A Month of Kurosawa: Dreams (1990)

A Month of Kurosawa: Dreams (1990)

To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Dreams (1990) It would perhaps be overstating the case to call Dreams the final masterpiece by Akira Kurosawa, as this anthology of short films doesn't quite rise to the level of his greatest works, but at times it comes…
A Month of Kurosawa: Ran (1985)

A Month of Kurosawa: Ran (1985)

To celebrate the upcoming release of my book, Akira Kurosawa: A Viewer's Guide, due out Dec. 15 from Rowman & Littlefield -- preorder here! -- I'll be doing capsule reviews all month covering every single Kurosawa film and posting (very) brief excerpts. These will be short impressions and recommendations, nothing more. For a full, detailed analysis of each, grab the book! Ran (1985) Ran is a masterpiece, one of the greatest films of all time, and you should do everything in your power to see it right away. That really could be the sum total of this capsule review, because…
Some Things Come From Nothing: Striving For Greatness With Limited Resources

Some Things Come From Nothing: Striving For Greatness With Limited Resources

Contributed Post Picture We are, inevitably, a product of our surroundings. As far as striving for greatness is concerned, we can feel bound by our surroundings. Because the struggle is so very real, especially when we are working to make our mark on this world, the very tangible feeling of succeeding in the face of modern struggles, like social mobility, inequality and the concerns of what is going to happen (especially post Brexit), can result in us finding ourselves at a disadvantage. And while triumph in the face of adversity is nothing new, the younger generations that find themselves struggling…
Keeping Your Character Conflicts Realistic

Keeping Your Character Conflicts Realistic

Contributed Post Writing is a hard thing to do. It’s something we all can do in our own ways, with our own styles and tones, and our own perspectives on how art should work. But all in all, there’s a few rock solid structures that need to go into a story to make it relatable and believable: a gripping opening, characters with more dimensions than they have dialogue lines, a setting that has its own laws of the universe, and a bit of conflict that gets resolved by the end of the narrative. And all in all, conflict is often…
Creating A Human Brand To Connect With The Target Market

Creating A Human Brand To Connect With The Target Market

Contributed Post The most profitable businesses have learned that success lies in genuine relationships with customers. People don’t like being treated as if they’re mere statistics. They like buying goods and services from companies that value their client bases. That’s the key to being successful in the long-term. Let’s talk about some ways in which you could start creating a human brand to connect with the target market. Picture Source Give back to the planet. If you want to create a human brand that connects with the target market then you should start by giving back to the planet. Green…