Movie Review: Warrior

  Warrior tells the story of two struggling brothers, who after being apart for over fourteen years are now set to clash in 'Sparta' a mixed martial arts tournament.

Warrior takes a modern approach to the well-trodden fight-film formula by swapping boxing for Mixed martial arts (MMA) offering not just one, but two fighter's stories.

Very much a film of two rounds, the first a well handled, moving melodrama that sets the tone for the climatic, brotherly bash, with both brother's stories being told separately. The second an intense, blood pumping hour long tournament sequence that has some brilliantly choreographed punching and grappling. It is pure Rocky, the first of the films many comparisons to genre defining classics.

'Warrior' number one; Tom Hardy plays Tommy Conlon, drunker fighter, war hero and an all-round angry boy. He wants to get back in the ring after returning from service in the Marines. He's carrying a whole lot of baggage and fury when he turns up on his trainer Dad's (Nick Nolte) doorstep. For Tommy, Sparta seems to be his path to exercising his demons.

Weighing in at probably slightly less, 'Warrior' number two; Brendon (Joel Edgerton), the other brother has the heart of an underdog; a physics teacher by day moonlighting by night, fighting in biker-bar cage fights, trying to earn enough to keep his home. For a reluctant Brendon, Sparta represents his big chance to solve all his money problems.

Both brothers share one thing in common, they cannot forgive their Dad for his past drunken misdemeanours and mistreatment of their mother, which led the family to split fourteen years previous. They haven't seen each other since.

Dad, Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) is a pitiful shadow of a man deeply in remorse, lonely and a thousand days clean of booze. Trying his best, he is desperate to gain forgiveness from his sons and is struggling not to see Tommy's reappearance and request to train him once more as a hope of redemption. Tommy makes it crushingly clear that their arrangement is purely professional and rejects any attempts of becoming father and son again.

It is scenes with Tommy and Paddy that are the most melancholy; Tommy continually rebuffs Paddy's attempts at absolution and glossy reminiscing. Paddy endures a humiliating verbal bruising that is painful and pitiful to watch as he accepts his demeaning punishment for his past crimes. Paddy's resulting remission forces Tommy to concede momentarily with a touching gesture of care that shows the only glimpse of forgiveness and pity that still exists towards his father. This is 'Warrior's' most emotional and insightful moment, truly sad but brilliant.

Of all the relationships within Warrior it is this father and son relationship that is most hurtful to watch and the most we want to see repaired, both Nolte and Hardy are brilliant, Nolte as good as ever and rightfully earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The second round's hour long tournament action is superbly handled, with some fantastic fight action and brilliantly dynamic direction from Gavin O'Connor ('Pride and Glory' Brilliant also).

Shaky and gritty close ups give a real sense of combat, showing equally the intricacies and ultra-violence of an undoubtedly tough sport. It is again here, that Hardy and Edgerton excel in devoting themselves to the demands of their roles, all physicality, anger and pain, both showing differing fighting styles that too represent the character of the two brothers.

Tommy is all rage and brutal intimidation, moving from one bout to the next, driven by fury and a need to exercise his own demons. Brendon is tough, technical and full of heart, taking a beating on his tentative path to battle his sibling. The climatic brotherly battle is brilliant, emotional and fitting.

Warrior is always going to be compared with definitive 'fight' films like Rocky and the identical brotherly (un)love of Raging Bull, and although not quite matching those two genre defining classics, 'Warrior' primarily tells an emotional tale of clan dysfunction, that is painfully sad and meaningful, set against a brilliant, charged final hour that may provide hope of family reconciliation.

As promised two weeks ago, here is my report on my presentation at the APMP Conference panel where I spoke alongside Steve Shipley (the founder of Shipley and the proposal profession), Steve Myers (the creator of SM&A who also says he was the actual founder of the profession), and three other colleagues. I don't know exactly who gets what credit for founding the proposal profession, as I only heard Steve Shipley's story in a filmed interview that I will post on the web soon. Steve M. just said it was him, period, in his notorious self-assured style, so I may interview him at some point to get the story straight.

On a side note, it is interesting how the Shipley and SM&A companies' personalities are consistent with their founders' approaches. For example, Steve Shipley is rather sweet. Did you know he has six kids and 19 grandchildren? Or that he was a missionary in Ghana during the brief period when Shipley company was sold? This is very much consistent with Shipley company's approach of sharing their toolset with the entire world https://ulflag.com/. It looks like a fully congruent business model with Steve S' personality.

Steve M. was very different. He flew his own plane to the conference just in time for his talks, and left promptly. Steve M. had a very engineer-like approach. He also said he and his company were "the best in the world" several times. His advice to me was on the point, without extra words spared. He had a piercing gaze and an upright stance. His demeanor may be intimidating to many because he would be right at home at the "Shark Tank" show. By the way, if you have entrepreneurial leanings and haven't watched the show, do - it is excellent. Again, Steve M. was very much like what SM&A (that he recently sold) is known for.

It all made me think of what OST is like. I think OST is congruent with my own approach to life: share the knowledge freely with everyone to make this profession easier and more enjoyable. Focus on efficiency and practicality of its application, and highlight the finer points that are keys to proposal mastery. OST is a thought leader that's hard-working, lean, mean, and innovative, but also kind and fun. I hope you have picked that up from our communications.

So, with that long introduction (which, ironically, wasn't lean and mean but I was bursting to share), here are some more future predictions that I shared at the panel on "Proposal Pioneers and Today's Warriors."

