#OnTheBigScreen: The return of a superhero family, horror and comedy

The European Film Festival, Incredibles 2, Hereditary and Super Troopers 2 open at local cinemas this week.

The European Film Festival

In true cinema style, the European Film Festival celebrates its fifth year until 1 July 2018 at Cinema Nouveau: Rosebank, Brooklyn, and V&A Waterfront. It will showcase 10 films selected from Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom – a collection of diverse worldly stories. 

These are only a few of the remarkably produced films that the South African audience can look forward to seeing. One of the festival’s objectives is to showcase and encourage exchange and collaborations between European and African film industries.  

Incredibles 2

This highly anticipated sequel resumes where The Incredibles ends, with the introduction of the villain The Underminer (John Ratzenberger). The Parr family struggles to maintain normal lives while Helen (Holly Hunter), as Elastigirl, continues to fight crime and campaign for the return of 'supers', while Bob (Craig T. Nelson), also known as Mr Incredible, stays at home caring for their children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dash (Huck Milner), and Jack-Jack, discovering the baby’s secret powers in the process of writing research paper. Also, the Parrs and their ally Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson) find they must battle a new villain, who goes by the name of Screenslaver.

Writer/director Brad Bird looked to his own life when he created the original characters of The Incredibles, and he returns to the Incredibles universe with Incredibles 2.

Hereditary

When Ellen, the matriarch of the Graham family, passes away, her daughter’s family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited.

Making his feature debut, writer-director Ari Aster unleashes a nightmare vision of a domestic breakdown that exhibits the craft and precision of a nascent auteur, transforming a familial tragedy into something ominous and deeply disquieting, and pushing the horror movie into chilling new terrain with its shattering portrait of heritage.

Super Troopers 2

Fired for their previous shenanigans, former Vermont Highway Patrol officers Thorny, Farva, Rabbit, Foster, and Mac get a shot at redemption from Capt. O’Hagan and Gov. Jessan. The wacky quintet must provide law enforcement for a French Canadian town that’s transitioning to US sovereignty. Their unconventional methods soon get put to the test when they encounter a smarmy mayor, mischievous Mounties, a smuggling ring and, a 1,300-pound bear.

Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar. A sequel to the 2001 film Super Troopers. It stars the Broken Lizard comedy team, made up of Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. 

Graduation Gifts for Students of All Ages

With the passing of yet another school year, it’s a great time to look at potential graduation gift ideas, big and small, for students moving past another milestone in their compare and contrast essay topics journey. Even kids just graduating from their current grade deserve some celebration and appreciation!

We’ve searched high and low for some of the latest and greatest graduation gifts, as well as some classic ideas. Whether your child has just completed kindergarten, or is graduating high school and looking ahead to college, we have a few ideas for you!

Let us know in the comments below if you have other great ideas that we didn’t cover here. The possibilities are endless, so without further ado, here are some great graduation gift ideas for students of all ages.

Graduation Gifts for Preschool, Kindergarten & Elementary Graduates

Custom T-Shirts

Shirts are a popular gift for graduates of all ages. You can find some great designs for kids on among different places.

Sunglasses with Card

Summer is coming and it’s important to protect kids’ eyes in bright sunlight. Lessons with Laughter has a fun and inexpensive idea for celebrating the occasion with sunglasses.

Outdoor Toys & Games

There is no better way to celebrate than with fun and games! And since summer is finally here, why not get outside and play while the weather is nice?

For very little money, you can get some great games like a ring toss, kid-friendly frisbees, horseshoes, or a mini-frisbee golf set designed specifically for small children.

Picture & Frame 

You can never have too many pictures of your kids, so for you DIYers out there, a homemade picture frame is a great way to preserve the moment for years to come. If you want to go the easy route, you can buy a frame, but there are many projects you can create with your child on Pinterest.

Graduation Gifts for Middle School Graduates

School Spirit Gear

Most students change schools between middle and high school, and moving to a new school means new school colors and a new mascot. One great way to set a student up for their upcoming high school years is to give them some new gear for the school they’ll be attending.

This can mean a t-shirt, sweatshirt, a hat, backpack, or other item.You may be able to get school gear directly from the new school or have something personalized online. Students enrolled in a K12 school can get their gear online as well.

Cash or Gift Cards

As students grow and gain additional independence, it becomes more important for them to sustain themselves outside the home. For this reason, small amounts of money or gift cards can go a long way towards providing your child with the independence that comes with moving on to high school.

Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Whether hanging out with friends or doing homework on the patio, many teens love to have music on. For the music lovers out there, check out some great bluetooth speakers under $50 on Amazon, most of which are highly rated.

Not loving the idea of hearing your kids’ music? Consider a pair of headphones in a fun color, instead.

Cellphone

Now that your child is moving on to high school, he or she will require a bit more independence. Whether it be heading off to soccer practice, rehearsing for a play, or spending an afternoon at a friend’s house, you will want to be able to contact your child if needed.

If you haven’t already, think about whether now is a good time for your child to have a cell phone.

Tablet

Maybe your child isn’t ready for a cell phone yet, or you just can’t justify the monthly fees on top of the phone itself. A tablet is a great middle ground, which enables students to stay connected on-the-go wherever a WiFi connection exists (or you can pay for a data plan).

Tablets have many uses, more than just entertainment. They can be used to manage daily schedules, keep track of to-do items, or send and receive messages when your child is out of the home. Tablets can cost as low as $80 and many are in the range of $200-$300.

