America the Beautiful

2 Things I learned about western culture today in psychology

Correspondence Bias - is our tendency to view the behaviors of others as due to internal causes. Which basically means that we don't give people the benefit of the doubt. We automatically assume people do the crappy things they do because they're just bad or inconsiderate people.

We talked about road rage and what your first thought is when someone cuts you off on the high way. I know that mine is usually something along the lines of "You freaking idiot reckless driver!" I rarely consider the possibility of extenuating circumstances such as them racing an injured person to the hospital.

Self-Serving Bias is out tendency to attribute positive outcomes to our efforts, while failures are seen as due to influence of others. This basically means that anything good that happens is because of something we did. While anything bad that happens is due to the fault of someone else.Here we talked a lot about politics, and how eager politicians are to find someone to take the blame for any problem attributed to them. Although I'd say this plague of spotlight hogging and blame dodging is far more wide spread than the political arena.

What I found really interesting was that these bias's are specific only to our western culture. My psychology professor explained that the western culture is about SELF preservation, while eastern culture is more about GROUP preservation.

The more I thought about this the more I came to believe in it's truth. Our country was founded on the beliefs that everyone is entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Lately it just feels like American's believe they're just plain entitled.Why is it that we've developed a society where it's perfectly normal for each family to have 2-4 cars, or an ipod and cell phone for each family member? What was it that gave us the illusion that we're all entitled to be privileged? There is no constitutional amendment that states "All men have the right to designer clothes, the latest electronics, and elaborate vacations."

Sadly I know I'm constantly guilty of Self-Serving & Correspondence Bias. For almost every example my professor gave my first instinct was a selfish one. But now that I'm aware of it I hope to change it, and can pass on a better example to my 2 crazy kids.

4th of July Movies

I was planning on doing a post of my favorite 4th of July movies, but I found this post Movie Viral did last year. It's a great list of several of my favorite movies! I haven't seen them all, but I intend to. There's just one movie I can think of that I would have added to the list. Which is...

Watch the trailer here.

The Patriot(2000)
Mel Gibson stars in this Revolutionary War drama as Benjamin Martin, a veteran of the French and Indian War and a widowed farmer who wants to raise his 7 children in peace. Despite his resolve to live peacefully the rest of the people of the future United States are determined to become their own nation. While Benjamin refuses to join the rebels, his oldest son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) enlists with the Continental Army. When the British arrest Gabriel as a traitor his younger brother Thomas tries to stop them. Thomas is killed in the scuffle by Colonel Tavington. The Colonel has no idea the whirlwind he just released against the British forces. Benjamin accepts the inevitability of the coming war and becomes dedicated to making sure Colonel Tavington feels his wrath.

Watch a clip here.

10. 1776 (1972)

Let’s start off this list with a film that actually takes place on the day of our independence. While many people may not know or remember this musical, it’s one of the few theatrically releases that feature this time frame. The movie, starring William Daniels (Mr. Feeny of Boy Meets World) as John Adams, follows the Second Continental Congress for the three months in the hot 1776 summer that it deliberated and eventually signed the Declaration of Independence. While it may be a bit dry for the younger folks, I found it fascinating and very educational. Even the music is pretty entertaining.

I am SO up for watching anything with George Feeny in it!

Watch the trailer here.

9. National Treasure (2004)

Disney’s attempt to mimic The Da Vinci Code is perfect for this list, as it dives deep into pseudo-American history and features the Declaration of Independence. The star-studded cast was lead by Nicolas Cage as historian Benjamin Franklin Gates, who is looking for a massive treasure hidden the Founding Fathers of the United States. The backstory included the Knights Templar and the Freemasons, and the adventure hits all the historian hotspots, including Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Second Continental Congress met.

This is a pretty decent movie, I was glad I watched it.

Watch the final speech here.

8. The American President (1995)

Give this Rob Reiner film points for being a romantic comedy that stars the President of the United States as the male lead. Written by Aaron Sorkin (creator of West Wing), the film follows President Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) as he runs for re-election and tries to have a personal life. Annette Bening plays a lobbyist who gets involved with him and inadvertently gets in the way of his campaign. While it’s a good film by itself and shows a more personal side to the leader of our country, the final speech is what makes this a classic.

I LOVE this movie. It's one my mom watched when I was younger, and I too love Michael Douglas's final speech. If you haven't seen it, you need to.

Watch a clip here.

7. All The President’s Men (1976)

Covering the biggest political scandal in the history of the United States, this drama follows Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they uncover what would become known as Watergate, thus ending the political career of President Nixon. The film is based on the 1974 book of the same name, which the two actual reporters wrote, and shows how important a free press is to the checks and balances the Founding Fathers wanted in place. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, and I personally like it for its very natural acting.

