The car mirror approach to life

You know how your car has a sticker on the side mirror that says "objects are closer than they appear"? This is actually a good reminder for life in general. Things are rarely what they seem.

I just returned home from an advanced screening of the film, "People Like Us" with Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks. Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from it. However, I was pleasantly surprised and I loved the ending. I don't want to give away the good stuff, but there was one scene where Chris Pine lamented that his dad always sat in the car when he took him to the park as a kid. This story was meant to illustrate the distance in their relationship; how his dad wasn't close to him. Enter the metaphoric car mirror. Objects are closer than they appear. In fact, there was more to the story than Chris' character realized and the situation was much more complicated than he knew. (I really want to tell you more about the park, but I don't want to ruin it for you if you see the film!)

In any case, after I left the movie theater I started to ponder how quickly we all jump to conclusions about people. Stan is cranky in the mornings at work, so he's a jerk. Sarah always declines your lunch invitation, so she must be stuck up. But, is there, perhaps, more to the story? 

What if Stan is cranky in the morning because he's up every night taking care of his invalid wife, whom he loves deeply? What is Sarah turns down your lunch invitations because all her spare money goes to pay for therapy for her troubled son? Hmm. Stan's not such a bad guy and Sarah's not a snob anymore, are they?

Whether it be in the workplace or in our personal lives, we all form opinions based on very few facts. That's something I would love to see change. They say you don't know a man until you walk a mile in his shoes. And, that is so true. We all have our baggage, challenges, and obstacles. Some openly share the drama of their everyday lives and others live lives of quiet desperation.

The next time you're quick to gossip at the water cooler in the break room or to form an uncomplimentary opinion about someone, stop and think. Do you really know the whole story? And, is the whole story even your business? Things are frequently not what they seem--and objects may be closer than they appear. 

Documentarian brings tweets to life

If you're a Twitter addict or just learning about this whole "social media thing", you've got to check out Twittamentary! This great new documentary by Tan Siok Siok gives an often touching and frequently humorous look at tweeting and the people who have turned Twitter into a real community.

Taking two years to complete, Siok Siok follows the stories of people across the web. From well-known commodities such as travel expert Stefanie Michaels to the brave AnnMarie Walsh, a woman who was living on the streets in Chicago, the director shows the depth and range of the social platform. Although Twitter is frequently dismissed as being frivolous, and is still misunderstood by a great percentage of the population, tweeting has brought strangers together in all kinds of special ways.

Here's a trailer (although I don't think it really does the film justice): 



Siok Siok will be hosting beta screenings (check the schedule HERE) until she ultimately starts showing the documentary at festivals and other venues. If you love Twitter as much as I do, you'll get a kick out of this flick. If you don't understand all this Twitter stuff yet, Twittamentary is a wonderful introduction to the diverse ways in which the site can be used. News aggregating, customer service, branding, advocacy, citizen journalism, networking, and the joy of meeting wonderful people across the globe while in the comfort of your living room. That's Twitter. And it's amazing.

For more video clips, check out the Twittamentary YouTube channel! And, a special thanks to Social Media Club Los Angeles and Nimble for hosting the LA screening! 

* For those of you who subscribe via a reader, click on the blog post title to see the video that accompanies this piece. 

5 great movies about journalism

As a longtime journalist, I love a good movie about the Fourth Estate. Over the years, there have been some fabulous films about news gathering. Below are some of my favorites about journalists who work in newspapers, book publishing, magazines, blogs, and TV. Hopefully, you'll find something here that you can enjoy during your next movie night!

Newspapers
"All the President's Men"
Starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman
This film is a testament to the tenacity of newspaper reporters who tackle the stories that hold government and companies accountable like no other news outlets can. As the movie outlines the events surrounding the incredibly complex Watergate scandal, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein follow lead after lead to get to the real story behind the break-in at Democratic Headquarter in 1972. With anonymous sources, tapped phones, and covert operations that ultimately bring down a president, this movie has it all.

Books
"The Hoax"
Starring Richard Gere
Writer Clifford Irving is the perpetrator of a great big lie. He's conning his publisher into thinking that he's co-writing Howard Hughes' autobiography. Since the famous billionaire is such a reclusive eccentric, Irving thinks he can prevent his boss from contacting Hughes. He then takes the millions in advance money meant for Hughes and puts it away for himself. However, he soon becomes delusional and paranoid as his world begins to fall apart.

Magazines
"The Life of David Gale"
Starring Kevin Spacey and Kate Winslet
A man sits on death row for a crime he says he did not commit. Magazine reporter Bitsey Bloom is called to the prison by the inmate where she pays for his final interview. Did he do it? Bitsey starts digging around, but the clock is ticking. The killer (who, ironically, is a well known advocate against the death penalty) only has three days left until his execution. Her interviews and reenactments seem to prove that he's innocent. But can she prove it in time to save him from the lethal injection?

Blogs
"Julie & Julia"
Starring Meryl Streep and Amy Adams
Admittedly, there's not any real competition in this category since Hollywood isn't clambering to make movies about bloggers (not yet anyway!). However, this film provides an interesting look at how Julie Powell started a 365 day challenge to blog her way through Julia Child's famous "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" cookbook. Her blog eventually gains momentum, a fierce following, and ultimately her foray into blogging turns into a book and movie deal!

Television
"Network"
Starring Faye Dunaway, Robert Duvall, and Peter Finch



This iconic film about TV news is a must-see. Longtime news anchor Howard Beale is being fired due to low ratings. In a fit of rage, he tells his viewers, live on the air, that he's going to commit suicide during the next broadcast. Later, Beale launches an on-air rant that has everyone in the country poking their heads out their windows to scream, "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not gonna take this anymore!" Instead of killing himself, Beale ends up turning his angry man tirade into a TV show.

These films are just a few of my favorites that highlight the challenges of news gathering and story telling. What are your favorite movies about journalists?

Product placement meets Bridezilla

This weekend, my girlfriends and I enjoyed a good, old-fashioned night of chick flicks. One of the films on the playbill was Bride Wars, starring Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. The premise is two best friends get married on the same day and battle each other for guests, entertainment, and all the other wedding necessities (bear with me, gentleman, the girl talk is almost over). Kate's character spends an entire scene mooning over a Vera Wang dress and there is much talk about how crucial the gown is to ensure the wedding is perfect. Enter product placement.

Now, it's not uncommon in the least to have a product receive such obvious attention in a film. What is unusual, however, was the Vera Wang bonus feature on the DVD.

"The Perfect White Dress" selection is a seven-minute piece on the history and prestige of the Vera Wang empire. We learn how Vera started out creating wedding gowns, then went on to designer couture for celebrities, and has now added housewares to her inventory. It doesn't have a 1-800 number at the bottom of the screen, but aside from that it is a infomercial through and through.

I watch a lot of films on DVD and this is the first time I've seen a product from a movie get its own bonus feature. Movie studios pay millions of dollars to get a film onto the silver screen, and having product placement seep over onto the DVD extras is a really smart way to secure additional monies. The advertiser gets to build on the exposure already given in the movie, and the consumer can choose whether or not to consume this extra bit of advertising. Win-win, right?

Although I'm not a fan of product placement, I really like this new approach. I suspect this is just the beginning of a shift in how products are shared with audiences. Oh, and by the way, I used a Kensington keyboard to write this post. If you like how my words look, you can learn more about Kensington products HERE (sorry, I couldn't resist!).