Saturday, August 1, 2020

Sherlock Holmes/ Level 16/ Tell Me a Story

Dec. 24, 2019 Sherlock Holmes: I saw this movie in Apr. 2017.

"Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England."

Why did you watch this movie?: I like mysteries.

 I attended the Sherlock Holmes exhibit at the Telus World of Science.

 http://badcb.blogspot.com/2016/07/filmmakers-meetup-sherlock-holmes.html

 Pros: 

 1. There was a good opening.  The movie is set in the 18th century.  There is suspense.  There is a good fight scene.

 2. There is a good cast.

 Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes.

 Jude Law as Watson.

 Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler.

 Mark Strong as the bad guy Blackwood.

 3. There are good fight scenes.  There is lots of action like explosions, and running around.

 4. There are good sets and costume design.

 5. The story was average.  There were twists in it like how Sherlock was disguised as a homeless guy to follow someone.

 Cons:

 1. I was reading the synopsis on Wikipedia and I can't really remember the movie.  Then I look at my notes.  I don't find this movie very memorable.

 There are signs you know it's not a good movie, when you:

 -Find it boring
-Find it offensive
-Find this not memorable

 My opinion: It was an average movie.  There is a low chance I would watch it again.  I am open to watching the sequel.

 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0988045/

 May 7, 2020 Similar movie titles: I was going through my recordings and I had recorded the TV movie Hollow.  I saw the first couple of min. of it, and the title on the screen was The Hollow.  It did not fit the description in the Telus TV info.

 At first I recorded this:
Hollow: 



"On holiday in the English countryside, two young couples uncover an ancient evil."




Then it turns out I had recorded this:

 The Hollow: 

 "Something happens when Sarah, Marley and Emma visit their aunt Cora. A strange creature is killing people one by one. The only way to survive from the creature: to hide until dawn."

 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4472596/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

May 9, 2020 Level 16: I recorded this on my DVR, but didn't watch it yet.  I read a few reviews:


"In a highly regimented boarding school, a pair of students discover that things are not as they seem."


7/10
Decent micro budget drama with a hint of scifi
just_in_case3 March 2019

I think when you're doing a micro budget scifi film this is the way to go if you want to get some return economically and critical. I think its dishonest to call this scifi. Its entirely possible to do what they do in the film with the technology we have today. They however covered this up with very solid acting by the main actresses who held my attention and never said or did anything groan worthy. Go in expecting something just below The Handmaid's Tale in quality and you'll come out ok. I'll admit its probably a 6 but I tend to give extra credit when I leave feeling like the writing was well thought out.

7/10
Well-made for what it is. Worth watching.
S_Soma3 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers

Some other reviewers around here have criticized LEVEL 16 as not being entirely original or being noticeably similar to other comparatively-themed movies. The point is completely legitimate because it's true.

But then again, given the fact that virtually every movie made can usually be easily compared to half a dozen others, if you rely upon this point as a cause for catastrophic criticism then you're going to have a very difficult time finding movies to watch. 

Personally, a movie has to be UNREASONABLY derivative before I'll start taking points off. I only require that a movie be a WELL-MADE movie about "X" pretty much no matter how often an "X"-themed movie has been made.

Depending upon how far you want to cast your comparison net, you could not only compare LEVEL 16 to "THE ISLAND" / "PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR" / "NEVER LET ME GO" but also to THE TIME MACHINE (why were those Morlocks taking care of the Eloi?) and SOYLENT GREEN (why is the state willing to give people a beautiful death and what's happening to those people?)

Essentially, anytime you have a group of people being confined and/or "managed" by some other group of people for mysterious/unexplained reasons and apparently peculiar circumstances, you have the same story. 

Obviously "management" has some dark motives in mind and the core of the movie is finding out what those motives are. At the largest scale, even THE MATRIX trilogy was about the same subject matter. People as batteries, unaware of their actual circumstances?
In LEVEL 16 we view the majority of the movie from the perspective of a collection of about 12 approximately 16-year-old girls (hence the name, LEVEL 16) who are being raised in the context of a rigidly regimented, prison-like environment. The pretext they are given for their rather grim confinement is that they are being carefully raised to be "good girls" to be adopted by wealthy, high quality families who are very particular about whom they adopt. 



They are led to believe that they have been saved from unfortunate circumstances and should not try to leave because the world is in such bad shape that even the air is poisonous outside of their controlled environment. They are led to believe they are indebted to the institution for their care and maintenance. As far as we can tell they have been raised in this environment their entire life and aren't in any position to know any better.

Not unpredictably, very close to their time to be "adopted", a couple of "troublemaker" girls begin to get suspicious and the truth of the artificial construct of their imprisonment begins to break down under scrutiny.

The nitty-gritty details of the whys and what-fors is left to the reader to discover.

