Captain Phillips

I only saw the end of the film when Captain Phillips had already been captured but from what I saw the movie was okay. From what I could tell the reason for the pirates capturing the ship was to get ransom money. I feel as though if I would have saw this movie from the beginning I would have enjoyed it a bit more.

United 93

I enjoyed the United 93 movie very much! I had seen it 3 or 4 times before, but it had been awhile. Seeing it again brought back a lot of emotions and made me very thankful for a lot of things. The movie does a great job of portraying the confusion that existed that day. And the follow up with the George Bush interview brought the movie to reality. It also gave me a better understanding on the presidents role in 9/11. In the past he was criticized for how he handled it, but hearing him explain the events that day gave me a new outlook. I believed that he handled the situation the best he could and did what he could with what he had.

After watching United 93 it filled me with hope more so then despair. It filled me with hope because I watched the fight that the passengers had. That fight is something that every American has. I also saw the care that people had for each other. They knew that they weren't going to live so they fought to save others. In my opinion their are many things that should never be forgotten about 9/11. We should never forget the people who lost their lives as victims and those who tried to save lives but ended up losing their own. We should also never forget what could happen when we put our guard down. The last thing that we should never forget is the unity that we had as a nation.

The Hurt Locker

The movie was very good! I liked the fact that it wasn't a "shoot em' up" war movie and actually got into depth about the relationships of the soldiers and the emotions that they go through on a day to day basis. I knew about the bomb squads but I never knew that there were so many bombs in Iraq. I was unaware of how common the bombs were. The job in itself is crazy but being in enemy territory is frightening. Not knowing who people are, not knowing their intentions, and the possibility of every report of a bomb being a set up is mind boggling. The content is quite significant do to the relevance and how recent these events occurred. The main character was obviously the most interesting. He became detached from his family and found it near impossible to survive in the regular world. I think a powerful scene was when he was in the grocery store. He had problems finding food. And when he had to get cereal, he was overwhelmed by all the choices. He was used to the same foods and same choices. This is one movie that I would definitely recommend to others! The way it is filmed is different and keeps you interested throughout the movie. The actors are very good, and the plot was as well. I had no idea what the term "hurt locker" meant, so I of course looked it up. Many different things came up, but the one that I think represents what is trying to be portrayed in the movie is what GI's consider a severe injury. This makes sense because of all the injuries and deaths that occurred as well as the possibly injuries that could have occurred.

Apollo 13

I thought the movie Apollo 13 was a pretty good movie. Even though it lacked some accuracy, I still believe that it provided a lot of historical information. This movie had a very positive outcome, and it was good seeing a movie with a happy ending instead of another death or etc. I don't know if NASA's budget should continue. Their $9.928 billion dollar budget isn't really necessary. That money can go to so many other things. I think that there should be a lot more focus on domestic problems and things that we have going on down here, instead of trying to spend so much money on research of space. I don't think that the United States should be to concerned about space travel. I feel like at the time of all their trips to the moon and space that they were trying to establish themselves as a superpower. Now, I feel like the United States is a superpower and every other country knows that.

Parkland

I enjoyed watching Parkland!  It does a great job of raising questions and make you second guess your government. The movie shines a light on the inconsistencies with the Warren Commissions findings and other information that was recorded on the day of the president's assassination. The conspiracy of JFK could be true. The difficulty of the shot was quite high. There were many things that were done differently then the protocol. Information either disappeared or has been kept from the public. All of this was discovered by one of the best in ballistics, Howard Donahue. Honestly, we may never know. It's a topic that can be talked about forever until the truth comes out. Aside from the conspiracy I believe Oliver Stone did teach his viewers in the movie. He taught them to never be satisfied. To keep our government honest by staying educated and involved.

The Pianist

The Pianist was actually a good movie. It gave you a different look on the Holocaust kind of like Defiance did. Usually in school we watch movies about people who are in concentration camps, who make it to the end and live. This let us see how people who were able to avoid getting killed or sent away survived. One thing I did not like about the film is that they didn't tell us what became of his family. Were we suppose to assume they died because they went away on the trains? Other than that I enjoyed watching the film and would rather watch Holocaust films like that instead of ones that you know the outcome of the individual it's about.