Graduation Gifts for High School Graduates

Tablet or Laptop

Graduates who are heading off to college in the fall may need a new device to stay productive and connected, so it makes sense that tablets and computers have been popular graduation gifts for years. In recent years, the price of laptops has come down to very affordable levels.

Many laptops can be had for under $400, while Chromebooks are generally less expensive than that and popular among students.

Smartphone

For younger students, a simple cell phone that can make calls and send texts can do, but a smartphone is a near-necessity at the college level these days. This could be a good excuse to upgrade to the newest model.

Personalized Items

You can find lots of great items on Etsy that can be personalized with your student’s name and/or graduation year. Some popular items are pillows, keychains and jewelry, but the options are endless!

College Gear

If your child is heading off to college in the fall, it’s likely that they know their destination by now. College students can never have too much school gear, so a few extra t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats or accessories can be a great send-off for someone moving on to a new school.

Graduation Photo Album

Digital cameras and smartphones are everywhere these days, so there is little doubt that you have lots of pictures of your child throughout their high school career, from their first day of freshman year up through senior pictures and the graduation ceremony.

Many people look back on high school as some of the best years of their life, so something as simple as printing out a few dozen photos and putting them in a nicely done photo album can be a great way to cherish those high school memories long after those days have passed.

4 Self Development Books That Will Help You Succeed

Books can transport you to a new world, teach you things you’d never imagined. We love books, the one thing we all have in common is that we’re voracious readers. From the age we could pick up a book with our own two hands, we were reading. Now we’re older, we still love a good fictional read, but it’s also important to us to learn new skills and stay up to date with the research writing services around us.

1. How To Stop Worrying And Start Living by Dale Carnegie

My working day doesn’t just begin when I’m in the office. I usually choose books about the skills I need at work, marketing books, graphic design books, communication skills, and organization. I like to read really strategic books like Marketing 4.0 by Kotler. Right now I am reading How To Stop Worrying And Start Living by Dale Carnegie. I’m not much of a worrier, but what’s inside is more of a guide to life, and it’s really helpful for women in business. For example, one chapter is called ‘What makes you tired and what to do about it,’ and another ‘Good working habits’.

This book will help you to think about things differently and teach you to stop worrying. I already believe in the power of doing things without worrying. That’s why I moved to London on a whim and created Career Girl Daily.

For example, criticism is something a lot of people find hard to hear. This book suggests that criticism is a compliment. I think it’s an essential read for anyone who worries about things in their career. There are lots of mindset changes you need to make if you want to be successful in business, or in a career, and this book lays them out in an informative way.

Considering it was written in the 1930’s it has some applicable advice for today. What I learned from the book was less about worrying and more about doing. I already try to create a gratitude list every night, I learned how to add one hour to my day, and how to beat fatigue and aging by powering up my mindset. Overall, this is an excellent book for anyone who needs some help creating mindset tricks to become successful.

2. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way To Influence And Persuade by Robert Cialdini

Because I love to read about strategies, I find books about psychology and influence really interesting. The human mind works in mysterious ways, but we’re influenced hundreds of times a day by brands, advertisements, books, and the media. Often, we don’t even know it’s happening. I read this book a while ago; it’s essential for every woman looking to understand why we act the way we do. Learning how to influence people is a great skill for life and work, whether you need to make sales, or you want to know how to deliver an idea that your team will love.

There are so many lessons to learn from this book in communicating clearly and persuading people without trying. For example, asking a leading question to ensure the answer goes your way. And learning how we think about the things around us, from how advertisements affect us, to how the words we use determine what we do, is a skill that will help you grow and develop into a powerful leader.

There’s so much more than just those lessons, you’ll learn about the subtle cues in everything you read and see that you can learn from and use to your advantage.

3. Methods of Persuasion: How To Use Psychology To Influence Human Behavior by Nick Kolenda

This book was my introduction to influencing human behavior with language and text. I absolutely love it. When I was younger, I used to pick only fiction books and stay well away from the self-development aisle, but these days you’ll find my entire Kindle library stacked full of books for different skills. This book, for me, was like a light switch going on.

I always find these influence books seem a bit disingenuous or sneaky. But the techniques in this book really do work.

In one of the earlier chapters, Nick asks you to picture a lucky dwarf. Later he goes on to predict you were thinking of the number seven and then explains why. It’s so subtle that you don’t notice you are being influenced.

He uses these techniques to perform tricks and shows, but they’re really good to know if you’re looking to persuade people. I haven’t tried any of these tricks out yet, but just learning about how easy it is to trick the mind has inspired me. I’m trying to learn how to think better, by slowing my thought process down and instead of reaching an answer, going back over the steps I took to get there.

Learning how something as simple as seeing an image you associate with success can make you feel more successful is also an integral part of powering up the way you work. For instance, I use it in my morning routine. I think about ways I can activate my brain to make sure I have the kind of day I need to in order to get things done

4.How To Own The World by Andrew Craig

I’ve recently become interested in finance. Number crunching is something I never used to do. But as I’ve got older I am really interested in making my money work for me. I want to become financially literate, and I really think that finance is something that should be taught in schools. This book is less of a guide to investing and more of a rulebook on how to make your money work for you.

This book will teach you amongst other things; why you’re better at handling your money than a professional, how to turn 5,000 into 8 million and how to spot good investment opportunities. The goal is to own the world, make money, and absolve risk. To do that, you need to put aside your misconceptions about investing and learn some of the truths about the world we live in today. This book also breaks down the current financial situation in the world, because if you want to invest you need to have some grasp of how the events around you can affect your profit. well as teaching you how to profit. More than that, though, it’s a pleasure to read and never gets too heavy.

Every woman should read this book.