Movies
The Last Samurai
Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe are so good in this movie. They have a wonderful chemistry and I think really play off of each other. Let alone for a guy who has so few lines, Hiroyuki Sanada is a presence to be dealt with.
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Books
Extreme Ownership
Jacko Willink and Leif Babin do a fantastic job of presenting leadership qualification and skills, as something we should all recognize. Through the lens of failure and near misses, they provide real world recommendations to how to be an effective leader on and off the battlefield.
Movies
Greenland
I was very surprised by this movie. I am a huge fan of Gerard Butler to the point that my smart home bot is named Gerard the Butler. He is extremely underrated and this movie is proof of that. In fact, everyone did a great job. Morena Baccarin however, does an ok job.
Books
Hagakure
If you are looking for a book that speaks to the ideas presented in The Last Samurai, this isn't it. This book is the written word of a Samurai Monk take by his apprentice. I am not sure what else to say. As with any collection of ramblings, some are good and some are downright stupid.
Movies
Sicario Day of the Soldado
So what drew people to the original movie was the awesome border crossing scene. The movement and quick action was outstanding. This movie has a scene that while cool, is nothing like it. It is probably the most memorable scene from the movie with the exception of the opening scene.
Books
Project Hail Mary
"Project Hail Mary is a absolute fantastic book that scratches this deep nostalgia of being a kid and wanting to be an astronaut and scientist and so much more." With a blend of anxiety, suspense, joy, and surprise, Project Hail Mary is the best science fiction book you will ever read.
Books
Wabi Sabi
The stories Beth was able to experience while living in Kyoto are outstanding and have lead to some great life lessons and down to earth definition of wabi sabi. Wabi Sabi is you being in your most natural, authentic place.
Books
Man's Search for Meaning
Victor is a holocaust survivor and phycologist before the war that was tells a compelling story of first hand experience of his time in both Dachau and Auschwitz as well as the therapy techniques that he created called logotherapy. His stories are concise, cohesive, and emotional
Movies
The Equalizer 3
The filming of this movie is much more artistic than anything done in the previous two movies. I really enjoyed this movie. There is a saying "Respect an Old Man in a Young Man's game" and I have always seen that phrase really come to life from the operators and infantrymen that I have known.
Books
Altered Carbon
Altered Carbon is what you want in a Cyberpunk novel and the world created is so well presented, I wish that CDProjektRed had used this as their template rather than the CyberPunk RPG. The characters make for a well loved world and the story makes sense, with one very notable exception.
Movies
Table 19
Overall, the story is also really cute. Art is supposed to imitate life and life imitates art and this is art that is matching a messy relationship where people just don't know how to communicate and how text messages don't relay emotion so having a heavy conversation is better in person.
Books
Ego is the Enemy
This book does a great job of presenting both personal and historical stories about times where ego was the mind killer and control of it was what lead to something great. Just like in Stillness Is the Key, Ryan presents what seems like easy concepts in a way that are digestible for daily content.