Rebooting 'The Amazing Spiderman'

Spiderman does it again!

In the rebooted version of the human arachnid, ‘The Amazing Spiderman’ cost US$215 million, and redressed and addressed in fresh ways. It is presented in digitalised and in 3D versions with a brand-new cast. Like The Matrix Trilogy that came reloaded and unloaded, this version is rebooted and re-imagined, to varying results and responses. Either the new version pales against the original, or or exceeds it. In recent years, the success with the re-invention of Spiderman, Superman and Ironman bear testament to successful franchises.

The salient changes to Spidey is his costume, and originations; mainly his web-slinging comes in the form of a wrist-wrapped device and genetically-modified protein that is stronger than steel cables. A star-studded ensemble cast fills the non-CGI segments of the 135-minute film. Spoiler Alert: Stay on during the end-credits where there is suggestion of a sequel. Peter Parker, who underwent a tough childhood is transmogrified into the science freak he is known for, harboring dark and foreboding secrets, amazing superhuman powers, and huge responsibilities to bear. Superheroes, appear to be unhappy characters who cannot get close to others (for fear of violent repercussions), and reluctant heroes with a gift/curse. They have to surrender to their good side and help others, or succumb to their dark side and become criminals. Use your power for good, or evil. 

There is much to learn from animated series, previously known as cartoons in a former-era. Comic-books filled the void of hope during major world events and conflicts. Director, Night Shyamalan did a great job with ‘Unbreakable’ where the world’s most fragile man meets the world’s most indestructible person. The plot is plausible, where the polarity of 'opposites' means the yin and yang of human character. When science meets fantasy, a new genre is born which invites many interesting questions regarding our status as humankind.

How will you reboot yourself? Two legs good, four sticky limbs better.

And They Had To Introduce Aliens!

I am annoyed with sci-fi film plots that border on the ludicrous; and there are several genres and sub-genres masquerading as each other. Science fiction utilizes science as it foundation, while bringing to life such possibilities (and realities) as robots (‘I, Robot’), genetic mutations (‘X-Men’ and ‘The Fly’), and re-animation (‘Frankenstein’ and ‘Jurassic Park’). Sure, it has been postulated by our most brilliant scientific minds in history that there is more than a remote chance (read: plausible) of extra-terrestrial life within our universe. When Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) was launched, sending out a continuous blast of signals into the vastness of outer space, we may receive a message one day – eventually, or until funds get restored.

I liked the work of M. Night Shyamalan (of ‘Sixth Sense’ fame), until it deteriorated in plot into the alien genre. ‘Signs’ was a sign of a depleted story bank account. He could have stop at water-fairies, invincible humans and xenophobia, but no – he had to introduce aliens! Yet, this film was his career salve at $400 million in worldwide box-office receipts.

And he had to introduce aliens!

If a film revolved around aliens as the main character or theme, I would be fine with it. However, we know the producers, director and screenwriter are pushing it (and punishing us) when they have to introduce aliens into the story. So, most of us sci-fi heads welcomed films like ‘ET – The Extra-Terrestrial’, ‘Alien’, ‘Alien versus Predator’, ‘Super-8’, ‘Men In Black’, ‘The Andromeda Strain’, ‘Cocoon’, ‘Transformers’ and ‘War of The Worlds’. On television, we had ‘V’, ‘Falling Skies’ and ‘Alien Nation’.

In the recent blockbuster ‘Battleship’, we knew we had no fleeting chance of gunning the aliens down, because they had far more superior weaponry and protection systems. Yet, we prevailed as President Morgan Freeman announced. In ‘Battle: Los Angeles’, a small military unit surprises the aliens with its combat effectiveness; not after the ETs thrashed the City of Angels and did a massive population audit. Small but deadly is the name of the comeback kid. You need not operate in large numbers to kick butt with aliens.

In these films, the aliens wanted resources such as water (Battle: LA) or were killed by it (‘Signs’). These enemies were interested in pilfering and pillaging Earth, and eventually dominate it. In most of these films, humans triumphed not because we were smarter (although we’d like to think it) but because we sought salvation through earthly elements that annihilated these creatures, or bored them to death. In Signs, it was water that did ET in. In others, it could be the common cold virus. In ‘Independence Day’, we hacked them to death with a computer virus. Seriously! Since when did we write the black-hat code for ET’s mainframe computers?

