The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker is incredibly tense and engrossing for the first hour and a half. Visually, the film is incredibly similar to Black Hawk Down in terms of technology and style. It seems as if there are a number of hand-held cameras that capture chaotic action with tight shots, pulling the viewer into the conflict zone. There are never any wide angle shots, because that would provide an overview of the situation and some degree of control. Unfortunately, one of the key messages of both films is that war offers no control and survival can be entirely arbitrary.

Although both Iraq and Somalia are international hotspots that highlight the difficulties that a standing army faces against guerrilla forces in an urban setting, the similarities between the films end there. The Hurt Locker is a far superior film because of the character development, which is forcibly limited by the twenty-four hour timeline in Black Hawk Down. The audience is drawn into the film because they care about the characters; the fact that a bomb could go off at any moment adds to that drama.

The members of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit face a small margin of error and are under extreme stress. As they attempt to survive the last month of their rotation in Iraq, each copes with stress differently. After the team leader is killed diffusing a bomb, a new sergeant assumes leadership of the team. There are differences between the unconventional expert and his subordinates but these fade away during daily death-defying missions.

For me, The Hurt Locker took a turn for the worse when a storyline is introduced regarding a young Iraqi boy who had been turned into a body bomb. The rhythm of separate but equally dangerous missions that comprise a terrifying tour of duty is briefly disrupted and there is no concrete resolution. The movie regains its footing when the rotation is over and the sergeant faces more difficulty selecting a cereal in the grocery store than he ever did facing an Improvised Explosive Device in a warzone. There was something he needed that he gained from diffusing over eight hundred and thirty seven bombs that family life could never provide.

Rashomon

What more can I say about Akira Kurosawa that I haven’t already discussed? Rashomon was another innovative masterpiece, building on the themes of his other works, like High and Low and The Seven Samurai. I was mildly astonished that I didn’t have any Kurosawa DVDs on my shelves when I got home. I was sure that I had purchased The Seven Samurai some time ago.

A body is discovered in the woods and three people - the accused, the victim’s wife, and the spirit of the dead man via a medium - recount different stories about what happen. The three tales may all be lies or they each might contain some element of the truth. A witness and a priest struggle to explain what happened to a bystander as they all seek shelter from a driving rainstorm.

Would it be a Kurosawa film if it weren’t in black and white? Nobody is entirely good or evil and everyone’s morals are drawn in shades of grey. The film remains tense although characters are merely retelling a story that occurred three days previously and the script combines action and comedy. Kurosawa balances tight closeups to show the emotions of each character with wide angle shots to convey the entire scene. The audience was entertained throughout the screening at the Bloor Cinema.

The priest is tremendously dismayed at what appears to be a failed marriage, a senseless rape, and a vicious murder. He is having trouble reconciling his studies with human nature. In feudal Japan, during desperate times, people stoop to contemptible levels. Regular citizens may condemn the bandits who torment them but they are willing to steal from each other in order to survive.

Nevertheless, while every soul has the capacity for evil, everyone can redeem themselves with their actions. The witness who had lied about the murder and stolen from the crime scene convinces the priest with a selfless act, depicted subtly by the director, at the conclusion of the film.

Brock and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince may be the funniest film in the series although it could have done more to assume its intended place as the saddest one to date. As usual, it’s a very well produced film. Direction is somewhat atypical, but the odd camera angles seem appropriate. The actors do excellent work, especially Jim Broadbent, Alan Rickman, and Michael Gambon. Almost everyone could screen this film and enjoy themselves, as shown by a nearly $160 million opening weekend gross and an 84% Rotten Tomatoes Rating.

However, The Half-Blood Prince disappoints in a way that foreshadows what made the final volume so unsatisfying. Severus Snape is not featured enough in this movie. For the first six books, he is Harry’s antagonist (Voldemort is more of a rival to Dumbledore because of their exceptional powers). When Harry is eleven, it is acceptable for Snape to be distant, because a strict teacher is a suitable foe for a child. But as Harry grows older, he should become aware that Snape is much more than an embittered educator.

Like the previous film which glossed over the Occlumency training that Snape provided to Harry, this work needed another ten to fifteen minutes further explaining Snape’s motives. A major failure of the books is that they don’t explain Snape until the end. Revealing little pieces throughout would have made for a more complicated and sophisticated relationship between the two. Severus Snape is not an example of absolute good or evil and is like in real person in that he regrets mistakes, suffers from doubt, and seeks to atone for his past.

The Harry Potter series became so popular because author J.K. Rowling displayed tremendous imagination in creating an entire world based on magic. The characters may have the ability to perform magic but they are as fallible as anyone else (they have bad relationships although they break-up using Owl messengers, instead of Facebook wall posts). The last two books become a tangled web of plot threads. Some of the storylines are poorly developed and clutter the entire work. Likewise, this story features some superfluous sub-plots that could have been ignored, such as the Death Eaters’ abductions and the destruction of the Weasleys’ Burrow, because there is no follow-up.

