JULIE & JULIA Movie Review

JULIE & JULIA offers such a positive, feel-good and heart-warming experience.  It feels like a “chick flick” and yet it is really for anyone that needs to believe that pursuing a passion can pay off. Meryl Streep is amazing as Julia Child and Amy Adams is endearing as Julie Powell. Based on the true story of a Queens girl who started a blog to give herself something to look forward to outside of her job. Her life parallels the famous cook, Julia Child’s, as they both transform through their love of food.

I can see why so many people adore this film because it sends an inspirational message that anyone can be successful. My favorite moment in the film is when Julie starts to listen to her 65 voice mails after she is written about in the NY Times. She quickly receives offers for an agent, a book, and a movie. In many ways, this is any entrepreneur’s dream (and certainly my own!) to hit it big overnight. Yet the truth is that Julie showed up consistently every day for a year to cook and write about her experience. It made me realize that a great idea, paired with consistent committed action really does yield significant results. Julia Child also had many attempts before her famous cookbook was published.

What I loved the most about this film is the relationship that both Julie and Julia are in with their respective husbands. The strength and support these men offered to their wives was amazing to me. It gave me hope that there are great guys out there that will show up for strong women who are working on their dreams. In the past, I used to feel like I would have to choose between an amazing relationship or my dream career. I always thought both would take so much time but this film portrays a different reality where both are not only possible but work together in complete harmony. I was comforted by the generosity these men offered to their leading ladies and how they worked as a team with the common phrase of “we’ll figure it out.” I have so much hope that these relationships exist now.

I also particularly liked how Julia raised the bar for Julie to be a better person. Sometimes we really do need a mentor or idol to follow and to positively project the new, higher-self qualities we are stepping into. This film also portrays Julia as a master at visioning. She stated clear affirmations that her book would change the world and it did. Her enthusiasm, yes-attitude, and love for food were infectious and impactful. She is proof that anything that we jump out of bed for at 6:30am is worth pursuing and doing every day of our lives.

So that is my blog post about a movie about a blogger! I am proud of Julie for staying the course of her commitment and for reaching success. As her husband said, she was already a writer; she just needed to own this in herself regardless of the outer circumstances. I am going to own being a writer as well, even if only a handful of people read this blog (for now). I love films with purpose, meaning and heart that make us feel good and to me the movie JULIE & JULIA is like beef bourguignon to Julia Child.

Entertain - Enlighten - Inspire,
Kate Neligan
Founder/CEO of Synergy TV and Mindful Media Entertainment LLC.

FINDING JOE Movie Review & Interview by guest blogger: Matt Welsh

Synergy TV guest blogger and Founder of Spiritual Media Blog, Matt Welsh, interviews Patrick Solomon producer of FINDING JOE.

“Finding Joe” is a documentary that interviews visionaries from a wide variety of fields on how Joseph Campbell’s teachings on ‘following your bliss’ and ‘The Hero’s Journey’ can be applied to our everyday life, including our challenges and personal dragons. The movie has become so popular that even President Barack Obama requested a screener of the film.

Finding Joe – Trailer V.7 from pat solomon on Vimeo.

While most inspirational documentaries focus on how good life can be if you get everything you want; “Finding Joe” stands out because it interviews real life people ranging from Deepak Chopra, Tony Hawk, to Rashida Jones about how their struggles, failures, and personal dragons were necessary to help them develop the capabilities to truly follow their bliss.

According to the film, everybody receives some sort of mysterious call to adventure or to awaken to a life previously unknown. Not everybody answers this call. However, those that do and then choose to act on this call embark on what Campbell and the film describe as ‘The Hero’s Journey.’

As the documentary portrays in vivid detail from popular movies, enactments of classic tales by a group of sweet and motley group of kids, and first hand accounts from real people ‘The Hero’s Journey’ is filled with a series of tests, trials, or ordeals a person must go through to begin and complete a transformation. Often a person will fail one or more of these tests. But, if the hero remains steadfast and open to unexpected help along the way, he or she will emerge victorious. For example, Campbell summarizes this process in “The Hero with a Thousand Faces” when he writes

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

I had the chance to interview the filmmaker for “Finding Joe”, Patrick Solomon, and asked him what sort of dragons he faced in his personal journey. His answer was very insightful and eye-opening:

“On my own personal journey, there are a lot of challenges in making a movie. I went down this road when I first started this movie. And I shot a bunch of things. I went to Bali. I went to Jerusalem. I shot just a ton of film and interviewed a bunch of people and when I started to put that together it wasn’t working.

So, at some point, I had to admit that this wasn’t going to work and we got to take another path. But, that to me was a dragon. That was months and months of work and thousands and thousands of dollars that I kind of had to let go of and come to grips with the truth that that wasn’t going to work. And, that was a wrestling match and that took months to come to the point of saying ‘okay man this isn’t going to work, you gotta let that go.’ And, I’m glad I did because the movie would be quite different had I hung onto that.”

The rest of our conversation focuses on why he made “Finding Joe” in addition to some straightforward advice for other filmmakers who are trying to make an inspirational or transformational film. You can listen to our entire 9 minute conversation by clicking the play button below.

