Author: Ninjafang

Cold Beautiful Aesthetics

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

One of my favourite film directors is David Fincher.

His volume of work is impressive, even though lately, he has failed to recapture some of the more profitable success of his yesteryears.

If I had to pick out my favourite Fincher film, it would be: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011). It was my first real exposure to his style, work and overall artistic direction in which he crafts his films. It’s also, arguably one of his most complete and cohesive works.

However, I’m not here to talk about his films per se. I can wrap that up in an IMPACT series later.

No, what I’m here to talk about is … my own style and appreciation for aesthetics, that aligns with Fincher.

One of the more interesting questions I’ve been exploring, as I am on the verge of owning my own camera, a Sony ZV-E10 Mark II, is my own style.

What do I like? What do I appreciate? What moves me and grabs my attention? If asked to frame a photo, what would I do?

This led me down a rabbit hole discussion with my friends about how they see the world, if asked to create a still photo. For them, they try to evoke a feeling they felt when they take a photo. The subject itself isn’t as crucial as their ability to edit after. They want the shot, so that they can use certain filters and pre-sets onto the photo after and invoke a feeling.

I have a different approach. If asked, I would rather not edit my photo afterwards at all.

About 80% of that reason is laziness. I’m only just starting to understand photography a bit more, (all meaningless research, as I have yet to receive my camera, let alone play with the settings) and the idea of getting an Adobe subscription to Lightroom or Photoshop to spend more time editing a photo is tiresome to me.

The other 20% though, is because I would rather take the Fincher approach. Appreciate an image in its cold, still beauty.

In what seems like a tiny dip into the pond of creating images, I still recall fondly playing around on my PS4, with Gran Turismo Sport (2017) photo mode.

I would spend hours placing my favourite cars in various different settings, tweaking their position, their location in the frame and trying to achieve a sense of speed in a still photo.

But the one thing I never really played with was the filters. I hated the colour combinations. To me, an image is perfect when it reflects reality. I don’t like seeing reality in a different lens. It reminds me of why I hated the trend of certain films to stick to a colour palette throughout the film because they are trying to invoke an exotic location.

Think Extraction (2020) with its yellow hues across the entire film, because it’s set in India or whenever a place tries to film in Mexico, the effect is this yellow tone throughout the entire film, ala Spectre (2015).

This isn’t to say that Fincher doesn’t play with his colours. He is famous for his desaturated colour palettes. The greys, blues, black and muted greens are famously part of his style.

Everything in his films is almost lifeless. The camera moves with a robotic precision, removing that famous technique of “shaky-cam” where you know a real breathing human is holding the camera to capture the shot.

The colours in his films are tonally cold, showing you the viewer, a more clinical way at looking at the world. His actors undergo, gruelling numbers of takes, up to 70 or more, to remove what he describes the “earnestness” from their acting.

Even the music, by his longtime friends and collaborators, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Nine Inch Nails -NIN) is haunting, metronomic and eerie because of their lack of central theme and almost slavish conviction to capture a moment in the film, not sum up the entirety of the film with a grand overture.

It’s a cold way at looking at the world. Cynical, almost bleak and yet … it’s arresting.

Because everything looks incredibly good in his film. I personally love the almost abstract clinical way in which he looks at his films and art.

Another excellent example of this, is the cinematography of the show Hannibal (2013) which invokes that same eerie, cold beautiful aesthetic. Of course, one of the central themes of that show is to showcase the beauty that can be found in horror, something that I think Fincher can definitely relate to, considering the subject matter of so many of his works.

Hannibal has that same unsettling factor as Fincher films. Whether you are looking at corpses, beautifully prepared food, murder, conversations at the dinner table or nervous breakdowns from Will Graham, it’s all shot in a very aesthetically pleasing way, to almost convince you that there is something elegant and beautiful about the macabre.

I suppose it’s that refined elegance that I want to capture in my style. It ties in with my interest in architecture, how I love the Art Deco period and its use of circles and straight lines to dramatise certain features like columns and windows. That movement stir a similar feeling in me when I look at Mid-Century-Modern use of lines, a fascinating way of scaling everything back to almost simplistic basic uses of everything, without frills or additional embellishments.

So, this then begs the question, if I am truly all about my realistic, trimmed back aesthetic, where I see everything is almost like a machine would, except this machine could appreciate beauty somehow, what kind of photos would I take?

To me, my photos would largely be almost subject-less, or a moment where a person feels a part of the greater landscape than the primary focus.

I’ll try and capture the mood with my descriptions of certain shots or atmosphere in films I particularly like.

In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), David Fincher elects to go with a very muted, cold, almost blue aesthetic to the film. Everything is incredibly clinical. The shot of Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salander when you see her face for the first time, is in profile, side on, to showcase her mohawk, against a clear sky, in a mundane office setting.

It is striking, memorable and deliberate in how Fincher framed the film’s protagonist for the first time. Lisbeth doesn’t belong in this corporate setting, she’s deliberately sitting apart from her superiors on the other end of the table and there’s an alien nature to her that makes her both weirdly attractive and incredibly off-putting.

I love this film for its muted, almost too real aesthetic. I love the idea that if I walk out into reality, I might see this type of image right there. It’s that exciting feeling of being able to recreate or experience a movie shot, that I’ve seen before, that I really treasure. I like my films being shot so similar to how I view the world, to make my own world more exciting.

In the lead up to this moment, we are told “I prefer she works from home” and the looks she garners as she walks through the office, proves why.

F1 (2025) by the Joseph Kosinki is another example of a director whose style I’ve loved throughout every single film he’s done, from his breakout with Tron Legacy (2010), to his more underrated sci-fi thriller, Oblivion (2013), to his blockbuster Top Gun Maverick (2022).

F1, for all its faults (for which I have many), is a beautifully shot film. The cars look amazing, the shots of Pitt’s Sonny Hayes driving is incredibly immersive and the sound design is excellent. But my favourite scene by far, weren’t the F1 races.

As a guy who has volunteered as a track marshal for multiple Australian Grand Prixes now, I know how fast and also how incredibly boring F1 races are. The overtakes are minimal, the track action is dull beyond the first 5 laps and it becomes a parade really quickly.

But what I’ve always loved were the support races. I grew a whole new appreciation for the home-grown Supercars category, how fast, aggressive and angry they all are to each other. I became a massive fan of the Porsche Carrera Cup races, because they showcased the skill of every single driver and how it is possible to have good racing at Albert Park if everyone has equal machinery.

This love for the Porsche Carrera Cup, is exactly why I loved the 24hrs Daytona sequence at the very beginning of the film. When I saw the brake calipers light up, in the storm of fireworks, along the iconic cambered track of Daytona International Speedway, I knew that this film was cool. That shot of the brakes glowing red hot, is my favourite in the entire film, because it perfectly sums up what makes racing cool in my eyes.

Again, a shot, devoid of humans, but showcasing the beauty of small details that everyone misses in the grander scheme of things. That is the kind of shot I really love, getting in the granular details of things that would be underappreciated for their complexity and beauty. It reminds me so much of the chase camera that would be strapped to the side of the car, showcasing the intense revolutions of the tyres, along the speeding surface of the road in Miami Vice (1984).

Sonny Hayes’ Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) braking hard before a crucial turn, allowing the BMW to out-brake himself and sending him careening off track. The classic bait and switch in racing.

Skyfall (2012) is arguably the best-looking Bond film in the entire franchise. The cinematography of Roger Deakins is immaculate, and the sheer clarity of the images I was seeing on screen, from the greys of London’s skies to the dark nights of Shanghai really sold to me the theory, that I preferred seeing things through my own eyes.

My favourite sequence in the entire film, from a pure aesthetic standpoint, is the entire time that Bond is in Shanghai. The way how Deakins captures the inherent urban beauty of Shanghai is just perfect. I loved the way how he utilises the reflection motif throughout the entire scene, starting with Bond sitting at a bar, awaiting orders and intel on when his target, Patrice would arrive at the airport. This is then echoed later, when they have their climatic showdown in a room full of mirrors, a beautifully shot scene with their silhouettes masking which agent is which.

But it was the opening B-roll of Shanghai that initially grabbed my attention. It was such a different aesthetic to the film prior, because we went from the dusty streets and train action scene of Istanbul to the cold, tunnels of London and now thrust into the new glittery metropolis of Shanghai.

The way how crystal clear Deakins shoots the nightlife of Shanghai is what I really adore about the scenes. It’s so clear, without the odd additional filters (Instanbul’s dusty yellow, London’s greys). Its again, clinically showing us what Shanghai actually looks like.

It also showcases the unique angles that only films can achieve, by slowing zooming in to a rooftop hotel pool that only has Bond swimming in it. His existence is lonely, in a city of 25 million people, and there are echoes of what I call the Lost in Translation (2003) effect, where you can feel isolated despite being surrounded by people.

The way how Shanghai was filmed, has now piqued my interest in visiting the city. I fell in love with the reflections, the clean lines, the shimmering lights because of the way how Deakins faithfully adapts to the film how the city actually looks.

Bond awaiting orders from M, taking in a moment before his assignment kicks off. They say that to be a good spy, is to be the most patient person alive.

What about then, if I had to take photos of people? After all people are a vital part of any photographs.

Through silhouettes is my default preference.

Sicario (2015) has one of the greatest use of sunsets I have ever seen placed onto film. The way how Roger Deakins uses the natural lighting of the area and timing of the sunset to captures the moment the soldiers descend into the darkness of the ground is incredibly evocative.

My jaw dropped when I first saw this scene because of how cinematic it was. It was an incredible display of visual storytelling at its finest and really sold to me, how much I love seeing things in their raw format, because nothing quite beats seeing something clearly, especially when you capture a moment like this.