You cannot beat aliens and ghosts (‘The Outsiders’ and ‘Ghost’ were very good films). What will they think of next? Ghostly aliens, or alien ghosts?

And they had to introduce aliens! Please give us back ‘ALF’, ‘Mork & Mindy’ and the ‘X-Files!’

Films, Fans & Fortitude

My friend, Adam sat through almost 100 hours of films during a movie marathon and won S$11,000 and earned his spot in the Singapore Book of Records. I wonder if they played any abstract, art-house films that may either intrigue or annoy one’s senses. Consider this: you are already tired. They screen a plethora of films that are not your cup of tea (or Nescafe Coffee, in this case). Previously, the well-known elite-level, physically challenged runner-ultra-marathoner touched a car (with hundreds others) for several days before fatigue forced him to bow out; the prize was the car itself that the eventual winner earned held ‘in touch’ for four days. Congratulations, Adam!

Onboard my flights on my recent trip to India, I watched a couple of films: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Friends with Benefits, and Larry Crowne. All are watchable, with the final Potter film is, probably, the most relevant film for fans since it was the last in the installment of boy wizard-to-adult wizard series. Made at a hefty budget of US$125M, it grossed more than US$1.3B worldwide. It reveals what happens to the boy-wizard who was destined to find his place in the magical universe, and have his burning questions finally answered. The dynamics of the firmly established characters makes this film highly watchable even if you missed a few episodes along the way. 'He who shall not be named' is now uttered openly as a formidable threat to the school of Hogwarts and its denizens. 

Larry Crowne is about a mid-life divorcee who is shockingly retrenched, and has to seek further education despite being highly competent in his long-time job in retail. He becomes smitten with public speaking, economics, and his teacher, while his likability makes him stand out among the younger students. Life-skills do help!

There is a celebrity snow-boarder on Friends with Benefits. Shaun White is a twice-Olympic Gold medalist in the half-pipe snowboarding over two Olympics in 2006 and 2010. Last month, we featured swim coach Sheila Taormina who is a 4-time Olympian and gold-medalist in the 1996 Games; she was also the ITU world champion in 2004. Yesterday, Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling qualified for our team to the London Olympic Games, when he broke the SEA Games record. The 16-year-old did very well for his showing in the pool in Indonesia. It takes heaps of hard work, sacrifice and commitment to train for years just to compete for your country.

You can glean many lessons from films – provided you focus on the abstract components. Films use a variety of devices including analogy, metaphor, fable, and allegory to express its story. Some films have noteworthy scripts, and these may be used to tie in with your presentations, meetings or classes. A film attempts to bring the conversations of worth to life to a larger audience. In the case of these three films I watched, the common thread among the onscreen characters are the values of resilience and fortitude; values that reflect many world-class athletes, too.

Leadership Lessons: What are your ‘touch points’ with your colleagues today? How much of social media do you use to connect with people you know? How often do you track the ‘signs of our times’? How sensitive are you workplace changes, environmental shifts, people’s emotions and global issues?


Photo-credits: Adam 1Armed Runner & Tony Ang

I Love the 1980’s

Welcome to your life.

There's no turning back.

Even while we sleep.

We will find you

Acting on your best behaviour

Turn your back on Mother Nature

Everybody wants to rule the world.

‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’, Songs From the Big Chair, by Tears for Fears.

Before Oakleys – the sunnies made famous by sportspeople including Lance Armstrong – we had Phil Oakley, who sang Together in Electric Dreams. MTV was born – with bad haircuts, and erratic editing for musical videos - with memorable music. The Berlin Wall was still up, and the Cold War was still on. Perestroika was not a brand of vodka yet, and loomed in the distant future. This was the Enlightened Eighties with its signature bad mullets and awful, titan-like shoulder-pads in jackets.

The mid-1980’s was a time of reckoning for me. It was my rites of passage to manhood, where I adorn camouflage and khaki as my preferred choice of fashion sense; I enjoyed running around in jungles! What helped me through officer cadet school were the songs of the 1980’s, mainly the British Invasion. From Hard Rock to Punk to New Wave to British Pop – music held its allure for me because of Original Soundtracks (OST) recordings, and the rage of Top of the Pops. Every week, the countdown from the Other Side of the Pond indicated the listening audience’s fickle fiefdom tastes for radio-friendly music.