Narrowing the focus of the film and emphasizing the characters and their actions would have told a better. Harry was forced into this role as “the boy that lived” but at this point in the series, he has reached a point where he must choose whether or not to claim his destiny. As audience members who have read the novels and seen the films, we are entitled to know why he made his choices.

Public Enemies

Michael Mann has constucted an entertaining period film with his latest release, Public Enemies. The film recounts the exploits of bank robber John Dillinger during the Great Depression. Although he may be an outlaw, Dillinger captures the public imagination with his charisma and Robin Hood persona. Initially, Dillinger was sent to prison for robbing a grocery store. He regretted the crime because of the kind nature of the store owner but became embittered towards society because of a sentence that he felt was excessive. After leaving prison, he successfully organizes a series of daring bank robberies but always steals from the bank, never the customers with whom he sympathizes.

This empathy becomes his downfall as he becomes involved in a relationship with “Billie” Frechette and remains loyal to individuals whom he should avoid. When she is arrested because the police wish to squeeze him, he remains in Chicago and is eventually killed. Dillinger’s inability to quit when he is ahead and refusal to change leads to his downfall outside a movie theatre in Chicago. Like another biopic that I screened this year, Milk, Public Enemies remains tense despite the fact that you know the protagonist is going to get it eventually.

Mann alters the facts to suit his needs. The timeline of the story is not entirely accurate but it makes for a more interesting story. Mann devises a situation where Dillinger is the last of his gang at large but that it not really the case. The director creates an image of a rebellious anti-hero but it is not until late in the film that Dillinger reveals exactly what motivates him. The film seems to correctly portray the public and media hysteria towards the criminal, showing perhaps that the more things change, the more things remain the same.

At times it seems as if Christian Bale’s role, agent Melvin Purvis, offers the more compelling character. As pressure from Washington increases and methods within the F.B.I. increase, Purvis seems to be conflicted, asking himself the question posed by the recently deceased Robert McNamara as he reflected on the Vietnam war: “What makes it immoral if you lose and not immoral if you win?” As Purvis employs increasingly extreme measures in order to apprehend Dillinger, the agent has more and more trouble living with himself. Twenty years after the shooting death of John Dillinger, Melvin Purvis shoots himself.

Who is the noblest character, the criminal who always sticks with his friends or the lawman who may have executed Pretty Boy Floyd in cold blood? Neither is exactly who they seem, residing among shades of grey rather than the moral absolutes of good and bad, like the rest of the citizens of the world.

What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part III

The new Roger Federer - the one who makes mistakes, occasionally fails, and realizes his limitations - is much more interesting than the old one. Last year’s Wimbledon between Federer and Nadal featured superior tennis but this year’s match between Federer and Andy Roddick was equally as tense.

To complete the French Open-Wimbledon double, Federer needed to honestly re-evaluate his game in order to improve it. At Roland Garros, his improved ability to slide on the baseline was paired with a new drop shot; at the All England Club he was forced to serve impeccably and persevere as his best shots were foiled.

Federer defeated Roddick because he knows how to overcome adversity and change. On the bright side, Roddick is finally a threat to win Grand Slams again because he has evolved his game to become more versatile. Increased mental and physical fitness also helps his cause.

The development of Federer and Roddick over recent months signifies that no athlete should ever stop improving. When the opportunity to increase their level of physical skill passes, an athlete can work on the mental side of the game.

Self-actualization demands continuous learning and I endeavour to learn more from other sports over the summer. There are many excellent resources and it is simply a matter of locating them, reflecting, and adapting them to the appropriate sport.

Managing My Life by Alex Ferguson another example of a thoughtful and persistent triumph. The Manchester United manager experienced a mixed bag of success and failure as a player and rose through the coaching ranks steadily. He was almost sacked as manager at Old Traffold a couple of times but persisted and attained the level of elite achievement where he resides currently.

In his mind, one of the integral components of his philosophy is his tendency to deconstruct every failure and learn what could be done better. Another tenant is the belief that no player, manager, or club should be satisfied with less than their best. Ferguson’s coaching career is forty years of learning from masters, treating others how he would want to be treated (sometimes a professional, sometimes a person), and continually moving forwards. He is a role model for all sorts of coaches and managers. Even his offensive strategy for soccer, based on rhythm and ball possession, contains elements that could influence a basketball coach.

Ferguson’s work the most eloquent book about sport that I have read. It shatters the stereotype that jocks must be dumb and challenges other athletes and coaches to do better. There is never any reason not to communicate in a dignified and respectful fashion.