I love the featureless elements of silhouettes. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved seeing how my shadow moves in accordance with the sun, and much like everyone else, sometimes wondered if that shadow belonged to someone else, who just mimicking my movements.

It’s why certain images, like the iconic Mad Men (2007) silhouette promotional image, and shots like in Sicario feel more immersive to me, because I can just picture myself in that same moment. I like being able to pretend that it is me in that moment, walking towards the Mexican/American border, hunting for the cartel under the cover of night.

It also brings into light what I like about silhouettes … they are often candid shots. People doing something. I’ve always struggled with portraits and framing people in certain ways, because when they pose, there is an air of inauthenticity about the whole thing.

I can never get the arm positions to look natural, or to capture the smile just right. It’s inherently … false.

It also doesn’t help that my limited experience in photography stems from my course in photojournalism at university, where guerilla street photography is king, capturing candid moments almost like a paparazzi would.

Couple that with my events background, I’m definitely skewed towards candid photos. I love capturing raw moments but framed in such a way that offers context to why people are doing what they are doing and in a very clean, clear way.

In my mind, I can see the shots I want to take and often wish I could just take a photo with my eyes, because I see something worth capturing in the moment. Like when my girlfriend laughs a certain way, or when she is looking at something that puzzles her.

It’s those moments that feel real to me, and I don’t want to see a whole bunch of filters or other stuff that gets in the way and sully the rawness of the moment.

It’s why I can almost relate to Fincher’s insistence on doing so many takes. You want to remove the “poser” element out of the acting performance and get to the real essence. The actor has to disappear into the role in a sense so that everything they do, from breathing to the very words being spoken, are so natural that you forget an actor is there.

That sense of capturing a raw and real moment, through crystal clear cameras, is what I love about the cold beautiful aesthetics. Because there is a clinical appreciation for what is aesthetically attractive in front of you. It’s a strange marriage between art and science.

You’re trying to insert unfeeling precision into something that is inherently passionate.

Sicario (2015) – One of the coolest shots ever … a group of SOF operators descending into the ground, during a sunset.

Fincher once said in an interview, that “people are perverts”. It’s something that has stuck with me ever since. After all, there is always a sense of voyeurism about taking photos or creating films.

And people are social creatures. We love prying our noses into other people’s business and trying to work out why people do what they do.

Hell, even the basic question “How are you?” is inherently inquisitive. We always want updates on people we know, what they are up to, whether they have undergone any change.

Yet how we approach this “perversion” is everything.

At the end of the day, I like to treat it almost mechanically.

I know what moves me, and what I deem attractive. I’ve always had a very clear vision on this.

I think it’s important that I know what I appreciate as art and what I don’t. Because at the end of the day, if you can’t decide on whether something is attractive to you, then you can’t define what is unattractive.

It’s why I have a clear disdain for a lot of contemporary art. All of it is drivel to me. I have no interest in it. If I need a paragraph to explain something visual … then it’s failed to do it’s job.

I don’t need a written or oral speech on how a banana taped to a wall is indicative of something deeper.

It’s not. It’s a fucking banana taped to a wall, that has zero merit. It has zero artistic value to me, because I’ve never thought a banana as attractive, or tape on its own, nor a blank wall …. or the entire combination of the three.

This dismissive attitude then frees me up to look for something I do like. I can explore the why behind the things I do like. Whether that’d be a French Impressionist landscape or the way how my girlfriend’s lashes flutter on my chest, I can look deeper into those moments because I find they have value.

Photography is a way to express my appreciation for what I find attractive, just like it is for millions of photographers out there. But we all differ in how we capture aesthetics.

For me, part of my aesthetics is to capture what I see through my eyes. I’m not interested in “distorting” or “editing” the photos beyond what I see. It’s a very rational, deep appreciation for what I already view out there. It’s about capturing something in the moment, when everything is aligned …. subject, lighting, framing and mood.

I’m almost objectively trying to capture something aesthetically pleasing.

It’s a process that is mechanical, clinical and almost unfeeling, so that there can be no arguments that I tried to make something beautiful, more or less than it is.

You are almost forced to admit that what I capture is pleasing, because you know that I didn’t try to enhance the image in any way.

This is what I mean, when I try to describe my preference for cold, beautiful aesthetics.

It’s why I love the cinematography of Fincher films and those similar to him, like Joseph Kosinski or even Denis Villeneuve. They’re calculated and precise in how they frame images and present them. Their cameras move very smoothly, to remove the human element behind them. Very little is done to touch up the image itself. Their score is minimalist to enhance the mood of the scene, rather than distract.

Of course, there will always be a love for more bombastic styles. I appreciate the need for other techniques in other films and admire them as well. Daredevil’s use of a hallway oner, John William’s use of horns, Michael Bay’s iconic 360 sweep or the overacting of Nicolas Cage. The necessary inclusion to duel-wield Berettas in John Woo movies, the shaky-cam documentary style of Paul Greengrass, the dry, functional smoky aesthetics of Soderbergh films … the list goes on and on.

But I love seeing something so clear, that I can go out into Shanghai and experience that bar scene for myself.

Reality is already glamorous. You don’t need to touch it up more.

Instead, I just want to capture it in a raw a format as I can.

Candidly but with as much precision as I can muster in that moment.

Imagine taking a photo so perfect, that everyone who looks at it, is forced to admit …. it’s perfect.

That is the underlying philosophy behind cold beautiful aesthetics and why I love it.

~ Damocles

Disciplinary Action – Week 2 (14/7/25)

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment

Weight: 86kgs

The worst part of all this, is the constant reprimanding. The inner voice in your head that tells you, that you are hungry. Then the stern voice that tells it to shut up and keep walking past.

It takes so much discipline to stick to a diet.

Worst than that though, is the despair when you realise that nothing has changed. Your weight hasn’t gone, and nothing seems to change.

So what is the harm in buying that TimTam you really crave? It’s a two for seven dollars deal. You can afford it!

What is the harm in just eating one a day? You can control yourself right? Just one a day! Just to keep you sane.

Shut the fuck up.

That’s the new mantra I’m trying to adopt now. Stop wasting money on snacks and stop eating junk food.

Look down at your belly and feel that shame. Then use that shitty shameful feeling to fuel your desire to move more.

It is so tempting to load snacks into my lunch bag and feed my stomach. I can literally feel the urge to eat start to consume my thoughts. But I’m taking the small steps. I can’t reach for that snack until I wait another half hour.

Then another half hour after that. And then …. instead of getting the snack, I’m just going to gulp down more water.

Drown the feeling. Ignore it.

Goddamn is it hard though. I’m struggling almost every day not to indulge. My stomach is tearing itself apart, trying to eat more, but I’m not acknowledging it. Instead I’m trying to make it smaller.

Just like how I felt today in the gym. For some reason, nothing was quite working. My motivation was down, my energy flagging but I pushed through anyway.

I’m already here. Just get on with it.

Some days, your motivation leaves you and suddenly your gym session becomes a test of character. Do you have what it takes to finish your set? Are you going to spend the rest of the time on your phone? Are you really going to justify your mere attendance to a gym is worthy of something?

I stared at the clock. I stared at myself in the mirror.

Then I leaned down and picked up my kettlebell and kept going.

Feeling sorry for myself wasn’t going to drop the number 86 down to 74. It doesn’t matter that you feel like shit today …. just go through the motions. Become a machine and remove the emotion out of this workout. You don’t need a new playlist, a check through Instagram or some motivational speech.

I just have to finish this goddamn set. I just need to lift the 12kg kettlebell above my head and keep it there.

One at a time. One move, one focus, one mission.

Today, I absolutely felt shitty. I didn’t have it in me.

But I finished my set, I finished my exercises and I stayed back another 10 minutes, bouncing balls of the wall, sharpening my reflexes … but due to lack of focus, half of that time was spent dropping them instead of catching them.

We all have days like this. Where motivation isn’t there. But like I told myself earlier …. there’s nothing to do, except get on with it. It doesn’t matter that you feel like crap …. just become a machine.

I really hope that next week’s DA will showcase at least a drop in kilograms. But I doubt it. Change, especially at my age, is slow and a behemoth.

It takes forever to change and an instant to fail to change.

This isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. It’s a true test to my character, my focus and my determination.

It’s about discipline.

Remember that Damocles. You need to remember that life is about being disciplined.

To keep your standards high doing the monotonous stuff. Life can’t be flashes of brilliance, because your brilliance only shines once in a comet flyby. So get good at doing the boring stuff.

Keep hitting that gym, no matter the feelings you have inside. Keep ignoring the snack section when you walk through Coles or Woolies. Don’t listen to that tiny annoying tempting voice.

Be firm and let’s see that strength translate back into some kind of athleticism.

You still haven’t found that true motivating factor …. some kind of purpose to tie all this sacrifice and pain for …. but shame will do for now.

Until the next defamatory disciplinary action (DA).

~ Damocles.

Disciplinary Action – Week 1 (7/7/25)

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Weight: 86kgs

That dreaded number.

It means a whole lot of things: body dysmorphia, a feeling of being overweight, a view of an unsightly belly, the insecurity that comes with having something ugly, the constant looking down and sense of disappointment … and most crucially, the loud mental warning sign that screams at me …. “You’re unhealthy. Do something.”

But this number didn’t come about from just unhealthy eating habits. It comes from a lack of discipline in all aspects of my life.

I haven’t been sleeping well

I haven’t been getting ahead of the life admin that I need to do.

I haven’t been properly tracking all my budgets.

I’ve not been paying real attention to my partner and addressing the small and large issues between us.

I’ve been eating poorly, over-eating to compensate for stress and to find some kind of joy in food, because I can’t seem to find it anywhere else.

When I stepped on the scale a week ago … it said 87kgs.

