stress, and find the strength to re-build their lives.
As can be seen from our Foundation's Mission Statement, we seek to offer many other areas of support in conjunction with the House and the Lodge, including counselling, 'Sports Recovery', help for parents, children, siblings, spouses, and friends, as well as 'Career Support' via our friends at Cross Deck. We'll be working with our partner organisations to make all this happen as soon as possible.
Please help us to make all this happen as soon as possible. Lyn has always said that she wants the Foundation's support to be available free-of-charge to those who need it, and all our work is funded from donations. As a Registered Charity, we're doing everything we can to bring Lyn's vision to life, and help all those who are not currently supported, yet urgently need help.
We've been overwhelmed at the generosity of everyone who has already supported us on our journey – please see our "Thank You!" page, and if you help us too with a fund-raising event or activity, you'll see your name in lights on that page too!


Check out this nifty flying pendulum clock designed by Brian Law of www.woodenclocks.co.uk. I have owned two of the reproduction clocks designed after the New Haven antiques.
Full sized plans along with instructions showing how to build the this spring-driven mantle clock will appear in Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts Issue 56, Fall 2014. The clock employs the novel and entertaining 'flying pendulum' escapement. The patterns and instructions provided by the magazine are excellent and will enable you to cut out all of the components to build the clock.
Here are Brian Law's original plans for the Clock 17 Flying Pendulum with wind up spring on which the one in the magazine is based.


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Falco UK
Falco UK completes move to 100% energy self-sufficiency
Falco is pleased to announce the completion of a major new improvement programme to our UK cycle parking manufacturing and warehousing facility. Our UK...
Falco UK now 100% energy self-sufficient
Falco is pleased to announce the completion of a major new improvement programme to our UK cycle parking manufacturing and warehousing facility. Our UK premises are now completely energy self-sufficient and make use of 100% renewable energy.
Falco is committed to a carbon-neutral business and work commenced at the Leekbrook facility in Staffordshire at the beginning of 2019 with new insulation, new windows and the installation of LED lighting throughout our buildings. By July, work began on a major new roof overhaul consisting of 8,000 square metres of office and warehousing space. Following completion of the roof, 50kWh of solar PV panelling was installed completed in October to source all of the energy requirements for the business (and even provide additional energy back to the grid). The project was 'topped off' with the installation of the latest energy-efficient IR heating panels, meaning that the building now uses no fossil fuels for heat, light or power.
The solar panels mean that Falco is a completely energy self-sufficient business, consuming 100% renewable energy generated from its premises by solar power.
The investment for the UK facility is just one of a number of environmental investments made by the Falco group over the past 10 years. Other improvements include:
A brand new purpose-built, environmentally-friendly head office facility in Vriezenveen Netherlands, featuring automatic lighting, energy-efficient climate control and high levels of insulation.
Achieving the ISO 14001 Environmental Management System integrated across the manufacturing facility.
The addition of Euro 6 profile engines across the vehicle fleet saving up to 13% more energy compared to Euro 5 profile engines.
Achieving compliancy with EN 1090 CE Mark - demonstrating compliance to the European Conformity, which ensures Falco products comply with the essential requirements of the relevant European health, safety and environmental protection legislation.
Becoming an FSC® accredited organisation and sourcing only FSC® hardwood for all timber products across the range.
UK MD Jeremy Green said: "I am delighted that we have finally got to this point, which is something we have been looking at over the last few years and the Falco UK office will now be self sufficient going forward. Climate change is an issue that faces all of us and to deliver this in a large scale commercial setting is very special. It's a clear demonstration of Falco's commitment to undertaking ethical and sustainable business practises and I am really proud to be part of an organisation that is willing to invest to achieve this!"
Falco's UK centre for the development of cycle parking facilities includes a large warehousing area where post-production work takes place, along with client storage, whilst the office provides full commercial client offering, including the free design of cycle parking schemes for clients, surveying and new product development.
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Falco UK address and contact details
Falco UK Ltd
Unit 8, Leekbrook Way
Leekbrook
ST13 7AP
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Falco UK completes move to 100% energy self-sufficiency | |Contact Falco UK Unit 8, Leekbrook Way
Email: sales@falco.co.uk |Description
|Website link www.falco.co.uk