Can’t Stop the Signal!

I watched Serenity last night again after several months and it still rocks. I love this movie, and heartily recommend it. There’s guns, space travel, lots of action and great characters. Summer Glau… What’s not to love?

Now to check my Netflix que to see how close to the top the TV series is.

More reading.

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Does anyone know where I can get this movie?

I’ve tried all the usual places… Netflix doesn’t stock it, Amazon only has PAL versions, Suncoast has never heard of it.

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He was a quiet man…

I’ve just recently become aware of this movie. From the trailer, it appears to tell the story of a man on the verge of exploding and killing everyone in his office one day soon. Being well armed seems to have worked out well for him though for when one day another co-worker goes “postal” and begins shooting up the office, he pulls out his own gun and kills the “maniac with a loaded gun.”

I might rent this just to see what kind of slant they put on things, although from the trailer it seems to be more about a romance with a paralyzed co-worker than anything else. We’ll see…

However, I did find something interesting from the movie’s website. This is their advice on how to deal with a “maniac with a loaded gun” at your own place of employment:

Workplace Violence

Unfortunately, regardless of how diligent we may be in our awareness, some of us may someday find ourselves in a crisis situation. So how can you protect yourself and your coworkers when faced with a hostile, potentially violent person?

1. Understand the mindset of the hostile or potentially violent person. The person has a compelling need to communicate his grievance to someone now! Give him a verbal outlet. Even if he is wrong, the individual is acting on perceptions that are real to him. In the overwhelming number of cases, the person just wants fairness.
2. Practice “Active Listening.” Stop what you are doing and give the person your full attention. Listen to what is really being said. Use silence and paraphrasing. Ask clarifying, open-ended questions.
3. Avoid confrontation. Instead, build trust and provide help. Be calm, courteous, respectful, patient, open and honest. Never belittle, embarrass or verbally attack a hostile person.
4. Allow a total airing of the grievance without comment or judgment. Make eye contact (but don’t stare). Allow verbal venting of emotion. Let the person have his say (not necessarily his way). Ignore challenges and insults and don’t take it personally; redirect attention to the real issue.
5. Allow the aggrieved party to suggest a solution. A person will more readily agree to a resolution that he helped formulate. And it might surprise you that the person’s suggestion may be very reasonable.
6. Move toward a win-win resolution. Preserve the individual’s dignity. Switch the focus from what you can’t do toward what you can. With the person’s permission, call in additional resources, i.e., supervisor, Human Resources, Employee Assistance Program, Security, or Police.

Well now, I’ll just get right on that. Notice there is no mention of armed resistance, inarguably the most effective way of stopping the bloodshed and coming out of the situation alive.

On second thought, I don’t think I’ll be renting this movie after all.

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Movie Recommendation

I received Downfall from Netflix the other day and I watched it last night after the kiddos went to bed.

Downfall is the story of the last days of The Third Reich as told from the viewpoint of Hitler’s personal secretary Traudl Junge. The film is based on her book Until the Final Hour, and another called Inside Hitler’s Bunker: The Last Days of the Third Reich by Joachim Fest, and was shot entirely in German with English subtitles.

Unlike some other movies which portray Hitler and his Nazi henchmen as monsters, this film portrays them as human beings, just like you and I. The only exception is that these human beings happen to be responsible for starting WWII and slaughtering millions of innocent people. To their credit, at no point do the filmmakers shy away from showing just how brutal and monstrous the principals really are.

As WWII winds down to a close, an ill and increasingly feeble Hitler begins to crack up, ranting at and cursing his generals as incompetent and giving orders to armies which exist only in his mind. At times however he seems almost normal, joking with the help and complimenting the cook on the quality of his supper.

As disturbing as the film is to begin with, based on the subject matter, for me as a father the most disturbing part of the film comes when Magda Goebbels decides it is better to kill six children than to have them live in a world where there is no Third Reich and National Socialism.

Do yourself a favor and rent this DVD.

Rated R for disturbing images, violence and very brief nudity.

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I Am Legend

I saw this movie yesterday afternoon. What can I say?

No spoilers here, everything I’m going to say can be learned from the publicity blurbs and trailers.

A must see! Great acting, effects and story. Will Smith is excellent as the “lone” survivor of post apocalyptic New York. He spends his days, hunting, gardening and tooling around the deserted streets in a variety of borrowed vehicles. He also searches for a cure to the virus which has mutated the rest of humanity into hideous monsters that come out to feed at night. The story is told in a mixture of present day action and flash backs.

Weapons: Several M-16’s and 1911 style pistols, at least one grenade, a knife, gasoline and high explosives. I say M-16’s because it is obvious at several points that the rifles is being fired in full auto.

This film is rated “PG-13″ for a good reason as it would scare the bejesus out of the kiddies…

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