Archives for March 2015

#90| Get Comfortable

March 31, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Fall in love with someone who’s comfortable with your silence.

Find someone who doesn’t need your words to know it’s time to kiss you.

Chassitie and Josh Thornton did just that – and you’ll never guess where they met!

To read their story, click here.

The Swirl World Team is committed to sharing 365 days of inspiration in 2015. Our goal is to help you stay motivated and inspired by bringing you positive, uplifting images and corresponding thoughts.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#89| This Girl Is On Fire!

March 30, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

We believe ALL the “girls” – the women – in The Swirl World are on fire.

You are going after your dreams and goals, doing what you need to do to make things happen.

Go ahead; look in the mirror, and say, “This girl is on fire!”

Because you know what?

You are.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

Movie Review: Black Or White (2015)

March 30, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

First I must apologise in advance for what is going to be a slightly shorter review than my usual but this rainbeau diva needs some sleep and I want to get the out quickly!

Now, What Works:

Black or White stars Octavia Spencer (Grandmum WeWe), Kevin Costner (Poppa Anderson), Anthony MacKie (Brother of Grandmum WeWe), and a FAVOURITE new up and comer that also did a brilliant job with Selma, André Holland (As Eloise’s Father Reggie)! Then of course there is another young super star in Jillian who plays the core at the centre, Eloise.

The connection, the link between Eloise and her Poppa is tested when Eloise’s Grandmum (Carol) is suddenly killed in a horrific accident. You watch these two, their banter, their forced re-connection back and forward for nearly the entire film. And they both do a fantastic job of maintaining that bond despite all the obstacles that appear out of NOWHERE.

Let me just say Octavia Spencer’s version of Grandmum WeWe is a RIOT! She is the epitome of your stereotypical Grandmum BUT with exceptions like owning six businesses including a real estate company she runs from her garage.

It’s obvious that she likes Poppa Anderson (Kevin Costner) but she’s no doubt armed to the teeth when it comes to what should be done about Eloise after Carol’s untimely death. Octavia is nearly always fun to watch and her attitude towards her son (Holland) and his truly troubled life (which she wears blinders when it comes to him, CLEARLY) plays out SO well and you find yourself empathising with her as Eloise’ paternal GrandMum.

You also find yourself empathising with Reggie (Holland) as well just for being HER son. They come from a great family that has high expectations and is prosperous, and he’s so much more than your typical black sheep. He’s more like a BLACK HOLE coloured sheep, you can’t even SEE him!

There’s a foil in this film that most people aren’t expecting which I will NOT discuss here because it is a bit of a spoiler, but I will say this, there’s an excellent addition about 25% into the film that serves one purpose.

Eloise and Poppa Anderson are like mirrors in so many ways. and because of that reflection it’s very difficult for them to have a stressor in life and NOT have the other immediately feel that stressor and NOT be simultaneously affected by it.

They both have a tendency to wear their hearts on their sleeve and you realise from the beginning that one would indeed perish without the other. This foil has such a profound impact on the relationship of these two and the growth they both have to experience in order to begin to heal.

What Does Not Work:

Mostly semantics. Things like litigators do NOT handle family court cases. And the forced epiphanies from both Poppa Anderson and Reggie. They feel disingenuous and even contrived. The screenplay is a bit too formulaic at times. Too many moments are clearly set up as plot devices and with a bit more tweaking, said devices are redundant, irrelevant, and simply unnecessary.

With that in mind, I recommend my SWIRL Family see this film because it makes excellent use and reference of MANY of the situations (Clichés or not) that blended IR families go through. And THAT, I think, is the most awesome part of a good film.

It’s 2015, and there are far more swirl families like the one in Black Or White, it’s time to discuss these things and moved forward instead of letting socioeconomic differences break or provide a huge wedge in families such as these.

#SheCritiques #WhatWorksWhatDoesNot

Joyll Cambridge hails from Manchester, United Kingdom and currently lives in New York, New York. She loves all things movies, fitness and swirling. To read Joyll’s personal blog at The Humanist Exec, click here.

Joyll joined our team as our Resident Movie Reviewer. Look for more movie reviews from Joyll!

Be sure to “Like” The Swirl World on Facebook and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.

You can also follow us on Sound Cloud and listen to the show on Stitcher Radio!

Copyright ©2015 Michelle Matthews Calloway, ASwirlGirl™, The Swirl World™, The Swirl World Podcast™, All rights reserved. Photo of Joyll Cambridge used with permission. Movie poster from the movie “Black or White” obtained from Movie Newz.

#88| Get Lifted!

March 29, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

“Surround yourself only with people who are going to lift you higher.”

~Oprah Winfrey

Lift someone today – and get lifted as well.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#87| What Happened?

March 28, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Humor helps us to think out of the box.

The average child laughs about 400 times per day, the average adult laughs only 15 times per day.

What happened to the other 385 laughs?

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#86| A Good Sense Of Well-Being

March 27, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

It’s the end of the week, and hopefully it’s time for you to wind down and get ready for the weekend.

As you review your week, what did you accomplish? Are you now enjoying the fruit of productivity – or are you experiencing frustration because you fell behind on your tasks and goals?

If you feel like you had a “bad week,” think of at least one thing that you did well – at least one thing you did correctly. Focus on that one thing and make a conscious decision not to beat yourself up over whatever went wrong.

Focusing on the positive will help you to get centered and reestablish a good sense of well-being.

Whatever happened (or didn’t happen), you can recover – you will recover.

There’s always next week to get back on track, right?

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#85| Go Someplace!

