Archive for May, 2017

Saving Hannah Baker – Surviving High School and Preventing Teenage Suicides

Today we’re taking a look at Hannah Baker, a teenage girl in the Netflix TV show 13 Reasons Why who commits suicide.  The show revolves around one of her friends learning the hard truth behind the reasons why Hannah decided to end her young life.

DISCLAIMER — I am not a psychologist.  The analysis and opinions formed here are from my personal experiences as well as general thoughts.  Seek professional help if you or somebody you know is being bullied and/or in danger of committing suicide.

That being said, in the previous article, I mentioned that I was a victim of bullying in the forms of endless teasing and (mostly) verbal harassment.  This began late in elementary school and continued through the end of middle school, a time span of roughly four years.

In those days I was very socially awkward.  I didn’t know how to dress, I wasn’t aware of modern slang and pop culture, and I had a particularly bad dandruff problem in my hair.  Combine all of that, throw in a neighborhood bully or two, add some bad rumors, and there you go.  I was an easy target for those people who wanted to laugh at me, insult me, and find new ways to put me down on a daily basis.

There was occasionally some pushing and shoving, and I remember some of my school supplies being stolen from time to time as well.  More than once I recall full backpacks being thrown at me on the school bus.  When we had those sex ed classes in middle school, the verbal sexual harassment increased tenfold. Read more…

Netflix’s “13 Reasons Why” – A Review of a Popular TV Show involving Teenager Suicide

Today we’re taking a look at 13 Reasons Why, a Netflix television show that takes a gripping look at how a group of high school teenagers deal with the suicide of one of their classmates.

The girl who committed suicide, Hannah Baker (played by Katherine Langford), left behind thirteen audio tapes in which she calls out the classmates who bullied her, and the reasons that led up to her suicide.  Most of the series is told through the point-of-view of Clay Jensen (played by Dylan Minnette), Hannah’s close friend, as he discovers just how much he really knew of Hannah’s teasing and bullying.

13 Reasons Why – Netflix TV show

13 Reasons Why begins with the aftermath of Hannah’s suicide.  Clay receives the box of audio tapes, and he listens to them in sequence and follows Hannah’s journey as a new student during her sophomore year to, ultimately, her suicide in the fall of her junior year.  It’s a rough and emotional journey as he learns the truth through Hannah’s stories and the pieces of evidence that he discovers.  He also realizes just how close he really was to not only Hannah, but to the bullies and their actions.

Before she ends her life, Hannah gives the audio tapes to Tony (played by Christian Navarro), one of her high school classmates that she can trust.  He’s given the job of passing the tapes to each person in Hannah’s listing, making sure that they listen to all of the tapes.  Otherwise, he’s instructed to make the tapes public so that the whole world can hear the truth, a threat that can bring down the entire school system.  Tony has listened to the tapes and knows the truth, and he continually pushes Clay to keep going and to listen to everything, even during trying times.  After all, Clay is the subject of one of the tapes. Read more…

Movie Review – Shin Godzilla (2016)

Today we’re taking a look at Shin Godzilla, a 2016 Japanese film that happens to be the 31st film in the popular Godzilla monster movies.  Also known as Godzilla Resurgence, Shin Godzilla is a reboot of the franchise and pits the famous lizard monster in modern-day Tokyo.

Directed by Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi, Shin Godzilla features a Japanese cast full of people you’ve probably never heard of, unless Japanese films and TV shows are one of your passions.

Shin Godzilla (2016) – movie poster

Set in the present day, Shin Godzilla begins with the Japan Coast Guard discovering an abandoned yacht in Tokyo Bay.  Just as the sailors are preparing to have it towed to shore, suddenly the boat is destroyed in a huge spray of water.  The disturbance also breaks into a tunnel and begins to flood it, killing an untold number of people.  At first the disturbance is seen as just a random event, but when viral videos begin to show a massive creature moving underwater (and straight to the shore), the government officials rush to form a plan.

