moment

Films That Changed The Game (Cross Talk Ep. 15)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

There is this phrase out there which tells us that history is written by the victors, and attributed to Winston Churchill. It’s a good quote, and the gravity of it is not lost on anyone. But the intent of the quotation and the reality of it are two different things.

If we stop and consider what that quotation is really saying, its that history is written by writers, and much like present day events, there are conflicting viewpoints on what went down, and over time the extremists viewpoints are taken out and we are left with a more generic set of stories that can be taken in by those with an interest in the past.

Movies Preserved By Collectors

Much can be said about the history of cinema as well. We pick our favourites and share those stories with whoever we will, sometimes movies make it into our homes and sometimes distributors stop carrying copies as technology improves. I’ve seen it happen with one of my favourite movies Anti-Trust. Nearly impossible to find on blu-ray, it was FINALLY released just over a year ago.

And carrying on that line of thought, there are some movie moments that have saved the future of cinema. Not in so literal a result, but by inspiring future directors to push the envelope in new ways. Many movies have their own unique examples that can stop a conversation in its tracks. The wood chipper scene in Fargo, the velociraptors in the kitchen during Jurassic Park, the box reveal in Se7ven, and The Pixies playing “Where Is My Mind” as the city blows up during Fight Club, are all iconic moments.

Whether these moments have taken good movies into the realm of great, or great movies into the exceptional, when it comes down to it, every year in film we get to see some scenes, technical achievements and themes which set new standards in film expectations. Making this art form still relevant and open for public consumption, but resulting in some ideas moving out of favour, ie the traditional western.

In fact, I like to think we prefer to think of film in this way. Quoting from Harry Potter, Dirty Harry, The Big Lebowski and Zoolander have become a natural process, because we embrace the new, though only when it is capable of enthralling us.

And so today, we share with you some of our favourite benchmark movie moments and why they are so incredibly relevant even decades later. Chris and I decided to share the couch with our friend André Lindo once more, and he brings some really cool examples to the room. This is episode fifteen of Cross Talk and it’s a thoughtful one.

Another day, another theory. I hope you enjoyed this episode creative cuties and that you have a fantastic week. Otherwise, please comment, subscribe, and share this video with friends. We want to hear your feedback!

Tim!

Destined For Great Things (Arnold, The Eduation of A Bodybuilder)

Posted on by Tim Kuefler

This is a story in progress.

It’s not finished yet because… well, I’m not dead. Yes, I realize that’s something of a graphic and incredible overstatement of a point I haven’t even made about the importance of living in the moment, but I suspect you already knew that dear readers.

today-i-will-live-in-the-moment

I’ve always wanted to be better. When I was a boy, I imagined a better life for myself, something far behind the loving family environment of my middle-class upbringing. It was a typical and uninspired belief for a white kid in a first world country, in a province on the rise. I had everything going for me. I should have been happy to have what I had available to me and just ease into a life of what was supposed to be full of comfortability.

Politics, gender norms, and cultural appropriations aside. Of course. Of course.

But as I got older, I couldn’t shake that feeling. I tried dammit, I tried. I suspect it started around junior high school, but this isn’t a post about my story, no. It’s a story about following a feeling.

To indirectly quote from the first episode of Netflix Original – Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency.

And I noticed an acceleration of strangeness in my life. A continuing series of intense and extraordinary events, which, up until a certain point, seemed unconnected, with the exception of each being separately bizarre.

Perhaps ever day before then was, for the most part, been humdrum and inane, my life a mundane, unvarying slog through unfulfilling jobs, shallow depression, and boring, boring sex.

And then suddenly, everything changed, and my life became a swirl of interesting activity.

This is a story about one of my heroes. Well, it’s a story about the story one of my heroes wrote about his own story. Still following me?

Reading Into It

This month, I decided to take a book off of my own shelf for The Reading List. A book which I have been meaning to read before I ever even had this idea of undertaking a project to expand my mind and demonstrate a way to get myself thinking creatively often.

I did this to show you, that you too can achieve results if you set up a reading regimen for yourself AND want more than just success. That’s why every month, I use the Reading List for another book to read and another artist for you to consider in your own personal journey.The 5 L’s of Language give us LIFE (Biographies/Art/Music) LOVE (Classic Fiction/Non-Fiction/Graphic Novels) LEARN (Business/Leadership/Self-Help) LABEL (Philosophy/Sociology/Psychology) and LEET (The Internet).

This month is all about LIFE, because it’s almost the end of the year, I’ve seen another wave of personal growth and it’s in the holiday season that I purchase most of my movies. Which reminds me of one of my favourite actors – Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I Have a Headache

It might be a tumour…. no, it’s not a toomah, it’s not a toomach, at all.

Arnold Schwarzenegger co-wrote this great book called Arnold The Education of A Bodybuilder with Douglas Kent Hall in 1977. This is well before he had broken into Hollywood and definitely before he was the governor of California (remember that?). Arnold had already taken the international bodybuilding scene by storm – First he became Mr. Europe, then Mr. Universe, followed by Mr. World and shortly thereafter Mr. Olympia.

He did all of this because he wanted to be the best bodybuilder in the world. Not the best of the season or best of a particular year. His vision was for a perfectly balanced and well considered champion that was undisputed by the world at large. He worked hard and challenged himself every day to accomplish over 18 titles in bodybuilding. Over time he has acquired several businesses related to practice and education of future generations of bodybuilders.

Schwarzenegger is one of my heroes because he knew he achieves results before he achieved them. Yes that last sentence is a bastardization of the English language, but that’s the point. You have to work at the rules before you can break them proper. Work them over, and over and over. This man has continuously committed himself to his vision, lived his life while in pursuit of goals he wanted to realize, and believed he would do what he wanted. And he has.

What this has to do with the arts is both everything and nothing. It’s nothing if you choose not to be effected by others success and see inspiration in the world around you. It’s everything if you want to be an artist and see that no matter what the stakes, I will be a cultivator of the arts for you. This always has been and always will be digital curating at heart.

And I too am destined for great things. A theory for now.

Tim!