Journalist Filed a Class Action Lawsuit Against Grammarly in New York Federal Court Over 'Expert Review' Feature

A journalist filed a class action lawsuit against the parent company of Grammarly, alleging that Grammarly "misappropriated the names and identities of hundreds of authors, editors, journalists and writers to earn profits for the company."

Class Action Lawsuit filed against Superhuman Platform Inc.

According to Remio, investigative journalist Julia Angwin filed a class action lawsuit on March 11, 2026 against Superhuman Platform Inc., the parent company of Grammarly. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

It states that Grammarly "targets a specific feature launched in August 2025, known as "expert review." Within the $12 monthly pro subscription, expert review uses large language models (AI) to generate writing feedback while giving credit of that advice to "real, recognizable journalists and writers and subject matter experts" without their consent -- and "used to sell software subscriptions."

In response, Superhuman Platform Inc. CEO Shishir Mehrotra issued a public apology on LinkedIn and disabled the "expert review" feature.

Grammarly Class Action Lawsuit Covers Only Certain Individuals 

To be clear, the Grammarly class action lawsuit only covers individuals whose name and identity was misappropriated for commercial gain. It doesn't not cover those who paid $12 for the pro subscription. The quick filing of the class action lawsuit "put a nail in the coffin" for the expert review feature.

At the heart of the lawsuit, Grammarly required the "experts" whose identities were being misappropriated to email customer support to have their names removed from the AI prompt outputs.

The class action lawsuit seeks over $5 million in damages from Superhuman Platform Inc. (parent company of Grammarly) for the unauthorized commercial exploitation of journalists, authors and writers.

The state of New York has strict commercial protections against the unauthorized use of a person's name, image, or likeness for profit without their agreement.

James Bond: No Time to Die Synopsis with Questions Answered

 

James Bond: No Time to Die Movie

James Bond: No Time to Die Post Introduction

Daniel Craig has one last crack at it, that is one last outing as James Bond in the movie, No Time to Die. There is an expression: "If you are going to go out, go out with a bang," and Daniel Craig certainly did that in his final movie as James Bond. In the US Opening weekend in October 2021, No Time to Die debuted at $56 million in ticket sales. Source: Variety

Box Office Statistic: As of 17 November 2021, No Time to Die also broke a box office record for being a top grossing movie worldwide, with also the lowest grossing domestically. It  earned over $700 million ticket sales worldwide, with only $150 million in domestic ticket sales. Source: Forbes

This post will explain in detail how it ends Daniel Craig's version of James Bond. Lea Seydoux returns as Madeleine Swann from the previous Bond movie, Spectre, as James Bond's love interest.

The following blog post contains movie spoilers that will reveal the secret mysteries contained within the movie No Time to Die. Stop reading now if you do not want the movie to be spoiled.

James Bond: No Time to Die Synopsis

Norway: The film begins in Norway, where Madeleine is a child at her family home. Her mother is an alcoholic, and Madeleine is her servant at home to refill her mother's wine. Madeleine's father is away. A mysterious figure in a porcelain mask steps out from the woods and begins walking toward their home in the snow. Madeleine and her mother are unaware of this figure looming closer to their home, until he is peering into their family room. Madeleine screams and runs to a room that appears to be a safe room. She inputs a code over and over but it doesn't work. The shadowy figure in a white mask is now entering their home. Madeleine goes to hide, but her mother is unprotected on the couch and the man shoots her with his automatic weapon, after revealing that "He [her husband a.k.a. Mr. White from Spectre] killed his whole family (and we assume that this is his revenge). He then looks for Madeleine. He goes up to her loft, where her bedroom is. He doesn't see her. As he turns to climb down the ladder, her phone beeps on the bed, and Madeleine is hiding under the bed. When he turns to come toward the bed, Madeleine shoots him with a pistol. He falls down to the main floor of the home. Madeleine runs to him and drags his body outside into the snow. The masked man's mask is now broken and a piece from the bottom has shattered to where you can see his scarred face underneath. He gets up like a zombie rising from the dead, and Madeleine runs out to the ice. The man gets up and pursues her onto the ice. The ice begins to crack and weaken. Madeleine falls into the ice and is below a sheet of it. The man walks up to her and points his automatic gun in her direction and begins firing. Instead of killing her, he pulls her out of the freezing water, and the scene ends. This introduction shows the audience the connection and history between Lyutsifer Safin and Madeleine Swann.

