LLC Movie Trailer

Here is a trailer for a movie called "Coercive Persuasion". It details how business' maintain influence over the masses by targeting the youth exclusively.

First Friday: "Financial Literacy"

On November 19th, I attended a "Financial Literacy" seminar. In this seminar I was instructed on the importance of saving money, developing a budget and managing your credit. Individual debt starts at the college age, from loans to unnecessary frivolities such as clothes or game purchases. A college student on average acquires multiple credit cards adding up to possible hundreds or thousands in backed payments. I had no idea that missing one of these "minor" payments could go towards ruining your credit.

A highlight for me of the night was the very end where a money machine was inflated and tickets were drawn to see who was able to go inside win cash. The agreement was that tickets would continue to be drawn until the machine was empty. I was fortunate to have my ticket number called towards the end. Though difficult with most of the money missing from the machine, I was able to win twenty dollars. Overall it was a surprisingly fun and informative event.

The Not-So Social, Social Network Review

Thought of by most as the "Facebook Movie". The Social Network is the origin story of Mark Zuckerberg's involvement with founding Facebook and his struggle to retain the organizations integrity. The story takes place mainly at Harvard University where it begins with Zuckerberg creating a site to rate women based on looks. The site is such a success that it crashes the school's server and earns Zuckerberg suspension from the university.

The peculiar nature of the story and the intricacy of the characters immerses the viewer in the wonder of how the students dealt with handling such a profitable business. The absurdity of the origin adds to the wonder of the films progression as characters mature and relationships change.

The powerful influence of riches affects the hearts and minds of both the founders and their peers. The portrayals of Zuckerberg, Polson and the Winklevoss twins were played by Michael Cera, Billy Olson, Josh Pence, and Max Minghella.

Though the movie doesn't exactly follow the true life events, enough is veritable to overlook what few shortcomings it has. Widely accepted by the public, the movie was a true success, pulling in many good reviews from organizations such as IMDB and also myself. The Social Network was a well paced, entertaining film that I would gladly recommend for the viewing pleasure of my friends. A nearly perfect 9 out of 10.

We Steal Secrets: The Wikileaks Story

This week's movie "We Steal Secrets: The Wikileaks Documentary" was definitely hard to review without significant bias. Wikileaks is a nonprofit organization which seeks to expose unethical behavior in government. Whether this exposure is ethical in itself is for others to judge. Both supporters and opposers of the wikileaks organization can however agree that in the world’s current state; information is key.

In the film, differing opinions were provided from Julian Assange (Wikileaks Founder) and Robert Gates (U.S Secretary of Defense) over a controversial Afghan war shooting. Assange made the video available to the public of the United States Air Force firing upon helpless reporters and Afghans. In reality, this accident was resolved between the government and the news agency afflicted, but seeing the video stirred public action. In reality, this information was public but video of the event was classified.

This shows the importance of information and how it can affect one’s opinion on what actually happened. The Wikileaks documentary did just what the organization tried to do in their advertising, it colored the idea of wikileaks in a good light. Essentially presenting the establishment as a whistle-blowing firm rather than a place where many have betrayed their country. Take Edward Snowden, a previous intelligence operative in the CIA and NSA. Snowden revealed that the NSA had been intercepting messages over telephone and internet to a newspaper called the government. These actions were highly illegal, but the way Snowden presented the information is what has him seeking asylum in Russia in an undisclosed location.
Watching the documentary gave me insight to the concept of “whistle-blowing” and led me to question it’s very nature. Is the idea of snitching on one’s government ethical? Is it even practical? Is marketing classified information the right thing to be doing? Are the wikileaks really as harmful as the American Government wants me to believe?

These are all questions that were brought into my mind upon watching the film. While the entertainment value of the film was arguably low, I would say that the documentary was eyeopening and informational leading me to rate it a 7 out of 10.

Robot & Frank: Your Ideal Retirement

Few modern day movies can create an original premise that captures your attention beyond your the superficial nature of a hollywood movie trailer. Robot and Frank is one of those movies that doesn’t lose it’s originality beyond first viewing. The film follows Frank, a former jewel thief begrudgingly adapting to life as a senior citizen.

Robot and Frank was received well by the public thanks to the outstanding performance Peter Sarsgaard and Frank Sangella (Robot and Frank), whose chemistry set the stage by establishing Frank’s crabby human nature which in turn played off of Robot’s originally unfeeling persona. As the film progresses and Frank begins to adjust to Robot’s persistency the viewer grows more attached to the pair. Robot is given the illusion of affection by the creativity of his programming, allowing Frank to make deals, jokes and even tell stories with him.

This appeals to many audiences as viewers as Frank’s criminal tendencies and Robot’s lack of a moral structure create several themes. Themes as thought provoking as ethical robotic design to ones as simple as how Frank should deal with his family.

The film casts it’s net far and wide successfully interweaving a bevy of smaller plots to keep watch for and just enough quirkiness to keep one's interest. Though other movies such as I-Robot poke the idea of human-robot coexistence better, Robot and Frank do a family friendly job of introducing the idea.

Although this movie lacked the kind of excitement you’d be expect from a heist story, it was as much you could realistically expect from a plot revolving around a senior citizen. Robot and Frank therefore receives a 7 out of 10. A solid perfomance.