Month: May 2017

I’ll Be Back, and Arms, and Legs (Arnold, Successful Body Building)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

This is a story in progress.

It’s not finished yet because… well, I’m not dead.

That’s what I said the first time around, when I wrote the that initial entry on one of my personal heroes, Arnold Schwarzenegger. And I have gotten better since December, I’ve slowly but surely increased my capacity for greatness – through writing, reading, disciplined meditation, clean living, and creative pursuits. And especially through exercise.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is a great example of someone who goes after what he wants. I’m paraphrasing but here are some examples of things Arnold has said.

I want to be the greatest bodybuilder in the world. Done. And he went through the rungs to get there. Then he decided, I want to be one of the great movie stars of his time. Done. Thank you Arnie for being The Terminator, and all of the other action hero roles you’ve taken on. And also, he decided, I want to be the governor of California… Guess what? Boom. Done.

Arnold demonstrates that with hard work and following key rules, you can have success. As he famously said in his six rules to success speech,

none of these rules work unless you do. Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.

 

 

6 Rules of Success

But what are the six rules of success? Well of course, let me lay them down for you, real simple like.

  1. Trust yourself – Many young people are getting so much advice from their parents and teachers and everyone. But what is most important is that you have to dig deep down, dig deep down and ask yourself, who do you want to be? Not what, but who. Figure out for yourself what makes you happy, no matter how crazy it may sound to other people.
  2. Break the rules – Not the law, but break the rules. It is impossible to be a maverick or a true original if you’re too well behaved and don’t want to break the rules. You have to think outside the box. That’s what I believe. After all, what is the point of being on this earth if all you want to do is be liked by everyone and avoid trouble?
  3. Don’t be afraid to fail – Anything I’ve ever attempted, I was always willing to fail. You can’t always win, but don’t be afraid of making decisions. You can’t be paralyzed by fear of failure or you will never push yourself. You keep pushing because you believe in yourself and in your vision and you know that it is the right thing to do, and success will come. So don’t be afraid to fail.
  4. Don’t Listen to the Naysayers – How many times have you heard that you can’t do this and you can’t do that and it’s never been done before? I love it when someone says that no one has ever done this before, because then when I do it, that means that I’m the first one that has done it. So pay no attention to the people that say it can’t be done. I always listen to myself and say, “Yes, you can.”
  5. Work Your Butt Off – Leave no stone unturned. Mohammed Ali, one of my great heroes, had a great line in the ’70s when he was asked, “How many sit-ups do you do?” He said, “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it hurts. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts.” That’s what makes you a champion.It’s important to have fun in life, but when you’re out there partying, horsing around, someone out there is working hard. Someone is getting smarter and someone is winning. Just remember that. But if you want to win, there is absolutely no way around hard, hard work. None of these rules work unless you do. Just remember, you can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.
  6. Give Something Back – Whatever path you take in your life, you must always find time to give something back, to your community, your state or to your country. Reaching out and helping people will give you more satisfaction than anything you’ve ever done.

     

But he only developed these rules by standing on the shoulders of his own giants, and let me just say, one of Arnie’s heroes should be yours too. Ever heard of Reg Park? The original italian stallion? Except he was actually British.

The Original Hercules

There have been a number of films representing the greek god Hercules, but the one that caught the attention of a young Schwarzenegger was Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis (1961), starring Reg Park in his film debut.

Reg Park was an English bodybuilder, businessman and actor. He inspired Schwarzenegger to become a bodybuilder, so if his regimen for beginners can work for Arnold, then it’ll work for us too.

You see dear readers, I’ve been exercising for almost a year straight, alternating between strength and core training (M/W/F) & cardio and meditation (Tu/Th). And while I don’t want to make this post about exercise, because I easily could break down the exercises portion of The Education of a Bodybuilder, instead, I’ll leave this here for those of you so inclined to read it. The writer is on point, and breaks down the exercises of the book really well.

theories Summarized

 

On this wisdom of Wednesday I leave you with something to ponder, what’s stopping you from committing to exercise time? I have this theory that health, wealth, and happiness are within reach creative cuties, but like Arnold says, remember the six rules.

You can do it. I believe in you, for you too are destined for great things.

Tim!

Sheru (Lion review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

Imagine a scenario where you grew up with a loving family, and you were headed into a stable career with the love of good partner.

But then you remembered you were lost, and in fact, adopted.

 

Lion (2016)

Cast: Sunny Pawar, Abhishek Bharate, David Wenham, Nicole Kidman, Dev Patel, Divian Ladwa, Rooney Mara
Director: Garth Davis
re-released on blu-ray April 11, 2017
********* 9/10

IMDB: 8.1
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%, Audience Score 92%
The Guardian: ****/*****

 

Garth Davis is an Australian director, best known for directing television before his feature film debut with Lion. It was nominated for six Oscars including Best Picture, but unfortunately didn’t take anything home. Which is odd, because it’s a really good movie.

