Latest news with #FightOrFlight
Forbes
22-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Make Your First Two Seconds Count
Speaker at Business Conference with Public Presentations. Audience at the conference hall. ... More Entrepreneurship club. Malcolm Gladwell spent 288 pages of his international bestseller Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking discussing what he calls 'those first two seconds' of how people make snap judgments based on first impressions—validating the maxim, 'First impressions last.' Unfortunately, what most presenters do in those first two seconds creates a negative impression. Presenters, like all human beings under stress, experience a jolt of adrenaline. Those first two seconds are stressful to even the most experienced presenters, including yours truly, even after a decades-long career as a coach. This adrenaline rush is also known as 'The Fight or Flight Reaction,' a series of innate involuntary physical responses that enable an organism to manage stress. One of those responses is for the eyes to scan the immediate area for signs of danger. In prehistoric terms, the eyes are driven to become hyperalert to a potential attack by saber-toothed tiger. In a presentation, that scan is perceived by any audience as shifty-eyed. Would you or anyone do business with someone you perceive as shifty-eyed? This prejudicial judgement is imprinted in all human beings at birth. A team of British and Italian scientists conducted a study of newborns that concluded, 'human infants prefer to look at faces that engage them in mutual gaze and that, from an early age, healthy babies show enhanced neural processing of direct gaze. The exceptionally early sensitivity to mutual gaze demonstrated in these studies is arguably the major foundation for the later development of social skills.' The conventional solution is to make eye contact. An additional convention is to make eye contact with everyone in the audience, all of which results in rapid scanning. However, scanning is the opposite of eye contact. But those first two seconds are also known as the 'throat clearing moment,' and most presenters use that moment to start with an amenable welcoming statement. 'Good afternoon. Thank you for taking the time to…' and then go on to cite the event. You can use this moment to let your eyes do what your adrenaline is driving them to do, scan the room. No one can possibly view that behavior as shifty-eyed because as William Shakespeare had Hamlet say, you will have 'Suit(ed) the action to the words, the word to the action.' That sweeping action accompanying your gracious words will appear appropriate and courteous to your audience. By making that involuntary scan purposeful, you will no longer appear furtive. Once you've scanned the room, your Fight or Flight system will be satisfied that you are aware of the escape routes and will diminish the need to scan. That's when you can begin to make eye contact, but now you can do so with one person at a time. Analogously, the U.S. Army understands the natural inclination of the eyes to scan an environment. In a manual on night firing, a challenge for vision, they recommend that, before focusing on a target, a soldier should scan 'from right to left or from left to right using a slow, regular scanning movement' because it 'enables soldiers to overcome many of the physiological limitations of their eyes and reduce the visual illusions that so often confuse them.'
Straits Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Straits Times
At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor
Josh Hartnett (right) and Charithra Chandran in Fight Or Flight. PHOTO: SHAW ORGANISATION At The Movies: Thrills and spills in Fight Or Flight, Another Simple Favor Fight Or Flight (M18) 102 minutes, opens on May 15 ★★★☆☆ The story: Disgraced former Secret Service agent Lucas Reyes (Josh Hartnett) has a shot at redemption, when tapped by his ex-boss (Katee Sackhoff) for a mission: He is to track down a mysterious cyber terrorist known as 'The Ghost' on an international flight and take him or her into custody back to the United States. Turns out just about every passenger on-board is a crazed assassin after this high-value asset. Is no transportation safe any longer? Fight Or Flight is Brad Pitt's Bullet Train (2022) at 37,000 feet . The airborne action comedy is absurdly entertaining despite the familiar concept, its violence so nuts, the only response is to laugh. Barely has the seatbelt sign been switched off and a skull is skewered, grey matter splattered across the first-class toilet. And speaking of seatbelt, it is repurposed for strangling. Arms are snapped, ribs are crushed by meal trolleys and an eye speared by a broken champagne flute once the international mercenaries leap from their seats to begin competing for their bounty. This is not the sort of movie to ask how a chainsaw got past airport security. The more immediate concern is Lucas having to keep both himself and his target alive. Director James Madigan, a visual effects artist, innovates with brio the close-quarters skirmishes in the pressurised cabins, and Hartnett has mischievous fun as the bleach-blond wash-up in airline pyjamas still capable of holding his own. He finds a reluctant ally in a feisty air stewardess played by Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton, 2020 to present). A befuddled pair of co-pilots and three Shaolin nuns are also in the teeming ensemble, few among them surviving beyond one scene. Hot take: From the producers of John Wick (2014). Which is to say, it is a bonkers romp. Another Simple Favor (M18) 122 minutes, available on Prime Video ★★★☆☆ Anna Kendrick in Another Simple Favor. PHOTO: PRIME VIDEO The story: Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) reunite on the Italian island of Capri for Emily's destination wedding to a handsome mafia scion (Michele Morrone). Beneath the sun-splashed extravagance lurks danger because the bride is a psychopath, surely again up to no good. In the 2018 American noir caper A Simple Favor, widowed single mum Stephanie investigated the disappearance of glamorous Emily and discovered her new best friend from their sons' elementary school had killed her long-lost twin and staged her own death. Seven years later, in Another Simple Favour, Emily is out of prison and Stephanie is a mummy vlogger amateur sleuth. The latter has written a memoir, although reading it to acquaint oneself with the backstory will not help make sense of the convolutions in this knowingly trashy melodrama dressed up as a luxurious travelogue. Emily's dotty mother (Elizabeth Perkins), a shifty aunt (Allison Janney) and Emily's ex (Henry Golding) are the other guests arrived at the resort. Stephanie soon finds herself framed for multiple murders. Is this why Emily invited her here to be bridesmaid, to take delayed revenge? There are secrets, betrayals, fake identities, a mafia war and one too many incident of sibling incest even for an improviser of farcical vulgarities like Paul Feig. The Hollywood director of Bridesmaids (2011) and the girl-powered Ghostbusters (2016) has returned for another female-centric comedy, and the fabulous frenemies – perky Kendrick versus Lively's slippery, manipulative vamp in runway couture – are perhaps reason enough for a sequel, however wearying the endless plot twists. In their byplay, at once flirtatious and a veiled threat, lies all the intrigue. Hot take: Their barbed banter is a treat as Kendrick and Lively talk themselves out of a nonsense frolic. Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
You can be a star without social media. Just ask Josh Hartnett.
