The Hurt Locker

I overall enjoyed watching this movie, although I don't know if it's the kind of movie I would watch for a second time. This is sort of like a war movie, only there aren't battles and they are trying to keep people from dying by disposing the bombs. Also, you never know what is going to happen next, like if someone is going to explode in the next few seconds. The saddest part of the movie was towards the end when the main character was trying to get a bomb with a timer off of a man. Unfortunately, he had to leave the man to explode because there wasn't enough time to get the bomb off of him. I don't know what I would have done if the person helping the man were me. I could definitely see how that could scar someone for life. I have a feeling that the hurt locker has to do with the position the person was in, whether they were physically or emotionally hurt from the things going on around them. So the camp (or locker) is a place that causes good/normal people to feel hurt on the inside and outside.

Captain Phillips Review

Like some of the past movies we watched in this class, I had seen "Captain Phillips" prior to viewing it in class. This is a very well done movie and deserved the awards and nominations it received, especially Tom Hanks, who did an amazing job portraying Captain Phillips. I liked this movie just as much the second time because of the great acting and the suspense. What I thought was interesting was when I was told that Captain Phillips was not the same as he was in the movie, a hero. Apparently the people from Sony were sued by some crewmen, while those that kept their mouths shut received at  least $5,000. This, however did not ruin my take on the movie.

Argo Review

This was my second time watching this movie and it was just as good as my first time watching. The movie was so suspenseful, which is one of my favorite parts of any good movie, and there was a lot of action, something good or interesting was always happening on screen. I never really knew a lot about the subject of the movie, the American hostage crisis, but the movie did a great job in the beginning explaining the background of the movie, for those who don't know what it is to better understand it. Overall, I loved the movie and would recommend it to anyone who likes action and suspense.

Apollo 13 Review

This was my second time watching this movie. The first time I was in eighth grade and thought that it was really boring. I don't remember even staying to finish the ending. This time, however, I really liked it. The time that they were in space was a little too long, I would say still. But, it is still a fascinating story. The main character played by Tom Hanks is my favorite character because he seems like such a good guy and great husband and father. If I were his wife or child I would be so scared for his life because space is such a scary place to be, especially when something goes wrong.
I would recommend this movie to anyone older than at least fourteen and able to understand and follow movies well. It is one of those movies that you can either love or hate.
In my opinion, NASA budget is one hundred percent to much. I understand that the technology and machinery costs a lot of money, but there are other important things that should be funded for besides the fact that we want a couple of people to have the experience of going into space.
We are not funding the shuttle program for a reason. I think that as a nation, we have cared less about being better than every other nation in the world, which is good and bad. Good because we don't have to pay so much money to get ahead and that money can go to other uses. It's bad because we may not stay the most advanced and strongest nation in the world anymore.

Parkland Review

I thought this movie was very well made and good. The most interesting part of the movie and it's production was the fact that this production company is not a very widely known production company, but they were able to create a good movie that was as true as possible, and an A-list cast. Also, I learned a lot about the Kennedy assassination. I had no idea that the first person to get their hands on the president of the United States was a very young intern who seemed to have no idea what he was doing. The other important story to Kennedy's assassination was the man and his camera that video taped the shooting. There was so much drama to that story because when the FBI needed the tape, they were worried that when developed it, it might get ruined, or something bad would happen in the process. Overall I liked the movie. Parts of it did get a little boring and long, but otherwise, the movie got their point across, the importance of telling the whole true story.

The Pianist Review

This second of the Holocaust movies we watched was excellent. Although I thought the movie a great description of a man's struggle to survive, there were a couple of things that I did not love about it. The first thing was that the movie was so depressing. This poor man and his family are sent to the ghettos, but then someone technically forces him to escape from his family. Despite the fact that they were on their way to the concentration camps, they were altogether, but the police officer lets him alone escape and leave his family to die. Then he finds out the girl that it appeared he loved was married. When he goes into hiding, he gets very ill, starves, and breaks his leg. The whole movie from there was very sad. Second thing that I didn't like about the movie was the length of time he played the piano for. I understand the movie is called "The Pianist," but the amount of time he plays for the Nazi soldier was just too long. He played for what seemed to be five minutes which should have been maybe a minute and a half at most. Otherwise, I loved everything else about the movie. The actors were amazing and the man the actor was portraying was fascinating to watch and learn about.
I think that Hosenfield did not shout out to other Nazis when he found Szpilman because, I'm going to guess, that he saw something in him that was different than all other Jews he had seen before. Maybe he noticed that Szpillman was special. Also, Hosenfield could have been starting to resent that he was a Nazi before he met Szpillman, so he decided to do something nice for a Jew for a change in order to feel less guilty about what he was doing.

Defiance Review

So far, this movie is one of my favorites that we have watched all year. It is a thrilling, educational, and dramatic film that causes me to want to learn more about the subject it teaches. To me, the Holocaust is a fascinating topic to learn about and was crazy to me how people actually had to live like this, in the woods, in order to survive. I could not imagine leaving my home and living in the wilderness, where it is cold and dark, for the next couple of years. I enjoyed learning about the Bielski brothers because they  were good people who would bring anyone in and help them in time of need. 

"Our revenge is to live" is the Jew's way of rebellion during the Holocaust. They are doing exactly opposite of what the Nazis want to happen, have the Jews dead. So the Jew's revenge against the Nazis is to live instead of die. 

Can humanity and revenge ever exist? Maybe. As children, we are always told that if we are bullied we should't fight back, but stand up for ourselves. I think that standing up for ourselves is like revenge only better because it shows the opposing team that we are not going to take anything from them. In this movie, however, the fighting back kind of revenge is what is happening, and honestly, I think that they sort of go too far. By killing Nazis they are sinking to their level. I do understand that the Nazis are killing Jews at the same time, but they aren't going to show how much better they are to just kill them.