It horrified me. It shook me to my core. I had been a stable 85 for months now, but now, it was getting out of control. My body was sluggish, unmotivated to move, my natural athleticism which I had been using as a crutch to cling onto some kind of “healthiness” was starting to fade slightly.

I can feel an ache here and there after I exercise, and my baseball swing, once so pure and smooth, felt stiff and clumsy.

I didn’t get fat because I was eating like a pig. I got fat, because I lost sight of what I’m doing, and why I am motivated to stick to a routine.

So it begs the question …. what am I doing all of this for?

Why do I wake up every day, why am I working at my job? What life am I trying to achieve that enables my work and my routine?

I don’t need the cookie-cutter answer of “do it for yourself, make yourself healthy!” That shit has never worked. All my life, whenever I told myself that, I simply lacked the motivation to continue. In fact, within 3 weeks, I would relapse and return to being a lazy, fat schmuck.

Self-improvement, to me is a lie.

Duty is everything.

If I have an external goal, the motivation will come. The discipline will be instilled. The body will move forward despite the wind hitting it. I will grit my teeth and overcome the obstacles in my way.

I will challenge any storm, if it means I have something I want to accomplish.

Previously, when it came to the B30 challenge, I was obsessed with racing. I played tennis every day, ran laps around a garden and threw myself into a punishing exercise regime and strict boring diet that help me become more lean. I was desperate to get down to 70kgs and be as lean as possible, so that I was hitting the minimum driver weight.

But that motivation has died, when I realised that I couldn’t afford to become a racer. My dream of turning my crappy little Corolla into a Rallycross car died out. I’m no longer as invested in racing as I used to be.

So what is fuelling my possessive desire at the moment?

It’s vanity.

I hate what I see in the mirror. My skin isn’t clear, my jawline is noticeably wider, my stomach protrudes out too much, my arms don’t look strong and there is a clear sign that I’m neglecting myself.

But this is just a temporary fix. Vanity isn’t going to make me commit to exercising and dieting every day. I need something more. What it is yet, I can’t seem to find it.

Nor am I going to find it at 2am in the morning.

So vanity has to do for now.

Vanity and the classic public shaming. The fear of being judged by everyone.

Those will just have to do until I find the real reason to keep pushing.

It’s time for weekly progress reports and learning to dread looking at the scale every Monday.

That damn, pink We Bare Bears electronic scale, where a panda with a goofy face, tells me that I’m overweight, ugly and lazy.

Life is just like that sometimes. When you’re faced with endless mockery, you just got to lace your boots up, glare back and out of spite, move, so that you can flip them off better from afar.

My end goal is 74kgs, which is where my body seems happiest and at its most lean, without sacrificing too much of my life and making my culinary journeys bland and boring.

That is a grand total of 12kgs to shed. Not an easy feat and I know that a lot of things need to change to achieve it.

Starting with proper sleep and a strict adherence to a minimum of 7 hours.

Fix those variables Damocles.

Sleep. Food. Exercise.

But most importantly don’t forget: Motivation.

Find it.

Talk to you at the next defamatory disciplinary action (DA).

~ Damocles.

Charisma …. Aura …. Prescence ….

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How’s the game going?

Longest hour of my life

WHAT?

I’m running away with your wife!

Great!

When I think about movie stars, I always think about the movie Ocean’s 11.

It’s one of the coolest, the slickest and effortless remakes ever made. Starring George Clooney and Brad Pitt at the height of their power, and career, this was a movie that my mother introduced me to when I was young.

The duality of Brad and George … one flashy, the other demure, was impeccable, yet like the concept of ying and yang, they completed each other. The suits, the setting, the heist crew around them …. even the dialogue was all effortlessly cool. They finished each other sentences like a married couple, knew what to say, when to say it and had a rapport that could only be established by years of friendship and challenging circumstances.

Now, it’s only Brad Pitt who continues to ooze on-screen charisma. George Clooney has faded away into happy marital bliss that can only be accompanied by a villa on Lake Como.

It only occurred to me recently, when I was watching the latest F1 movie trailer, that in my eyes, Brad Pitt was still cool.

At the advanced age of 61, he is still oozing charisma. So much so that despite having a younger co-star in Damson Idris, I felt Pitt’s screen presence far more than anyone else in that trailer.

Which led me to the question about what is charisma and how does a man maintain it?

I mentioned martial bliss earlier because ever since Clooney got married, he has slowly receded away from the film world. He is busy being a humanitarian, a father and a husband.

Pitt though, after his very messy split with Angelina Jolie, has found a resurgence in his career. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Bullet Train, and now F1, are all very successful movies that seems to tap into this never-ending appeal behind the man.

As controversial as this sounds, I sometimes wonder if having a partner is what causes men to lose their charisma.

The age-old adage about athletes losing performance once they get married or have children seems to be vaguely true. I think about one of my tennis idols, Rafael Nadal, who only recently had a child with his wife, after he was on the verge of quitting the sport. Did he put things off, to avoid this myth?

I look at a similar movie star, arguably the last of his kind, Tom Cruise. He has never married since his divorce with Katie Holmes, and has had an incredible run of movies since then. Edge of Tomorrow, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Fallout, Top Gun Maverick … these are all blockbusters that speak to Cruise’s screen presence. You only had to watch Top Gun Maverick once, to still think that Cruise rocking a jumpsuit and Ray Bans Aviators was cool.

Much cooler than all the young stars in that film, who despite having better bodies, flashier looks, pale in comparison to the ethereal aura around Cruise.

To add onto my argument, there is always that old saying that the partners themselves say wistfully: You’re not the same guy that I fell in love with.

I’ve heard that recently and I also wondered what happened. My life before my girlfriend was one of endless pursuits. I was buying new clothes with reckless abandon. I was rigorous in my exercise, constantly playing tennis no matter the circumstances. My diet was strict, and I was writing with crazy zeal, trying to stave away my boredom in my retail job with wild stories and personal reflection.

In other words, I could just focus on myself and work constantly at improving every single bit of my life.

I felt like my charisma was at its peak back then. It had to be, otherwise there was no way in hell I was going to impress my girlfriend.

So, what is it then that caused me to lose some of my charisma?

I definitely don’t blame my girlfriend. What I do blame is the poor time management.

Because for every example I put up there, about these “single” men living their best lives, there are also extremely magnetic male examples who are happily married. I think about someone like Samuel L Jackson, Denzel Washington and to offer up a tennis example, Roger Federer.

These men have been married longer than I’ve been in my relationship and are highly successful and possess just as much aura.

This is why I look at my time management as the real problem. My girlfriend isn’t controlling me, she isn’t hanging onto everything I do, every hour of the day. It’s what I choose to do with my time that is the problem.

I can still restrict my diet. I can still look at new clothes, enjoy tennis and be as interesting as I was, before I met her.

I just got lazy.

That’s the real problem. Complacency.

It’s a common issue amongst all couples. You stop trying. You stop trying to be their best friend, the best version of you because you think that just because you got a life together, it means that you can just sit back on your laurels and relax.

And by the time you realise that you’ve been lazy …. either you’ve lost interest in keeping the relationship alive, or the other side has.

This is why lately, I’ve been trying to carve more time for myself. I need a day where I can just focus on myself without any distractions. This allows me to plan forwards, get ahead of whatever life has in store and beat it to the punch before it hits me.

And it seems to be working.

I got more energy to write. I’m more focused on exercising. I feel more in control of what my life is about.

All of this is feeding my confidence and thus making me more charismatic.

At the end of the day, charisma I think comes in many different shapes and forms, depending on the person you are. When your needs are met, when you feel like you are in control of all the variables …. your confidence will soar and thus your aura.

I believe that deep down, charisma is derived from confidence and your interests. If you are good at what you do and aren’t afraid of what life can throw at you, that you can take a punch and keep moving, that you can laugh at yourself … you’re going to be the most charismatic person in your circle.

And that is what you’ll be attractive, no matter what you look like.

Because you know your worth.

~ Damocles.

Do You Feel Safe?

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment

Police are urging those with dashcam or CCTV footage to come forward.

It’s different when you read those words and realise that it’s referring to the street you live on.

It hits even harder when you realise that the victim could have been you. A guy who was sent to the hospital with multiple stab wounds, just because he refused to give up his phone.

The 32-year-old was walking home from work when a car started following him.

As a guy who regularly walks around his neighbourhood at any random hour and is nearly 32 … it hit me just how this could have been me. This attack wasn’t premeditated or planned. This was random.

Whilst I would argue that I would have better sense to run away, or realise something is wrong when a car is following me, it’s still terrifying to know that this could happen to me.

In a way, learning about this incident made me feel justified in learning Krav Maga. But like a self-fulfilling prophecy, it’s also made me extra paranoid.

My neighbourhood is very safe. Having lived over 10 years here, I’ve always felt like I could go outside for a walk and not worry about anything. Everything is well-lit, people are friendly, dogs are being walked everywhere … I’ve never not felt safe.

But I didn’t grow up idolising spies for nothing. My head has always been on a swivel no matter where I am. My girlfriend has complained that I am always scanning my surroundings when we are walking, that whilst the habit has lessened with her, it is still an ingrained habit to check where the fire escapes are when I enter a new restaurant.

Taking in the moment, is the same as taking in the environment I find myself in.

The stabbing of the random man, was a sobering moment for me. It meant that I had to be extra cautious when I walked outside, that the moment I opened the gates and hopped into my car, I could face trouble.

That particular incident happened 5 weeks ago.

Only recently I learned two things.

My brother’s car window was smashed

And my car experienced an attempted robbery.

Someone came up to my car and gave it a good tug, checking whether it was locked or not. It was my mother who caught him mid-tug, and wondered what he was doing before he subsequently ran away.

