Shawshank Redemption

Starting off, I did not think I would like Shawshank Redemption. I figured that the movie would drag on as Andy just goes about a normal prison life, with no real adventure. Though, I was wrong. Andy used his brains to do the tax returns for the security guards of the prison, and even wrote to the government to get them to fund a library for the prisoners. I couldn't understand why a brilliant man like Andy would throw away his life by killing his wife and her lover. Though, I soon came to find out that it was truly not Andy who killed his wife. I felt terrible for him, being wrongfully accused and thrown into a prison for life. Though, he truly made the best of his time spent there, and made many strong relationships. It became his home. I did not get a chance to see how Andy escaped, but I was thrilled that he did. For someone to have had a great life and be wrongfully accused of a crime is not fair, thus I feel that Andy was justified in his escape. I felt that Shawshank redemption was truly a great movie, and Andy's story was very inspiring.

United 93

United 93 was an extremely touching movie. When I watched it, I put myself in the shoes of those on United flight 93. Had I been on the plane, I would have hyperventilated. I would have immediately jumped to the conclusion that we were going to die, and no thought to fight back against the hijackers would have crossed my mind. Though, the passengers had the courage to push any fear they had to the back of their minds and come up with a plan to overcome the hijackers. I thought this was remarkable. In a situation of such terror, the people of United flight 93 were able to keep calm enough to fight back.

United 93 filled me with hope. Yes, the terrorist attacks on our country on September 11, were horrendous, but that a group of people were so passionate about their country to take down four terrorists (one supposedly armed with a bomb) was truly inspiring. The passengers of United 93 were truly united in the way that they worked together.

What we should never forget about September 11, 2001 is the patriotism that our country was submerged in after the attacks. Instead of our country and the people within it deteriorating, like the terrorists had hoped, it was filled with patriotism afterward. The pride people had for our country was endless. Our country was able to recover from the attacks and emerge better than it had been before, with a strengthened security system, and patriotism off the charts.

The Lone Survivor

The title of the movie is so intriguing, that it is what pulled me in to want to watch more.  As soon as the navy seals went out on their mission to kill a Taliban leader, I knew that only one of them would survive. After coming to realization that the movie was based on a true story, and that the navy seals who went on the mission had real lives at home, I was more attached to the characters in the movie. I wanted them to survive, but sadly they did not. The most interesting thing that I took away from the movie was that the people of the Afghan village did not like the Taliban,  even if they came from their country. They hid and protected the navy seal from the Taliban, while I expected them to side with the Taliban.

I feel that the greatest pitfall in not portraying the events of our nation's military correctly is that during the time of battle, soldiers are so caught up in what they are doing, they cannot relay exactly what happened to movie producers and in books. They only have an image of what they think went on around them inside their head, when in reality, they were so caught up in battle at the moment, there is so much they probably missed. Therefore, the military cannot be portrayed in great detail and the events that happened within the military cannot be depicted exactly in movies.

The Hurt Locker

I heard of the horrors of the war in Iraq, but I had never seen depictions of the brutality and warfare that truly goes on there before The Hurt Locker. Watching the soldiers in action and seeing what they deal with on a day to day basis left me awestruck. Every time the soldiers leave their base they are in a toss up between life and death. What I was most astounded by in the film is the type of warfare the soldiers fought. There was no real tactic to it, they just went through the streets, open alleys, and into buildings to search for the enemy. There was also no real place for the soldiers to hide as they fought in cities, and their main weapon was bombs. Watching the movie gave me a greater understanding of what war in Iraq is like.
My parents have been hounding me to apply to a military based college next fall. They have even gone as far as to discuss it with Mrs. Petronsky. I have been thoroughly considering their wish. Though, watching The Hurt Locker made me realize that I do not have what it takes to be a soldier. I am not mentally or physically capable of doing what they do. To even be a doctor on their base would be frightening. I now am aware of the fact that I am not fit to be a soldier.
Throughout the movie, I tried to figure out what the "the hurt locker" actually was. After much internal debate I decided that it did not literally mean a school-like locker that was damaged. I think it is the area in the kill-zone of a bomb. If you are in it, you are in the "hurt locker". Though, I truly am unsure of what it is.

Apollo 13

Apollo 13 was one of the only movies that after watching, I proceeded to talk about to my family for days on end. The movie kept you on your toes the entire time. After class, I even took the time to google the fate of Apollo 13 because I was so curious as to how the movie would end. I felt extremely sympathetic towards the passengers of the spacecraft, and wanted to see how they would manage to survive. Their story was extremely compelling, and I nearly teared up when the capsule that held the passengers landed in the ocean. It was truly an awesome story. 

The theme that I would attach to Apollo 13 is that with teamwork anything is possible. The crew was thousands of miles from Earth in the spaceship, and could only do so much to fix their problem. They worked smoothly together with the NASA base on Earth, and amongst themselves to get through the hardships up in space. Had Apollo 13 not have had such a determined and intelligent crew on Earth, they might never have made it back to Earth. 

Parkland

Watching Kennedy's death unfold from the perspective of the government was very interesting. I thought that the screenplay was very well done. The scenes in Parkland Hospital where the medical crew was trying to revive Kennedy were very realistic. I strongly felt for Abraham Zapruder. He was an ordinary guy whose life was changed for taking the footage of the assassination of the president. Putting myself in his shoes, I realized how hard it must have been for him to have taken the footage and deal with the consequences of doing so. Watching Parkland caused me to want to know more about Kennedy's assassination and truly question whether it was a conspiracy or not.

I called my grandpa to discuss Kennedy's death. At the time of the assassination, he was giving someone a haircut. It was about noon that the news of the shooting came on the radio. Everyone in the barbershop was extremely upset, and the radio announcer almost started crying when he told the news. My grandpa says that he didn't understand why they took Kennedy to the hospital after he was shot in head. He thought it was silly because if he was shot in the head, he was most likely automatically dead. He thinks the shooting was a conspiracy, and that Lee Harvey Oswald was not the only shooter. and that there were more people responsible for the death. At the time, Kennedy was clamping down on the mafia. My grandpa is convinced that Oswald was put up to the mission by the mafia leaders.

Kill The Irishman

I particularly found the movie interesting because of the fact that Danny's story took place so close to home. It was easy to picture where Danny was killed, and I felt that that made the movie seem so more realistic. It was also very interesting to watch how Danny was able to dodge getting killed and see how crime oriented Cleveland used to be.

Describing Danny Greene to someone, I would definitely label his as courageous. Danny had a surreal amount of guts to do the things he did. He was smart in the ways that he schemed and knew much about how to play with people's minds.