My favourite songs included: Forever Young (Alphaville), Eye in the Sky (Alan Parson’s Project), Square Rooms (Al Corley), St. Elmo’s Fire, Don’t You Want Me (Human League), Love is Love (Culture Club), Gloria (Laura Branigan), Rock Me Amadeus (Falco), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears) Purple Rain (Prince), and songs by Blondie, Kim Wilde, and the extensive list goes on. In retrospect, I may have had a thing for blondes [sic].

The 1980’s were a decade of decadence and delight. There was none of the hallucinatory haze of the 1960’s except for a musical cloud that engulfed us. The films of this decade were also definitive; consider the fact Tron was made by Disney in 1982. Sports films included Chariots of Fire, Breaking Away and American Flyers. Runners sported shoes by Adidas and Nike. I watched the Aussie amphibious Ironman film called Coolangata Gold, and my first brush with the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon coverage by ABC Wide World of Sports. And the precursor of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia was a film called Neverending Story by the director…and song by Limahl.

Check out the hits on YouTube.com. I hope that you can rediscover some of these timeless gems that I continue to enjoy.

*****

It is with heavy hearts that we read and watch news related to the devastating Quake in Japan. The most troubling reports revolve around nuclear reactor leaks. This is an opportunity for anti-nuclear lobbyists and green groups to bash alternative energy resources. Despite the potential dilution of radiation from using seawater to cool the reactors, the radiation will still be dispersed over a larger area.

It is sad to hear that the Kona Ironman site was destroyed by tsunami waves. I hope that it will not affect the outcome of October’s World Championships. The most notorious footage is a guy (who lost a slipper) who captured on video (on YouTube) with ‘live’ commentary the massive waves hitting Kona’s road and shops. He was courageously stupid, however we got to watch the raw footage. Stupid is as stupid does?

Motivational Tactics Before A Race

"Decision Must Be Instant...Commitment Must Be Total." - Blazeman


For close shave finishes, I enjoyed the 2006 Ironman World Championships when Norman Stadler won his second world title by a narrow margin of about 71 seconds before Chris ‘Macca’ McCormack. The 2007 DVD showed new winners through Chrissy Wellington and Macca. The 2009 DVD with Craig and Chrissy repeat is definitely worth watching for their repeat wins (second for Crowie; third for Wellington). I am most inspired by the late-finishers, where their struggles (towards the midnight cutoff) make it painful yet exciting to watch. I am still inspired by the late-Jon Blais ‘Blazeman’ and saddened by our loss.

‘Every man’s death saddens me for it diminishes mankind.’

For non-Ironman DVDs, I’d watch Hollywood films like Breaking Away, The Rookie, The Flying Scotsman, American Flyers, Tin Cup, Bagger Vance, Miracle, Rocky (1,2,3, 4 & 6), and Invincible. I adore and support the Underdog, rising from the ashes of despair into a reborn, fiery phoenix. 

*****

This evening, still nursing a tender right wrist (Day 9 of sprain), I rode for two hours followed by about an hour of running in the pool. I was reassured that my wrist felt comfortable on my aero-bars. I must say that Elite Bicycles did a thorough job of fitting my bike to my severely imbalanced body. The directors of Elite continue to remind me to do my core exercises – a bonus for clients they provide customised fitting.

I have found that by running in chest-high water, I can train my cadence for running. By lifting my knees higher and maintaining the lean, I can run on forefoot whilst still in place – it works your core muscles as you have to stay balanced on the slippery tiled floor. The water helps cool your body when you do hard intervals – I warm up with one minute moderate to hard pace, followed by two-minute and three-minute intervals. You can raise your heart-rate while reducing impact on your barefoot. It is like running unshod, without the Vibram Five Fingers. By focusing on the moving water in front of me, I can visualize myself running on the marathon course.

I look forward to my wetsuit swim at the lagoon tomorrow morning. I may integrate a fast 10K run before that. Time to rest my weary bones.