When gianormous creatures destroy your habitat, you gather your forces together. You experiment with technology, intelligence, compatibility of your peers, and human strength. You create a weapon. Every weapon is the extension of the human body: a knife: an extension of nails and hands, a spear: of an arm, a bow, gun, missile: a combination of the former with a bigger impact and a larger scale. The human imagination created another extension: a Jaeger: operated by a human brain and body, able to crash the monsters of the underwater world. An appreciation of the human intelligence, the fact that women can be equally good as men even in the seemingly masculine tasks, and a whole lot of positive ideals in the battle against the forces of nature. While some science-fiction ideas actually came true, we should wait for what the future holds. Maybe we will also need a hyper-innovative extension of ourselves to last millennia. A 2013 film with a 2018 sequel, Pacific Rim.
We all have mothers. It unites us. Distant mothers, mothers who died when we were little, overprotective mothers, mothers toxic, demanding, and neglectful. Some of them shaped us, motivated and instilled values and courage. Others destroyed our relationships, family bonds, and made us give up our friends. Some mothers were for us a difficult example to follow and a role model for whom we weren't good enough. Some mothers were for us a shame due to their failing personal lives, disease, behavior, appearance. But without them, we wouldn't be who we are today. We simply wouldn't be. But to have a mother who is so blindly besotted with her child's success to the extent that it actually comes true happens once in a lifetime. Two acting talents of their epoch, two lives of connected human beings, one goal. And one hilariously good story about one extraordinary mother and how she pushed her son to success. Promise at Dawn, enjoy.
We have a few books in our lives that we like to go back to once in a while. Maybe it was that book that told the best love story, an imitation of our personal one and a consolation in times of doubt. It could be that book which made us fall in love with traveling or cooking, turning the written word into the paradise of tickets, smells, and tastes. Possibly, it was that book, which resulted in our choice of profession, making one dream a reality of a fulfilled soul. We all have our books, whether we like reading or not. We were all told a story which we can retell to anyone who would ask. Our favorite story. There are also books which connect people, help them with traumas and losses. There are books which can turn one book lover's life upside down. Karma's ways in personal stories, individual fates and the war in the background of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
There
are three stepping stones in your professional life. One is at the
beginning of your career (full of high hopes and 'I want to prove
everybody wrong' drive), the second somewhere in the middle when you are
finally at ease with your duties and your profession blends with your
identity; and the final one, when you don't have to work anymore and
come to the conclusion that retirement might not be a solution at all.
The omnipresent question of work-life balance finally rings true. Can
you be successful in your career not sacrificing your personal life? Is
your career and morale of what you do really worth selling your soul to
the devil and resigning from personal values and aspirations? Is a
relationship worth giving up on your dreams and ambitions, being fragile
as it is in the world of frustrations, one-night-stands, and
infidelity? Difficult questions at any point in your career, proving
that you rarely can kill two birds with one stone and you always have to
choose between and deal with the consequences of these choices. Three
films depicting the reality of contemporary lifestyle, career ladder ups and downs, and
hopes for personal success, which is not for everyone. Lots of food for
thought, enjoy.
In the beehive of personalities, predispositions, skills, and interests, we have chosen a vocation. Or maybe this vocation has chosen us. And when it is clear that even as a child you have a tendency to become a great football player, a priest or an actress, coming from a slightly less designer-oriented background may make your personal development in the world of fashion more difficult. God doesn't want our opinion when S/He blesses a single individual with her/his finger filling them with talent, creativity, and craft. Deep down every single deed of that person pushes them closer and closer to the final act of a genius mind and millions of minds moved. This is more or less what happened to an awkward boy Lee Alexander McQueen who became a fashion legend, creator, provocateur and DJ of muses: fashion, technology, history, beauty, ugliness, strength, and weakness. God's ways are beyond our comprehension, McQueen.
Looking back at your formative years, you can always see what kind of grown-up you were going to become. You tried your firsts: relationships, areas of interests, friendships which you were to cultivate or give up. Maybe already then you were bound to be a doctor, a mother of three, a hopeless womanizer, a genius, or a bread-winner for your single yuppy household. It was all still on the cards. But finishing high-school, you hoped for the first days of independence, new experiences, moving out of your parents' house, and finally starting your romantic life. The latter was in the pipeline. You started to have an idea what kind of people you were attracted to: were they men, women, older, younger, smaller, bigger, or were you a personality type? Some of you found out you were gay and faced the struggle of denial, acceptance, and pride. Or maybe you are finding out at this very moment. A smart coming out story and a light at the end of the tunnel for those young and questioning. LGBT goals came a long way. Love, Simon.
There's one problem with lies. While you don't have to think much when telling the truth, plotting convoluted lies can keep you on your toes. You have to keep track of all loose ends not to be revealed, you have to pay attention to facts, dates, and eye-witnesses to seem believable. But what if you have to follow someone else's lies? What if your disgraceful behavior in good faith was turned into the story of glory and heroism? What if one lie turned into an avalanche of lies and there was no return? Utterly hilarious, Return of the Hero.
Death at sea is sudden, unexpected, and cold. It gives time to search for the last hope of rescue but leaves people and vessels helpless when facing a force of nature. We are small among the miracles of the Earth. There were tragedies which hit headlines of newspapers and still do, despite better technology and constant development. You could die in a sinking ship hundreds of years ago and you can still do since the force of water stayed unchanged. Somewhere among the passionates of the marine life, shipwreck mysteries, cruise holidays, and adventure one blockbuster film was created of the magnitude of its actual inspiration. It aspired to picture people's fates, class division, the early 20th-century society, one youthful love story, and hundreds of lives lost. In 1628 a giant Vasa ship sank to be later turned into the gem of Stockholm's museums and visited by millions. In 1912 RMS Titanic lost the battle with an iceberg to become an inspiration for 1997 film watched and rewatched by millions. Some tragedies sink deep into people's hearts. Still good. Titanic.