Italy: The actress Lea Seydoux returns as adult Madeleine from the previous Bond movie, Spectre, as James Bond's current love interest in present day Italy. She is seen as the movie opens up to Bond and Madeleine on a romantic vacation driving the curvy roads in a classic Aston Martin DB5 in Italy. The next morning, Bond wakes up with one mission on his mind: To visit the grave of Vesper Lynd, the woman he first met and fell in love with in the movie, Casino Royale. But when he visits her tomb, it explodes, leaving Bond on the ground in shell-shock from the explosion. Bad men then begin to pursue him with automatic guns, one in a tinted car, and the other on a motorcycle. Bond evades them by jumping off the side of a stone bridge only holding a rope. Bond evades the bad guys, as always, and returns quickly to his room. He is angry at Madeleine, because he thinks she has given the bad guys his location, and they quickly get into their Aston Martin DB5 and take off. They find themselves surrounded by bad guys in cars. The all fire upon Bond and Madeleine in the Aston Martin. The car is bulletproof, withstanding all of their bullets. Madeleine yells for Bond to do something. He flicks the switches inside the weapons panel and fires mini Gatling guns from inside the cars headlights, and then sprays a smoke cloud and takes off down a side street. They speed off to a train station, where Bond is still upset, so he puts Madeleine on a train and she asks, "When will I see you again?" He replies: "You won't."

5 Years Later...

London: The film then moves 5 years into the future, and dark agents infiltrate a secret MI6 laboratory, and steal an MI6 scientist Valdo Obruchev that is very familiar with "Project Heracles" - which uses nanobots to target specific DNA in individuals. First they must be touched with someone that has nanobots inside them, and then the 2nd part is that a specific reactive agent, such as a perfume or gas triggers the nanobots to kill the person. The dark agents leave the MI6 facility with the scientist Valdo, and leaving no witnesses. M finds out about this breech of their top secret facility and quickly wants to label the incursion as a gas leak to cover it up.

Meanwhile, James Bond is living inconspicuously off the grid in Jamaica. His friend from the CIA, Felix Leiter shows up in town with another new agent Logan Ash to recruit Bond for a mission in Cuba. But first, Bond meets a new 00 agent in Jamaica, named Nomi, and she informs him that she is now 007. 

Cuba: The next day, Bond agrees to help the CIA, and Felix has Bond meet up in Santiago, Cuba with a relatively new field recruit, Paloma, played by actress Anna de Armas. Bond suits up in his classic tuxedo and they go to a Black tie event, looking for a missing Russian scientist. What they find out that this party is the members of the organization Spectre, along with saboteurs that have scientist Valdo preparing a gaseous chemical into the ventilation system. As the lead badguy holds up a bionic eye, the ringleader of Spectre organization, Blofield watches on from his cell in Belmarsh. As the eye pans around the room, Blofield identifies James Bond, and the members of Spectre organization circle around Bond. They release the gas into the room, directly above James Bond, and everyone thinks it will only kill James Bond. But scientist Valdo reverse engineered the gas to only identify and kill the Spectre organization, who are now all dead. A gunfight begins, and Nomi grabs Valdo from the party and leaves through a grappling gun in the rooftop window. Bond and Paloma have a quick drink after Paloma takes out many bad guys, and they get into a car. They spot Valdo, and grab him from Nomi, and get away, leaving Nomi alone in a standoff with police. She also gets away. 

