Blake Lively vs a Shark, and Other Summer Movie Thrills

24 Jun

blake-lively-the-shallowsWhat’s with movie producers putting Blake Lively in danger? First, Ben Affleck turned her into a drugged-up townie in The Town. Then, she got kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel in Oliver Stone’s Savages. Now, the erstwhile Serena van der Woodsen is being hunted by a hungry shark in The Shallows.

My girl just can’t catch a break!

Unfortunately, the same can be said for moviegoers. Based on the films I’ve seen in the past few weeks, there’s not a breakout that screams “must-see.” So, with that spoiler aside, I figured I’d share a bunch of recent reviews, starting with a review of Blake Lively’s latest. Continue reading →

I’m 42, and I Have No Idea What That Really Means

7 Jun

42 candlesAs you get older, you start to ask the big questions. Like, for example, what is the meaning of life?

So here’s a fun fact.

If you ask the Google machine what the answer to life, the universe, and everything is, the answer you get is 42.

That’s right, forty-two. Continue reading →

When Is a College Reunion Not a College Reunion?

5 Jun

brandeis_reunionSo, here’s the thing about college reunions. Mine, anyway.

Ten years out of school is a significant milestone. Which is probably why, at my 10-year reunion, there was great attendance — in addition to many members of our class, there were lots of spouses and kids in tow. And it very quickly turned into a disappointing, awfully superficial affair: Many people overdid it with the hyperbole (they had “the most wonderful husband” and “the best kids”) to show off how well they were doing, and made all kinds of excuses about why they hadn’t stayed in touch over the years. It was kind of like the old-fashioned cliché of reunions, complete with social anxiety and lots of one-upmanship. (Remember: This was in 2006, when most people weren’t using Facebook.)

Suffice it to say, as a single guy who was frustrated personally and professionally at the time, it really wasn’t my scene. And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, there were folks there I didn’t care to see (like, ever), who I went out of my way to avoid. So I didn’t enjoy that reunion very much. No surprise. And I skipped my 15-year reunion altogether.

This weekend, at my 20-year college reunion (a fact I’m still trying to wrap my head around), it was a very different scene. Continue reading →

“Don’t Be Afraid to Let the Experience Find You.”

6 Apr

Everybody Wants Some posterThe best Richard Linklater movies have always emphasized dialogue and character over plot. And the fleeting nature of time has often been a dominant theme.

Boyhood, Linklater’s Oscar-nominated 2014 social experiment, beautifully documented in subtle fashion what it was like for a young boy to grow up over the course of 12 years.

The films in his Before trilogy (Sunrise, Sunset, and Midnight) each focus squarely on the same couple, and we watch as these two walk and talk and talk and talk, examining their own relationship as it evolves.

Dazed and Confused, the instant classic saga of Austin, Texas, high school kids in search of a party on the last day of school in 1976, featured a cast of up-and-coming actors mostly talking, driving around, and hanging out — when they weren’t getting high, of course.

Now, Linklater returns to school with Everybody Wants Some!! (yes, there are officially two exclamation points in the name), what the writer/director is calling his “spiritual sequel” to Dazed. That means we’re still in Texas (natch), but it’s four years later and none of the characters are the same. Continue reading →

The Top 10 Movies I’ve Seen So Far This Year

28 Mar

batman v supermanBefore you get too excited about that headline and the blog post that follows, I need to offer a brief disclaimer: I’ve only seen 10 movies so far this year. And these reviews are in order of when I saw them, which means they’re unranked.

So … sorry for the clickbait.

Alas, I wanted to clear the deck before any good movies come out. So here we go: My first 10 review blurbs of 2016. Continue reading →

25 Important Lessons My Father Has Taught Me About Living a Great Life

21 Feb

Martin and HarveyFor a long time now, my sister and I have (affectionately) given my parents a hard time because they can be kind of square. You know, like ’50s TV parents square.

But the nice thing about having Ward Cleaver for a father is that, just like on Leave It to Beaver, there’s always a lesson to be learned, whether you realize it or not. And over the years, me and the Beav — I mean, my sister — have certainly learned a lot.

Today, on the occasion of my dad’s 70th birthday, I wanted to share a few of those lessons. Most of these my sister and I cowrote and read aloud at a surprise party for him yesterday. But since we didn’t want to speak too long and bore the crowd in attendance, I kept a few extras just for this blog post. Continue reading →

Want to Build Stronger Online Relationships? It’s Really Not That Hard. #CMAD

29 Jan

CMAD videoIf you didn’t know, this past Monday (January 25) was Community Manager Appreciation Day (or CMAD, for short). It was a chance for people and companies to celebrate folks like me — social media managers and others who work so hard every day to grow our businesses and organizations by building stronger relationships with customers, clients, and others using blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, and other social channels (and offline means as well). And to learn from each other as well.

As part of the day, a social media company called Zoomph reached out and asked me to share a quick tip for building stronger online relationships. I was happy to do so. That video is below. Continue reading →

Finishing Off a Big Movie Year

8 Jan

the-revenantWhile you were out seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens once, twice, three times, or maybe even four, a bunch of other movies hit theaters. Sure, I did already publish my top movies of 2015 blog post, but now that all of these last few have hit theaters nationwide, and since none of them made my year-end list (the good one or the bad one), here are my final movie reviews of 2015. Continue reading →

Keeping Things in Perspective Made 2015 a Great Year

31 Dec

IMG_9182According to multiple reports, 2015 was a great year for the average human being. Well, I must be average because I did have a pretty great year.

Actually, all kidding aside, if there’s one good thing the article I linked to in that first paragraph does, it’s put the year into perspective. Yes, mass shootings, racism, terrorism, and other awful things dominated the headlines, from Charleston to Israel to Paris to Syria to San Bernardino to wherever Donald Trump was speaking. But let’s not forget, there was also much to celebrate: the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the Patriots won the Super Bowl, and in many ways, quality of life for the considerable majority of the planet’s population actually improved this year.

Continue reading →

Putting the Spotlight on My Favorite Movies of 2015

29 Dec

jurassic-worldWhat a great year for the movies 2015 was. Yes, I say that every year, because when you’re looking back on your favorite releases, it’s hard not to think positively.

But the fact is, going to the movies brought me a lot of pleasure this year, and not always due to conventionally good films.

To that end, two of the most enjoyable movies I saw, Jurassic World and, especially, San Andreas, delivered exactly what I wanted them to despite (or maybe because of) dubious quality.

Other films were pleasant surprises, like The Peanuts Movie, Ant-Man, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. — and I mention that last film not just because it featured Alicia Vikander’s most adorable, most endearing, and most winning performance of the year.

I saw a lot of excellent documentaries this year, including Sunshine Superman, The Wolfpack, He Named Me Malala, and The Hunting Ground, and I watched as one of my all-time favorite docs, Man on Wire, became a drama: The Walk.

All this is to say, it was fun to be a frequent moviegoer this year. And frequent I was: I saw a total of 85 movies — more than I’ve ever seen in a single year.

Seeing so many movies made it even more of a challenge to narrow them down to my 10 favorites; you’ll notice the ones mentioned above didn’t even make my list. Which ones did make the list? Let’s get to it. Continue reading →

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