Or, you can download an MP3 of our interview by right clicking on text below.
RIGHT CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MP3 of interview
Finding Joe is truly a transformational film that will help anyone who is wrestling with a personal dragon right now, but knows in their heart that they are on path. Or as Joseph Campbell said,

“Follow your bliss and the Universe will open doors where there were only walls.”

SAMSARA Movie Review

Before I saw SAMSARA I knew very little about it, I just knew I wanted to see it. I was expecting a documentary of beautiful footage with commentary and what I got was an almost two hour meditative experience. The first 15 minutes of the film I was annoyed, contemplated leaving, and was thinking of all that I had to do. I felt like I was just watching a nice slide show of someone’s amazing photography. Then I realized I had an opportunity to slow down, relax, and let go. I was in for a journey – in fact the longest one we can ever make: the trip from head to heart.

By the end of SAMSARA I was captivated and actually having a deep experience. I could see that the film was a piece of art. It felt like I should have been at a museum rather than a movie theatre. It showcased how subjective art really is because at the end all of us who saw it shared a different experience.

People might think SAMSARA is telling a story and that there is a message in it, and I would have to disagree. I believe the moving images on screen are just scenes and we make them whatever we want. Just like we do in our lives with whatever happens. The story we saw in SAMSARA is the projection of our mind onto the images. The on-going inner voice I heard was to not judge. I kept hearing one of my spiritual teachers saying “it is what it is” and “all there is, is what is”. I realized I could remain neutral when there were some creepy images, as well as when there was something beautiful. 

If we really are a neutral observer to our thoughts while watching this film, we are in for quite a treat. I saw so many of the people in the film as unhappy. It felt like no one was smiling and everyone was taking life so seriously. It made me think, how is this my inner experience?  Is my own heart smiling right now? Could all of humanity use more joy and upliftment?

I felt sick during the scenes of animal husbandry and mass consumption of products. I had to close my eyes and I realized this is an area of my life where I want and choose to remain ignorant. I had also had a realization that I could use less paper, order out less, and recycle even more when I watched all of the shots of the trash in our world. I also realized how lucky and blessed I am to not only live in America but to have the job I do.

SAMSARA is a silent film. There is beautiful music that is well scored and perfectly synched to the images but the only real soundtrack is what is going on in our minds as we watch. This is where the reality is – everything else is just photographs of our world on a screen. Life truly is what we make it.

While this film is certainly enlightening in nature because of the process your mind goes through, it was hard for me to see it as entertaining. It is beautiful, bizarre, fascinating, colorful, and eye-opening. If we pay attention, especially to certain images, we can see the truth of “as above, so below” and the inter-connectedness of all things.

My favorite part is the creation of the sand mandala towards the beginning and the teaching of non-attachment that it circles back to at the end. This is one of the main messages I took from the film: to be non-attached to our thoughts as they come and go.

If you have any desire to really travel the world, this is the film for you. Just expect an amazing instillation at a modern art museum and not an educational National Geographic program. Be mindful of your thoughts and I promise you that you’ll learn something new about how you relate to the world. Certainly that is worth the price of a movie ticket, is it not?!

Entertain-Enlighten-Inspire,

Kate Neligan  - Founder/CEO of Synergy TV

P.S.  Big THANK YOU to the University of Santa Monica for inviting me to see this film and to Mark Magidson and Ron Fricke for making a stunning masterpiece.

 

One of the best short films ever made... "Change for a Dollar"

This is a MUST see short, drop everything you are doing and watch it now - it is amazing! I was crying within two minutes and couldn't stop sopping until the end. However, it's not sad at all - it's inspiring and uplifting and will make you feel better about humanity.

"Change for a Dollar" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DXL9vIUbWg

I had to post about this right away because I am so moved and deeply touched by the journey this film takes us on in just ten minutes and with only six words of dialogue. I wanted to share it so hopefully you are as well.

I've always believed that the homeless are actually highly evolved souls that come here as teachers for all of us. The first time I heard this was in "Embraced by the Light" which is a beautiful book that really looks at our homeless in a very different way.

What came forward for me while watching this is that homeless men and women truly are angels. Especially the one in this film. Why, you might ask? Because if we are ever triggered by them or get emotionl - they are being of service to our own personal growth and healing.

There is nothing less human about them because they don't work or because they might be a little dirty from the streets. They are still divine beings having a human experience just like the rest of us and it is a simple choice to shower them with compassion rather than judgment.

Every single time I see a homeless person I say the following blessing: "peace be with you" and this has been a silent prayer for years for me and I know some day one of them will look at me and say "and also with you" because I KNOW they are connected and tapped in to Source. We are no different and in fact, we are all connected.

I am so grateful for this video, the different and refreshing perspective, and for the acts of kindness so gracefully demonstrated. The only thing that is wrong with our homeless population is our own greed and any collective consciousness regarding lack.

It is time America to live more simply, do with less and help our brothers and sisters with what they need. There is ENOUGH, we are enough.....let's start acting like it.

My heartfelt prayer is that more of these films are made and seen, so we can look into the mirror to a better humanity. My promise is that I will do everything I can to see this happen.

- Kate Neligan
Founder/CEO of Synergy TV
Enterain - Enlighten - Inspire