Bond boards an pontoon airplane with scientist Valdo at the dock and flies to a special ship positioned out at sea. Felix and Logan are on board the ship waiting for the drop off. Bond brings Valdo and begins to question him in front of Felix and Logan. Logan begins to interfere with the interrogation, because he doesn't want Valdo to give away details about their boss, Lyutsifer Safin, and his plans. Logan Ash gets squirrelly and starts fighting with Bond, and it ends with Felix being mortally shot in the stomach. Logan Ash sets explosives on the ship, and flies off with scientist Valdo to their real employer, Safin, blowing the explosives with Bond and Felix inside. Felix does not survive this scene. Bond finds a life boat, and is rescued by MI6.

London: Bond is back in London, at the MI6 headquarters, to speak to M. M informs Bond that he has been missing for 5 years, so they assumed he was dead, so they gave his 00 title to Nomi as his replacement. Bond leaves MI6 Headquarters dejected by M, but Moneypenny wants him to take his flash drive taken from Valdo to Q after hours to see what is on it. The data turns out was stolen by Valdo the night the secret laboratory was broken into, and it contains the DNA codes for thousands or more individuals, and has ramifications that Safin's group is created a biological weapon of mass destruction with Project Heracles.

M tasks the new 007 with confronting Blofield in his cell in Belmarsh. It is said that Blofield will only speak to his psychiatrist, which is Madeleine Swann. So this is all setting up for James Bond to reunite with his love interest from 5 years prior. Before going to see Blofield, Safin makes a request to Madeleine that she must return the favor to him, by killing Blofield in Belmarsh by wearing a DNA targeting perfume. She reluctantly agrees.

Next we see Bond, Nomi meeting with Madeleine at Belmarsh. They are unaware that Madeleine is tasked with killing Blofield. She doesn't want to go in there. She is so nervous she is shaking, and Bond notices this. Inside, she wants to back out and leave. Bond grabs her arm in the process and gets the lethal perfume on his hand. Madeleine leaves, and Bond begins to talk to Blofield. Blofield informs Bond that he has been shortsighted, and Madeleine still loves him. Blofield doesn't want to give up more information. Bond begins to choke him with the hand with the lethal perfume, and Blofield dies shortly after. 

After talking to Q about what happened, Bond goes to Norway to Madeleine's home to look for her. He finds her, and is surprised to meet her little girl. Madeleine claims she is not Bond's daughter, but she is. Bond finds out that Logan Ash is nearby, so they get into the SUV and start to head toward a NATO base to rendezvous with MI6. On the way there, Safin's henchmen in Land Rover's chase Bond with his family in the SUV. They end up in a wooded area. Bond exacts his revenge on Logan Ash for the death of Felix Leiter. Safin finds Madeleine and her daughter, and he takes her away to his private island in his helicopter. Bond and Nomi prepare for their mission to infiltrate Safin's island to rescue Madeleine and her daughter, and destroy the dangerous chemical weapons on the island. Q gives bond his Omega EMP watch and injects them both with a technology to watch their vitals. Q gives Nomi a cylindrical device called the Q-dar to map out Safin's base.

Safin's Island: Bond and Nomi get into a drone-like plane and Nomi is piloting, but admits she has never flown one before. They shoot out of the British plane and the wings spread open. They glide for a bit, and then they take a dive into the ocean, and the plane turns into a submersible, like a torpedo. They enter Safin's base in an old submarine bay. They get out and enter the base, using Bomd's EMP watch to short the electronic keypad. The guards think it is a malfunctioning system. Nomi uses the Q-dar to map the base for Q so he can guide them with his communication.

Bond and Nomi observe the chemical pools in the lower chamber. Workers are wearing special suits to work in the chemical pools to make the poison. Bond and Nomi make their way to the scientist area, and find Valdo and he constantly reminds them that their efforts are in vain, until Nomi breaks his nose with the butt of her automatic gun. Nomi takes Valdo, while Bond goes to find Madeleine and daughter. Bond goes to the upper main chamber where Safin is waiting for him with armed guards and Madeleine's daughter. Bond sees that he is outnumbered, so he lays down his automatic rifle and pistol and sits across from Safin at his request. Safin begins negotiations. He tells Bond that Bond can take Madeleine's daughter and leave the island safely, but Bond must leave Madeleine. Bond pretends that he will agree to that as he lays low. He is secretly managing to access a gun he has hidden within a pocket on his chest. He shots all 4 guards but Safin uses a trap door in the floor to get away with Madeleine's daughter. Madeleine's finally makes her way into the room, and Bond tells her what happened. Meanwhile, Madeleine's daughter is not going with Safrin peacefully. So he puts her down to wander the lair on her own, while Safrin appears to be leaving.