Josh Hartnett has been promoting his new movie, Fight or Flight, a lot on social media — just not on his own account. One 4-second TikTok from the film's official page in which he announces that tickets are on sale has a whopping 7.7 million views, but you won't catch him tapping into his newfound viral fame anytime soon. 'I'm more focused on the physical aspects of my life than the virtual,' Hartnett told Yahoo Entertainment. 'I have enough stuff going on in my day-to-day life that I couldn't possibly take an hour or two a day to do social media stuff. I just don't have the time.' While promoting Fight or Flight, his publicist sent him a post that called him 'the reclusive Josh Hartnett.' 'And I was like, 'What?! No! I'm the opposite of that!'' he said. 'I'm engaged entirely in my day-to-day existence, and I feel like sometimes people ... retreat into social media as opposed to spending time with other people. I just really like people! I just like being around them. And for me, it seems like the best way to do that is to cut myself out of that.' Hartnett is still happy to shoot a few videos when promoting a project though. 'I get to learn the new trends, and so I'm educated. Now I know all my Gen Z slang,' he said. Some celebrities have spoken out about the pressure to maintain social media accounts to further their careers. In February, Maya Hawke said on a podcast that producers sometimes make casting decisions based on actors' follower counts. In March, Scarlett Johansson told InStyle she was asked to join Instagram to promote Jurassic World: Rebirth but didn't because she didn't think it would allow her to 'stay true to who I am.' Hartnett's lack of a social media presence hasn't interfered with his resurgence. He starred in Trap in 2024, stole scenes in Oppenheimer in 2023 and will lead the highly anticipated film adaptation of the novel Verity in 2026. Fans and media outlets have declared a 'Hartnett-aissance.' 'I appreciate the fact that people like the work that I'm doing right now — that people are saying that — because it seems like that's obviously a very complimentary, flattering thing! I don't know,' he said. 'For me, I'm just doing the thing that I've always been doing, which is trying to make the most interesting films with the most interesting characters that I can find.' Hartnett said he's been lucky to work with directors with reach that allows films to be seen 'on a larger level recently.' That, in turn, gave him the ability to work with Fight or Flight director James Madigan on his debut feature film and give it a bit of a boost. 'I've been doing this for almost 30 years, and the fact that I'm still able to make, I think, unique films and experiment with unique characters — I feel like I'm just incredibly blessed, you know?' he said. 'Like … I love making films.' In the early 2000s, Hartnett made a name for himself starring in war movies like Black Hawk Down and Pearl Harbor. He was excited to take his action-scene prowess up a notch with Fight or Flight. He plays a mercenary tasked with locating a high-value asset on a flight, only to be attacked by a series of assassins hell-bent on killing him. He did all of his own stunts. 'I got to do something that I've not been able to do in a long, long time — if ever — and stretch in a way that I haven't been able to stretch in a long time,' he said. 'I couldn't be happier.' is now in theaters.