Worse still, was my poor brother, whose right rear window was completely shattered. We exchanged theories on who it could be, what could have happened, but fortunately, aside from the annoyance of replacing the window, luckily in both cases, nothing was stolen.

But the ease had set in. My mind was now extra alert, extra paranoid and mulling violent thoughts.

I like to think I know my capacities pretty well.

I wanted to learn Krav Maga because it has every dirty trick in the book.

But even before I took lessons, I was already a dirty fighter.

I knew that if I ever got into a fist fight, I was going straight for my torch, blinding my opponent with the beam, before smashing their jaw with the hard edge of the torch and sprinting as fast as I can in the opposite direction before they can even register what happened to them.

Because when you’re alone and potentially outnumbered …. you hit as hard as you can and you run.

People hate cardio.

My job is to make sure I hate it a bit less than they do, so I survive another night.

This is the problem when something violent happens on your front doorstep. You start coming up with insane violent thoughts to process, to wonder and to brace yourself. Because you know deep down, once violence turns up, it never stops until someone is dead at your feet.

Violence can only be met with superior violence. It’s no good cutting a man’s arm off. He’ll still try to stab you with the other hand. You need to behead him to properly end everything.

That is the one thing I’ve noticed in watching so much police body camera footage.

You de-escalate whenever you can. You talk, plead, then shout and finally command.

But if they ignore everything, you draw your gun and you end the threat.

I don’t know what type of threat is out there, but it’s in my neighbourhood now. I can hear angry shouts that can only come from substance abuse. A man, my age, was stabbed. My brother’s car was smashed into, and a stranger tried to break into my car. A man once walked into my home, and tried to open the door. Last year, my friend’s car was broken into and he lost valuables.

It would be foolish of me to assume that everything is rosy in my area.

I need to stay vigilant and wary.

To answer my question ….

Do YOU feel safe?

No, I definitely do not.

If anything, and this is a mixed feeling, I feel almost vindicated in how paranoid I’ve been all these years. Vindicated but also saddened that I was right. Call me a cynic, but you can’t trust people. I’ve watched and seen too much law enforcement and military footage to believe anything else.

People are unpredictable, and with how the local judgement has been on crime lately, it’s not surprising to see that crime has risen.

But at the same time, I understand that desperation. Cost-of-living has shot up and that means the number of people who are now desperate has gone up too. A car is an easy target to get quick valuables.

Yet, that only proves my theory about the unpredictable nature of humanity.

In the end, to survive in this world, you need to keep your enemies at bay, by having a strong community around you. People you trust, people who will have your back in desperate times and most importantly friends and family that you can lean on for help.

No man is an island. It takes a village to keep the marauders away.

And I can definitely sense them lurking around in my neighbourhood.

Whilst it may be exhausting to be vigilant all the time, it’s a whole lot better than the alternative.

Life is already tough.

Let’s not make being a crime statistic a part of it.

Eyes on a swivel and make sure you know how to run real damn fast.

~ Damocles.

The 2024 Conspectus

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment
Ghost of Tsushima – Haiku moments.

2024 is on my personal record as the most difficult and maturing 365 days I have ever experienced.

When I look back at the year, it’s hard to see past the 6 months of unemployment that dominated the landscape of my life. For months, I was stuck in this hellhole that I couldn’t climb out.

And no matter how many life-lines my partner threw at me, how many ropes that dangled just out of reach, I couldn’t seem to grasp it and pull myself out.

It all started when I realised that the new job I found in late-2023 wasn’t going anywhere. Events Team Leader at a Gelato store. The title spoke for itself. I wasn’t even deemed “manager” material. I thought that it was going to be exciting, fun and the ideal job for me.

My fantasy was that I was going to run big activations, work on exciting events and plan ahead for attending the Australian Open or Formula 1 with my well-known ice-cream brand.

Instead, I was hit with drudgery. Endless late-night finishes, that took me all around Victoria, attending weddings, conferences and random activations in office buildings. Always reacting and never getting a moment to plan ahead. But when there was a moment to plan ahead, the head office didn’t want me to do anything.

This resulted in a lot of free time and my age-old problem with my working career reared itself up again.

I felt like a sword slowly rusting away in a dirty scabbard. While yes, when I was juggling two casual jobs at once, I felt a sword being used by an amateur, at least I was pulled out of the scabbard.

But at this ice-cream store, there was literally nothing to do. Head office wasn’t going to promote me anytime soon, nor did they want to expand the scope and operations in Melbourne, especially when they were juggling expansion ideas in Sydney and other states. So, there was nothing for me to do at the warehouse, except sit there, waiting for events to come to me, where I would finish the admin aspect literally in 20 minutes.

With that lack of work to do, I started to slip. I started working from home against their wishes, even though there was nothing for me to do at the warehouse, except random odd jobs here and there. Then when they reprimanded me for this, I would turn up to work late, unmotivated and bored out of my mind. I was being given full-time hours, with nothing to do.

I started rebelling even more, clocking in at work, but immediately leaving to work my casual job at Fed Square instead. I nicknamed it the double shift, because whilst I was meant to be at the Gelato store, I instead was working elsewhere.

When I complained to my girlfriend about the situation, she and I agreed that it was time to leave. I was determined to finish my Project Management course that I had started during this dull stint at the ice-cream store, but it was now time to get the hell of here.

So, I started job-hunting. From March 2024, my life became all about the exit strategy. I was determined to get out, whilst finishing my Project Management course, because I knew that there were serious gaps in my resume.

Every week, I applied for job after job with the help of my girlfriend. Our chats, once filled with banter, now became inundated with job applications. I wasn’t taking too seriously at first, but when the rejections began to pile up, I started to wise up fast. Nothing was biting.

Then during winter, work dried up even more at Messina. I could see the writing on the wall. I was being used in store as a extra pair of hands, and the new operations manager had it in for me. Apparently I complained too much about not having enough to do, that I was unwilling to travel to Sydney frequently and my random absences were not appreciated.

The hammer landed on me in July. In total, I worked there for 10 months before they decided to make me redundant. I was cut off in less than 3 days. No real warning, just an intimidating phone call from one of the 4 partners and the refusal to let me continue to work, despite me cleaning up my act for the past 4 weeks learning at a store.

They cast me aside as quickly as they hired me.

From making a decent, but small sum every week, to now living off my casual job at Fed Square, where I truly did not get that many shifts.

The job hunt became an obsession. Every week, I applied for 20+ jobs, constantly changing my CV to make it better, tweaking my cover letters, filling out form after form of the same questions.

In total, I applied for 397 jobs over the course of 6 months.

I got 8 job interviews.

That is a 2% chance.

Then you need to factor in the fact that I may have landed the interview, but I was now competing with a dozen more candidates, who all did better than me and landed the job I wanted.

I came runner-up twice.

I would bitterly label those occasions the age-old racing adage …. coming second is the first loser across the line.

And I truly did feel like a loser. My relationship was now extremely rocky. We kept fighting each other, snapping at random moments and there was this awful tension on our minds that refused to go away. For my poor girlfriend, her anxiety shot through the roof. The stress was at an all time high for her. She was stuck in a position where her life dream of owning a property was in serious jeopardy because of my unemployment.

I couldn’t afford to look at the big picture like that. Instead, all I could do, was focus on the next job application at hand. Every week, I checked Seek, LinkedIn, Victorian Government job ads for something new. Something full-time and permanent.

I pored over my resume, inspecting every word, twisting sentences so that they sounded more grander and impressive. The cover letter must have gone through 19 different versions and soon I was able to tailor them for specific roles by having so many templates available, that I could transform at a moment’s notice.

I kept my focus on the granular, because I knew that there was only one path out of this hellhole I found myself in.

My girlfriend though, couldn’t stop stressing about the larger picture. So we kept on fighting, making up, and then running through the cycle again.

But this cycle was soon broken. Not by me landing a job, but by me really analysing why she was so worried, and what I could do to help.

In all honesty, there was nothing I could do truly relieve the stress until I landed the job.

She knew that.

I knew that.

But my conflict resolution skills with her grew exponentially. I learned to control my temper, to stay focused on the topic at hand and really take the emotional hits when she lashed out. Never once, did I get so angry that I lost control of my temper nor voice.

Instead, I would fall silent, and focus on my breathing as I sorted through all my feelings. My girlfriend could really see through me and knew what to say, even though it hurt like hell.

However, I knew all of this was coming from a good place. She cared about me so much, that she wanted me to be the man I always wanted to be. Our vision for who I should be was a shared one and she was determined to help me there, whether it was with a carrot or a stick.

My stubbornness and difficult attitude meant that she had to wield the stick more often than not.

But finally, in December, I beat the shitty odds.

I survived three rounds of interviews to finally land a job at Guide Dogs Victoria, as their event manager.

The elation I felt was soon tempered by the fact that I made the mistake of taking on a full-time role at Fed Square when the job opened up.

But both managers were understanding. I was able to leave the Fed Square role and drop back to being a casual within two weeks.

So that meant that for a week … for five days in a row, I worked double. I did my 9-5 stint at Guide Dogs, learning and getting inducted, then headed straight over to Fed Square where I would work from 5-2am.

That week, where I was worked to the bone … summed up 2024 to me. Yes I had some good fortune in landing the job, but my personal concept of “life equilibrium” soon kicked in and made sure I got an ass-kicking before I could enjoy the new job.

For every single positive moment I had in 2024, it was automatically balanced with a negative one.

Equilibrium.

Gone are the days where my luck would hold out and I could coast along in life without a care in world.

Now, I’m subjected to the same rules of this world as everyone else is.

But this is a blessing not a curse. I feel more confident in my abilities to handle shit situations, more in control of my emotions and less ruled by the whims of Lady Luck. Now my hard work creates all the luck I need.