Bond and Madeleine find their daughter, and she is fine. Nomi killed Valdo after he threatens to wipe out her race. She pushes him off a foot bridge into the toxic chemical pool. Nomi, Bond, Madeleine, and their daughter get aboard a small boat. Bond then says he has to finish the mission and open the blast doors. Madeleine tries to stop him. Bond assures that to get to safety and he will be right behind them. They leave in the boat and Bond makes his way up the stairs to the control room to release the blast doors. He encounters henchmen along the way and gets another grenade blast, causing disorientation. He faces off and kills Safin's top hench man with the electronic eye. He gets the blast doors to open then tells Q and those listening to go ahead and launch the missiles from the British fleet. They launch the missiles and Bond heads down quickly. As he is going down, he hears the blast doors closing again. As he is making his way up again, he meets Safin in the poison garden, and Safin shoots him at least 4 times. They fight in the fountain, and Safin breaks open his vial of Madeleine's DNA and touches Bond with it. He tells Bond that he can never touch Madeleine or her daughter again, or they will die. Bond kills Safin in the fountain, and makes his way up and opens the blast doors again. He then asks to speak to Madeleine on the radio. She Guesses that he is mortally wounded and will not make it out, and that he has been poisoned. They have their goodbyes as he admits his love for them, and missiles rain down on James Bond. He looks on as he is blown up in the destruction of Safin's island base.

For Bond fans out there, don't lose hope. In the post-credits, it says, "James Bond will return."

Deaths in No Time to Die

How does James Bond die in No Time to Die?

The biggest question most people want to know: How does James Bond die in No Time to Die?

How does James Bond Die?

James Bond is killed by the surface to land missiles launched by the British ship.

How does Lyutsifer Safin die in No Time to Die?

Lyutsifer Safin is shot to death by James Bond.

How does Felix Leiter die in No Time to Die?

Logan Ash shoots Felix in the stomach, mortally wounding him, and James Bond tries to save Felix in the drowning ship, but can't.

How does Logan Ash die in No Time to Die?

James Bond pushes a Land Rover onto Logan Ash, crushing him.

How does Valdo Obruchev die in No Time to Die?

After Valdo hints that her entire race could be killed off with a chemical weapon,  Nomi hits Valdo Obruchev backwards from a foot bridge into the toxic chemicals below.

Popular questions people want to know:

• Did James Bond die?  Yes, this version of James Bond dies in No Time to Die
• Is this the last James Bond movie? For Daniel Craig, this is his last movie as James Bond.
• Will there be more James Bond movies? Yes
• Is James Bond replaced by a woman? In this movie, the title "007" is given to Nomi in James Bond's absence. She gives the title back to him in the final mission of the movie.

 

Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Poster

The following post is my review of Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) movie. This post contains spoilers and will discuss elements from the movie. Please do not read this review if you are trying to avoid movie spoilers.

Wonder Woman 1984 Review

Wonder Woman 1984 Movie Details

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) is the sequel to the Wonder Woman (2017) movie and stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince, also known as Wonder Woman. Chris Pine returns as her love interest, Steve Trevor. The antagonists in this movie are Barbara Minerva and The Cheetah (played by Kristen Wiig), and Maxwell "Max" Lord (played by Pedro Pascal). The movie was written and directed by Patty Jenkins, with screenplay credit to Patty Jenkins, Geoff Johns, and Dave Callaham. Full credit for cast and crew can be viewed here. This film was released in the United States in both theaters and on HBO Max simultaneously on December 25, 2020. The film began opening in some international markets without HBO Max on December 16, 2020. 