Spanning a period of over twenty five years, we learn the true story of Saroo Brierley, an Indian boy who became lost in Calcutta, lived on the streets briefly, and was taken to an orphange before being adopted by an Australian family. At once immersive and incredible, Lion is the movie I wish I’d seen in theatres instead of John Wick Chapter 2.

Just saying.

Special thanks to Claudio Carvalho, for the plot summary below.

In 1986, in Khandwa, India, the 5 year-old boy Saroo (Sunny Pawar) lives a very poor but happy life with his mother Kamla (Priyanka Bose), his older brother Guddu (Abhishek Bharate) and his younger sister Shekila (Khushi Solanki). Kamla works carrying stones during the night shift and Guddu also works in the night in the Central Station. One night, Saroo insists on going with Guddu to his work, who does not resist. Guddu leaves Saroo sleeping on a bank in the station and asks him to stay there until he returns. However the boy wakes up in the middle of the night and decides to seek out his brother in a train. He sleeps again and he wakes up in Calcutta, West Bengal, and 1,600 km east of Khandwa. Saroo does not speak Bengali, only Hindi, and lives on the street of the big city. One day, a young man brings Saroo to the police station and he is sent of an institution for children. In 1987, Saroo is adopted by the Australian family of John (David Wenham) and Sue Brierley (Nicole Kidman) and moves to Hobart, Tasmania. He is raised with love by his foster parents and one day, he goes to an Indian party promoted by his Indian mates from the university with his girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara). As he tells the story of his childhood it triggers the feeling of missing his family and awakens a search within him…

I kept hearing this movie compared to an odyssey, and while I wondered how it could possibly achieve that status, after I was done with Lion I wondered if it could be called anything less. This is a true story of an Indian boy who was able to locate his family decades later through the use of Google Maps. Combining elements of drama, thriller, and mystery to weave this biopic, first-time director Davis is able to draw us into Saroo’s journey and hold our attention easily.

Pros: Both Saroo the child and Saroo the adult are portrayed deftly and with charisma. And you never feel like you’re watching a ham-fisted nostalgia spectacle, the drama is real.

Cons: While it isn’t ham-fisted, there isn’t much there in the way to details to consider or implications to uncover. The relationship with brother Mantosh is sidelined too.

Runtime: 1 hour 58 minutes

Points of Interest: Over 80,000 Indian children go missing each year.  #LionHeart foundation was launched by this films production companies to provide financial support to the over 11 million children who live on the streets of India.

That GPS and digital technology were able to bring Saroo back to his family is an incredible thing, and it should be celebrated as an effort of persistence that he made sense of his incredible childhood misadventure. A story of a lifetime with an excellent supporting cast, led by the talented Sunny Pawar, Lion has the heart of one.

theories Summarized

Should you go see this movie? No, because it’s not in theatres anymore. But you should pick up a copy of it or find a digital download service and spend some time with Saroo, or should I say Sheru?

Tim!

Like A Fine Wine (Willie Nelson, God’s Problem Child review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

You only get one shot at life, and sometimes the kid with the most problems ends up being the adult that saves the day, over and over again. Like a fine wine, it is only with age that they continue to become better versions of themselves.

 

Willie Nelson – God’s Problem Child

released April 28, 2017
********* 9/10

Willie Hugh Nelson, better known as Willie Nelson, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, author, poet, actor, and activist. In other words, at eighty four years old, he’s done much more than most of us could ever hope to achieve. Interestingly enough though, he didn’t see accolades or critical success of any kind until the 1970s with Shotgun Willie, Red Headed Stranger, and Stardust. Nelson was into his forties at this point, so something to consider if you haven’t made it yourself just yet.

As such, Nelson is one of the most celebrated country music artists of all time and a main contributor to the popularity of outlaw country in the 1970s and 1980s. If you aren’t familiar with it, outlaw country is a subgenre of country music that developed as a response to the conservative nature of music coming out of Nashville, Tennessee at the time.

Much has happened in the years following, with Nelson having acting in over thirty films, authored books, joined the supergroup The Highwaymen with Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson, and paid off over thirty million dollars in debts owed to the IRS. And we haven’t even really touched upon his activism. But I don’t have the space for that in this post.

Today I’m going to talk about God’s Problem Child, both the album and the eponymous track tucked in the meat of this record.

God’s Problem Child, the album, is one tackling mortality and also have a sense of appreciation for a life well lived. Between David Bowies’ Black Star and Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker, this is another album on the subject of death from an artist well into the final stage of life. Nelson just happens to be sticking around a bit longer than those two gents, and for all we know, this might not even be his last offering.