Looking back at all the photos I took this year ….I’m glad to say that I did a lot more than I expected.

Together, my girl and I:

  • Travelled to Sydney together for the first time and did all the normal tourist stuff that people should do more often
  • Explored regional Victoria a lot more than I thought, Daylesford, Mornington, Sorrento and Lorne.
  • Went to our first Australian Open Charity match and saw Carlos Alcaraz in action.
  • Celebrated a memorable Scuderia Ferrari 1-2 win at the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix
  • Attended our first friend’s wedding together
  • Heralded in a Lunar New Year at a Buddhist temple for the first time
  • Caught a Taylor Swift concert when she came here to Melbourne
  • Experienced a Tosca opera for the first time
  • Tried a ice-skating date for what is sure to be the first and last time
  • Went on multiple double dates, including seeing an Ancient Egyptian exhibit
  • Climbed a mountain together on a small hike
  • Saw Coldplay
  • Was captivated by the Beauty and the Beast musical
  • Learned a lot more about each other and how we think
  • Knowing how to resolve conflicts between us

As for myself ….

  • I prioritised seeing my friends more, hosting BBQs more frequently so that all my boys can catch up more regularly
  • This includes more frequent games of cricket and physical activity to ensure we all stay sharp and fit
  • I managed to complete my project management course
  • I had the pleasure of seeing my favourite driver, Charles Leclerc win multiple iconic races at Monza and Monaco
  • I have found a new passion for the sport of baseball, thanks to watching highlights of Shohei Ohtani go on his record breaking season
  • Seeing the LA Dodgers win the World Series and especially seeing the moment when Freddie Freeman smashed a Walk-off Grand Slam in Game 1 of the World Series against the New York Yankees
  • Realising that working at Guide Dogs helps me appreciate the luck I had, being born with good vision
  • Going into work every day knowing that I’m working for a place that makes a difference
  • Getting used to seeing Labradors in the office regularly and enjoying their company
  • Getting proficient at using Excel to plan itineraries and starting my new financial journey

2024 had it’s moments, despite the awfulness that dominated the landscape. Overall, it was a difficult and challenging year, it’s overall negative vibe overshadowing a lot of shallow fun moments.

The main thing I learned last year was control. That was the main theme. 2024 was all about control. Knowing what I can change, adjust and work on, and what I can’t.

Even if things were out of control, make small steps so that I can begin to affect the outcome in a more positive manner.

It’s about seeing the big picture, then isolating a corner and starting small, so that eventually the entire painting is complete.

I know that I’ve gotten really good at breaking everything down into granular steps, into tangible motions that will let me steer the big ship. I can zoom in, whilst still seeing the bigger picture.

It’s why nowadays, I can finance better. I’ve taken control of my spending habits and religiously track every dollar that comes out. I’ve wrestled control of an direction-less project at my new job. I’ve begun to regularly exercise and settle into a routine.

Life is better when I got my hands on the steering wheel and I’m exercising restraint.

Without the chaos of 2024, I doubt I would have the mentality that I do now, nor would I have the closeness with my beautiful girlfriend.

The past year tested me, challenged me and grew me into a better man.

I don’t know what 2025 has in store for me, but I know that I got to be in control and appreciate the small things. Life has always been a marathon, and I need to embrace that.

To end this reflection, I would like to reference a movie.

What we do in life, echoes in eternity.

In my case however, it’s very much

What you do now, will help in the future

This is why I keep a frame copy of the horrible excel sheet that has 397 job applications nearby.

It’s a sobering reminder than no matter how good, how valuable and how talented you think you are … no-one cares, unless you can transform yourself to meet the standards today.

That is the only way I ended up beating the 2% odds.

~ Damocles.

Real Ones with Jon Bernthal (IMPACT Series)

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment
Jon Bernthal – my favourite celebrity

Welcome to the IMPACT series where I dissect notable and iconic sequences from games and movies, and how they broadened my mind and left a lasting impression on me, years to come. 

Being a friend is not about turning your back on somebody when they do something that you find deplorable or disgusting, your job as a friend is to make sure they don’t do it again. – Jon Bernthal

The Backdrop.

When it comes to male role models, I know what I really respect and admire about certain men. After all, I’ve been pooling an insane list of fictional characters from books I’ve read since I was a teenager. James Bond, Dirk Pitt, Daniel Ocean, Gabriel Allon … the list goes on and on. When it comes to living, breathing individuals though, I’m selective. Whenever I look them up on Wikipedia, the most important thing I scan, is their personal section and whether they stayed loyal to their spouse.

It’s a strange metric, but from that one look at their list or lack thereof of partners, I can instantly tell whether I garner a lot of respect or am more cautious about my admiration for them. Too many of them, I like for their on-screen persona, but don’t particularly agree with how they live their personal lives.

After all, you can’t be called a true gentleman if you leave a string of partners behind you. It’s a measure of who you are as a man, if you stay loyal to your beloved, and resist the urge to do something stupid. Having no divorces on your plate shows discipline, respect towards others and your partner and a moral commitment to something better.

Which is why I was impressed by Jon Bernthal initially. The man has consistently shown his love for his wife and that really showed when it came to the classic GQ 10 Things (BLANK) Can’t Live Without.

I’ll go into details about the video in the Impact section, but Jon is someone I admire deeply. His podcast, Real Ones with Jon Bernthal is an incredible shining light into how people should talk to each other and more importantly, into how men should approach problems. To anyone aspiring to be a traditional masculine figure, Jon’s podcast is a beacon of light, a true discussion and deep dive into what it is to be a man, in today world.

It’s also a powerful tool into what it takes to be a good person day in and day out, realising that some struggles are truly universal no matter where you are from and what you identify as. His honest, raw and unflinching conversations with all kinds of people is what makes his podcast an inspirational tool, rather than just an educational one.

I’m not one that really supports anything, but his podcast is one of the few things I support on Patreon. His access to all kinds of people all walks of life is truly incredible and I love how he is such an active listener and conversationalist. That simple act of his, leaning in and talking to the guest is so underrated.

Jon knows when to shut up, and when to talk. It’s a gift that is so rare in Hollywood, especially when you watch talk shows, which is why I only love watching clips of Graham Norton, because he is the one host who lets their guest talk through their story with no interruptions.

But enough introductions, let’s dive in why Jon and his podcast is so impactful to me.

Shia LaBeouf on the podcast with Jon Bernthal. Link in the photo.

The Impact.

Jon Bernthal first made an impact on me when I watched his GQ 10 Things Jon Bernthal Can’t Live Without on Youtube. I had seen him in a lot of media before; Punisher, Ford v Ferrari, Sicario, Baby Driver, The Accountant, Fury … and was always impressed in particular by his striking looks and his intensity. Jon is one masculine looking man but there is a depth to his masculinity that shows real inner emotional turmoil.

It was his scene in Daredevil Season 2 that really sold me on his acting ability. The conversation that the Punisher and Daredevil have on the rooftop is incredible and really showed Bernthal’s range as an actor. His mannerisms, his gruff voice, the way how he delivers his lines with conviction … it sold me on the Punisher so well, that I even loved the way how Bernthal roars as he is fighting in his scenes.

But his 10 Things He Can’t Live Without showed me that Jon as a man, outside of the roles he portrays, is a good person. Every single video I had watched over male celebrities before, was shallow. They showcased expensive watches, promoted tequila or other random alcohol, placed random products or food in their hands that were clearly disguised as ads or didn’t go into detail about the meaning behind what they chose.

Jon was different. Every single item of his had genuine meaning. His pitbull, the yellow legal pad, his personal diary, a picture of his wife, the worry beads that his friends got him, his massive bodyguard … these were all extremely personal and important items to Jon that made him the man that he is today. It showed true character to put those items out there and explain in depth what they meant to him.

And you could tell too, the way how he was holding them and looking at them, that they meant a lot to him. That was my first glimpse into a man who valued the simpler things in life, who treasured those around him way more than material items and really knew what he was about. He wasn’t here to shill for a product or promote anything except his genuine self.

This was a guy who was honest, real and down to earth. Who would still talk to you, even if he was busy and genuinely spend time with you if you needed help.

This was a good male role model. Yes, I thought Jon had a masculinity about him that I envied, yes I wish I had his strong jawline, but this type of jealousy was a good one. It was an aspiring one. I wanted to be more fit like Jon and emulate his approach to life. When I thought about the 10 Things I Can’t Live Without, I had his choices in mind. What were some things that I couldn’t live without?

I wanted to look at a photo of my partner, the same way he did about his wife. With nothing but love, admiration and a keen desire to be back next to her. His love confession about her when looking at his wife’s photo is incredible:

“This is the most important person in my life, that’s my hero and my best friend, and she just makes me the man I want to be. She is the strongest and wisest, bravest and most honourable person I’ve ever met. I’m so glad, that I’m in love even after all these years. She’s my everything, so this is more than essential, this is my everything right here.”

And I’ll confess …. I think I can say the same thing about my partner right now, when I look at my polaroid of her in my wallet, and I feel so damn blessed to be able to claim any percentage of that.

So, after watching the video, I started to become more of a fan. I started researching more of the projects he was doing and seeing what I could do to support a guy that I really came to respect and admire.

That search? Lead me to the podcast.

Natalie Randolph with Jon Bernthal on the podcast

The Enrichment.

Real Ones with Jon Bernthal is unlike any podcast I’ve watched or listened to before. There is a niche that Jon is targeting and it’s all about unfiltered, honest conversations about people’s lives. He interviews first responders, military veterans, sport coaches, actors, inspirational pastors and community leaders … he is engaged in everyone’s story, everyone’s history and it shows in how he listens, how he responds and the respect he commands and gives in equal measure.

