Watching Cobra Kai on Netflix, I was thinking about how this highly unrealistic show could be applied in the real world. Certainly, basketball coaches shouldn’t covert their clubs into gangs that brawl with their neighbourhood rivals but I thought of some other ideas and sent them to the Internet. Spoilers after the break.
Star Trek Leadership, Part VI: Chain of Command
The simmering Federation-Cardissian tensions come to a boil in “Chain of Command.” Edward Jellico replaces Jean-Luc Picard as captain of the Enterprise and everyone feels the stress from a rocky leadership transition. In this case, leaders can learn what not to do by noting the consequences of poor choices made by Starfleet and its officers. A conflict between Captain Jellico and Commander William Riker distracts from the key objectives, endangering millions of lives. Radical Honesty As the episode navigates towards the climax, Jellico needs an expert shuttle pilot for a dangerous mission. He speaks with every shuttle pilot onboard and …
Star Trek Leadership, Part V: Dealing with Disaster
For me, one of the fascinating aspects of Star Trek: The Next Generation is their collaborative problem solving. All team members have a role to play and everyone’s best efforts are integral to success. Characters don’t come to blow, there are few battles between egos and situations must be analyzed critically. In the episode “Disaster”, the Enterprise is impacted by quantum filaments and all members of the bridge crew must step forward and lead. Delegate Responsibilities: Captain Picard is stuck in the turbolift with three children who received top honours in a recent science fair. Children have long been a …
Mr. T at the Mall
You’re right, Marge. Just like the time I could have met Mr. T at the mall. The entire day, I kept saying, ‘I’ll go a little later, I’ll go a little later…’ And when I got there, they told me he just left. And when I asked the mall guy if he’ll ever come back again, he said he didn’t know. Well, I’m never going to let something like that happen again! Homer Simpson
Star Trek Leadership, Part IV: Overcoming the Odds
Leadership assumes many forms: some lead by example and others delegate while standing by the side, some issue precise instructions and others leave room for creativity, some focus solely on the outcome and others emphasize following the correct process to get there. During the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Peak Performance,” diverse crew members must act as leaders and determine what philosophy suits them best. A Starfleet battle simulation places Commanded Riker in charge of the antiquated U.S.S. Hathaway. Accompanied by a skeleton crew, Riken is given forty-eight hours to prepare for a war games exercise against Captain Picard …
David & Goliath
The publication of Malcolm Gladwell’s fifth book, David & Goliath, has left him perched atop the bestsellers list, delivering his sermon about how David, in the Blink of an eye, crossed a Tipping Point in his battle with Goliath and became a historical Outlier. The newest book can best be described as food for thought, curious examples illustrating peculiar situations rather than concrete analysis. While this tenet of Gladwell’s writing style engages people and broadens his audience, it also contributes to a work that is often muddled and occasionally memorable.
Brock on Books: 11 Rings and Relentless
Recently, two key figures behind basketball dynasties of the 1990s and 2000s published books outlining their philosophies and paths to success. Sage coach Phil Jackson penned 11 Rings and determined trainer Tim Grover authored Relentless. Some may fine the tone of the books to be supercilious, as it should be easy to win when coaching and training Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. The average coach/trainer is unlikely to lead two of the ten best players of all-time but can learn from these works, which shed light on some of the most resolute personalities in basketball. Firstly, neither Jordan nor Bryant …
Basketball and Rowing
Rowing – as chronicled in books like The Amateurs and The Eight – is a peculiar sport. Only a select few have a chance for glory every four years at the Olympics, a few more experience successful international careers, some compete at the collegiate level in the spring yet many toil year-round in complete obscurity. Workouts on the water, in the tank, on the erg machine or on the stadium steps have been described “pain” and “hell” yet they are completed nonetheless. In the midst of a mediocre 2008 campaign, the Harvard Men’s Varsity Eight falls short at the Eastern …
The Iron Lady
Following recent trends, Meryl Streep won an Academy Award for a convincing portrayal of a recent historical figure in a biopic that was enjoyed by many (following Sean Penn in Milk, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Capote and Jamie Foxx in Ray). Others portrayed dynamic characters and captivated audiences but Streep truly brought The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, to life. Looking back at a nearly forty year political career while suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, Streep (and Jim Broadbent who played Denis Thatcher) soar to heights that the plain film is incapable of reaching.
The Adventures of Tintin
The Adventures of Tintin is the film that Steven Spielberg has always aspired to make. Combining 3-D and motion capture technology, the director actions action scenes which defy physical and leap from the screen in the realm of absurdity. The film cannot capture the audience’s imagination because it goes well beyond that; Tintin is action for the sake of action, innovative because it showcases scenes few had conceived before. Though many current films may follow the same mantra of “watch now, think later”, they cannot replicate Spielberg’s panache. For better or worse, the film entertains consistently throughout its concise 144 …
Monsieur Lazhar
After an elementary school teacher hangs herself in the classroom, a school is left shaken. The principal cannot find a substitute teacher to take over the assignment and the students are coping with their grief over the death of their popular teacher. Monsieur Lazhar, claiming to be a teacher from Algeria who is a permanent resident in Canada but cannot obtain a permanent job, arrives and is tasked with restoring some order to the class.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Part II
Remakes sometimes prove weak derivatives of the original film but The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo deserves to stand on equal footing as the Swedish original. The strengths of the original film – an enigmatic title character, dark themes and a cold setting which is not often portrayed on film – remain intact as do the weaknesses, such as the stilted plot and anti-climatic conclusion. The first chapter of the Millennium Trilogy is more suited to film, where it can be edited and altered to retain the audience’s interest, than a 631 page tome. Many films follow Akira Kurosawa’s model …
The Artist
An ode to silent films and the Golden Age of the Silver Screen, The Artist could easily become camp yet manages to rise above the novelty of black and white scenes, dialogue replaced by caption cards and a 4:3 aspect ratio. The film succeeds because it preserves the magic of Hollywood, not the techniques of 1920s filmmaking. Ultimately, the purpose of films is to entertain; silent films became obsolete when viewers wanted to see “talkies” and black and white films were replaced when colour was demanded. The Artist aspires to entertain the audience with a simple and charming story and …
Carnage
Carnage, based on the play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, is a brief but charming comedic film. Much like Reza’s other Tony award winning play ‘Art’, it features a group of people who come together for a seemingly innocuous reason only to slowly annoy, provoke and antagonize each other. Instead of three friends coming together to view an all-white painting, Carnage describes how two set of parents meet after their sons get into a fight at a nearby playground. Penelope and Michael Longstreet – played by Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly – host Nancy and Alan Cowan – …
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
The problems with Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows began with the poster prominently displayed outside the theatre, featuring the protagonist grasping a revolver. This is a misunderstanding that envelops the entire film, substituting explosions, MMA and cross-dressing for the thoughtful detective work of the novels. The film looks fantastic and brings Europe at the turn of the twentieth century to live but neglects to do likewise for the titular character. Unfortunately, the eccentricities of Sherlock Holmes are exaggerated far too much by Robert Downey and he is made to be a comedic figure. While Arthur Conan Doyle created a …
Margin Call
More than one audience member felt that the reason Margin Call seemed so depressing was that the events depict on-screen actually occurred, a small group of traders leaving the economies of the world to deal with their reckless actions. Like the real word, the film a large financial firm is populated by a myriad of people some who are very well-paid and do very little and others who are very effective but wield little influence. Margin Call recounts a thirty-six hours period when a risk management analyst realizes the precarious position that the heavily-leveraged firm has created for itself and …