heroism
Stories, no matter the medium, have always been full of heroes, so we’re taking a minute to highlight some of our favorites from film and television.
Only the Brave is more concerned with its traditional gender politics than making any grander statement on man’s relationship with nature.
Stronger is a resolute, powerful, and personal film that applies to the masses of the world, not just to Americans.
Patriots Day is a memoir to the tragic events of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing, brought to screen both tactfully and honorably.
Willow has a special place in many film lovers’ hearts. Many of those who love the 1988 fantasy epic saw it as children, and at that young age, the film was possibly the greatest cinematic achievement they had ever seen. There were unlikely heroes, wondrous creatures and imaginative magic filling nearly every frame.
I still fondly remember the day that was subsequently christened the “Miracle on the Hudson”, when it was discovered that a plane successfully landed on the Hudson River after an incident in the air when both engines were destroyed. Amazingly, everyone on board survived. It was one of the first times I had heard of something like this happening, and I would say that most of America, if not the world, was equally spellbound.
Have you ever found yourself loving the bad guy in a movie? Villains come in many different forms, whether it’s the combined protagonist/antagonist situation like Mickey and Mallory Knox in Natural Born Killers, or the complete polar opposite of the hero, a dark and vicious villain like Heath Ledger’s astounding role as The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. And with the recent trailer release of the movie Suicide Squad (a team of DC comic villains coming together to take on the missions deemed too horrific for the heroes), it provokes the question:
David Ayer’s Fury is the story of an American tank unit led by “Wardaddy” (Brad Pitt) near the end of the European Theatre in World War II. Ayer is still best known for writing 2001’s Training Day, but after he made the surprisingly acclaimed End of Watch, he has been given the chance to direct a full-blown war film. Ayer’s hyper-masculine style is one that could be to the detriment of a war film that is trying to stay grounded in reality, but he is able to dial back his tendencies enough to keep it from being a glorification of violence.