No matter people’s background, culture or ethnicity, Jon can seemingly connect with everyone from all walks of life. There is a simple theme to Jon’s podcast …. everyone’s story is worth telling, but it takes an interviewer like Jon to really draw it out of them. Everyone has a fascinating personal history, wrought with hard lessons, tough experiences and incredible perseverance. Whilst this theme is admirable and true, I think Jon’s skill at being an active listener and more importantly … having a personal connection with every single person he interviews, is critical.

It’s that personal touch, of friends meeting after a long time apart, of trading stories by a metaphorical fire about their past, their present and their dreams of the future that really what makes this podcast special. Jon’s friends are the ones in the spotlight, and despite his fame, Jon is humble enough to take a backseat to the conversation, because he wants his friends to outshine him in this talk.

To say that I was surprised to see all types of people on his podcast was an understatement. Reformed gangsters, ATF agents, bikers, doctors, actors, teachers, veterans starting up animal conservation projects … Jon has truly met a lot of interesting people in his life, and he is on a mission to showcase them all to the world, to project an image of America that is not often seen beyond the glitz and glamour of Hollywood.

When I watched an episode on a Port Authority police officer experience during 9/11, I was struck by how raw the entire conversation was. It wasn’t just the fact that Will Jimeno was at Ground Zero when the attack happened, but more the insight into his personal life. His whole life, he dreamed of being a police officer. He wanted to serve his community and was thankful for all the lessons he had learned growing up in a poor family and the hardships he had endured. This wasn’t just a guy who rushed in to help those during 9/11, this was a good man who just wanted to help.

And so to hear him, talk about how scared he was when he agreed to volunteer to enter the first building, and all the personal tragedies that had befallen him during and after 9/11, from his struggles with PTSD and how he lashed out at his family, to him taking accountability and learning to “man-up” to his struggles, it was just incredibly inspiring and motivating.

After all, I’ve never experienced something as traumatic as Will did, but his example of being a better man, one step at a time after the experience of 9/11 was something I aspired to. Because at the end of the day, I could relate to his struggle. Every man could. We all want to be better husbands, better fathers and better example of masculinity to those around us. And that is what makes Jon’s podcast so incredibly powerful.

Jon, through his friends and his own example, inspires men to be better. That is the purpose of the podcast, to show that you can be ultra-masculine, be into hunting, martial arts, cooking, or whatever, and still be strong enough to talk about your feelings, your failures and your fundamental beliefs.

And to listen to his podcast, is to be inspired by others. By ordinary Americans who are just trying to get by, get their voices heard and keep their heads above the water. Because these normal people are just like those here in Australia or anywhere else in the world. The day-to-day life is a struggle, but it doesn’t mean you let it beat you. You can always be better, always be hungry to learn and always have time to meet up with your friends.

Jon’s podcast reminds me of what is important and that is why almost every month, I host a BBQ at my home to welcome my friends over. Because, just like Jon, I need to put in the effort to catch up with my favourite people, so that the friendships remain strong. So that we can have conversations, deep or otherwise, about our lives, our struggles and our triumphs.

Friendships aren’t forever. You got to put the work in, like everything else and I’ve been so lucky that I recognised that early and started to put in some proper work to restore and maintain my friends.

Which brings me to the most famous episode, where Jon was interviewing Shia LaBeouf. This one was incredibly raw and interesting, because it came hot on the heels after Shia’s controversy.

I won’t say that much about the episode, except link it here, and state that it’s an incredible conversation about a man who is flawed and is trying to redeem himself to those around him and most importantly himself.

Norman Reedus and Jon Bernthal hanging out on the podcast

The Culmination.

Jon Bernthal is my favourite celebrity by a very long shot. He encapsulates everything that I want to be in a man. A humble, smart, curious man with a firm grasp on who he is, who he considers important and finds joy in the simple things. He has shown time and time again, in every interview I’ve watched with him, that he is a genuine person, a man who is honourable and does his absolute best to walk the walk. He knows what he is about, and that confidence is shown in every role he takes on, every friend he brings on his podcast and I know that his family and friends feel that too.

On a sillier note, I love that the very first thing he brings out on the GQ video, were his combat boots. It’s not an ad read either, because he truly does wear them everywhere he goes. You can see the iconic black combat boots in almost every episode of his podcast. That kind of devotion to something functional and comfortable is something that I relate to heavily. If I could wear my 5.11 Apex pants, my Under Armour Valsetz Boots and a comfortable Arcteryx Sirrus Henley for the rest of my life, I would.

They are my absolute go-to for whenever I want to do anything, be prepared for anything and I think they look good together, allowing me to be at my most confident, because I know I can tackle anything in these clothes.

However, to end this Impact post on a more serious note, I just wanted to thank Jon Bernthal for everything he has done so far. Seeing him pop up in iconic movies that I love, such as Ford vs Ferrari, the Accountant or Sicario has always been a delight to me, and I love supporting him in any way I can. I loved him as the Punisher and think he was absolutely perfectly cast as the character, with his gruff features and animalistic roar now an iconic part of the comic-book character.

But I also loved that he is involved in more intimate projects, such as Small Engine Repair (2021) that really sold me on his personal beliefs, convictions and work ethic as an actor and man. This was a small film, that meant a lot of Jon and I loved the way how he twists the character. There is always such a heart and rawness to his acting style that even people when they first saw him on The Walking Dead, knew that Jon had what it takes to vanish into characters.

Jon’s masculine features, big heart and inspirational way of living life is the kind of role model that I want my own son to look up to.

And that is not something I say lightly.

So, thank you Jon, for continuing to challenge the narrative about what real men can be and for inspiring me to be a better guy all around. Love your work and I will always go back to the podcast when I need a wake-up call about how life can challenge you and a lesson in how to get past that obstacle.

IMPACT.

~ Damocles

Jon Bernthal and his loyal pitbull, Bam Bam.

Acta, Non Verba – A LEO Story Pt. 1

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment

Follow in the life of Senior Constable Aaron “AJ” Joy as he patrols the streets of Salernum. A routine call-out to a house soon leads AJ down a dark path, where he will fight to keep the fires of his soul pure against the evils that threaten to take down his city.

CHAPTER ONE: RUN TO YOUR DEATH

Senior Constable Aaron “AJ” Joy of the Salernum Police Department (SLPD) was breathing hard.

His hands were slick with sweat, the cold metal of his BCM Reece-14 MCMR patrol rifle soaking up the excess fluids from his body. His heart was full of adrenaline, pumping furiously as it tried to keep up with his mental pace. His green eyes were darting everywhere, as he kept his black rifle punched out in front of him, his left hand working the pressure pad atop his rifle, the Surefire Light Pro torch illuminating dark corners.

Screams were mixed with sirens, disorienting AJ in the exact direction where they were coming from. The corridors that stretched out before him, felt like nightmarish tunnels that never ended, the cream lockers lining the walls like silent sentinels.

But his sense of panic mixed with duty drove him ever forward, his combat boots pounding down the hallway, as terrified eyes peeked through doorway windows like disembodied spirits.

As AJ rounded a corner, he heard a scream that was cut abruptly short by the crack of a gun.

This one was close.

Slowing down ever so slightly, but not to point where he lost his momentum, he raised the BCM and looking above the EOTECH EXPS Holographic sight, he still shuffled his feet quickly to where he heard the terrified scream.

Then, like a jump-scare out of a horror movie, a hooded figure with a cheap medical mask came rushing out in the corridor, the front of his black hoodie soaked with sweat and blood. His dark brown eyes were a mixture of glee, anguish and confused pain. He was giggling, and there was no mistaking the large Colt Python revolver in his hand.

The weapon’s silver finish was matted with the same dark red stains on the shooter’s hoodie.

AJ froze on the spot, and without hesitation, shifted his BCM into his shoulder and settled his green eyes behind the EOTECH’s iconic red ring and dot reticle. He heard his voice yell in a coarse and rough manner. Time slowed down as his brain processed everything at a speed unprecedented in its 27 years of living.

HANDS, HANDS, HANDS.

DROP IT RIGHT FUCKING NOW.

The hooded kid whirled around, and raised his gun at the blue uniform. There was a gleeful intent behind his brown eyes.

AJ squeezed the trigger 6 times without hesitation, the rifle rounds punctuating the corridor’s natural echo with their supersonic booms. AJ saw through the sight, how each round landed centre mass into the shooter, blossoming the chest with his blood instead of the innocent.

Heart, lungs, liver. thought AJ dispassionately as he saw where the 5.56mm rounds punched through.

Moving closer, he slammed his boot down on the hand that held the gun, and kicked the revolver far away. Leaving the shooter to his final moments, AJ looked into the classroom that he had heard the scream, hoping he wasn’t too late, but knowing better than to trust that hope.

The sun was shining bright through the windows, the whiteboard still messy with the maths calculations that were interrupted by alarms. Only a single girl was inside, her bloodied chest covered by her books and hands, long blonde hair covering her face. AJ could see the red spittle on her mouth, and his heart sank in despair. Her white top was turning red, and her tortured breathing barely masked her final sobs.

Bowing his head, AJ turned away and knew that there was nothing he could do. She was gone. He would learn her name later, when her parents screamed and yelled at him in agony and anguish. Madison Harris. 15 years old. Aspiring engineer. A long-crush time crush on Jack Hamill, her best friend who had to be stopped from going in, when he heard the shooting start.

She had arrived to class early, hoping to ask her maths teacher some questions about the upcoming assignment. Being early cut short her time.

AJ knew that there was still two more shooters out there. He had to prevent another tragedy to another family. Pushing away the tears that threatened to overwhelm him, AJ ran back out and noted that what was once was a threat, was now a cooling corpse.