I am also scheduled to read Scotty Bowman: A Life in Hockey, Inner Skiing by W. Timothy Gallwey and Robert Kriegel, and Football Scouting Methods by Steve Belichick because they emphasize sound coaching, mental training, and game preparation respectively. In the month of August, when I work on Task 4: Nutrition and other units at the National Coaching Institute, I hope to base my work on a theme such as “What Basketball Can Learn from Other Sports.”

What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part II

Teaching ex tempore, incorporating current events, finding stories of local interest, and attempting to follow student trends in order to make them part of the course enhance my teaching style but I feel that I can do better. I really want to create lessons that are significant for the class and meet their needs, hopefully engendering the same enthusiasm for marketing and finance that I have. I want to discuss major issues and make students stop to think.

During the spring, I read No Logo by Naomi Klein. I think that it can be a good resource for both high school and post-secondary marketing instructors. To me, the book is meaningful because it advances issues initially raised by legends of the field like Theodore Levitt but illustrates the argument with examples that students can relate to. The publication date on some articles sometimes causes students to tune out so for that reason alone, excerpts from Klein’s exposé are more accessible.

(Obviously, globalization is one of a litany of pertinent issues in the field of marketing.)

In 1972, Al Ries and Jack Trout authored a paper entitled “The Positioning Era Cometh”; in 2000 Klein published her book. Both works - and countless others - describe brand dominance, beginning with the advent of the television age and continuing until today’s age of increased communication and information, and its effects on consumers. Ries and Trout look forward several decades whereas Klein recounts recent marketing history and analyzes what consumers should do next. Levitt’s prescient article about Globalization discusses how global companies will overtake the neighbourhood store and what will happen to local economy, although he is not as austere as Klein.

Once brands overtake products - from shoes and clothes to phones and communication to schools and politicians - and image supersedes quality, modern life bursts at the seams with noise. The public space is imbued with logos, conversation littered with slogans. Sometimes I feel that we don

I don’t think that we ask enough questions. What is the point of education aside from providing a critical framework to analyze the reasoning behind actions? The actual fundamentals of globalization - importing, manufacturing, transporting, storing products - are soon forgotten but the trend affects the lives of students on a daily basis. I want to imbue the marketing course with significance, inspiring inquisitiveness.

It’s like asking a student why they bought a gold-coloured Cavaliers baseball hat: did they buy it because New Era makes the most durable and comfortable hats on the market or because they think LeBron James is cool? Or it may be merely because Chris Brown wore it in a photo posted on TMZ. I don’t care either way but I hope they understand why they made the decision.

If it’s possible to delve that deeply into an subject these days...

I have far fewer answers to my problem than I would like and I hope to gain some insight by reading, studying, and learning from others at an OISE/UT Additional Qualifications course during the month of July.

What I Hope to Learn this Summer, Part I

I hope to improve my ability to deal with people and egos, to better motivate student-athletes and demonstrate more empathic leadership. I recently read Competitive Fire by Michael Clarkson and learnt many facts that I hope to apply in the coming year. We often discuss how it seems that teenagers have a “fight or flight” mentality but there is a scientific basis to the argument. Under pressure, the brain releases hormones, such as adrenaline or noradrenaline, that can cause aggressiveness, increase feelings of fear, and inspire the body to perform faster, higher, or stronger.

All people, including athletes, need to manage these feelings. Teenagers at school or on the court may be sensing this stress for the first time. It is up to coaches to transform aggressiveness into confidence and fear and tension into increased focus. Some players need to be reminded of a comfort zone, such as the gym where they had fun as a child. Others need a combination of assurance and encouragement so that they channel their urge to defend their ego in a positive direction. It may be necessary to put the sport or evaluation into perspective so fear of failure is not catastrophic. Mental sets at the beginning of class or practice can help a group of student-athletes develop their ability to focus or one-on-one discussions afterwards can give an individual the boost they need to get through the day. Or it may be necessary to simulate game conditions in practice and help players visualize a successful performance.

The ideal of Tachypsychia is very intriguing. During a competitive situation, the brain releases hormones which allow the person to perceive more information. This creates the impression that time has slowed down, a player can see gaps in the defence, or that the ball has entered the net a moment before it actually does. Inducing that feeling - and handling it in a calm manner - is a challenge for a coach.

Visualizing that a big game is just another pick-up game back home is similar to thinking that the audience for a big PowerPoint presentation is comprised of friends and family. Focusing intently on a foul shot and ignoring distractions is similar to excelling on a final exam. That is why I want to help others handle stress better.

There are so many different strategies to maximize the affects of arousal that a coach may need to treat every player differently or a teacher may need to attempt multiple techniques with different groups of students. Sensing what is appropriate for each occasional is an aptitude that I wish to improve over the next two months. In addition to my own personal reflection, I hope to read Red and Me and The Gold Standard. The former is an account of the unique relationship between a superstar and an elite coach (Bill Russell and Red Auerbach) and the latter is the story of a team comprised of multiple egos under extreme pressure (the 2008 United States “Redeem Team.”