Ballerina

There was a comment on social media about a certain genre of films that seems to be overdone. The tweep (do we still call them that) suggested that the story line of someone who was brought into a situations to sort things out was overdone especially stories woven around guys or gals that somehow had previous military training or that were part of some special ops team in the past. 

That said, i cannot get enough of these types of stories. And in reality these are some of the benefits of having people in a community that have at least served in the military. In times of distress, they can be relied upon to help those who are weak or aged. But the same can be said not necessarily of genres but of scenes. Car chase scenes are popular but no one does these like the Fast and Furious Crew. Shootouts are popular but it has taken the John Wick Trilogy to get us back to the screen for more. We have the team behind Karate Kid to thank for Danielson’s and Miyagi’s ability to turn ordinary activities into potenatial martial arts moves. Jackie Chan and Will Smith’s Son ofcourse in the third part of the same take it to another level. 

Ballerina is similar in that it involves a lady who must help a friend find justice. 

The friend who takes on this task, just happens…you guessed it to have had some previous training or at least history in that kind of thing (wet work as i found out it is called). 

Interestingly, i came across a scene from this piece from a timeline on META. Ordinary looking girl walks into 7/11 and finds a crime in progress. Proceeds to pay for her items, robbers try to take the wad of cash from her hand and the story ends badly for them. 

The rest of the film is really and journey exploring the past and present of these two young ladies from the time they meet in a cake shop to their blossoming relationship to the traggic end. It is also an exploration of the power dynamics between man and women. The most common Eastern Theme in this story is revenge. 

Missing

There are a few…okay there are quite a number of films that could be used as guides to help you navigate the current age in which we live. By this i am talking about a scenario where for example you need to get help finding a lost phone or gadget of some kind or maybe if you hit a dead end with the local police in your village. Granted some of these ideas may work a little better if you are in a country where there is some form of surveillance in place. There are those who oppose such major shifts in the modus operandi that are taking place in many geographies where for example under the guise of security and the fight against terrorism, many nations have found there citizens almost trapped in prison like states where everything and everyone is monitored and observed. Some countries are better equipped at this than others so average people need to get ahead of the game too. The ideas behind censorship and surveillance have been studied and written about by many. Perhaps the best and most adequate prophetic insight into a world gripped and controlled by this type of thinking is George Orwell’s 1984. Okay i may not have read it but i have seen us steadily drift into that sort of reality. While we agree that there may be some situations where some level of surveillance is necessary, how deep this goes remains to be a subject of concern. 

Here is a story from an actress who featured in the captivating and very well written tale about a few high school friends growing up post 2001 (911)-Euphoria. She plays the role of the protagonists sister. Supportive and brave fighting to defend her sister who she clearly looks up to but facing challenges of her own as she comes of age in a world she knows little about. Tossed to and fro from position to position in defence of her sister on one hand and support of her mother on the other. 

In this story she is a daughter who must harness all her resources to find her missing mother. And that is all i am going to say about that. Anything more would have me in the spoiler category. 

Watch this amazing film if you want to know what sort of resources are available to the citizen of most developed countries that can help you find a missing one. From tips about the use of Google Mail, Facebook (now META), to google maps to shopping records (for those who use Credit Cards) and much much more. 

Kimi

Ah i must say thar i am a little drawn to tales about those who have mental health challenges. And this is one such tale. The protagonist is a young lady that has difficulty leaving her house. As is the case with most of those that have mental health challenges, she is also very talented and bright and knows her way around the computer. But not just the computer, see she works for a Hardware Company with an assistive tool not unlike Siri and Cortana. Maybe this is a way that these companies have devised to get us to invest in more of these products. There are very interesting scenes about the capabilities of these prodcucts and the idea that they may be recording and storing some of the conversations that they hear. So there is a discussion about Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Data Collection, Data Processing, Internet Of Things and 5G Technology to name just a few. Then there is a hint towards Privacy, Surveillance, Non Disclosure Agreements and Red Tape. 

But there are also great lessons about situatiinal awareness, the importance of being familair with your surroudings especially in emergency situations and great ideas about the use of technology to help in desperate situations. 

There is a amazing scene that lets you peep into the world of hacking and the possibilirties that exist once you turn on your phone and how this can be used to locate you as well as turn on your phone when you turn it off. This goes for all gadgets as long as they have sim cards. 

The movie features Zoe Kravitz daughter of Singer and Actor Lenny Kravitz. 

Please look through this site to learn a little more about Agoraphobia. 

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/agoraphobia