Posts by Archive Authors

by Dustin P. Anderson

At the end of a long sentence, a notorious inmate, Viktor Khadem, is sent to a minimum-security prison where he works until he can be rehabilitated to join society. His handler, Matt Perry, sees a certain skill for taking care of birds within Viktor, and decides to start a new program for rehabilitating inmates. He puts Viktor in charge of two other prisoners tasked with caring for the injured birds of prey until they are well enough to fly, and hunt on their own. The guards and warden of the jail believe the program is dangerous and will only invite more trouble. A gang of the prison’s thugs harasses the group as they are jealous of their position and makes life even more difficult for them as they try to heal. Through this adversity the three inmates start to form a bond with the birds they are watching and try to let the effect of caring for them wash the violence from their past out of their mind.

by Dustin P. Anderson

Our story follows Sara, a woman who was blinded due to an encounter with a suicide bomber during a tour with the army as a photo journalist. We meet her after she has been blind for three years, and she has met a rich man who has seemingly gained his wealth through investments. After going out for champagne, she comes home to find her boyfriend killed and a man waiting for her with a knife. When the man’s partner comes, it is revealed that her boyfriend made his wealth as a thief and has stolen something precious from the two men who are holding Sara hostage: diamonds. The men must try to get the information they need from Sara, and she must do what she can to stay alive during their encounter.

by Dustin P. Anderson

I have never been more confused as to what constitutes a spoiler in a movie. I am going to attempt to give the best synopsis I can here, but just know, I was extremely confused throughout this entire movie. We follow two movie studio workers as they watch one of the movies their studio is set to release. The two add dialog (a la Mystery Science Theater 3000) to the film, and we follow their story as well. I was supremely disappointed when I started watching this movie. There was nothing that led me to believe that this movie was going to be a comedy; I would assume that this “surprise” was the intention of the makers, but it ultimately left me confused throughout the entire movie. I had to keep going back and forth, from the menu screen of the DVD to the movie itself to make sure I was watching the correct movie, and not an extra. After I triple-checked that I was watching the right movie, I started to try to pay attention to what was going on in it. What I figured out is that this movie failed on almost every conceivable level. Some actual funny lines of dialog save it from being the worst movie I have ever seen, but it really tried to get to that top spot in my mind. For starters, the characters are written in like they were thought of last-minute. You can’t follow any sense of storyline, in either the “horror movie” or the comedy part. Everything seems like it was rushed to production, or that they were trying to save an already sinking ship.

The film Mobilize (previously titled Disconnect) is about the potential dangers of cell phones. People have joked about it for years. The AMC series Better Call Saul had a major plot device about a character's aversion to any electronic radiation. The character wound up wearing thermal blankets, not going outside, deactivating electricity in the home, and having all electronic units being stored in an outside mailbox. The show never really explained the source of the character's problem, but it seemed to imply that it was a mental phobia. In fact, there are many people who are showing mental effects such as increased agitation and ADHD. A far more serious problem seems to be a causative effect for brain tumors.

There have also been cases where depending where the phone is normally kept (clipped on a bra or in a pants pocket) of leading to breast cancers and lower sperm counts. The cell phone industry has been actively trying to manage any information regarding the possible harmful effects of radiation from cell towers and cell phones. They have been pretty successful. The simple fact is that there have not been a significant number of independent studies. The studies that have been conducted have been conflicting based on whether or not they have been industry-funded. It is very clear that there might be a problem. The issue is long term effects, and it is just now that people who have been using cell phones heavily for 20 years or more are having problems. Then there is the issue of children using them at young ages and possibly for their entire lifetimes. There are clearly an increasing number of cases of cancers that have been argued are directly related to cell phone use. The U.S. wireless industry is in the range of $200 billion. They have the resources to lobby everyone in the media and politics.

Most of us are used to seeing Hollywood movies. That often bleeds over to British and Australian films, but not everyone wants to see films with subtitles. Still, many foreign films have become popular from France, Spain, Japan, Italy, China, India, Denmark, South Africa and Mexico. Obviously almost every country in the world produces films, but most of us never see them. The sheer abundance of films produced in any given year is mind-boggling. Who sees them all? To some degree, films from one part of the world are mostly watched by people from the same place. Turkish films are mostly watched by Turks. 

Ships (Ferahfeza) is a Turkish  film directed by Elif Refig. The story is fairly strange and slow-moving. It takes place in the port district of Kadikoy in the city of Istanbul. Everything about the movie is dull and sad, including the location. Everything about the place begs to be left behind and escaped from. That is what the main character wants to do.

by Dustin P. Anderson

The death of the youngest brother in the Burwood family brings together all members in an attempt to see that their brother is laid to rest... OK, here’s the thing. I could tell you all the synopsis as a lead up to this movie review, but I am pretty sure that everyone reading this has seen a movie with a similar synopsis. This movie is basically Sweet Home Alabama, This is Where I Leave You, The Royal Tenenbaums, or many others. It’s been done dozens of times over, and I think what we all really want to know is if this movie differed from the other movies at all.

"Meet the Robertson clan. They turned duck calls into a multi-million dollar empire.  But running a family business is tough when the family just wants to run wild." 

The Robertson family is quickly becoming the most recognizable family on TV, considering they are flooding the stores with their books, DVD’s, and many other products you can find at Wal-Mart.  I can’t help but think this is a family that is doing everything right, and good for them for the success they’ve managed. Seeing a positive reality show is refreshing, and the fact that it’s not filled with backstabbing and manipulation just allows it to stand out from everything else.  Every episode continues to try to deliver some life lesson or attempt to show the value of a wholesome family environment.  Is it hard to relate because we’re following a multi-million dollar family?  Surprisingly, this might be the most relatable family to hit the TV screen.