Chaos

Chaos
$14.98
Director Tony Giglio says, in the 'Making Of' Special Feature for "Chaos", that he wanted to recapture the spirit and gritty, pre-CGI 'look' of the great 'Cop' movies of the 1970s ("The French Connection", "The Seven-Ups", etc.), and technically, he succeeds, quite admirably...but the film lacks equally important factors to the earlier films' success; characters you care about, and a truly novel 'spin' to the traditional plotline. "Chaos" is predictable, with little character development, relying on the stars' established screen personas to carry the story, and the end result is routine, at best.

When a team of masked criminals rob a major Seattle bank, the leader (a swaggering Wesley Snipes) informs the police surrounding the bank that he wants disgraced cop Jason Statham to serve as the negotiator. Statham, who'd been involved in an earlier, fatal hostage negotiation, is pulled off suspension, teamed up with brilliant young detective Ryan Phillippe, and attempts to resolve the situation...but things fall apart, explosively, and the gang escapes in the fire and smoke. As the press again berates Statham, Phillippe begins putting the pieces together, revealing a far more complex scheme than a simple robbery...leading to a 'surprising' climactic revelation (which you'll figure out long before he does!)

The film isn't terrible (there's one really good chase, early in the film), but as you've likely seen all this before, it isn't terribly involving, either. Phillippe takes the acting honors, Statham gets in a few good one-liners (but less of his 'signature' physical action than his fans may like), and Snipes mugs his way through another 'villainous' role.

It should have been better!

CHAOS Director's Cut
$20.98
First off I'd like to say that I love Cult Films, Grindhouse Films from the 70's, Obscure Rare Horror, Revenge Movies, Euro-Trash, Asian Imports, Classic Drive-In Movies, Midnight Movies, etc. So this type of film is right up my alley. Yes, in the last 20 minutes or so of the film it does become a carbon copy of the original Last House on the Left BUT the filmmakers do throw in a twist ending. The film over all was brutal but not as brutal or well executed as [...]. Both far superior revenge films. The opening "message" seemed kind of silly as if the filmmakers were trying to justify the brutality they were about to subject you too. The torture did make me squirm at times but again, Hood Has Eyez knocks this out the box. Recommended for those who like rape/revenge films.

Exploiting Chaos: 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change
$20.00
This is not the usual business book. I read this book on a three hour flight and took over four pages of notes and ideas on how to use the information in my business. It is by far my favorite of the 30 or so business books I have read. Its full of real stories about real busineses that failed to adapt or change and are now history. Let's face it,the world is changing and fast. Whole industries are disappearing. Facebook and Twitter are how the future will look. This book gets right down to the nuts and bolts surviving in this time of extreme change. While he does not get into how to use social media - he does something better. He teaches you how to be nimble, how to accept change and benefit from it. I am a professional portrait photographer and am witnessing the downsizing and possible extinction of my industry due to the proliferation of digital imaging. And that includes Facebook etc. Why buy a portrait when you really want a disk of images you can use anyway you want without paying anymore for it? This has turned our industry upside down, no one knows what to do. Dig in and resist or try to change? The industry leaders say dig in and resist.

After reading this book, I realize that to resist is futile. Anyone want to buy a typewriter or a set of encyclopedias? Reading the book shows how these companies failed to change even when they had a better chance of success than the newcomers. They dug in and put faith in their full bank accounts to get them through. Money was not enough to save them because they could not see how they needed to change to stay relevant. Instead embrace change, adapt and prosper! I truly feel that this book has made me think about my business in a way that will insure it's success. And that means changing how I think about my business and possibly changing the very nature of my business to stay relevent to my customer.

This book is written for the medium sized busineses, but is still valuable to the micro (me) or small business as well as the fortune 500 set.

Chaos (The Lost Books, Book 4) (The Books of History Chronicles)
$14.99
This is easily my favorite of the Books of History series. I've always had a thing for fish-out-of-temporal-water stories, and Dekker delivers this one incredibly well. Absolutely a delight to read.