LEVEL 16 is not exactly mind-boggling in its concept or execution, but it's a competent execution of its concept and the acting and production values are certainly adequate all around. There's even a hint of Russian mafia context which works well for the situation but doesn't take over the plot line from its focus on the girl's experience.

Nothing about LEVEL 16 is Oscar bound but it's certainly sufficient quality and high production values are true to its subject matter. It's a good execution of the movie it intended to be. For me, this is what justifies reasonably high star score.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4006302/

My opinion: I really like S_Soma's review.  I have seen the movie The Island (2005).

This reminds me of my Dec. 2019 blog post:

TV and movie comparisons/ I want to be a Youtube influencer


Jul. 31, 2017 Feeding kids medication to get good grades:

 I mentioned before about the Blindspot ep "Senile Lines" where the foster mom was feeding kids medication to test on them.

My old script: I have that too in my script I wrote as a teen.  A school feeds students meds to get good grades to get money for their school.  Or you can just give the students easy tests.

 I want to add that standardized tests would be given to all the schools like provincial final exams.  So now you can't give the students easy tests.

https://badcb.blogspot.com/2019/12/tv-and-movie-comparisons-i-want-to-be.html

 Jun. 15, 2020 Lack of written- dramas in the summer time: This always happens in the summer time, so I record a lot of TV shows and watch 2 TV shows a day.  There are some average and mediocre shows I will watch because nothing else is on:

1. In the Dark- I liked the first season and thought it was average.

2. Council of Dads- I watched about half the season right now.  It was average.

3. DC's Stargirl- I only saw the pilot, but will watch if I'm bored.

4. Good Witch- I saw a few season 5 episodes last summer because I had free time and not much to watch.  I am watching the show from the start because I recorded a lot of episodes.

5. The Other Two- I saw the first 2 episodes and it was average.  I'm not really into sitcoms.

6. For Life- I saw the 2nd episode and then I recorded the rest.  I don't really like shows set in prison, because I don't like prison and the feeling of being trapped and stuck.

7. Katy Keene- I saw the pilot and thought it was average.  I watched a few min. of the 2nd episode because the pilot had a cliffhanger.
Jul. 29, 2020 Tell Me a Story: I saw a promo for this show on the CW.  (Telus Channel 143).  It turns out it was on CBS and came out in 2018:


"An anthology series featuring beloved fairy tales interweaving into a subversive tale of love, loss, greed, revenge and murder."

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7695916/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6

My opinion: I saw the pilot and it was good.

Little Red Riding Hood
Hansel and Gretel
The 3 Little Pigs

The story I liked the most was the 3 little pigs of 3 robbers who wear pig masks to rob a store.  I like crime drama.

Red Riding Hood was more of a teen story line.

Hansel and Gretel was an average storyline. 


There isn't a theme this week, but these are the 2 other blog posts this week:

American Confidence Institute/ Health Coach Institute- life coach


http://badcb.blogspot.com/2020/08/american-confidence-institute-health.html


Simply Woman Accredited Trainer (SWAT Institute)- life coach


http://badcb.blogspot.com/2020/08/simply-woman-accredited-trainer-swat.html
My week:

Sun. Jul. 26, 2020 Yahoo survey about comments on news stories: I did the survey and the answers are confidential.  However, I want to share my answers.


1. How often do you READ comments on Yahoo?


Question Title


2. How often do you POST comments on Yahoo?


Question Title


3. Comments on Yahoo...


Question Title


4. How likely would you be to continue visiting Yahoo if there were no comments?


Question Title


5. I use comments on Yahoo to… (Select up to 3)


Question Title

6. Please feel free to share any additional feedback about comments on Yahoo.



Work from home: For the past couple of months I have been rereading and posting old job articles.

I am now going through my email/ blog posts saved into my drafts to reread some work from home jobs.   I need to balance them both.

Mon. Jul. 27, 2020 Job search: I started looking for a regular job.  I went to Kijiji which I haven't done in a long time like maybe a month.

There are companies that are hiring.  I was mainly looking for a work from home job the whole time.

Tues. Jul. 28, 2020 Kay Panabaker: This must be a coincidence.  Two days ago I was checking what's on Telus on Demand and there is The College Admissions Scandal TV movie and I looked it up on imdb.com.  Then I looked up on the old TV show Summerland that I have seen a few eps of.  Lori Loughlin was in both.

Yesterday I was watching a TV show, and it recorded a bit of a Law and Order: SVU ep and I recognized this young woman in it from Summerland.  I decided to look her up and she is Kay Panabaker: 


Between projects, Panabaker focused on her academics. She graduated from high school as valedictorian when she was 13 years old.[4] Kay received two academic scholarships from Glendale Community College,[5][6] where she studied acting and was on the Dean's list. She graduated with an associate's degree with honors when she was 15. She was accepted by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), History Program as a junior and completed her Bachelor of Arts in history before she turned 18.[3] 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kay_Panabaker



After retiring from acting in 2012, Kay Panabaker decided to pursue zoology. She now works as a zookeeper for Disney.

