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.

The Godfather

I have always heard people talking about what a fantastic movie The Godfather is. Initially, I thought I would not like it because I didn't think a story about the mafia would completely capture my attention. I was wrong though, and I came to see why people deem it as a "classic". The story line of the movie is so complex and well thought out that it is truly amazing. There are so many people that tie into the story, that it was somewhat confusing to follow at times, but the intricacy of the story is what makes it realistic. The movie always kept me on my toes, waiting to see who or what would deteriorate next.

I felt that Vito Corleone was the "moral" center of the film because he was the man that everyone looked up to, that everyone feared yet loved. He was the ring-leader, the mastermind, of the Corleone family. Vito was the one that dealt with all the business in the Corleone family, he was the one that everyone from out of the family came to with their issues. He was what held the Corleone family intact and kept them running. When Vito died among his tomato plants, the world did not become a better place. It lost a strong man with great power. Regardless of the crimes that Vito administrated, he was a family man, with a large heart. Killing was his job, he didn't do it as a passion. I truly think that a "giant" passed.

That fact that the story was told from the inside rather than out makes it so much more interesting to watch. You really get a feel for the motives and reasoning behind what the people in the mafia did. From the inside, you can see the planning that went into the mafia's actions. You were also able to see the strong family bond and relationships that the families had while partaking in the mafia, and how upsetting it was when one of the members died. I feel that the film does deserve to be called a "classic.

42

I found it very intriguing to watch Jackie Robinson's story in the movie 42. To watch how an African American man with such courage could defy the odds of the time and play on an all white baseball team was truly amazing. Robinson was torn down repeatedly for his race. He was bullied and made fun of, even by his own teammates. Better yet, his team was denied access to hotels and restaurants because of his race. Robinson showed immense courage and determination as he was able to get past these obstacles and focus on what he needed to do for his team. Eventually, his teammates began to accept his race and Robinson for who he was as a person. The movie very accurately depicted racism back in the day, and showed how slowly whites began to accept African Americans as their equals. 

Robinson's story was a large step towards creating the tolerant society we live in today. People at the time were extremely prejudice and thought that blacks were inferior to whites. Jackie Robinson showed the country that regardless of his race, he was a team player for the Brooklyn Dodgers and he wouldn't let anything stop him. He didn't let what people thought of his race effect how he played baseball, and that is what made him so fantastic. The whites of the country were moved by his courage and began to grasp the fact that blacks were no different from them, and wanted to succeed in life just like they did. One mans courage can move a whole country. 

I agree with Jackie's statement, "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." In life, really all it comes down to is if you helped other people with their lives. That is how people are remembered. They are remembered for what they did for others, not what they did for themselves. 

Jackie had very important values that are useful in anyone's life. I feel that integrity will help me face many barriers. In today's society it is very common for people to succumb to the pressure of other's as they try to get them to act or speak out in a way that they want. Though, I feel it is very important to have integrity so that no matter what anyone wants you to do, you can act in accordance with what you believe is right. When people and the media try to get me think or act a certain way, I think it is very important that I maintain my integrity. 

Cinderella Man

Cinderella man was such an interesting movie to watch. How the Great Depression was able to bring so many lives into turmoil is outrageous. I felt it was very interesting to see how ordinary people could be affected so much by a sudden change in the economy to the point where their entire lifestyles change. The situation that many of the people in the movie were in is very relatable being that an economic crisis like the Great Depression can happen at any point in time and affect anyone. James Braddock's story was inspiring though as he didn't stop fighting mentally and literally to keep his family safe and take care of them. In such harsh times, he didn't give up, even when he knew he was hurt. He was a true fighter, in and out of the boxing rink.

I felt that Braddock's story was an encouragement to those in his community and elsewhere because of his immense coursge. People saw that Braddock was like any common man with a wife and kids even though he was a boxer. They were encouraged by the fact that although he initially had had money, he was affected by the Great Depression like anyone else. He thus had to work his way out of poverty, even with a broken hand and many other obstacles, he didn't stop trying to win in boxing to support his family. People felt that he was just like them in the fact that he was sucked into the depression, and they were inspired by the way he worked his way out. He was a hope of the masses as people felt they could work their way out of poverty like he had done.