Stepping over the dead kid, he started to run again. He could hear screams above him, of running footsteps, as people scattered and took cover from what sounded like a shotgun blast.

AJ sprinted faster than he had ever moved in his life, and as he reached the end of the corridor, he briefly scanned left and right to check the junction before taking the stairs to the next level, almost three at a time.

As AJ rounded the curve in the staircase, he looked up and saw another hooded figure leveling a shotgun at him from the top of the staircase.

The boom of the shotgun was deafening. But AJ was too fast, and the crater that would have taken out his right hip, instead blew open the wall behind him.

As the hooded shooter tried to rack in another round, AJ managed to clear the staircase, and without hesitation, rammed the Reece-14 muzzle into the shooter’s chest and squeezed the trigger as fast as he could pull it.

Blood blossomed out of the school shooter’s back, as nine 5.56mm rounds exploded out of his torso. The shooter buckled repeatedly as each round tore through his body, before crumpling into a bloody heap on the ground, his life expired within seconds. AJ looked down in vague horror at what he had done, the adrenaline coursing through his nervous system making the fact his body was moving without him.

His brain, having processed the number of rounds he had fired, moved his left hand down to the spare magazine in his back pocket, and he tac-mag the half empty one in his rifle in a practised motion. He then moved, without thinking to secure the shotgun, kicking it away from the dying teen.

Move AJ. There is still one more shooter out there! screamed his mind.

AJ buried his emotions again, and rushed down the corridor, where amongst the crying and the soft sobs, disembodied voices shouted at him.

That way! He went that way!

Please stop him. I’m so scared.

I just want to live. Why is this happening to us?

AJ kept pushing forward, surging through the corridors, his BCM held at high ready as he was guided by petrified sounds and voices. The nightmare had to end soon. He could feel himself starting to atrophy, the emotional trauma of what he had done and witnessed slowly getting through the shield of adrenaline.

A pair of double doors in front of him, suddenly burst open, and a stream of terrified teenagers ran through. At the sight of him, they stopped, frozen in fear. Ignoring their screams, and hands that grabbed at him, AJ used his left hand to clear them out of the way, his rifle held high in his right to avoid flagging and he burst through the same doors, to see a library, the shelves and books making it difficult for him to find the final shooter.

Peering desperately through the gaps of the shelves, AJ’s first clue presented itself audibly. A soft gasp, that could only come from someone’s hands choking a victim’s neck.

Spinning around to his right, AJ saw through a gap in the books, the final shooter in the corner, a young girl’s neck in his left elbow, and a 1911 pistol aimed squarely at her temple.

His hood had slipped down, and it showed a young kid, no older than 16, his dark eyes panicked and fearful. Tears were streaming down his brown eyes, and they were oddly in sync with his victim’s own sobs, a girl barely 15, her legs shaking in fear, her small hands on the shooter’s arms.

The right hand of the shooter that held the 1911 were quivering and there was no mistaking the fear that was dominating his every thought and action.

AJ leaned forwards and settled his green eyes behind the reticle of his EOTECH once more.

The red dot hovered exactly on the shooter’s head, inches above the soft brown hair of the girl.

DROP YOUR GUN, OR I’M GOING TO DROP YOU.

The shooter spun towards AJ, his eyes widening in shock as he noted the blue uniformed officer behind the shelves.

FUCK YO—

The shooter’s head snapped back, his grey brain matter spraying the back of the library’s walls. The single round echoed eerily in the silence that now signaled the end to the chaos. The schoolgirl collapsed to her knees, the relief of being alive too much for her small body to bear.

AJ flicked the safety on his rifle, and pulled her gently towards him, where she clung to his leg, her tears soon soaking his uniform.

His heart-rate still pulsing furiously, Senior Constable Aaron Joy reached for his radio and robotically reported in.

The female operator that answered him back was equally toneless. But she added one thing, that humanised the communication.

Good job officer. You saved lives today.

The compliment pierced through all the high stress and adrenaline, and AJ felt his emotions start to overtake him. Kneeling down, he hugged the girl tight to him, absorbing her tears as his own, as he whispered to them both.

It’s OK. It’s all over now. You’re safe now. It’s OK. You’re going to be OK.

AJ knew it was a lie. Nothing was going to be OK after this. But it still felt good to hear it. As the girl sobbed into his chest, AJ looked down at his watch, a simple blacked out Stirling Durrant, noting from the moment he rushed through the doors of the school, to this moment was only 14 minutes. 14 minutes … a length of time that would haunt him for the rest of his life, because he would forever wonder what happened if he could have cut it down more.

Slinging his rifle to the rear, AJ stayed with the girl, all the way until the SLPD SWAT team converged on his position, and began the tedious task of clearing every single classroom, every single corner, door, storage cupboard and hiding spot. She held onto his hand tight, as they both walked out of the Salernum Secondary Conservatory, escorted by paramedics who were busy giving them trauma care.

It was not until he loaded her onto the ambulance stretcher that she finally let go, her blue eyes thanking him for the rescue.

AJ merely nodded back in sadness, before sitting down on a bench in what was the common yard for the school, now an emergency centre for hundreds of first responders and traumatised kids.

Cradling his head in his hands, AJ took a ragged breath and closed his eyes. The emotions were now running rampant through his mind and there was no denying the trauma of what had just happened. He had killed 3 children. As sick, tortured and mentally ill as they were, taking the life of 3 young men wasn’t something you could brush off easily.

AJ’s mind began to work into over-drive, justifying his actions, replaying every single moment of the shooting, wondering what he could have done different, what he could have changed.

What if I had just sprinted a bit quicker? What if I hadn’t checked that room … Jesus AJ, why didn’t you check on those kids? I should have floored the car faster. Why did I spend so long on that body? I should have moved on quicker. If I had just sprinted down corridor a bit faster, she’d be still alive …

A weathered, leathered hand on his shoulder broke him away from his reverie. Looking up, AJ saw his Captain standing over him.

At 60 years old, Captain John Armstrong was a seasoned, fair and much beloved leader in the SLPD. A Gulf War Veteran serving in the famed USMC, Armstrong ran his department like the military captain he was in the 90s, engaging Iraqi soldiers. A broken office when Armstrong marched in, the SLPD was in major need of reform, with officers quitting or committing suicide at an unacceptable rate and public perception at an all-time low. Squad cars were frequently vandalised, rocks thrown at officers on patrol, and crime was rampant, with criminals so emboldened by the SLPD’s incompetence, that they were openly carrying firearms in their territory, dealing near major infrastructure and there were even rumours of a high-ranking mole in the office.

A fearless yet just leader, Armstrong championed the men and women under his command to perform at the best of their abilities, whilst prioritising moral and ethical conduct. Like a chaplain, every week on a Friday morning, Armstrong would gather his entire department and deliver an impassioned speech, highlighting good and bad behaviour from footage he had reviewed from every officer’s body cam, whilst surreptitiously transferring or firing the bad cops that brought others down, including the sergeant who was rumoured to be the mole.

His mantra, “you represent the best of society, which means you have to uphold your personal best” instilled in every officer a reminder to constantly train, and constantly review their own behaviour. In the SLPD shooting range, it was difficult to find a free spot, as so many officers would spend their off time practising their pistol and rifle skills. Even more difficult to book, was the monthly CQB shoot-house session that Armstrong would hire from his friends in the USMC, in which officers found the training immensely applicable in their day-to-day work, a fact that was bolstered by the decrease in friendly-fire incidents.

This weekly “police sermon” and supporting training regimes, resulted in a much better-behaved department. Men and women conducted themselves to a higher standard, and community relations rose after a slump. The pride and ethical morality that so often degraded in the job, was slowly being reinstated in the day-to-day work and behaviour of the SLPD’s finest.

John Armstrong was someone that AJ looked up to with a near religious reverence. It was Armstrong who originally championed AJ to sign up, having been an early proponent of the rookie who had just finished his college degree in criminology and now wanted to apply that knowledge in real time. If there was any advice that AJ wanted more right now, it was going to come from the grizzled former Marine.

Son, I want you to remember something. You did something good today. Look around you, son. Look at all these kids that get to go home, because of what you did. I’m proud of you Aaron. You did damn good today. Now the media’s going to hound you, but the department got your back. As of this moment, you’re going to go on administrative leave and take some time off. Use that time wisely son. Relive, process and settle. Make sure you do those things, in that order and we’ll see back here once you’re ready.

AJ shakily took a breath and nodded.

Thank you, sir.

No, thank you. You’re a credit to us all.

John Armstrong shook AJ’s hand firmly and squared up in a salute, that AJ promptly returned.

Rest easy, son. We’ll see you back soon.

~ Author’s Note

Am starting a new LEO (Law Enforcement Officer) story. Stay tuned for Part Two.

Dune: Part Two (2024) – Cinema Review

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment

Y/N? Yes

Stars: Timothee Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Austin Butler, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgard, Dave Bautista, Zendaya, Javier Bardem and Florence Pugh.

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Review by Damocles.

It deserves to be watched in one sitting.

Denis Villeneuve continues to be one of the best directors working today with this conclusion to the Dune duology. There is a breathtaking confidence to the shots he emphasises, the crescendos in the plot he chooses and the character moments that are given plenty of time to shine. This is a filmmaker who has absolute faith in the project he is directing, and the film shines because of it.

As a film, Dune Part Two, is a masterpiece in how to make cinema. This is a rare film, able to balance high sci-fi concepts, make it palatable to audiences en masse and faithfully stay true to the source material whilst imparting a unique flair and vision to it all. The last great sci fi film that captured audiences so well, was probably Avatar, but that was never trying to adapt a beloved book series and lore.

The moment early in the film, when the camera widened out, to showcase the anti-grav technology of the Harkonnens floating in the air, in a strange, eerie manner was the moment I knew that I was witnessing something special.