I haven't seen this classic, but I'm looking forward to it.

Watch the trailer here.

6. Frost/Nixon (2008)

Possibly just as interesting as how Nixon was taken down may be his perception on the whole situation. This film, adapted from the play of the same name, covered the infamous Frost/Nixon interviews of 1977. It’s great to see the behind the scenes look at such a historic occurrence and to realize how smart and neurotic Richard Nixon (played by Frank Langella) was. This was the interview in which the resigned President famously claimed “When the President does it, it’s not illegal!”, thus demonstrating his belief that the President is above the law, despite what the Constitution may say.

Again one I haven't seen, and one I want to.

Watch the trailer here.

5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)

This iconic Frank Capra film stars James Stewart as Jefferson Smith, a Boy Rangers leader who gets picked as a replacement for a decease U.S. senator on the flip of a coin. As a senator, he proposes a bill for land for the Boy Rangers, but the land is already part of a shady bill supported by the corrupt governor who chose him. When false evidence is used to get Smith kicked out, he launches a massive filibuster to clear his name. The movie deftly shows the corruption of government, while showing how an idealist can use the system to do good.

Another classic I've neglected. I'll rectify that soon.

Watch the trailer here.

4. Dave (1993)

In what feels like a remake of Mr. Smith, Ivan Reitman’s comedy about a temp agency owner becoming President shows the power of a newcomer and idealist on modern day politics. When the President goes into a coma, the Chief of Staff (Langella again!) schemes to have look-a-like Dave Kovic take his place. The film is more cinematic than Mr. Smith, but follows the same principle. A guy who has no business being where he is may be just the right person for the job. Talk about inspiring.

I'm a big Dave fan. It's another movie that my mom got me into. For sure worth watching.

Watch the trailer here.

3. JFK (1991)

This is our last political scandal film on the list and the last one based on a real event. Oliver Stone’s controversial crime drama follows the 1969 trial of New Orleans businessman Clay Shaw (Tommy Lee Jones) for his participation in the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy, one of the most important events in our country’s short history. Prosecutor Jim Garrison (Kevin Costner) used the trial as a way to re-examine the official story, that Lee Harvey Oswald killed JFK, and he did it all by himself. The conspiracy of JFK’s death involved the CIA, the Mafia, the military-industrial complex, Secret Service, FBI, and Kennedy’s vice-president, L.B. Johnson. Garrison’s account of the event is told so well, it’d make even Oswald a believer (if he were alive).

I've always wondered what this movie was all about.

Watch the trailer here.

2. Air Force One (1997)

Now we’re getting to the fun stuff. Wolfgang Petersen directed this great action movie starring Harrison Ford as President James Marshall. After giving a speech about the government’s policy not to negotiate with terrorists, Air Force One is hijacked by Soviet terrorists led by Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman). With a full crew, including his wife and daughter, Marshall has to find a way to take back control of the plane by force. There’s something invigorating about seeing our commander in chief kicking ass and taking names, and Ford is one of the few people who can play a badass President and be believable. Now get off my plane!

Oh how I love Harrison Ford, and this is a classic! Watch it, love it.

Watch the trailer here.

1. Independence Day (1996)

I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for this, but ID4 is my favorite movie, and it’s the most appropriately titled film for today’s holiday. Long story short, aliens come to destroy the planet on our day to barbecue, and only Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman. We again have a President who gets right into the action, and the film makes the concept of Independence universal. The action sci-fi film by Roland Emmerich has a great cast, exciting plot, impressive visuals, and one of the best fake Presidential speeches ever. “Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!”

Of course we can't leave out Independence Day! When I think about 4th of July movies, I think Will Smith cussing out an unconscious alien as he drags him through the desert in a deployed parachute.

What do YOU think of our list? Did we miss any movies, or does one of these not deserve to be in the top 10? Perhaps the order is wrong. Declare your independence by letting us know in the comments below.

Thanks Movie Viral for doing such an awesome post!

Mall Cop : Securely Funny

It's so rare to find awesome movies, ESPECIALLY ones that are rated PG! As soon as I saw that Kevin James was staring in this movie I knew I had to see it. Check out the trailer here!