Note: As of December 27, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 had made $85M USD worldwide and $16.7M domestically, and was given a greenlight to make a third movie, with Patty Jenkins in charge to create.

Wonder Woman 1984 Review: Themes, Story, and Plot

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020) is a movie about many things, the biggest themes are about love and greed, and attaining power that one does not deserve at the expense of others. 

The movie opens during athletic games in a large colosseum in her native Themyscira, where we see a young Diana Prince competing against Amazonian women in their 20's, and doing well ahead of everyone. But she encounters a setback while on horseback, and young Diana attempts to get back into the race by taking a shortcut. When taking the shortcut, she misses her blue checkpoint, and her Aunt Antiope stops her at the end from throwing her javelin through the last hoop. Her Aunt is teaching young Diana a life lesson and tells her that she can't take shortcuts and win fairly.

The film then fast forwards 66 years to 1984 for the rest of the movie.

Diana Prince is working as an anthropologist at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. when not fighting crime in secret as Wonder Woman. There she meets Barbara Minerva, a woman that is clumsy, insecure, and lonely. At first, Diana doesn't care much to hang out with Barbara, but after Diana learns more about the "Dreamstone" being researched by Barbara, Diana takes up Barbara on going out for dinner and gets to know her. After Diana reads the Latin inscription on the relic, she reads out loud how it grants wishes, and she wishes in her mind to have her former lover Steve Trevor back.

The wind blows when the Dreamstone is granting a wish, and shortly after, Steve Trevor shows up in the movie, after embodying some random man in the movie. How Steve does this is not explained sufficiently. Then we see many scenes of Steve trying to acclimate to life in 1984. Meanwhile, Barbara Minerva first wishes she was like Diana and gains agility and strength, like Wonder Woman. An unsuccessful businessman, Max Lord, then discovers the Dreamstone in Barbara's possession, and recognizes it very well, as if he was very familiar with it. He then seduces Barbara and convinces her to let him look at it for further examination. His wish upon the stone is to become the Dreamstone. He then begins granting wishes to everyone, in exchange for whatever he wants. As he grants more and more wishes, it takes a toll on his body, He knows this and says that he can always take health from someone later on after he gains great power in the process.

As Diana and Steve are trying to locate Max Lord, she starts to realize that she is weaker, and her powers are suffering because of her wish to have Steve. They together learn that to stop the chaos taking place on the Earth, everyone that wished upon the Dreamstone must renounce their wish, in order for everything to be restored on the Earth. Diana has a touching final goodbye with Steve because she realizes that she cannot keep him forever, and she needs her powers to face Max Lord, and The Cheetah. 

Diana then puts on her ultimate winged suit of armor and flies to the location where a technologically advanced studio is located. She first faced off with The Cheetah, after Barbara gets additional powers from Max Lord on the jet on the way over. Diana and The Cheetah fight and Wonder Woman subdues The Cheetah with electricity and moves into the studio to confront Max Lord, who is granting everyone wishes in exchange for power.

Diana's ultimate scene with Max Lord is in a 360-degree studio that allows him to "touch" everyone in the world while granting their wishes. This plot point of how it works exactly (the movie science behind it) is not sufficient. Diana manages to get close enough to Max Lord with the Lasso of Truth so that she can speak truth to the world while he is roped, and the world starts to renounce their selfish wishes. The world starts to do this leading up unto Max Lord himself renouncing his wish so that he can save his son that has wandered into a chaotic and dangerous world. He runs out and finds his son, and shortly after is seen embracing his son and telling his son the truth about his rise to power.

This movie may not win many awards, but I liked that greed was addressed. The story is similar to King Midas, who could turn anything he wanted into gold. The main point is that great power gained with unscrupulous means will end very badly. I also liked the theme of love. Diana had everything she wanted in life, except love. She missed Steve very badly. And for Barbara Minerva, she wanted to be popular and liked but lost her kindness and compassion along the way.