The Godfather

Vito Corleone was the moral center of the film in a few ways. He was the patriarch of the Corleone family and even when he went into retirement, his wisdom and prior knowledge was stilled valued. Many decisions and choices were made with the thought of how the "Don Corleone" would handle. it. I don't necessarily think that the mafia is glorified in this movie. I think that you get a better understanding for why they did what they did. You see their motivation for killing and committing the crime that they commit. You see social darwinism. The mafia families are all trying to survive, and the strongest of those families will survive the longest and thrive the most by showing their strength. That strength isn't necessarily just physical strength. It also includes mental strength and emotionally strength.Vito's death was a big loss. Though he was a criminal, he was also a leader. Someone who had strong beliefs and was stern with those beliefs. He optimized "Organized Crime". Everything he did, he did with good reason. He didn't believe in senseless deaths. He had a hand in politics as well. While the other leaders of the families were ruthless killers. They did what they wanted, when they wanted. Not caring about who they would hurt or effect. All of Vito's decisions were very well thought out. Something that wasn't seen from the other families.

Defiance

Defiance was a great movie! I truly enjoyed it. It had a great story that was portrayed very well by all the actors. Tuvia's quote was quite powerful. When he says "Our revenge is to live", I believe he means that instead of going to kill all of the Germans that they should do everything that they can to survive. Because if they survive, the plans of the Germans have failed and that in itself is a victory. Humanity and revenge is quite prevalent through out the movie. The relationship between them is quite close. One is the natural urge to retaliate, while the other is the ability to not retaliate because you know it's not right to hurt someone just because it was done to you. I think that revenge is very natural, not just for humans. I'm not particularly sure if animals take revenge but I would imagine they do. I don't believe that revenge can be an act of humanity.

Mircale on Ice

I thought that the film Miracle on Ice was a good story. I'm not a huge hockey fan so I didn't relate to it as much as others might have. The US winning the Olympics was meaningful at the time because of the Cold War being at it's peak. The win probably gave Americans hope that the US Government would pull out of the war. Another event in my lifetime that had a similar impact on the conscience of the American public could be when Gabi Douglas won her gold medal.

42

The movie 42 is very inspirational to me especially being a African Americana softball player. Jackie Robinson was a courageous and strong man. Honestly I don't think I would have been able to control my temper when being yelled at by such ignorant people. With out a doubt I believe Jackie helped this country. He blurred one of the many lines of racism and he was just the start soon after him more minorities began to join the MLB. A lesson that I learned is that you can't fight everyone, you have to learn to ignore somethings. I think the quote, "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." means that your life won't be fulfilled unless you help at least one person. I don't 100% agree with that statement, some people just don't care if they help someone else out or not. I'm the type of person who does like to help others but some people just don't find it necessary.

Cinderella Man

I suppose the movie was titled Cinderella Man because of James was the underdog who ended up finishing in first place (kind of). I completely loved the story. James is a very inspiring person because of the love he shows his family. Some issues people face today is being poor and unable to afford simple things that we take for granted like heat and electricity. I would have done the same thing Jimmy's son did if I were in that situation. Seeing your parents struggle must be very pain and I would feel as though it was my duty to help them with whatever I could. In movies there always has to be a antagonist and in this film Max Bear was it. I don't think it takes away from the story either. If anything it made it more interesting. If he was a nice guy it would have been a pretty boring match. The scene where James goes to Madison Square garden to beg for money from the same men who ended his career is not pathetic at all to me. I admire how humble he is. I could never bring myself to do something like that especially since they're the reason I have to beg.

Tombstone

I thought Tombstone was a very interesting movie. They probably over did Wyatt Earp's personality because I can't imagine him actually being that intimidating. My favorite character had to be Doc Holiday even though he was slowly dying he was a loyal friend to Wyatt and his brothers. What makes a person a legend is by them doing something no one else would do. I honestly don't anyone in this movie was a "legend". No part of the Wild West looks appealing to me. I rather live now where we have technology and proper healthcare training.

Glory

What I liked most about the movie Glory was seeing the relationships build between the black soldiers. One thing I did not like about the film was how graphic the fighting scenes were. At the end of the movie I was disappointed to find out that all the main characters were killed...not knowing the history of the film I was foolishly expecting a happy ending. I believe people are willing to fight for their country because they feel like their more so fighting for their families and friends. The significance of the story was to show us the treatment of African American soldiers in the civil war.

Introduction

My name is Bre. I'm a 17 year old Senior at Orange High School. I would describe myself as optimistic. I'm excited to go to college and meet new people. What I like most about my school is that its so small. Being at a smaller school you have a closer connection with everyone, especially the people in your grade. I don't like actually doing school work, but I know I have to do it anyway. Qualities of my favorite teacher would be funny, smart, understanding, and chill. History is actually my favorite subject. I've always gotten a good grade in my past history classes. I think I like it so much because History never changes and its not entirely complicated.

I'm on the fence of being proud of humanity and being disappointed. Technology wise we have evolved in a tremendous way but socially we are lacking. Racism and Discrimination is still a huge issue that is holding humanity back. People are too worried about stopping one race from achieving great things their holding themselves back in the process. If we could over come that I would be proud of humanity.