I try to watch at least one Christmas movie every year. Most Christmas movies do nothing for me. Except for movies like Die Hard.

Last year, I watched the original Die Hard again. It’s always a great Christmas movie. This year, I knew I had to watch a different Christmas movie, or else it would be hard to bring new leadership insights to Reel Leadership.

Going through Christmas movies, I remembered there’s another great Christmas movie. Die Hard 2: Die Harder.

Roll with me on this. Die Hard 2 is a Christmas movie.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) returns to pick his wife, Holly McClane (Bonnie Bedelia) from the Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C. He notices a couple of suspicious characters and acts. All of this happens, once again, around Christmas.  Read more...

There’s something about feel-good movies that make you want to watch them again and again. Real Steel is one of those feel-good movies.

I’d watched Real Steel when the movie released in 2011. I remember loving the movie. Then I never watched it again until this weekend.

Man, I was missing out on such a feel-good movie. Real Steel lays on the heavy hits and heavy emotions throughout. It’s a must-see movie.

Not only will you see robots get knocked about. Not only will you get your emotions toyed with… You will walk away from Real Steel with a load of leadership lessons.

Today’s Reel Leadership article is going to focus on the leadership lessons in Real Steel. I hope you brought your boxing robot and notepad. You’re going to want both!

 Read more...

Our local Celebration Cinema theater, Cinema Carousel, had a special screening of the new animated movie Wolfwalkers. Brought to the theater by Fathom Events, Wolfwalkers was a fantastic exploration of a fantasy world. If you’d like to see Wolfwalkers in the graphic novel format, it is available on Amazon.

Directed by Tomm Moore (The Secret Of Kells and Song Of The Sea) and Ross Stewart, Wolfwalkers is the story of young Robyn Goodfellowe (Honor Kneafsey). She is an apprentice hunter to her father, Bill Goodfellowe (Sean Bean). Bill doesn’t want his daughter outside of the city walls because of the wolves and Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell’s (Simon McBurney) orders.

When Robyn disobeys her father, she finds herself trapped in a trap set for a wolf. Hanging upside down, she meets Mebh Óg MacTíre (Eva Whittaker), a wolfwalker. Robyn’s whole life changes after this encounter.  Read more...

There’s something special about movies from the ’80s. It was a mystical time for movies when even bad movies are fun movies.

Missing In Action is one such ’80s movie.

Starring the quintessential action star, Chuck Norris, Missing In Action tells the story of Colonel James Braddock as he seeks to go back to Vietnam to find missing United States soldiers. He is sent to Vietnam, first, to sit in on a government investigation.

Braddock couldn’t wait to get out and begin searching for his lost comrades. He upsets those leading the investigation and is given a chance to sneak away into the night.

While out, he discovers what he’s looking for: The missing in action.

Chuck Norris’ James Braddock found the people he was looking for in Missing In Action. Viewers of Missing In Action will discover something else. They will discover Reel Leadership lessons.  Read more...

I was scrolling through the Netflix movie suggestions when I saw one that caught my eye. It starred Bruce Willis and I’m a huge fan of his.

Then, after starting to watch Setup, I began to recognize various places in the movie. The film had been filmed in downtown Grand Rapids, Mi. It is a short drive from my home to the places in the film. That made it cool.

But, you’re probably wondering what Setup is about. It’s not a widely watched movie, but it tells a great story. A group of friends plans a diamond heist only to be turned on by one of their own. Vincent (Ryan Phillippe) shoots Sonny (50 Cent) and Dave Hall (Brett Granstaff), leaving them for dead. Only one survives, and Sonny chases down Vincent for his revenge.

From there on out, it’s a revenge story about going down the rabbit hole of mistakes. And, eventually, redemption.  Read more...