(Blu-ray review)

Captain Phillips is the amazing true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

I have to admit, I did not expect to love this movie like I did. It is breathtaking, suspenseful, beautifully shot, written, and directed. Not to mention Tom Hanks’ flawless performance is Captain Phillips. I cannot believe he didn’t even get nominated. The person who played Muse, the leader of the pirates, was also good. The action is very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat for almost the whole time. I could not look away for a second! The pacing is also very good. It never feels to rushed or too slow or boring.

I think that overall Captain Phillips is an amazing film with a high level of suspense and a beautiful performance from Tom Hanks.

So I held this summer movie awards thing on Instagram, where there was a couple of categories and people had to vote. So now I will announce the results:

Best Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Actor: Andy Serkis – Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Best Actress: Emily Blunt – Edge of Tomorrow

Best Visual Effects: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Best Badass: Rocket Raccoon – Guardians of the Galaxy

Worst Movie: Transformers: Age of Extinction

I hope you all had a great Summer and that you saw a lot of great movies during it.

My rating: 

This enchanting Disney movie tells the true story of P.L. Travers (portrayed wonderfully by Emma Thompson), author of Mary Poppins, who, in 1961, travels to Los Angeles to negotiate with Walt Disney (played by Tom Hanks) about the rights to turn  Mary Poppins into a movie. Throughout the movie, Travers argues a lot about how to make the movie and how not to. Also, throughout the movie, flashbacks are shown from Travers’ childhood in Australia, and the inspiration for her book.

I enjoyed everything about this film: The scenery, the costume design, the acting (especially Emma Thompson, who delivers an amazing performance as Travers, and I cannot believe she was not nominated for it), and the film’s pace. It’s not as slow as other historical/biographical dramas that are at least 2 hours long. This movie might make you want to watch the original Mary Poppins movie again, since after watching this movie, you understand Mary Poppins in a different way. I would recommend this for adults who enjoyed Mary Poppins and want to know the story behind it, but there is some iffy content that is inappropriate for young kids (mainly drinking). I think anybody 13 or 14 and up would understand and enjoy this film.

Here is the film’s trailer.

My rating: 

Ashton Kutcher plays Steve Jobs in this movie, which tells you about how Apple was created, and how Steve Jobs changed the world of technology. The film manages to deliver a message: You can do the impossible as long as you believe it, but if you don’t, you will not succeed. In other words, some people see what’s possible, other’s change what’s possible.  Josh Gad hilariously plays Steve Wozniak, Jobs’ childhood friend, partner and co-founder of Apple. Dermot Mulroney plays Mike Markkula, who invested in Apple in 1976 and eventually started working there, while Matthew Modine plays John Sculley, the former CEO of Pepsi, who soon becomes the CEO of Apple and forces Jobs out of the company in 1985, and Luke Haas plays Daniel Kottke, Jobs’ friend.

Ashton Kutcher is an amazing actor in this movie. In the first scene, which shows Jobs presenting the iPod at an Apple Town Hall meeting in 2001, for a second I thought it was the real Steve Jobs! After about an hour, the movie started to get a little boring, so I think older people would enjoy this movie more than I did. This film is filled with laughs and great acting, but I don’t think this movie is appropriate for kids under 14 because there is a lot of language. But if you are 14 and over, I think you would really enjoy this movie and laugh a lot from it.

Also, here is the film’s site.

 My rating: 

This movie, which is rated PG-13, tells the story of Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play in the MLB (Major League Baseball). Earlier he had played in the minor leagues. He soon inspired many other African Americans, not just in sports. A writer named Wendell Smith soon became the first African American sports writer, following Jackie Robinson’s footsteps.

I really admired Jackie Robinson’s strong will and determination, despite people’s acts against him. He never gave up. But I did not like the fact that even though thousands of African Americans fought in World War II, they were still treated unfairly after the war. I really liked Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey, an MLB executive who gave Jackie Robinson the chance to play in the MLB. Robinson played for the Montreal Royals in 1946 and in 1947 he played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie Robinson’s wife, Rachel Robinson, is still alive today and started the Jackie Robinson Foundation after his death. Here is its website.

Also, here is the movie’s website.

The only thing I didn’t like about this movie is that it is really slow, and it can start to get boring after 45 minutes or an hour. I would recommend this movie for kids 12 and up, because there is a lot of language and stuff kids younger than 12 wouldn’t understand.