He's probably best know for his role as Doug Heffernan in King of Queens. Pretty dang funny show.
Although Hitch is my favorite Kevin James movie. When you combine Kevin James with Will Smith you have a highly hilarious movie that's an instant classic. If you've never seen this movie you are SO missing out. Go rent it. In fact, go BUY it cause you wont be sorry you did.
Especially once you see Kevin James dance.
He's also in Grown Ups, which was surprisingly good. If I remember correctly there are a few crude parts, but mostly just funny. Especially if you've got kids.
Anyways, back to Mall Cop. Kevin plays Paul Blart, the local Mall's iron fist of a security guard. He has high hopes of joining the elite New Jersey State Police but is continually held back by his unfortunate hypoglycemia.
Until he makes the cut he's making sure every 9 year old boy and 80 year old man minds their P's and Q's. He does manage to cut loose now and then. He's gearing up to cover the biggest shopping day of the year...dum dum dum BLACK FRIDAY! Which you can be sure he takes very seriously. Unfortunately for him a group of thieves with an inside man have big plans in store for Paul.
He was married to a woman just long enough for her to get her green card and have a daughter before she left them both. Now Paul and his daughter, Maya, live with his mother, Margaret. They've noticed how lonely Paul's become and they have a plan to fix it. Internet Dating Sites.
In a stroke of luck a new kiosk joins the mall family. Amy and her hair extensions immediately becomes very popular with the other mall vendors and employees. Do you recognize her?
Yup that's Emma Pillsbury from Glee! One of my favorite shows.
She also had a reoccurring role on Heroes as Charlie. The waitress with a brain like a sponge. Heroes is another great show for people who are into science fiction.
Right, Mall Cop. Well Paul Blart has recently been given the task of training the new security guard, Veck. While he tries hard to impart his wisdom, Veck doesn't seem to be quite as eager as Paul is.
The commander of the SWAT team might be another familiar face to anyone who watches Will & Grace. It's Will's boyfriend Vince. Bobby Cannavale plays Commander Kent, an old high school bullie of Paul's who's looking to resume his role.
Mall Cop even has some great actions scenes. I mean that apart from the fight scene between Paul Blart and an angry woman. It's full of awkwardly funny and adorably sweet moments. So if you're looking for a good, clean, funny movie to watch with the family this is it!

Enchantment: Sleeping Beauty Take 2

I just finished reading (and by reading I mean listening to) Enchantment. All I knew about it before I started was that it was a new take on Sleeping Beauty. However, it's so much more than that.

Enchantment starts with a young 10 year old boy name Ivan Smetski and his parents who are from Ukraine trying to find a way out of the country. It's a little confusing to understand why, because Ivan's parents don't give him all the details. But you get the sense that it's all for Ivan. They manage to make it to Kiev where they stay with their cousin, Marek and his wife on their farm. Ivan and his parents stay with Marek while they wait for their paperwork to come through so they can leave the country. Ivan loves to run and spends his time running through the countryside. While on a run he comes across a strange meadow. It's perfectly round and he swears he can see a woman sleeping in the center under a pile of leaves. Before he can get close enough to tell for sure something menacing scares him off. They soon after get their papers and leave the farm for the US, never giving him a chance to work up the nerve to go back to the meadow.

Ivan grows up in the US, walking in his father's footsteps to become a college professor, or at least something in that direction. He's now a graduate student who's working on researching Russian fairy tale origins. Just before he plans to leave for his homeland he meets a girl named Ruth and gets engaged. Lucky for him she's willing to wait for him to finish his research. So he flies away, leaving his parents and fiance behind him to the land that gave him a memory he's never been able to forget.

After months of research he's drawn back to cousin Marek's farm where he can't help but investigate the meadow again. He's convinced that time has distorted his memories, and that there can't possibly be a woman held captive by sleep in the meadow he sets off to find the meadow. He's shocked to find that there is, in fact, a beautiful woman sleeping in the center. Not only that, but she's raised on a island of land in the center of a large crater where a humongous bear lies guarding her. This is just the beginning of Ivan's troubles. He manages to best the bear and make it to the beautiful woman, but when she wakes up she informs him the only way to get rid of the bear is to propose to her! Willing to do anything to get away from the large bear he poses the question, and with that sets himself on a journey that literally changes history. Since this beautiful young woman is actually a princess from a time a thousand years ago, and he's got to help her save her kingdom from the witch Baba Yaga. Who knew Sleeping Beauty had so many problems!

I really like this book, and not just because the person who narrated it on the audio book has a great Russian accent. It's creative, witty, thoughtful, and down right funny. Ivan has a rather dry sense of humor that makes me laugh out loud. I would for sure recommend this book, although I will add a disclaimer for the younger crowd. There are a few parts that wouldn't be appropriate for young adults. However, as a whole the book is great.