Ideas are exchanged and options include sitting back and doing nothing, trying to capture it alive so that it can be studied, or exterminating the creature and ending its unknown threat to the city.  Government officials downplay the threat of the creature as its believed that the creature’s legs will be unable to support the weight of its tremendous body on land.  That theory is quickly dismissed as the creature swims up a river, crawls onto land, and start squirming and smashing its way through streets and buildings.  While the creature tears a path of destruction, the government races to evacuate as many people as possible. Read more…

Movie Review – Ex Machina (2015)

Recently I watched the movie Ex Machina, a science-fiction psychological thriller that was released in 2015.  Although this is was produced as an independent film and with a small budget compared to today’s big blockbusters, Ex Machina still packs a major punch.

Directed by Alex Garland, Ex Machina stars Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander as the three main characters in the film.  You may not know their names, but I’m sure you’ll recognize at least two of their faces, especially if you’re a fan of the Harry Potter films as well as the new Star Wars trilogy.

Anyway, Ex Machina focuses on robotics and, more importantly, artificial intelligence.  The main story involves a computer programmer who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to test a robot’s intelligence and see if it really can think like a human being.

Ex Machina (2015) – movie poster

Ex Machina begins with computer programmer Caleb Smith (Domhnall Gleeson) winning an office contest.  He works for the world’s biggest Internet search engine company, Blue Book, and as the contest winner, he gets to spend a week at the luxurious home of the company’s CEO, Nathan Bateman (Oscar Isaac).

A helicopter flies Caleb deep into the mountains and drops him off in a field of grass.  From there, Caleb hikes into a forest and reaches what looks like a small shack.  The structure is actually a facade for a secure entrance.  Once Caleb proves his identity to the security system (automated, of course), he’s given an access card and allowed to enter the mostly underground compound.  Caleb explores part of the house and finds Nathan finishing a workout.  Nathan is pleased to meet Caleb, and he makes mention that the morning workout helps him recover from his hangover from last night.

Nathan takes Caleb to the room where he’ll be spending the night for the next week.  He talks Caleb into signing a strict non-disclosure agreement before revealing that he’s been working on artificial intelligence.  His latest robot has already passed the Turing test, and he wants Caleb, a programmer who is used to thinking outside the box and developing unique solutions to problems, to administer the final intelligence tests on the robot, determining if it is genuinely capable of rational thought and consciousness. Read more…

Movie Review – Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016)

Recently I had the opportunity to see Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, an American war drama directed by Hollywood legend Ang Lee.  Based on the book of the same name, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk focuses on a squad of Army soldiers, and in particular Billy Lynn, who became famous for their actions in combat in Iraq, and they’re treated as war heroes during a Dallas Cowboys’ halftime show on Thanksgiving.

The film stars Joe Alwyn in the role as soldier Billy Lynn.  Also in the film are Kristen Stewart as Kathryn Lynn, Billy’s sister; Chris Tucker as Albert, a film producer; Vin Diesel as Shroom, one of the squad’s sergeants; and Steve Martin as Norm Oglesby, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (2016) – movie poster

Taking place around 2004-05, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk begins with hidden camera footage of Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) coming to the aid of Virgil “Shroom” Breem (Vin Diesel) while under fire from enemy forces.  Although Shroom dies from his injuries, Billy’s heroism catapults him and his squad into the national spotlight.  The squad (named “Bravo Squad” by the media) is back in the U.S. to tour the country and help draw support for the war.  Their main performance takes place today during the halftime show for the Dallas Cowboys’ football game on Thanksgiving.

From their hotel, Cowboys’ PR agent Josh (Ben Platt) and film producer Albert Brown (Chris Tucker) escort the soldiers to the football stadium.  While Josh tries to keep the soldiers updated as to their schedule at the game, Albert is trying to work out a film deal so that a Hollywood company will bring the story of Billy Lynn and Bravo Squad to the movie theaters. Read more…

Book Review – Andy Weir’s “The Martian”

Last week I finished reading The Martian, a thrilling science-fiction story involving human survival on planet Mars.  Written by Andy Weir, The Martian is a hauntingly realistic look at just how a person can survive living on the Red Planet, should such an emergency occur.