This is the definitive version of Dune. The visuals, the costumes, the score, the actors, the story, the characters … they will forever be enshrined as how people read and visualise Frank Herbert’s novel. In many ways, this feeling of seeing how strong Denis’ visual interpretation of the novel has taken over the version in my brain when reading the novel, reminds me of the early Harry Potter novels.

The film crew simply nailed everything on the head. I will never not see Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, nor imagine Hogwarts any different to how the films first showcased to me as a child.

Denis’ vision for Dune has proved that I will never see Paul Atreides as anyone else than Timothee Chamalet nor imagine the landscape of Dune as anything other than the clean, almost sterile aesthetics of these two movies.

In a lot of ways, Dune needed to be adapted by a filmmaker who was obsessed with the lore and had the budget to do so. It has remained infamously difficult to adapt, because of the numerous strange sci-fi concepts and the fact that it is such a strange, contradictory world for audiences to jump into.

The idea that space-travel is only possible through “spice” and that bladed weapons and feudal society exists in a galaxy that has mastered space flight runs counter-intuitive to how so many other sci-fi universes interpret their world. But that is the genius behind Villeneuve’s adaptation. He is able to take these highbrow concepts, distil them down to their essence and allow audiences to understand what is happening.

That is why I now understand the pace of the first Dune film. It had to be slow, methodical and less action-packed, because audiences had to slowly grasp everything that Dune was about. The importance of “spice”, the significance of Arrakis, the shadowy politics of the Great Houses and the Bene Gesserit … all of these elements had to be well established so that Dune Part Two could run.

And run it did. The film is much faster paced, with a bigger focus on action scenes and the romance between Paul and Chani. The action that I craved from the first movie, was immediately satisfied with the very opening sequence, as Paul and the Fremen escape from the Harkonnens and begin the journey of revenge.

The film has to be commended for its pace. Dune Part Two is an extremely measured film. It knows when exactly to speed up, when to slow down, and when to let scenes breathe, so that the audience become more engaged in the world that is being presented. Moments like the introduction of Feyd-Rautha on the Harkonnen home planet, the tender moments between Paul and Chani as their relationship grows, or the first time Paul rides a sandworm, are incredible story beats that are given as much time as they need in the film.

There is a deliberate slow-fast pace to the film, that makes it easy to watch. It moves at a jog rather than a sprint, and that is the perfect way to get hooked into the world of Dune.

The cast continue to do solid work, Timothee in particular, showcasing why his youthful looks, yet steely temperance is the perfect fit for Paul’s growth and character development. High praise must also be given to Florence Pugh’s small, but important role as the audience surrogate, Princess Irulan, into the mind of the Emperor. Her costume design is something I will touch on later, but is another reason why costuming is so important in film.

But the real fun highlight was Javier Bardem’s Stilgar. The once aloof Fremen leader, now transformed into a religious zealot and believer in the prophecy that Paul seemingly represents. He is the audience’s source of limited comic relief and a reflection of Paul’s dark journey. The growing obsession with Paul Muad’Dib is a beautiful religious allegory that is pulled off wonderfully by Bardem’s performance.

Now, onto the technical elements of the film that I love to explore.

From a cinematography perspective, Dune Part Two is an absolute marvel. The shots are immaculate and carefully chosen. There are some genuinely jaw-dropping shots that echo the general aesthetic of all Villeneuve films. The man, coupled with a master cinematographer in Grieg Fraser can literally do no wrong. Whether they are playing with colour, with reveals or simply setting the scene, the cinematography in Dune Part Two is incredible.

To complement such visual flair, the CGI in the film is equally impressive. Everything looks lived-in, believable and real, aided by things that look like they have actual physical weight and by impressive sound design. Dune never looked bad in any of the shots, a difficult feat to pull off in today’s crunch when it comes to VFX.

As for score, Zimmer continues to excel. His score had a stronger feel in this sequel than I expected, after hearing the first one. It’s thematically more folklore-like, with an emphasis on really punching in with the big moments. When listened together with the first film, it’s a fun, compelling audioscape.

But easily my favourite part of Dune is the costume design. Princess Irulan’s medieval, chain-mail aesthetic is incredibly cool when compared to the simpler robes and still-suits of the Fremen. There is an untouchable air to her, that is only visually enhanced by her cold, shiny, metallic mesh and veil. It’s perhaps the most unique take on a princess I have ever seen on film.

The same could be said for Emperor Shaddam Corrino IV, played by Christopher Walken. His simple white robes, lack of gaudy finery only enhances the frail nature of his rule and the fact that he is an ineffective ruler. But by far, my favourite element are all the armour sets featured in both films. From the Harkonnen’s all black suits, to the Atreides larger grey armour, and to my favourite Sardaukar’s white/grey combination, the interpretation of medieval armour into a near-future sci-fi, is just amazing.

Overall, it’s hard to not miss the phenomenon that is Dune. Whether you follow fashion, in which Zendaya showcased her perfect taste and range on the red carpet, or just enjoy cinema, Dune is easily one of the best films to come out in recent memory.

It’s enthralling, captivating cinema and I honestly cannot wait to see what Denis Villeneuve does next. I truly hope he continues to adapt sci-fi and explore more elements of the human experience, in the thoughtful, cinematic way, he is so uniquely suited for.

If you haven’t seen Dune yet … put it on the biggest screen you own.

A scene to recall: The opening action scene where the Harkonnen are hunting Paul and the Fremen. The orange backdrop, that is contrasted by the black inhuman armour of the Harkonnen is just visually stunning. It’s also amazing to hear the Harkonnen language being used so gutturally and shows why the Fremen are a force to be reckoned with.

Sisu (2022) – Cinema Review

~ Ninjafang ~ Leave a comment

Y/N? Yes.

Director: Jalmari Helander

Stars: Jorma Tommila, Aksel Hennie, Jack Doolan, Mimosa Willamo & Onni Tommila

Review by Damocles

It’s lean, fun and pulpy. Everything a movie like this should be.

Jalmari Helander’s Sisu is unbridled fun. In many ways, it reminds me of the joy and fun I had whilst watching The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008), another foreign take on the famous Western genre (something that I will review soon).

Sisu’s story is as lean as it gets. Set during WWII, a Finnish ex-commando, Aatami Korpi lives alone in the Lapland wilderness, prospecting for gold. Finally striking gold, he is then confronted by a retreating Nazi German armoured unit, that wants Aatami’s gold for their own reasons. What ensues, is chaotic, bloody and in some parts, genuinely hilarious and crazy.

Accompanied only by his dog and horse, Aatami is your classic, silent, gruff and stoic protagonist, although in Aatami’s case, it’s a uniquely Finnish characteristic instead of a trope. The villain, Bruno Helldorf, is your moustache twirling Nazi, but played with a desperate and slimy nuance, that makes him more compelling as a character. There is a cowardly element to his character, constantly hiding and sweating in his large tank, that makes him all the more despicable.

But it is Jorma Tommila’s Aatami that really steals every frame of the movie. His completely silent performance is belied only by his facial expressions that do a wonderful job of grounding the movie, even when it gets completely ridiculous. It is his sheer, angry determination that drives his character to do what he does even in the craziest scenarios, because Aatami is the embodiment of the Finnish concept of sisu, which roughly translate to “a man of focus, commitment and sheer will.”

And ridiculous is the entire point of the film. The action scenes, the premise, the kills, the gore … all of it is treated with a fun reverence that makes the run-time move quickly. In fact, the kills only get more and more creative as the film speeds along, with the action ramping up significantly as the director, Jalmari Helander, seeks to conquer all three spheres of Earth, land, water and air.

Having watched Helander’s more fun and ridiculous prior film, Big Game (2014), I can safely say this Helander’s perchance for the ridiculous, the fun and his love for Finland has not abated one bit in this film. This is a director who wants to put Finland on the map with his films and is determined to show that Finland isn’t just famous for its saunas, legendary F1 racers and rally courses.

Whilst I won’t spoil anything in regard to the action, this is a movie that glorifies in how Aatami kills Nazis and that alone is the reason why you chose to watch this film. It is a simple, direct film, about how this one-man army annihilates all the despicable Nazis in his way, so that he can continue to live his simple existence.

It is actually so simple and direct, that there is very little to discuss in terms of cinematography, music and costume design. The cinematography is almost functional, with nothing really standing out, bar a few scenes that invoke the horrors of war. In this aspect, the cinematographer did an incredible job creating a strong atmosphere for Aatami’s actions against the brutality of the Germans. There are some genuinely haunting scenes of burnt down buildings that invoke more horror elements, but these are far and few in-between. Overall, the film looks great, and the Lapland wilderness is truly well captured with the blending of green screen with the Finnish landscape done well-enough.

Credit also must be given to the score, which showcases the almost immortal nature of Aatami extremely well, with deep, dark, vocals that echoes old Viking music or something more ancient. Aatami’s constant ability to take hits, and push through pain, is almost mythical and the score reflects that, invoking sounds of a more ancient and dark time.

As for costume design, Aatami’s primary attire gets more and more worn over time. He never really changes out of his strong, dark, functional clothes that showcases the realities of living alone in the wilderness. Instead, this outfit gradually gets more and more stripped down, as he is forced to shed layers or in some cases, get completely wrecked as he rises from the proverbial dead.

To sum up Sisu, I would describe it as your perfect, throwaway action film, with some truly great kills and a simple, direct plot. It’s fun, fast-paced and there is a single wasted moment in this film.

And the pay-off at the end, is just hilarious. Sisu is worth your time, simply because …. it won’t waste it.

A scene to recall:  When Aatami throws a certain mine-shaped object and there is a glorious wide shot of the resulting bloody explosion.