As of 2017, she has retired from acting and is working as a zookeeper at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park in Florida.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0659048/bio?ref_=nm_dyk_trv_sm#trivia

My opinion: I'm impressed that she graduated out of high school at 13.

 Wed. Jul. 29, 2020 Summer festivals: A few months ago I read in the Edmonton Journal that the Artworks Festival wasn't going to open because of the quarantine.  At the time, I thought: "Well the plan could change if the restrictions are lifted."  I have attended those festivals in the Winston Churchill Square.

 Still cancelled.  Also a Facebook memory popped up about me attending Capital/ K-days in 2009.  That festival is cancelled too.  The last time I went there was in 2014.  I didn't go after the past some years because:

 1. I had to work2. I didn't feel like it
3. This was not a priority.  I have been listening to these self- development videos about money and mindset.  Instead of saying: "I can't afford it", say "It's not my priority."

 My birthday Aug. 11: My birthday is coming up.  

 In Aug. 2017: I was going to go to West Ed mall, but I was there earlier that week to pass my resumes.  I stayed home and sat in my backyard and read the newspaper.  I'm pretty sure we ordered pizza for dinner.

 In Aug. 2018: I had to work at my 1st restaurant job.  I got a little cake slice from work.

 In Aug. 2019: I had to work at my 2nd restaurant job because of this big event.  I got a lot of leftovers in those 3 days.

"Mama Bear has been found! Stolen teddy bear with recording of mother's last message returned to owner":

After a four-day disappearance that caught the attention of locals, celebrities and international media craving a happy ending, a teddy bear with a dying mother's final message to her daughter has been safely returned to its owner.
Mara Soriano said two strangers found the stolen, plush toy, which contains an audio recording her mother made before she died of cancer last year, and brought it back to her late Tuesday.
The custom Build-A-Bear, which she named Mama Bear, was in "perfect condition" aside from missing its signature square glasses.
"She's home," said a beaming Soriano, 28.
"I didn't think she would come back, but she did."
Soriano squeezed the bear's paw, heard the sound of her mother's voice and cried.

"Mama Bear's home," she said.
Soriano said she was devastated when the bear was stolen while she was moving apartments in Vancouver's West End last Friday. 
After days of searching and pleading in the media for the bear's return, Soriano said she received an email from a man on Tuesday who said he had some information about it
"Of course, I jumped on it, because it was a lead," she said.
"I called [CBC News reporter] Deborah Goble because she was the person who broke the story, and I couldn't have done this without her, so I wanted her to be there, too. Plus, she's a grown-up, and I wanted to make sure everybody was safe.
"They brought the bear over to CBC, which was a safe meeting place ... and we did it."
Thousands of people on social media shared a photo of the bear after it disappeared, hoping it could be found. Vancouver-born actor Ryan Reynolds offered a $5,000 reward on Twitter, "no questions asked," to the person who returned the toy. TV host George Stroumboulopoulos, another Canadian, said he would match the amount.
https://ca.yahoo.com/news/stolen-teddy-bear-recording-dying-142740670.html

Jul. 30, 2020 "MacKenzie Scott donates $1.7 billion of her wealth since split with Jeff Bezos":
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon.com Inc's billionaire Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, has donated $1.7 billion of her wealth in the past year to causes including racial equality, LGBTQ rights, public health and climate change, she said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Scott, who was previously known as MacKenzie Bezos, also announced her new last name, which she said was taken from her middle name.
Last year, Scott signed the Giving Pledge in a commitment to donate the majority of her fortune after her split from Bezos - the world's richest man - left her with a 4% stake in Amazon.
"Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror," she wrote in a post on Medium.
"I began work to complete my pledge with the belief that my life had yielded two assets that could be of particular value to others: the money these systems helped deliver to me, and a conviction that people who have experience with inequities are the ones best equipped to design solutions," she added.

https://ca.yahoo.com/finance/news/mackenzie-scott-donates-1-7-231338968.html


Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: Today I finished reading this book by Carol S. Dweck.  This is a good psychology book about fixed- mindset (where you think your abilities are fixed and won't improve) or growth-mindset (where your abilities can be improved with practice and other strategies.)


https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Mindset-Psychology-Carol-S-Dweck/dp/0345472322/ref=pd_bxgy_img_2/143-5242179-5307369?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0345472322&pd_rd_r=a4d5e37b-8196-46de-9eaa-f6244909cf94&pd_rd_w=2LGK6&pd_rd_wg=YeCvr&pf_rd_p=3045f494-6de3-4cf1-9e47-4892698fb045&pf_rd_r=XQQ31JRWHQR0FGFEZ11B&psc=1&refRID=XQQ31JRWHQR0FGFEZ11B

 Jul. 31, 2020 Government job search: A couple of my friends told me about looking for a job there.  I thought I wasn't qualified for it, but you never know until you try.

 I then did some research and may show my search of this later on my blog.
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