Digital Trends
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
Like Fight or Flight? Stream these 3 Josh Hartnett movies
Table of Contents Table of Contents Lucky Number Slevin (2006) The Black Dahlia (2006) 30 Days of Night (2007) This week, Josh Hartnett is back in theaters with Fight or Flight, an action comedy. Hartnett is playing Lucas Reyes, a man who has been tasked with identifying a notorious hacker on plane before all hell breaks loose. Hartnett has been a leading man in Hollywood for the better part of three decades, but he also has a long list of bad movies to his name. Case in point: Trap, M. Night Shyamalan's thriller that had a terrific premise and terrible execution. Recommended Videos But if you liked Fight or Flight and you want to see its star in better films than Trap, then you should stream these three Josh Hartnett movies. Lucky Number Slevin (2006) Slevin Kelevra (Hartnett) is having a very bad day in Lucky Number Slevin. His roommate, Nick Fisher (Sam Jaeger), is out and Slevin keeps getting kidnapped by criminals who think he's Nick. Two rival crime bosses, The Rabbi (Ben Kingsley) and The Boss (Morgan Freeman), want Slevin to kill someone on their hit list as an alternative to paying the exorbitant amount of money that Nick owes each of them for his gambling debts. An assassin named Mr. Goodkat (Bruce Willis) has arranged all of the chaos that has befallen Slevin, and he's also set the two crime lords on a collision course. For now, Slevin is useful to Goodkat, but he might be catching a bullet to the head the second he's no longer necessary for Goodkat's agenda. Watch Lucky Number Slevin on Fubo. The Black Dahlia (2006) The Black Dahlia is based on both James Ellroy's 1987 novel and the shocking murder of Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirschner) in 1947. Hartnett plays Detective Dwight 'Bucky' Bleichert, the new partner of Detective Lee Blanchard (Aaron Eckhart). Bucky is also fast friends with Lee's girlfriend, Kay Lake (Scarlett Johansson), and he has trouble making sense of Lee and Kay's dynamic. Somehow they're connected to the arrest of mob boss Bobby DeWitt (Richard Brake) from early in Lee's career. When Short's body is found mutilated, Bucky and Lee are drawn into the case and the former attracts the attention of Madeleine Linscott (Hilary Swank), an acquaintance of the victim who has an uncanny resemblance to Short. Lee's past with DeWitt is revisited in a shocking way that leaved Bucky and Kay bewildered and stunned. But the twists surrounding the case are only beginning to unfold, and this mystery may be the end of them. Rent or buy The Black Dahlia on Prime Video. 30 Days of Night (2007) 30 Days of Night was based on an intriguing comic by Steve Niles and artist Ben Templesmith that explored what would happen if vampires attacked during an extended month without sunshine. For the people of Barrow, Alaska, it's an absolute disaster as vampires led by Marlow (Danny Huston) descend upon the town and turn it into their personal playpen during the sun's absence. Sheriff Eben Oleson (Hartnett) and his estranged wife, Stella (Melissa George), are among the few human survivors after the initial attacks. But living through the ordeal only means that the vampires get to play with their food while waiting out their starving prey. If Eben can't figure out a way to stop the vampires, then Barrow's remaining human population isn't going to live to see the next sunrise. And the world may never know what happened to any of them. Watch 30 Days of Night on Pluto TV.
Forbes
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Fight Or Flight' Reviews: Does Josh Hartnett's Film Fly With Critics?
Josh Hartnett in "Fight or Flight." Fight or Flight — Josh Hartnett's high-flying airplane action thriller — is new in theaters. What do critics think about the film? Rated R, Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday. The official summary for the film reads, 'Exiled American agent Lucas Reyes (Hartnett) is given one last chance to redeem himself - the assignment is to track down and identify a mysterious, international high-value asset known only as The Ghost on a flight from Bangkok to San Francisco. 'Complicating matters, the plane is filled with assassins from around the world who are assigned to kill them both. The pair must work together in a fight for their lives. At 37,000 feet, the stakes have never been higher.' Directed by James Madigan, Fight or Flight also stars Katee Sackhoff, Charithra Chandran and Julian Kostov. As of Thursday, Fight or Flight has earned a 79% 'fresh' rating from Rotten Tomatoes critics based on 47 reviews. The RT Critics Consensus for Fight or Flight reads, 'Josh Hartnett's go-for-broke performance gives Fight of Flight wings, sustaining this daffy action-comedy at an entertaining cruising altitude that refreshingly doesn't wear out its welcome.' The film's Popcornmeter score on RT is still pending. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast is among the top critics on RT who gives Fight or Flight a 'fresh' rating, writing, 'Amusing, energetic, and just clever enough to sustain its brief runtime, it serves up a boisterous and bruising brand of B-movie bedlam.' Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter also categorizes Fight or Flight as a B-movie, but still gives it a 'fresh' review, writing on RT, '[Josh Hartnett's] charisma and surprising flair for physical comedy elevate this B-movie into something approaching A-level status, even if it's ultimately undercut by its low-budget limitations and awkward tonal shifts.' The B-movie label was also on the mind of John Nugent of Empire Magazine, who pens in his review on RT, 'A solid bit of high-concept B-movie fun, establishing Josh Hartnett as a credible action hero, and James Madigan as a genre director to watch.' On the flip side, Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle gives Fight or Flight a 'rotten' rating, writing on RT, writing, 'The violence gets cranked up to 11 after about 30 minutes, before we have anything resembling a rooting interest, and the violence stays there for most of the remaining hour. None of it has impact.' Also giving the film a 'rotten' rating on RT is AV Club's Chloe Walker, who notes, 'Fight or Flight has Josh Hartnett and endless splattery fights on an enclosed mode of public transport, but that's all it has.' Justin Clark of Slant Magazine also splats Fight or Flight with a 'rotten' rating on RT, writing, "Dramatic moments create tonal stutters that prevent the film from becoming the unhinged Looney Tune that it wants to be.' Fight or Flight opens in theaters nationwide on Friday.