Andy Weir — The Martian

Set in the year 2035, The Martian begins with a tremendous sandstorm on Mars.  The crew of NASA’s Ares 3 mission had just landed on the planet a few days ago, but the strong storm forces them to abort their mission.  The fierce winds are dangerously close to tipping over the rocket that ferries them back to their orbiting spacecraft, Hermes.

As the astronauts are walking to their rocket, a gust of wind breaks loose an antenna, and astronaut Mark Watney is hit and knocked away, His vital signs go offline and the crew believes that he’s dead.  They make an attempt to find him, but the storm is simply too strong and they’re forced to blast off.  They do so unable to recover Watney’s body.  The crew reaches the Hermes, and they begin their long trek back home to Earth.

However, Mark Watney is still alive.

The broken antenna and his blood created a seal around the hole in his spacesuit, and Mark is able to make it back into the habitat and treat his injury.  There’s no communication with NASA as the antenna was destroyed in the storm.  Watney knows that his chances of rescue are incredibly bleak, but he’s forced to analyze his situation and figure out a way to survive as long as possible.  Watney finishes each day by logging his thoughts, ideas and plans for the next day in a journal.  He hopes that one day the journal will be recovered and people will learn what really happened to him. Read more…

Movie Review – The Founder (2016)

Recently I had the opportunity to see The Founder, a biographical drama focusing on Ray Kroc and the development of the McDonald’s fast food chain of restaurants.  Although the film premiered on December 7, 2016, it wasn’t released to the theaters until January 20, 2017.

Directed by John Lee Hancock, The Founder stars Michael Keaton as Ray Kroc, the salesman who used persistence and sly tactics to build McDonald’s into a major corporation.  Co-starring in the film are Nick Offerman and John Carroll Lynch as brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald.  Laura Dern plays the role of Ray’s wife, Ethel Kroc, and B. J. Novak is Harry J. Sonneborn, a financial consultant who shows Ray the true path to wealth and control of the restaurant chain.

The Founder (2016) – movie poster

The Founder begins in 1954 and Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) is a traveling salesman living in Illinois and selling milkshake makers.  It’s an expensive product and he has difficulty convincing diners to purchase them.  While he’s on the road, Ray frequently encounters problems at diners including incredibly slow service as well as orders being incorrect.

When Ray learns that a restaurant in San Bernadino, California, ordered six of his milkshake machines, he thinks that it’s an error.  He calls the company to verify the order, and he’s blown away when the manager increases the order to eight milkshake machines.  This peaks Ray’s curiosity and he quickly drives across the country to see this fascinating restaurant.

Ray’s journey leads him to McDonald’s, a small diner where people actually have to get out of their cars (the horror!) and order their meal from a counter.  The menu is simple, and the orders are processed with lightning fast service.  On top of that, the food is served in disposable containers, eliminating the need for plates and utensils. Read more…

Book Review — James Rollins’s “Amazonia”

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading Amazonia, a thrilling adventure novel written by James Rollins.  Amazonia takes readers into the heart of the Amazon jungle, and a wide assortment of threats including some of the deadliest creatures that you can imagine.

Amazonia begins with the sudden appearance of U.S. Army Ranger Agent Clark in a small village deep in Brazil.  The man is barely alive and unable to speak as his tongue is missing.  He’s also covered in strange markings that cause local people to run away in panic.  Clark dies during the night, and soon a deadly disease begins affecting children and the elderly in that same village.

The U.S. government is fascinated by the reappearance of Agent Clark because he was lost and presumed to be dead as he was part of an expedition that vanished in the Amazon some four years ago.  What makes the government even more interested is that before joining the expedition, Clark had lost one of his arms from a combat injury.  When he reappeared in the village, Clark had both of his arms.

James Rollins — Amazonia

The brunt of Amazonia follows a new expedition into the Amazon led by Nathan Rand.  Nathan is an expert when it comes to biology and the jungle, and it was his father who led the ill-fated expedition four years ago.  With the emergence of Agent Clark, there’s new hope that other members of the expedition might also still be alive, somewhere deep in the jungle.  Experts are brought together, and another team of special forces soldiers provides the security.  They quickly enter the jungle and try to follow Clark’s path before the monsoon rains wash away the trail. Read more…