Apple Pay and iPhone 6 Utilizes Near Field Communication (NFC)

iPhone 6 has near field communication feature

Apple CEO Tim Cook made the iPhone 6 announcement on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014

The Apple iPhone 6 uses near field communication, or NFC, allowing iPhone users to use the proprietary Apple Pay to buy things with their phone, rather than have to pull out a real wallet. The actual NFC sensor is located at the top of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. However, if you keep reading, it is suggested that the Apple Watch may also contain a near field communication sensor, which allows all versions of the iPhone 5 to be NFC capable. So don't throw out your iPhone 5 just yet. Just do the smart thing, and read a review on the iPhone 6.

Major Credit Card Companies are on Board with Apple Pay NFC

The four biggest American credit cards are all on board to work with Apple Pay for near field communication payments. These are: Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express. These credit cards can be added to one's iPhone Passbook app, as easily as taking a picture of the front. After you do this, your iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus is NFC ready.

Review: If the iPhone 6 Plus is Lost or Stolen...

If you lose your iPhone, there is no need for concern. By using the Find My iPhone service, you can easily deactivate your NFC payments feature. A good iPhone 6 review pointed this out.

How does Apple Pay on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus work?

When you check out with Apple Pay, your iPhone sends a one-time payment authorization number, plus a security code.

Is Apple Pay a secure form of near field communication payment?

Yes. With Apple Pay, the user must press their finger onto the iPhone 6 or Apple Watch fingerprint sensor to authorize a transaction.

Apple Users with Previous iPhone Models Concerned about Apple Pay 

Are you worried that your iPhone won't be able to do Apple Pay?

Apple says that the iPhone 5, iPhone 5S, and iPhone 5C will be able to use Apple Pay, with one caveat - you must first buy an Apple Watch. (Source: 9TO5Mac review article)

So, either way, Apple is going to get you to buy a product if you want to pay with NFC. You can buy an iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, or an Apple Watch. It's your choice.

RAD Soldiers Strategy Game Review for iPhone and Google Chrome

RAD Soldiers by WarChest

RAD Soldiers is a free-to-play turn-based Strategy game for both iPhone and Google Chrome.

RAD Soldiers Video Game Review

Each squad of weapon carrying fighters has a Captain, who has the power to call in air-strikes and radio down medical supplies or an item called "Less Harma Pharma" which reduces the damage taken by a soldier.

This game is perfect for the video gamer that likes strategy, and has both campaign modes and an online multiplayer mode.

Each soldier has a unique special ability that can be performed, which makes this strategy game interesting.

RAD Soldiers for iPhone

RAD Soldiers for iPhone is obviously on a smaller scale. The loading time on an iPhone 4 takes a few minutes, and if you are toggling between online multiplayer matches, the loading time can become annoying.

The other annoying thing about RAD Soldiers on iPhone is that it is easy to mispoke the screen, or for your finger poke to not register and then the move is not accepted. After having this happen a lot, it can get frustrating.

If you don't mind the load time and the mis-pokes, then play RAD on your iPhone.

RAD Soldiers for Google Chrome

RAD Soldiers for Google Chrome can be downloaded from the Google Chrome store. If you are playing in several multiplayer matches at once, it loads much quicker on Google Chrome.

There are no loading time issues (other than on boot up) for RAD on Google Chrome. It is much easier to play with a mouse than poking spaces on an iPhone screen.

Tips for Getting RAD bucks

RAD bucks are the in-game currency. There are many ways to earn RAD bucks. 

Here are some tips:

1. Add a friend from an online multiplayer match. This will get you one bonus RAD buck.
2. Win an online multiplayer match. This will get you one courtesy RAD buck.
3. Level up. Each time you level up, you get a RAD buck
4. Beat a campaign mode stage. This will get you one RAD buck.

Locked Air Drops

When playing in Campaign mode on Google Chrome, you may notice some locked crates falling from the sky. RAD gives you three keys for free. There are bonus items you would otherwise have to buy given in the locked crates. After you use up your three free keys, then you have to pay to buy more.

