By Nancy and Dawn Clement

By Brian Lafferty

October 22, 2010 (San Diego)--Conviction has a well-told, if formulaic, story. The acting is OK, although I felt at times Hilary Swank was trying too hard. It somewhat touched me emotionally and I got mad at times, in a good way. However, I cannot recommend it because of its one major flaw: it’s nothing more than big screen television.

By Brian Lafferty

October 17, 2010 (San Diego)--Nowhere Boy doesn’t offer anything revelatory about John Lennon but that doesn’t matter. It is easy to go into this movie expecting something extraordinary. But if the film were to take such an approach, it would have been wrong. We know Lennon is a legend but that began as a member of The Beatles. The filmmakers could have made a film about his time with the Fab Four or his relationship with Yoko Ono. But writer Matt Greenhalgh and director Sam Taylor-Wood elect to explore a time in this man’s life that hasn’t really been touched on: his teenage years.

By Brian Lafferty

October 15, 2010 (San Diego)--I didn’t do great in my Introduction to Political Science class but there was one thing that stuck with me: gerrymandering. In the three and a half years since I’ve taken that class I’ve been surprised that the issue has never come up significantly. This documentary of the same name thoroughly and effectively explores this overlooked but very important subject. As Bill Mundell of Californians for Fair Redistricting put it, “Gerrymandering is America’s best kept secret.”

By Nancy and Dawn Clement

October 15, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) - Have you ever needed to look up a phone number from your cell phone but do not want to pay the $1.50 - $2.00 cost? There is a free 411 service from Microsoft that you can use and the number is 800-225-5411 or 800-CALL-411. Take a minute right now to program this number into your cell phone directory so you never pay for a 411 call again!

Nothing but the Truth!

By Will Power

October 9, 2010 (San Diego) -- As voters watch scandal after scandal rip apart state and municipal politics. most voters are unaware of the gorilla in the budget- redevelopment. According to the LA Times, “ After the savings and loan scandal, the HUD scandal, the EPA scandal and the Pentagon spending scandal, the next scandal to be uncovered will be the redevelopment scandal in the cities across the nation.”

“Your guide to financial planning & socially responsible investing”

By: Judith L. Seid, CFP ®
President, Blue Summit Wealth Management

October 5, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) -- We all know that credit cards are useful parts of our technology filled lives. They add flexibility and simplicity to our consumerism driven world, but they can also be dangerous. With the average American now holding four credit cards and one out of every seven people in possession of more than 10 cards it is important to stay current on the laws and regulations that govern their use and affect you.

By Brian Lafferty

October 5, 2010 (San Diego)--The Social Network is one of the year’s best films. That is not a label I apply to just any good film. What makes this movie special is how everything in it took me in. Very few movies this year engaged me as much as The Social Network. The writing, directing, acting, and every other aspect left me feeling genuinely spellbound. Every person involved gave one-hundred percent effort and it shows.

Jeremy’s on the Hill California-style Bistro

4354 Highway 78 (between Santa Ysabel and Julian)

(760)765-1587 

www.jeremysonthehill.com

By the East County Eater

By Brian Lafferty

September 28, 2010 (San Diego)--Playing until Friday at the Ken Cinema is A Film Unfinished. The title refers to an uncompleted Nazi propaganda film shot in the Warsaw Ghetto in the early 1940s. The majority of the movie consists of footage from the propaganda film. Director Yael Hersonski isn’t content to just show the film. Behind each shot is a story and the narrator goes into deep, articulative, and informative detail into each of them. Diaries from the overseer of the Ghetto and letters from one of the filmmakers are read.

By Brian Lafferty

September 25, 2010 (San Diego)--Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps opens with Gordon Gekko being released from a federal penitentiary in the year 2001. Among the personal items given back to him is his mobile phone, one of those ugly giant cell phones that are an eyesore today but were trendy in the late 1980s. Gekko exits the penitentiary and sees everybody else being picked up, including one ex-convict in a limousine. But nobody comes for him. His face exudes loneliness. Here was a man who was big and rich twenty-five years ago but now nobody cares about him.

By Brian Lafferty

September 24, 2010 (San Diego)--My favorite scene in the French film Heartbreaker comes towards the end. Alex (Romain Duris), who is tasked with breaking up a heiress’s relationship with her fiance, puts on I’ve Had the Time of My Life from her favorite movie Dirty Dancing. He starts dancing, having memorized all the steps. I cracked a really wide smile when Bill Medley began singing. I wasn’t laughing a lot during Heartbreaker but I sure was smiling.

Tips and tricks for business success and growth

By Rama Beerfas

By Brian Lafferty

September 17, 2010 (San Diego)--A lot happens in Soul Kitchen. Too much, actually. Just as a film can rarely survive on the flimsiest of plots, a movie can have just as much a hard time sustaining itself trying to balance a smorgasbord of story lines. This newest film by German director Fatih Akin suffers from a major case of plot overload. In my notes I made a list and counted six distinct story threads. For this movie that was too many.

By Brian Lafferty

September 13, 2010 (San Diego) -- Today I will venture out into the Realm of the Off Topic. What follows is not exactly movie-related but I feel compelled to talk about the last few weeks and how they have affected me. I’m sure some of you may feel the same way I do after reading this post.