Here are the likely changes in the proposal field in the next 10 years:

Continued decrease in proposal budgets due to lower margins, smaller deals, and higher pressures on contractors.

Greater competition overall; more sophistication and competitiveness, especially among small businesses.

More proposal professionals joining the consultant ranks.

Increased use of "social collaboration" - virtualization will do to proposals what social networking did to connectedness and disconnectedness.

Expanded use of performance metrics to figure out success rates, monitor productivity and workloads, and track status of proposals in the pipeline dashboards.

A move to a thin, rather than a thick, process with a shift of emphasis onto the intelligence behind it, as well as the proposal content.

Two conflicting (or balancing) forces intensified:

Commoditization and a resulting drop in compensation because of the greater number of proposal professionals

The opposite of commoditization - increased professionalism leading to acceptance that proposals are not an administrative task and that all professionals are not created equal.

The keys to avoiding commoditization are in getting deeper training and cross-training because of how the proposal field works, as shown in this graphic:

In other, "lean and mean," words, better trained and more versatile proposal professionals who can cover more areas of the BD Lifecycle will be more competitive and will command higher pay.

Please let me know what you think about my predictions. I know that not everyone will agree. For example, Steve M. was debating with me on thin process, disagreeing with the agile handling of the proposal steps.

Don't Understand The Real Estate Game? Read These Buying Tips!

Buying a home is a complicated and exiting process. In this day and age, it can also be very confusing, and changes come quickly. This article is composed of helpful advice and tips to make home buying an easier and more enjoyable experience for you, and one that will yield more positive results!

When you are buying a home you should always try to make sure that there hasn't been any work done that didn't have a permit. Things like a extra room or a kitchen update need a permit, and if there wasn't one you may be the party that has to bring it up to code if it isn't.

Think of a new house as a part of your future. Choose a house based less on your current circumstances, and more on where you see yourself in five to ten years. If a house will still suit your needs in that many years, it might be worth placing an offer.

If you do not plan to live in an area for very long, it is a better idea to rent than to purchase. You do not incur the cost of trying to sell the property when you need to move, and you do not sink money into improvements that you don't actually benefit from.

First-time home buyers have to make the decision whether to buy a starter home, or a home they are willing to live in for a long time. Nowadays, with the financial and job market so uncertain, and the housing market unstable, it would probably be a better idea to buy a home for a long period of time. Starter homes, which are usually not ideal for the family, might be hard or impossible to sell, and the buyer may have to live in an unsuitable house for a long time.

When you are ready to make an offer on a home, make sure that you get a pre-approval letter from your mortgage company. This will show the seller that you are a serious buyer and will help put the seller at ease over the fact that you do qualify for a mortgage, for the amount that the house is selling for.

Veterans of the armed forces should consider taking advantage of a VA loan when purchasing their next home www.sedalawfirm.com. VA loans offer no down payment options, and all closing costs can paid by the seller. There are capped points on a VA loan as well, and another veteran can assume your loan when it's time to sell.

Stay away from looking at short sale properties if you need to buy a home in a hurry. While you can get an excellent deal with these properties, the homeowner's lender will have to approve your offer, meaning that it could take several months for you to purchase the property.

Before you finalize your offer on a home purchase, it is important to hire a professional home inspector to conduct a standard inspection on the home. This can help you avoid a costly home buying error. After arranging the home inspection, plan to be there with the inspector during the entire process. Make a list of any questions or items of concern that you want to address before finalizing the purchase of the home. A thorough inspection should take two to three hours and cover everything from the foundation to the roof.

When you have set your goals for buying or selling a home, be sure to record them. You are free to be as detailed as you like in setting your goals, since making a record of them will prevent you from forgetting them later. In fact, the more specific the goals are that you record, the better. They will remind you not to settle too easily.

When considering the purchase of your first home, look into a fixed-rate mortgage and payments that are affordable. With this fixed-rate mortgage, your budget will be set monthly with no surprises, such as n interest rate increase, rearing their ugly head if you had chosen an adjustable-rate mortgage. Also, keep your monthly payments in a comfortable range compatible with your monthly income.

If you do not have a lot of furniture and you are looking to sell your home it is always a good idea to rent a bit of furniture. Many buyers like being able to imagine how well their things will fit into a home and having furniture there for comparison is very helpful.

Researching your future property is one of the most important things you can do when purchasing real estate. You should have the property surveyed to assure that nothing is encroaching on the estate's property lines. If you buy and later discover such an issue it will be harder to remedy.

When buying real estate, always make sure to check other similar houses in the area and see the competitive prices. If a house is especially expensive compared to similar houses in similar neighborhoods in the same community, use that information to negotiate a lower price, or take your business elsewhere.

Select a real estate agent with care who excels at what they do and whom you like on a personal level. Buying your new home is a huge financial decision and commitment, not to mention one that is emotional. It is of the utmost importance to select an agent that is skilled and one that meshes well with your personally.

One key to buying real estate in the current down market is to find houses that are selling for a small percentage of what their worth. Easier said than done, right? Well, one way to do this is to find houses that were taken because of back taxes. Usually you can purchase the house for the back taxes, plus any debt on the house. Often this is a fraction of what the house or property is actually worth.

You need to learn a lot and keep so many things in mind as you take each step toward buying a home and hopefully, you are now better prepared to do that! The ability to learn from others without making mistakes yourself is one of life's gifts, so take this information to the bank, the realtor, and everyone else involved with your home buying and be much better off for it!