A couple reviews on some great storytelling

13 Assassins

This is not a story for the squeamish or under 17. The rating is spot on for gore and violence.

Summary: Cult director Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer, Audition) delivers a bravado period action film set at the end of Japan’s feudal era in which a group of unemployed samurai are enlisted to bring down a sadistic lord and prevent him from ascending to the throne and plunging the country into a wartorn future.

Style: With several nods to Akira Kurasawa, 13 Asassins shows the complexity of political/fuedal relationships and the true honor of the warrior. Miike does an incredible job of communicating the different styles of warriors and championing them all as they travel through this story.

Extras: All of the pieces to any Samurai story are all here from the supernatural to the reality of taking a life and the code of Bushido. My personal favorite was Tsuyoshi Ihara and his portrayal of Hirayama – everytime this character was on screen his blade moved like the wind.

Sherlock (BBC)

I started watching this to the acting chops of the future Bilbo, The Hobbit’s Martin Freeman, and he didn’t let me down. This modern update of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s most favorite of characters is a great rendition. It’s a great collaboration of technology, intrigue and misdirection.

Summary: Co-created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the new Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as his loyal friend, Doctor John Watson. Rupert Graves plays Inspector Lestrade.
The iconic details from Conan Doyle’s original books remain – they live at the same address of 221b Baker Street, have the same names and, somewhere out there, Moriarty is waiting for them.

Style: This Sherlock admits right out of the gate that he’s a, “high functioning, sociopath” and, like Guy Ritchie’s film from 2009, Dr. Watson is dashing and brace versus bumbling and a fan boy. Mystery stories can take two different roads, the first to show you all the info and then watching the characters move through the story. This style of storytelling fills us with dread because we know what’s coming. However, with this show, we are along for the ride and in a sense standing next to Watson throughout the story. We never get the full picture until the very end and we’re guessing the whole time. It’s really enjoyable.

Extras: There’s great use of typography troughout the show to illustrate the use of phones, texts, notes and to see the wheels turning in Sherlock’s mind. The show is currently streaming on Netflix and each episode, while only 3, are 1.5 hours each.

Kellan Studios, my all-time favorite photography studio, has partnered with a few other super talented studios (Jodi Miller and The Beautiful Mess) to bring a workshop that covers more than just the basics and talks through the disciplines that have helped each of these companies in their meteoric rise to stardom. Collectively these 3 companies have appeared in over two dozen national and international publications.

Each group has their specialty but they also overlap in their strengths – and thus Venn Workshops were born. This first one is in the gorgeous Physalia Plantation in Tyro, Virginia (not far from Charlottesville)

I love this quote from Jim Rohn, “If you invest in your job you can make a career but if you invest in yourself, you’ll make a life.”

Running a small business is no small task. It’s important to set aside time, money, resource for self improvement. So many people out there buy a camera and start calling themselves a photographer. There’s no shame in that game, you’ve got to start somewhere. Workshops and training are a quick way to launch your career and change the trajectory of your life.

So check out the Venn Workshops, there’s a few spots left.

Pauley Perrette (Abby Sciuto on the show NCIS) has decided to join Twitter (@PauleyP).  Previously Ms. Perrette has been anti social media – so what changed her mind?  The Answer, Hope Gardens Family Center!

In this video she tells how it all went down.

Hope Gardens and URM are currently raising 2.8 Million Dollars before June 30th or they’ll have to shut down the secondary campus.

Update: They’ve raised 2.2Million so far!

If you’ve never been here before, I should probably warn you, if you poke around a bit there’s some laughs to be found. I hope we can connect. Now on to today’s post -

Last week I got an email from fellow Idea Camp-er Daniel Li, Senior Developer and Web Strategist for International Justice Mission. He gave me the heads up on a campaign that’s starting this summer. So I thought I’d share it with you today…

A slew of riders from around the country and passionate about the issue of modern slavery will be traveling the underground railroad. Under the guidance of Venture Expeditions, the team is starting from Mobile, AL on June 26th and finishing in Buffalo, NY on July 30th. The tour is designed to bring you along with the riders and experience the thrill ride of emotions of 5 weeks on the road. The crew will be stopping in each city to join up with celebrities and musicians, host rally’s and talk with thousands about how they can make their communities safer against human trafficking.

Why does this matter?

In the summer of 2007 I had no idea that modern day slavery was happening and when I got the news – it was like a load of bricks on my chest. At the age of 31, I felt like I had just found out about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny in the same minute. Most likely if you’re reading this you’re already aware of trafficking and it’s prevalence around the world and specifically in the U.S. So here’s my challenge/encouragement to you – Awareness is great, and it’s important. But if you’re aware, take steps to make others aware.. and once you’ve got a group together it’s just the beginning of your journey.

What does that look like?

If you live near one of the cities where the tour is stopping make a plan to attend. Bring your friends and while you’re there you’ll meet others who are like minded. We’re doing it in my community of Pasadena and it’s very encouraging.

Make a donation – all I have to do is start to picture myself in the shoes of one of the 27 Million slaves in the world and I find it very easy to give financially. Get Connected – Sign up for email updates, or text updates. Share it with your friends and community on facebook, twitter and tell your Aunt Lorraine.

The last piece, if you’ve got questions about any of this, shoot me an email or facebook message or tweet at me. I’ll be around today and I love meeting people who are passionate about this issue.

So let’s get Active – Check out the links

IJM’s Vimeo Channel – chock full of videos and rider testimonials

Below is a quick interview I did yesterday with Amy Roth from IJM

Big high fives to powerhouses Grafik and Capital Idea Ventures (CIV) for their work on getting everything ready to go in such short order.

PS. I didn’t get paid for this… because that would be lame.

Interested individuals should complete the free contest registration online at www.AtTheEndOfSlavery.com and receive a toolkit that includes official rules and guidelines, a digital, high-resolution version of ATEOS, and a series of design files, video clips and audio files to be used with their trailer entry as they see fit.

Guest judges include:
• Phil Cooke, a filmmaker, producer, media specialist and consultant whose work focuses on creating personal and organizational (with a specialty in non-profit and faith-based) cultures where real change happens.
• Craig Detweiler, director of the new Center for Entertainment, Media and Culture at Pepperdine University in Malibu. His documentary, “Purple State of Mind”, won Best Spiritual Film at the 2008 Breckenridge Festival of Film and the Audience Award at the 2009 Tallahassee Film Festival.
• Brent Gudgel, film director who co-directed and award-winning documentary “Dear Francis” about the most HIV-infected nation in the world, which has aired on Showtime, and been used by universities and churches around the world. The latest project from him is DEIDOX
• Gregg Helvey, who directed and produced “Kavi,” the winning film of the 2009 Student Academy Award gold medal, about a young boy who is a modern-day slave in a brick kiln in India.
• Dave Mahanes, a partner in the production company Chronicle Project, who has overseen the production of documentaries, promotional videos and film shorts, including “Dear Francis.” The latest project from him is DEIDOX.

The trailer contest officially ends Friday, September 18, 2009 and entries must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. ET to be eligible for judges and audience voting.

Here’s the current trailer

At The End Of Slavery – Extended Trailer from International Justice Mission on Vimeo.

Grand Prize is:

• A trip for 2 to Washington DC’s Premiere Event on September 30th
• A public viewing of your trailer before the event and recognition.
• The winning trailer becomes the trailer seen by thousands across the country as THE trailer for the film.

Don’t miss out on this chance to play a part in starting a modern-day abolitionist movement! Send in your trailer contest entries, and be a part of the At the End of Slavery movement today!

Sign Up Today