Expansion Maps

Expansion maps are offered in RAD in exchange for either RAD bucks or for payment in real currency. The downside to the free-to-play part is that the cheapest expansion map costs 45 RAD bucks. This means if you are saving RAD bucks, you better save them for an expansion map, since you can purchase recruits with coins, and coins can be won in online multiplayer.

Just by observation, I would like to see more cities and campaigns available to unlock, and some for only 20 something RAD bucks.

Overall Rating for RAD Soldiers

Overall, I give RAD a thumbs up for being an awesome free-to-play strategy video game for both iPhone and Google Chrome. What is even more awesome is that you can log in from either and your account is automatically synced. You can pick up from your iPhone if you want to play on the go.

As long as there is more unlockable content to work towards, then this video game will keep your attention.

Z.Love's Stamp of Approval

Review: Django Unchained is a Bloody Mess

Django Unchained starring Jamie Foxx

Django Unchained (2012) is a bloody R-rated movie full of profanity. 

Of course, what Quentin Tarantino movie isn’t bloody?

(If you continue, this movie review has SPOILERS.)

First of all, this is not a family-friendly movie. The “R” Rating should obviously give that away. Just in case you were considering taking your 13-or-younger teen to this movie, it is extremely graphic.

Django Unchained is a movie about a slave who turns into a bounty hunter, but the movie is filled to the brim with unrealistic blood shooting every which way from excessive gunfights, and foul-mouthed language (including the “N” word 30-something times).  Jamie Foxx plays Django.

As much as I am a Jamie Foxx fan, I wouldn't choose to watch this movie again for fun. Viewing the movie once is more than enough for me. It is far too graphic and has too many profanities. You leave the theater feeling filthy – like you are covered in the blood of all those people in the movie who died.

Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino obviously does not hold the view that less is better. Sometimes, it should be left to the viewer that the bad guys are disposed of. That is not the case in this movie. Quentin Tarantino makes sure to add yet another scene with Django killing yet more people.

Are There Noble Characters in the Django Unchained Movie?

Django Unchained would have been a decent movie if viewers had gotten a sense that Django and his friend “Mr. Shultz” were noblemen. This was attempted by the fact that Mr. Shultz let the slaves go in the beginning, and gave Django his freedom. But later in the movie, Mr. Shultz has Django shoot a man plowing a field while his 10-year-old son watches. The more noble action would have been to take him alive? 

There was a missed opportunity here.

By the time all the killing is done, Django does not seem to have any grace or mercy toward anyone. Even Lara Lee Candie-Fitzwilly is shot dead. Only reason I can figure is that she was on the wrong side (and the wrong skin color).

Two Things That Should've Been in the Movie Django Unchained

There Were Two Things That Should’ve Been in the Movie (Based on the Dialogue):
1.       Mr. Shultz said they were going to search every plantation in Gatlinburg until they found the Riddle Brothers. The movie should’ve shown more searching. They found the plantation (run by Don Johnson) on the first try. No searching was involved. 
2.       Mr. Shultz tells Django that Mississippi is full of slave owners and that it will be very difficult to find out where his wife is because it is the center of slavery in the South. The camera has the words "Mississippi" (float across the screen), and Mr. Shultz and Django have no issue in finding Broomhilda's plantation (Candie-land) without being noticed. This should've been more challenging since it is extremely rare for a black man to be a free man in the South, and especially in Mississippi. 

The dialogue says that they will have a difficult time doing things, but the visual movie does not show them to be hard. 

Did anybody else catch this?

A Few Things That I Liked About the Movie:
1. The Django Theme Song
2. Jamie Foxx's acting (aside from the gratuitous killing)
3. Christoph Waltz's acting
4. The Tarantino-esque zoom in on Mr. Candie's (Leo's) face
5. Jamie Foxx bareback riding on the horse was pretty cool

Django Unchained Movie Spoiler: The Ending

At thr end of the movie, Django escapes from being sold to the mining company by telling the escorts a lie. He kills them and takes their guns and dynamite and rides off, leaving 3 slaves to free themselves, with one “hater” smiling because Django gets the best of the bad guys. This would have been the right time to end the movie. I could visualize Django getting his wife back and winning.