March 26, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

It’s Travel Thursday, so you know what that means.

It’s time for our weekly check-in to see where you are on your travel plans.

We believe the Dalai Lama is on to something:

“Once a year go someplace you’ve never been before.”

Neicy and Jeff Aldrich, who have been married more than 20 years, certainly believe in taking vacations.

They met because she was friendly enough to say “Hi!”

To read their story, click here.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#84| Write It Yourself!

March 25, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Reading is one of my absolute favorite things to do, and writing is a close second.

I can think of few places I’d rather be than in a library or bookstore.

I’m especially proud of the fact that here in The Swirl World, we feature a number of authors who have decided to take Toni Morrison’s advice:

If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.

Mechal Renée Roe grew up as a child from a mixed shade family. She looked for a book that addressed some of the things she experienced with her hair – a book that celebrated the uniqueness of Black women’s hair in all its glory.

She couldn’t find the book she was looking for – and today, she’s the author and illustrator of Happy Hair!

To listen to her story and learn more about her book, click here.

So, what about you? What do you want to read? Have you been able to find it?

If not, why not write it yourself?

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

#83| A Long Conversation

March 24, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

Jamie and JuJu Lee held the first of many a long conversation – in Iraq!

To read their amazing love story, click here.

We’d love to FEATURE YOU in one of our Inspiration Daily posts! If you’d like to be featured, please send a nice, clear photo to InspirationDaily@TheSwirlWorld.com.

Movie Review: Chappie (2015)

March 23, 2015 By Michelle Matthews-Calloway Leave a Comment

First let me say that almost THREE months ago to the day, I wasn’t sure if I would EVER be able to screen and review another film, but gratefully, I AM STILL HERE and still able to do what I love so here goes…..

Chappie is not your typical artificial intelligence story. In fact there are so many layers to the story that I recommend screening it only after you have taken a few deep breaths to relax and calm yourself so you can be prepared for what’s to come.

Let me first say I plan on seeing this film AGAIN IN IMAX. Why? Because it WORKS. And because not only is it a truly enjoyable cinematic experience but it GENUINELY makes you contemplate!

What Works:

Chappie is a happy accident of sorts. In other words he’s been planned but not exactly in the way that most people think. And because of that you consistently find yourself going back to points of reference earlier in the film because you are connecting development with consciousness, and learning with environment and emotion.

The connection between Deon (Chappie’s MAKER-and yes that’s in CAPS for a reason) played masterfully by Dev Patel of Slumdog Millionaire fame, and Chappie are a teacher and student paradigm. And these two sell that connection EMPHATICALLY well.

When we first meet Chappie, he is indeed A CHILD. As such, he has a Mum and a Dad. You literally have to think of Chappie and his relationship with his ‘parents’ played brilliantly by Ninja and Yolandi, as THAT of a HUMAN child with his parents. That is LITERALLY the way the relationship is SUPPOSED to play out. And it does, just NOT in the way that MOST parents choose to educate their children.

Let me just stop right here and say that Sharlto Copley is utterly MESMERISING as Chappie! You are drawn in from the beginning and he will NOT allow you to let go EVER. And because your connection as a viewer to Chappie is so strong, you empathise with him quite easily as you watch him, grow, learn, mature, endure, and FIGHT. And not just a physical fight but an internal metaphysical one.

Again, this film has MANY layers. The characters nearly all of them (well, except Vincent played by Hugh Jackman) have frequent internal battles with emotions and consciousness on a level most human beings simply cannot handle on such a scale.

What Does NOT Work:

Vincent (again played wonderfully solid by Hugh Jackman) is a character that no matter what he does in the beginning of the story, you don’t get the empathy necessary to genuinely CARE about what happens to him as a character. Literally from the VERY beginning there’s nothing redeeming, nothing that makes you want things to work for him in ANY WAY.

You literally DESPISE him from minute one and as such, he’s not the antagonist most will need to ensure they are on the right side, of history so to speak, as this film plays out. I have a feeling it comes down to editing for time because as such, Jackman’s performance is SOLID. He is a fantastic antagonist!!! But in comparison to Chappie, well there’s simply no comparison.

I absolutely DO NOT want you to think that makes Chappie ANY less of a fantastic film because it does NOT. There’s no way to assess this film other than an ABSOLUTE MUST SEE and if it’s playing IN IMAX where you are, I HIGHLY recommend it!!!

The cinematography is amazing, the robotics and animatronics are absolutely MIND-BLOWING and the interactions between Chappie and the “REAL” world will leave you with more than a few tears.

It’s amazing when you’re watching a film about robotics and you suddenly realize that the character whom is the most HUMAN, that you connect with on the deepest levels, is metal, plug and play, and UTTERLY cosmic in his footprint!

#SheCritiques #WhatWorksWhatDoesNot

Joyll Cambridge hails from Manchester, United Kingdom and currently lives in New York, New York. She loves all things movies, fitness and swirling. To read Joyll’s personal blog at The Humanist Exec, click here.

Joyll joined our team as our Resident Movie Reviewer. Look for more movie reviews from Joyll!

Be sure to “Like” The Swirl World on Facebook and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes.

You can also follow us on Sound Cloud and listen to the show on Stitcher Radio!

#89| This Girl Is On Fire!

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Movie Review: Black Or White (2015)

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#88| Get Lifted!

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#87| What Happened?

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#86| A Good Sense Of Well-Being

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#85| Go Someplace!

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#84| Write It Yourself!

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#83| A Long Conversation

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Movie Review: Chappie (2015)

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