Movie Review: "I Love You Phillip Morris"

I was lucky enough to attend a screening for the film "I Love You Phillip Morris." This film is based on the true story of Steven Russell -- an adopted child, turned con man. It is a very fascinating story. He breaks free from jail (on multiple occasions), embezzles money, creates many aliases, and even fakes his own death. All of which ultimately end in Russell received some 140ish years in prison.

Jim Carrey plays Russell. Russell is a gay man, and to see Jim Carrey in this role was a challenge for me. Some of his typical expressions came through, and I was instantly taken to Ace Ventura, or Liar Liar. Carrey did amazingly well at portraying such a unique and intriguing character.

Ewan McGregor plays Phillip Morris. Phillip is Russell's lover. They meet in jail, and have an instant connection. Many of Russell's escapes from jail are to find Phillip and be reunited with him. McGregor does a fantastic job, and makes you feel connected and sympathetic to his character. I almost teared up in the final scenes when they express their love to each other.

The movie itself had hilarious lines, serious tones, and was overall worth seeing. I suggest seeing this movie. I would give it 3 out of 4 stars.

Holiday Season

The Holiday Season is about giving. So why do we make lists of what we want? Should we start making lists of what we want to give? If you made a list of what you want to give, what would it look like? Should giving be focused around material items? Or can we give hope, love and inspiration?

This is just my thought of the day.

Growing Up & The People Who Teach Us Life's Lessons

I truly believe that children need to be apart of some competitive team growing up. Personally, by being on different teams, whether it was Odyssey of the Mind in elementary school or sports team throughout school, there was potential to learn many different lessons. And I learned my lessons. And, often times it was the coaches who provided these lessons.

"Be a team." "Pass the ball to the open person, don't be selfish." "You will have to work together to get your desired results." "Don't be late, or you are running laps."

By participating in teams at such a young age, and learning how to interact with people who are different from you is a challenge. However, for the rest of your life you are going to be challenged  by a team. In school, you are put into groups for projects. In work, you work within a group or department to get things done. Your coach becomes your teacher, and your boss by instructing you on what to do. Basically, the team culture is all around. It is the way we operate businesses.

But who are these people who are teaching us our life lessons at a young age? Who are these people who are telling us how to act, how to be? Who are these people who are teaching us work ethic? Often times, children will admire their coaches. Their coaches can do no wrong.

Over the course of my experiences with coaches, I have come to find that coaches do indeed do wrong. They are not doing wrong in the gym, but in their personal lives. They strive to teach us how to be, how to act, and how to live, yet they seem to have not figured it out yet. It is devastating to know that people you spend so much time with, and look up to are scumbags. People who told you not to steal, go and steal. People who tell you that you need to trust one another, go and break that trust.

I am not really sure where I was going with this blog post....so I will have to finish it later.