But the movie continued on about another 10 minutes, having Django killing every last man, and blowing up the Candie-land house.

Mr. Tarantino, in some cases, less is better, and your movies should use some of this restraint. It is called meekness. Just because you can show it, doesn’t mean you should. Because you have to keep going and pressing the issue, I think it actually takes away from your movie.

The most disturbing segment of the movie is when Leonardo di Caprio’s character let two dogs rip a slave to pieces, while everyone watches. Snippets of this are later replayed in the movie, as if seeing it once was not enough. Again, knowing the dogs were going to kill him was enough, but we had to view this multiple times -- Just sickening.

Every gun fight had blood bursting forth from the body. This was way too unrealistic. After a while, this just gets old.

Even though this movie attempted to be accurate in terms of race relations during the time period, I don’t think this movie does do anything to leave the movie-goer feeling good. The only thing in the end is that Django and his wife ride away on horses. Everyone else is dead.

Oprah endorsed this movie, while Spike Lee protested it.

There is nothing else to say about this bloody movie. 

Leonardo di Caprio and Jamie Foxx in Django Unchained

iPhone App Review: Field Agent

Field Agent App icon

Field Agent App on iPhone

Field Agent is a great iPhone app to have, but it requires one major thing: TIME.

Once you download the app, you click on the orange app icon with a white tie. The Field Agent app will launch and then load jobs for your area.

I have noticed that many new jobs are populated and ready for Saturday.

Field Agent Experience:

After getting a list of jobs on the iPhone app, I decided to go down to Publix (grocery store) and attempt to complete some of the many assignments. When you select an assignment, it will give you an abbreviated title for the Product, and then will provide a suggested location for the product in the description area.

Field Agent App Job listings

I found that many jobs were being added on this Saturday morning. Many jobs would only last for a few minutes and then it would disappear, and new jobs would populate.

I didn’t accept the jobs unless I knew that I could complete the assignment. The app warns that it may be difficult to cancel the job once accepted, but it is quite easy to cancel a job assignment. The only downside may be that it hurts your agent completion score in the app.

Conclusion:

What I found using the Field Agent app for specific grocery stores is that the items you are searching for may not be found at your local store. I was searching for items like cheese and beef jerky, and the UPC codes before and after this particular UPC were there, but the 10-digit UPC code was not in stock. That was frustrating.

Then, when I actually found one that was in stock, the bottled water did not list the ingredients or allergy warnings, which were required photos.

So the one item that was in stock, I took two pictures: one of the UPC, and one of the fronts of the package. The assignment required 4 pictures, including the allergy warning, and ingredient listing.

I submitted this assignment, and gave this explanation, but later received an email from Field Agent saying that my submission was denied.

I searched for at least 10 products in the job section, successfully found one, and that one submission was denied. This turned out to be quite a frustrating attempt to complete jobs with Field Agent.

But note that I have successfully completed one Field Agent assignment, taking a photo of the soft drink section at Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart tasks seem to be easier to accomplish.

The Field Agent iPhone App sounds cool in theory, but not all jobs are easy to find in grocery stores, and for an hour’s worth of time, you may only accomplish one task for $6.50.

Are you worth more than $6.50 an hour?

The reality is that Field Agent is not an easy way to make money. Don't expect to make a living off of it, and don't expect consistent job assignments. Cool app, but not an income reality.

Here is the bottom line on Field Agent. In theory, its a great app. It would be cool if a person could actually make a little money from it. The sad reality is that Field Agent often makes requirements for a completion that are impossible. You end up wasting your time. Too many pictures are rejected. They tell you to go to a location and take a picture of a display that is non-existent. Then you get the dreaded email from the support worker to your email saying they reject your submission because the picture isn't what they wanted. They need to let you take several pictures and they pick what they want.

Field Agent has wasted my time on several occasions when I though I would actually get a completion.