Review: It Happened One Night

I admit I'm a bit of a sucker for screwball comedies and the work of Capra, so I'm a little astonished I've never checked out It Happened One Night before now.

According to Wikipedia, this is perhaps the earliest example of a screwball comedy. The story follows the classic formula of two mismatched people thrown together, often across a class as well as gender divide.  Verbal sparring and eventually romance result.

It's a little creaky in places (mostly sound design), but still feels surprisingly tight and well-paced overall.  Inevitably, not all of the jokes and humorous interludes will work for modern audiences - the bus sing-song is quaint but hard to imagine occurring nowadays.  Similarly, I had to dredge my school memories for the walls of Jericho reference.

Colbert and Gable have real chemistry and are gently charming as a couple although the sudden epiphany on Colbert's character feels a little bit of a stretch.

Verdict: Classic Rom-Com

Review: The Innovation Blindspot

Baird's book is a timely and important one as the startup investing sector has made some high profile mistakes recently.

His contention is this is a pattern recognition problem with VCs. VCs aren't doing enough to encourage genuinely innovative entrepreneurs because they don't meet venture capital's criteria for success like:

• Being white and male
• Knowing the right people
• Living in Silicon Valley
• Solving problems recognisable to the VC's own lifestyle

and that kind of groupthink is causing them to miss out on the best ideas.

More worryingly, it can also reduce investors' chances of making a successful investment. For example, Baird's Village Capital found that companies with female founders outperform male ones by 20+ per cent in terms of revenue earned and jobs created.

Baird's argument becomes compelling as he describes case study after case study where non-traditional founders, social enterprises and non-Silicon valley startup locations have performed better than the average.

He also offers some excellent tips on how to combat your own pattern recognition biases to focus on impact investing. One, that is relevant for my own work in leading a startup-in-residence programme for a UK charity,  is to recruit makers and entrepreneurs onto your evaluation team. We stumbled upon this combination of including both women and entrepreneurs on our judging panel, but after reading this book I've made sure it is written it into our selection criteria.

I can also imagine making use of the VIRAL framework, and it has inspired a few more ideas on how we can encourage a startup ecosystem which aligns to my non-profit's work.

Verdict: Hugely thought-provoking

If you want to do know more, please visit the book's accompanying website, Innovation-blindspot.com.

Review: The Shack

As an atheist, this Christian themed fantasy thriller was an unusual choice. But perhaps less so, considering the missus is a Christian and so was her friend whom she invited over.

My general view is that very few explicitly Christian-themed movies, apart from Hollywood epics (including Gibson's Passion of the Christ), cut the mustard for me. The acting is often dreadful, the scripts heavy handed as can be almost every other remaining aspect of the production. I've had to sit through some right dreck while the missus makes rare allowances because of their spiritual core.  On reflection, that's not unlike myself with 60s episodes of Doctor Who.

The Shack represents a rare departure from the norm. It'll never be mainstream viewing, but the production values are high, and the acting is solid. There were only few moments which felt slightly awkward to a non-believer. It probably helped to cast Worthington, who while not having the greatest range, brings some acting chops. I also enjoyed Spencer's portrayal of Papa. Accepting, grounded and gently probing, this is God as a life coach. If a relationship with God was this tangible, accessible and universal - I imagine more would do it.  Perhaps AI, virtual reality and/or psychedelics will bridge the gap in the future.

Personally, I didn't find the Christian message too heavy handed - but I'm probably about as far away as an atheist can get from an evangelical like Richard Dawkins.  In fact, it caused me to question some of my past perceptions. For example, that no-one may adequately judge another and that no-one ends up in hell.  I can't imagine that going down too well in certain parts of the Christian faith spectrum.

A comparison I kept returning when watching this movie was the Matrix. That's perhaps not too surprising given the shifts in reality perception and themes of religious mysticism.

Verdict: Digestible Christianity

Thought: The future's bright, but only if you get to define it

Robert Jungk, one of the community futures pioneers, tells the story of taking some "deeply pessimistic" German youngsters, found by a competition, through a futures workshop, to discover that they produced much more optimistic images of the future. "Asked to explain the contradiction, one of them answered, to general assent: 'It's obvious. In the competition we were asked what kind of future we expected. Here we were asked what kind of future we want' " (Jungk & Mullert, 1996, p.15).

Seeing in Multiple Horizons: Connecting Futures to Strategy 

Review: Now you see me

The first third or so of this magician heist thriller feels fresh and visually dazzling, and the rest maintains a good momentum.  But with magic, it's not just about misdirection but also allowing the audience to appreciate the pay off.

Now you see me doesn't quite manage to deliver this on the pay off side of things. It's various plot strands are never satisfyingly wrapped up and the characters largely remain cyphers meaning there's no-one to root for.

Verdict: Glitters not gold. 

Thought: Overcoming self-doubt before presenting

Mel Robbins gives a great tip on overcoming self-doubt before presenting in a meeting anything!

Mentally say to yourself. 5....4....3...2...1. Go!

To see more, check out her CreativeLive course on How to Break the Habit of Self-Doubt and Build Real Confidence.

Review: Uncle Nino

Harmless fish-out-of-water comedy about an Italian uncle who goes to stay with his American family lacks bite. Mild and predictable, it occasionally stretches credulity and leans towards sentimentality without much explanation. For example, the eponymous character somehow manages to become semi-fluent in English within a few days.

Verdict: A fishy tale.