Movies Depicting The Power of We #BAD12 #Powerofwe #BlogActionDay

The Monday Movie Meme comes special delivered today from my participation on the 2012 Blog Action Day.

Each year around mid-October, bloggers from around the world (including me) bring awareness to one particular issue or cause. I’ve been participating in #BlogActionDay for about four years now and am glad to be a part of something that reminds us all that we can do our part, no matter how big or small, to make the world a better place. So, this week’s Monday Movie Meme topic is the same as the #BAD12 theme this year: The Power of We.

Share on your blog or in the comments section, movies that depict people working together to make a positive difference in the world for the benefit of their own communities or for strangers whom they may never meet in person.

Remember the Titans

Segregation was a huge part of one small town in this movie, until two football coaches brought their community together by setting aside their own differences, prejudices and assumptions about each other to build a winning team that just happened to be racially diverse. The positive impact that they made had a trickle-down approach from the coaches to the football team, thanks to the efforts of Gerry and Julius -- two team captains who changed the way their teammates, parents, friends and neighbors treated each other on the football field and out in the street.

Lean on Me

One evening, the entire population of Eastside High School Students walked to their local courthouse and demanded that their principal -- who was jailed for fire code violations at the time -- be freed. Rewind to the beginning of this film and it would be hard to imagine that students at this particular school cared about anything other than the drug trafficking and violence that littered their hallways and classrooms.

Thanks to the hard work and leadership of one no-nonsense principal, however, these students learned the value of not only education but also how working together as a team can bring positive results. They learned this because their principal lead by example -- demanding excellence from his teaching staff and holding parents accountable for students’ behavior, punctuality and literacy skills. The delegated responsibilities for improvement didn’t stop there, he also held the students accountable for their choices -- inside and out of the classroom.

Of the many unforgettable scenes and lines in this movie, there is one that sums up it’s Power of We: “Free Mr. Clark!”

Very Young Girls

This documentary follows the lives of teenage girls who are being exploited in human trafficking , particularly street prostitution. It mainly features the work of non-profit organization Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), a service that helps girls rebuild their lives and escape from violent pimps. A few years back, I rented this movie from Netflix just out of curiosity since I had never heard of it before browsing the rental offerings and although I didn’t necessarily like the documentary overall, I did find GEMS’s work to be very inspiring.

What movies have YOU watched that showcase The Power of We concept in some way, shape or form?

It's that Extra Mile that Counts - Words from an Oscar Nominee

"Sometimes in life you have to give that extra 5 or 10 percent, and that really makes the difference.” - Jeremy Renner

Actor Jeremy Renner at the 83rd Annual Academy Awards. Photo Coutesy of WEBN-TV.Some movie goers may be surprised to learn that Jeremy Renner was an savvy real estate expert before becoming the action star he his today -- the kind of action star who also receives Academy Award nominations and performs his own stunts. If his Esquire Magazine cover story is any indication, however, Renner’s experience flipping houses has not only aided in the progression of his film career but also offers some mighty useful lessons on the importance of taking calculated steps toward specific goals.  

Renner says "Architecture and building is about how you get around the obstacles that are presented to you -- That sometimes determines how successful you'll be: How good are you at going around obstacles?" and he sure does know a thing or two about getting around obstacles. When Jeremy Renner was first starting to get noticed for his acting work, a stalker fascinated with Jeffrey Dahmer stole his cat and then, using a contract for his role in the crime-thriller ‘S.W.A.T,’ he managed to obtain enough capital from a bank to purchase a home -- despite having only $200 to his name at the time.

That one purchase eventually led to him buying, renovating and selling over one dozen houses for millions of dollars -- during the same time when he wasn’t even earning more than mid five figures for his acting work on some of the most critically acclaimed films with million-dollar budgets. Although Renner, who is not in favor of gambling in the stock market, made enough savvy investment choices in the real estate market to turn a profit, he still maintained a modest lifestyle -- even sleeping on plastic-covered mattresses in the very houses he was renovating, and using the bathroom at Starbucks when these properties didn’t have plumbing.

You’d probably never guess that Renner was attending red carpet events as a tuxedo-sporting Academy Award nominee who didn’t have lighting in his own home -- but this is an actor who sees the bigger picture and focuses on that. Jeremy Renner seems like a guy who would rather sleep on the floor in an empty home that he owns than pay to rent rooms at lavish hotels, despite the fact that he could afford it, even with the little bit of money coming from Hollywood.

Affordability appears to have never been a big deal to Renner, more so than having options to help further his next move, whether that be in film or real estate. The money coming in from selling houses gave Renner more flexibility when it came to choosing the kind of acting roles he could play and then parlay his talents into even bigger opportunities from one film to the next. He hasn’t needed to accept a role out of desperation and still managed to go from playing a cannibalistic serial killer in ‘Dahmer’ to doing fight scenes with Tom Cruise in ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ and then becoming internationally known as a superhero in ‘The Avengers.’

The advancements that Jeremy Renner has made so far in his career couldn’t be planned any better. Much like the real estate business, however, there was no way for Jeremy Renner to guarantee that he would do well in the film industry. All he could do was put his best foot forward and let the chips fall where they may. “The Avengers” could have bombed at the box office and “The Bourne Legacy” could have been a flop but Renner took a gamble on his most valuable asset -- himself -- and it paid off well, literally (His earnings from “The Bourne Legacy” makes what he was paid on “The Hurt Locker” look like lunch money) and figuratively.

Every time they bought a new house, Renner and his partner-friend would meet at a diner where they used napkins to map out plans for turning it into the kind of property that they want. When the house sells, this duo got more out of if than they put into it where finances are concerned, but, there is no price that one can put on their sweat equity during the renovation process nor the sacrifices they made (going without power and plumbing; sleeping on floors to save money, etc.) early on in the game. Adopting the same practices for almost any area of life are bound to bring us similar results.

If there is a lesson in this for us to learn, it is that of not only realizing the importance of knowing where we want to go, but also to know how we’re going to get there and then do it. Who knows, if we add on a little five to ten percent of extra effort, maybe, just maybe, we might land on or near our target. I guess it’s better to be closer to where you want to be than far away, doing nothing and wondering what could’ve been. So, I’ll try to keep this in mind when I think I’m moving too slow because slow motion may be better than no motion at all.

What is YOUR favorite Jeremy Renner performance to date?

I liked him in "The Bourne Legacy," but "The Town" still wins in my book.

The Most Dangerous Kids in Cinema

It’s time for another installment of the Monday Movie Meme. This week’s theme is all about the kind of danger that comes in small packages:Crazy Babies.

Some of you might be singing the Ozzy Osbourne song now but just put that aside for a minute, ok?! Now, share on your blog or in the comments section, movies featuring abnormal kids who wreak havoc on their environment, ultimately destroying people, places or things in it. Here are my selections for this week’s Crazy Babies meme.

Gage
This toddler in “Pet Sematary” is out for blood when he returns from the dead, steals his father’s scalpel and attacks a neighbor.

The Red Queen
Anyone who underestimates this computer generated little girl is in for a rude awakening. She intends to wipe out the entire human race, using bioweapons and other tricks up her sleeve in “Resident Evil: Retribution.”

Cid
This little motherfucker is a force to be reckoned with. That’s all I’m going to say about him today. He’s also the reason why I picked “crazy babies” for this week’s meme. You MUST go see “Looper” starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, while it’s in theaters!

Who are some of the most dangerous kids YOU’VE seen in a movie?