Comprised of multiple blocks, John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success could be distilled into five main levels. The top level “Competitive Greatness” generally means success on the court, achieving one’s potential and living a positive life as a student, athlete and person. The top of the pyramid is supported by terms which equate to Relationships, Mindfulness, Fundamental Skills and Self-Confidence. At the 2011 Eastern Commerce Holiday Classic, great teams demonstrated these qualities in abundance. Some might say these are the basic criteria for success in any endeavour. Great teams support each other. When someone hits the floor, a teammate picks them …
Broken (Bullpen) Telephone
During Game 5 of the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals were placed at a disadvantage when a miscommunication occurred between the dug out and the bullpen and incorrect pitchers were warmed up. Consequently, the Texas Rangers score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, enabling them to win a pivotal game.
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part V: Into the Abyss
Werner Herzog returns to the Toronto film scene with Into the Abyss, another existential work strangely similar yet totally unlike his last documentary, Cave of Forgotten Dreams. The documentary is both a rumination on the meaning of life and a true crime story, a version of In Cold Blood for the twenty-first century. Herzog recounts a triple-homicide in Conroe, Texas in 2001 when Michael James Perry and Jason Burkett killed three people in order to steal a Camaro. Interviewing friends and family of the victims and perpetrators, Into the Abyss exposes the audience to lives impacted by poverty and marred …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part IV: Carré Blanc
A dystopian vision of office life in the future, Carré blanc is combination of George Orwell’s 1984 and Delicatessen. Jean-Baptiste Léonetti spent nearly five years putting together his stark film that combines ubiquitous corporations, sycophant co-workers and greed. The planet resources have been consumed and world is controlled by a single-minded company which seems to be a combination of Apple and Starbucks. Humanity faces a paradox: the population is plummeting but people are most valued as food. Philippe is a mid-level manager who is charged with performance evaluation, delivering tests which vary from sadistic to absurd to his colleagues. Earlier …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part III: The Kid with a Bike
The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo) tells the story of Cyril, a child who is struggling with the realization that his father does not want to take care of him. Directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, the film focuses more on the young protagonist rather than a storyline. Cyril experiences some difficult times but the film progresses based on how he reacts to the events rather than the events itself. At first he is angry, in a state of denial about his father’s abandonment, later struggling to fit in and find a father figure and later accepting …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part II: J’aime regarder les filles
Set in 1981 against the backdrop of the election of François Mitterand to the presidency, J’aime regarder les filles profiles the life Primo, a student trying to achieve his Baccalauréat diploma and become accepted by a group of rich friends. The film proves charming, albeit incomplete. Pierre Niney, who plays Primo, the unfortunate protagonist, engenders the audience’s sympathy despite behaviour which ranges from naïve to deplorable. Primo wishes to fit in but seems unable to take any responsibility for his actions which hurt himself, his friends and his family. Primo lives in Paris, working at a variety of poor jobs …
T.I.F.F. 2011, Part I: The First Man
Based on Albert Camus’ unfinished last work, The First Man is an semi-autobiography, balancing tales of the author’s upbringing in a fatherless home with scenes from 1957 Algeria. The film’s twin timelines succeed in profiling author Jacques Coméry and his time in Algeria during two separate times, the 1920s and the 1950s. Scenes from his childhood and the path that led him to become a writer and make a career for himself are juxtaposed with a recent trip to the country to visit his family and speak on the subject of the independence movement. As Coméry speaks to integral figures …