Featuring a range of songs on the topic, from Little House on the Hill and Old Timer, to Your Memory Has a Mind of Its Own, to the hilarious Still Not Dead, and especially It Gets Easier, this album has all the grace and humour of Willie Nelson, with the first touch of reflection on a life well lived.

Little House on the Hill explores the afterlife and what Nelson’s eternal home will be like, and Old Timer shows the realities of geriatric heartache – a well oiled engine, but a rusting frame with bad suspension. True Love is a demonstration of unending compassion, and Delete and Fast Forward is a political number that reminds us we’ve messed up like this before Donald Trump came along.

Hell, even the song Butterfly is a metaphor for transformation and fleeting nature of life.

As for the track, God’s Problem Child, we see Nelson featuring the late Leon Russell (in one of his final recordings) and efforts from Jamey Johnson and Tony Joe White on lead vocals.

This album might not win over legions of new fans, but it definitely has content there enough to win over some millennials here and there, while satisfying the die-hards and people who love classical fingering of the guitar. Trigger shows up in full force, with holes in the soundboard from decades of playing unseen.

And no, it’s not a game changer in the opus of Willie Nelson, but God’s Problem Child does remind us of his iconic status and continued relevance, well into his golden years.

theories Summarized

If you take away the IRS battle, marijuana activism, all of the americana and competition over the years, it’s still clear as day that Nelson can drum up new material with the best of them, creating music that sits with you and leaves a mark. The kind of work worthy of an outlaw. I can only theorize he continues to keep this pace and we get a few more years in the era of Willie Nelson.

Tim!

Do The Right Thing, At The Wrong Time – Good VS Evil In Film (Cross Talk Ep. 26)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

 

What is the true meaning of good? And what is meaning of evil?

People have been trying to demonstrate the qualities of these diametrically opposed concepts for millennia now. And so many different art forms try to describe the ideas as best they can, digging into the details and pulling out some great notions of what each means, and more importantly, their effects on life.

If we were to look at a text-book definition of good, there are a number of aspects to filter in. For instance, the need to be desired or approved of while having the desired qualities of a higher standard. The word sacrifice is commonly featured over and over too. Ultimately this all stems from a sense of empathy, benevolence, selflessness and going beyond the superficial aspects of life to find humanity at every turn.

That altruism is so very necessary in corner of good when looking at the battle of good versus evil.

Evil is that much more simple. If something is profoundly immoral and wicked, often represented by or directly embodying a force of harm and undesirable outcomes. People who are evil lack empathy, acting upon their own needs and desires about all else. To be selfish in this way prevents real connections, and often leads to the suffering of many, for the wishes of the few. An inability to see the world from another perspective can be attributed to evil, but in many cases, the conscious disregard of others is all the more sickening.

As always on Cross Talk, there are many fantastic examples of good versus evil in film, but we decided to dive into more details on less obvious examples. We did this to really hammer home the idea that some themes defy genre, that science fiction, horror and drama can address this just as easily as an action-adventure flick.

This is episode 26 of Cross Talk. This is good versus evil, as represented in film.

 

Not sure if you can tell from the introduction or not, but we had a lot of fun with this one as a team. And we all couldn’t help but get excited when it came to presenting our individual case studies. I mean, come on, Prince of Darkness, The Fifth Element, AND Training Day all being discussed in the same conversation?

Just one of the many perks of Cross Talk. We bring the theories to you, so you can mull over the moral implications of these films too.

As always it would be great to hear what you think creative cuties? Spend some time with shorter video and then please like, share, and comment on both timotheories.com and the YouTube channel. We want your feedback! Join the conversation and tell us what we’re doing right, and if you have any better examples on hand that we should have considered.

And now I’m out of theories. Once again I’m off to La La Land. Not the movie, but the analogy for sleep. Ain’t no rest for the wicked, at least that’s what they say. But what about the good? Beauty sleep for everyone? Mull it over and get cak to me!

Tim!

All On Display (Ocean Waves review)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

The drama of a teenage romance is so well-trodden that we could put it in a shop window on display, and no one would look twice. But if we animate those figures, I bet you couldn’t help but stop and stare.

 

Ocean Waves (1993)

Cast: Nobuo Tobita, Toshihiko Seki, Yoko Sakamoto, Yuri Amano, Kae Araki
Director: Tomomi Mochizuki
re-released on blu-ray April 18, 2017
******* 7/10

IMDB: 6.9
Rotten Tomatoes: 86%, Audience Score 66%
The Guardian: n/a

Tomomi Mochizuki, sometimes incorrectly romanized as Tomomichi Mochizuki, is an anime director and producer. He is married to animator Masako Gotō and sometimes uses the alias Gō Sakamoto. Known for Ranma ½, Kimagure Orange Road and the Studio Ghibli movie Ocean Waves, he recently worked on the House of Five Leaves series.

