reba

I wish the ending had been different, but for me there was hope that Beatriz' warning to Strutt's gang will come true and they will learn: It WILL touch you, she said with conviction. The damage they are doing, the revolutionary backlash, the dying of the planet will affect you 1% eventually too. And I think the candles they sent obliviously out hinted at one of the immediate ways they would be touched. Some people feel others' pain too much to last long, and Salma shows this in her face very well.

Raises questions we need to be discussing so I'll give it credit, though not a great movie. Directing is a bit rough, Ty character a bit lost....Those who read about tech and society all the time will find it boring, but it will bring to the general public a way of thinking about our future that we need to do as a society. Hanks is great in his role.

I do not like horror films, but I watched this as a result of good reviews. I was not disappointed. You felt yourself in the main character's position, and felt squeamish at how embarrassingly often black people have to put up with ridiculous comments and acts by usually well-meaning others.

This was so beautiful that I was willing to go all in for the ride. And I'm not hugely into Brad Pitt, but how captivating is Marion Cotillard?! Not great but good, enjoyable, suspenseful. Love the '40s look, music, commitment to the cause.

It may follow all the typical inspirational-sports genre movie rules, but it still feels good. And it's based on an amazing true story (be sure to read the "where are they now" stuff at the end. Anyone who debates the issue of immigration in an abstract way would do well to see these more personal stories, e.g. watch a young man caught in undocumented limbo try to volunteer to serve our country.

If you know activists, as I do, these characters are not as flat as some have suggested. The quiet moments in the truck while rehearsing or reflecting on their plan, the lack of dialogue sometimes, seemed very realistic to me after seeing many young idealists convinced they are acting for the greater good and trying to be cool while doing it. I never knew anyone who went as far as murder, but you can see how the unchecked self-righteousness of people isolated from their families and the wider society and in a group-think situation could lead to unintended wrongdoing.

Some have said the movie opens slowly, but I liked the fact that they took time to show us WHY a person might become a covert agent and how that transition FEELS when a person is confronted with danger or killing for the first time. I thought it fleshed Jack Ryan out more than most spy films. Later it got more typical in the action stages.

Redford should have been nominated for an Oscar, and in any other year would have been (2013 was so strong for film and especially male leads!) I found it gripping despite the ambiguity and lack of dialogue because you can't help wondering about the steps he takes for survival and would you have done the same thing, etc. Wished for a clearer ending but I guess they wanted us to discuss it. Beautiful photography and music, great acting, great truth.

Written during the peak anti-Soviet hysteria of the mid '80s, this book and movie still raise important questions for society to discuss. I hadn't read the book in 15 years but I remembered, while watching the movie, why I liked it (and I generally don't read Sci Fi). It's not just a good story about a boy's handling bullying, growing up, finding what makes a good leader, etc. It also asks us to think about how quick we are to make enemies out of those perceived as different, and to fight rather than do the hard work of trying to understand and communicate, and whether or not it is right to take lives to theoretically deter a future war. For Card to raise those questions in the Reagan anti-Communist era was courageous. Also, the Battle Room was cool!