I haven’t seen a lot of his previous work, but I’d definitely heard of Ocean Waves before, and as Studio Ghibli movies are generally well received, I thought I’d give this previously unreleased film a chance. To be clear, it was never released in North America, but it did come out in Japan. Put together by younger studio Ghibli team members in the hopes of producing a cheaper film, Ocean Waves tells the story of a love triangle that evolves between two friends and a new girl who arrives to their high school.

It’s been fairly reviewed since released in North America, but this film is not dubbed, so prepare to do a lot of reading while you watch.

At an airport in Tokyo, Taku Morisaki glimpses a familiar woman on the platform and we go into their backstory.

Two years prior, Taku receives a call from his friend, Yutaka Matsuno, asking to meet at school. He finds Yutaka at a window, watching an attractive female transfer student whom Yutaka was asked to show around. The boys discuss their upcoming trip to Hawaii. Taku is introduced to the new girl, Rikako Muto. She thanks Yutaka for providing directions to a bookstore. Taku teases Yutaka about his infatuation.

Rikako is academically gifted and good at sports, but also arrogant. Taku believes she is unhappy about leaving Tokyo and learns she is living away from home. His mother learns from gossip that a divorce brought Rikako’s mother to Kōchi.

The school year ends, heralding the Hawaii trip. When prompted, Taku loans Rikako ¥60,000. Promising to repay him, she warns not to tell anyone. But Yutaka witnesses this, and is visibly upset. Later, Rikako chews Taku out for telling Yutaka about the money, saying that he also loaned her ¥20,000.

When third year begins, Rikako has a new friend, Yumi Kohama. Rikako hasn’t returned Taku’s money, but at one point a distressed Yumi calls Taku, explaining that Rikako had tricked her into coming to the airport on the pretence of a concert trip, only to discover that their real destination is Tokyo, tickets paid for with Taku’s money. He races to the airport deciding he will accompany Rikako instead.

We learn that Rikako has visited her father unannounced. Her father thanks Taku, repays the loan and arranges a room at a hotel. Rikako explains that she used to side with her father, but had now discovered he wasn’t on her side. Taku  comforts her, offers his bed and sleeps in the bathtub. The next morning, Rikako is back, kicks Taku out to change, and meets a friend for lunch. Taku wanders around the city. After catching up on sleep at the hotel, Rikako asks Taku to rescue her from a former flame.

Returning home, Rikako ignores Taku, but doesn’t hide their sleeping arrangement. Taku discovers this from Yutaka, who had earlier confronted Rikako to confess feelings for her, but had been turned down. Taku confronts Rikako about it… She responds by slapping him and he slaps her back.

Later in the year, Rikako has alienated herself from many of the girls, with one even accusing her of flirting with a boyfriend, to which Rikako defends herself. Taku comments that he is impressed with her response, but she slaps him. Then Yutaka confronts the confused Taku, but instead of helping, he punches Taku to the ground and walks away.

Back in the present, Taku’s plane lands and Yukata has decided to pick up, explaining he punched him because he’d realized Taku had hidden feelings for Rikako to protect him. At the class reunion Taku learns that Rikako was the woman at the station, and that Yumi had run into her too. Yumi tells Taku that Rikako couldn’t make it to the reunion but that she really wanted to meet someone from school that slept in bathtubs.

In Tokyo, Taku sees Rikako once more, but this time runs to her, realizing that he had always been in love with her.

It’s a short movie for sure, coming in at about an hour and 15 minutes, but like all of the master works of Studio Ghibli, this is a thoughtful and unassuming look at teenage years, as well as unrequited love. It’s subtle, simple, and sometimes boring, to be truthful, but as an animated feature, it manages to do the right things to pull on you.

Pros: The feelings of these teenagers are ever changing, and you can’t help but going through the same waves of emotion right along with them. An excellent depiction of the seeming beauty of teenage years, told in the same banal way that it actually unfolds.

Cons: If it weren’t animated, how engaged would we really and truly be with this story? And was it necessary?

Runtime: 1 hour 16 minutes

Points of Interest: This is the shortest Studio Ghibli film ever made. Though it was supposed to be made cheaply as it was crafted by young team members, it actually took longer and cost more than planned.

You definitely need to pay close attention to appreciate this story, because there are no fantasy elements to keep your interest, but the characters are details, the scenery changes are beautiful, and the mood as generated by the music, is quite lovely.

theories Summarized

Did this film change the face of Studio Ghibli upon release? Well no, but I have this theory that if they could make something as common as high school love triangles interesting back in the 1990s, it’s no wonder they have been able to produce works like Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle and Ponyo since then.

Tim!