Bomb

I really liked this movie.  I'm pretty sad that the movies about the mob are ending because both films that we showed are great.  I really enjoyed this movie because my dad actually had connections to John Nardi and told me stories about this time.  So I felt like I had a connection to this time as well because of the insight I got from him.  It's also sweet because this all took place in Cleveland, so we are kind of just living in a place where a lot of history took place.  All this together makes you really enjoy a movie.  I really liked the character of Danny Green as well, obviously, so it was just a great film to watch altogether.

This is tough.  Danny Green is a man who is going to get what he wanted.  He grew up an orphan and was not privileged at all.  He worked his way up, and worked hard.  He got involved with the mob but then eventually broke off.  He tried to get away from that lifestyle and just live a family life, but got dragged back in after a bad deal.  This is how the Irishman nickname came about.  After he got dragged back in, he took business away from the mob and they tried to kill him, but were unsuccessful.  He claimed it was due to the luck of the Irish.

How did you get him to do that? "I made him an offer he couldn't refuse"

This movie is now one of my favorite movies of all time.  I had previously not seen it, but have heard a lot about it from family and just people in general.  My dad used to always joke with me saying that the Godfather teaches you everything you need to know about life, and now I know why.  Marlon Brando did a great job at portraying Vito, and I loved how the movie was told from an insider only viewpoint.  It made you feel connected to everything going on within the family, and have a lot of suspense what would happen next because there were no events that tipped you off to what was going to happen.  I love learning about this time period and about organized crime, so I was very excited to finally watch this movie, and it definitely didn't disappoint.  This movie really made me wonder how much organized crime still exists to this day.  Something cool to think about in my opinion.

Vito Corleone is the moral center to this film because everything runs through him.  Not even just the business side of the family, but the moral and happiness of the entire family.  When he got shot the whole family started going down because their leader and loved Don was down.  He was the perfect man to be leading the family.  I think when he died the world lost a giant.  This was a respectable man who was very good at what he did.  He thought rationally and provided for his family.

I love the fact that the film is told from an insider's perspective.  It makes the film different than many other films, due to the facts I stated earlier such as feeling connected to the family and not knowing what the outside families were doing.  It was very unique in that aspect and I believe it to be ahead of its time.  This movie without a doubt deserves to be called a classic.  The amount of people that know of and love the Godfather is unreal.  It's part of America's history and the fact that it resonates with so many people still today just shows how great of a story it was.  I believe the true definition of a classic is a a work of art that is relatable in any time period and one that is well known and loved.

42

This was my 4th or 5th time seeing this film and it was still enjoyable for me.  The first time I saw this movie I absolutely loved it and thought it was put together very well.  The fact that I can still watch and enjoy speaks very highly of how well it was put together I believe.  I thought that the cast of actors did an excellent job of portraying their characters, especially, of course, Jackie Robinson and Branch Ricky.  Chadwick Boseman did an incredible job of showing the audience the struggle that Jackie had to go through on a daily basis.  He let his emotions go and the audience felt everything that he did.  All of this racism stuff is definitely still relevant today, especially after the Oklahoma University SAE fraternity being caught on camera being extremely racist.  We live in a bubble here at Orange where pretty much everyone is very accepting of diversity, and you think that's how the world is.  It's very weird hearing about other places and realizing not everyone is as accepting as you.

I think Jackie Robinson helped this country a great deal, and a lot of other people think that too.  I know this because on opening day of every season, every player wears the number 42.  If that doesn't show impact, I don't know what does.  Robinson was the perfect man for this job as he controlled his temper, and knew that what he was doing would change everything.  He allowed African Americans into the sporting world, but not just that.  It gave all African Americans hope.  This was shown with the example of Wendall and hoping to someday not have to sit on the third base line and type, and sit in the booth with the other white writers.  He was an inspiration to all.  I definitely agree with the quote.  I believe that if you're not living each day to make another human life better, then you're not living.  That's how you judge ones life.  Not by how much money or fame they have, but by how they impact the people around them.

Determination is a key value I think.  Determination is key because life is hard.  Things aren't always going to go your way.  It will knock you down, and challenge you until you think you can't do it anymore.  That's when you have to fight through all that adversity that you think you feel, and get by.  You can't do that without determination.  It's one of the most important human qualities that we could possibly possess.  Without it, we would go no where.  Another important one in my opinion is excellence.  There's no point in doing something if you're only going to half ass it.  It's a waste of your time and a waste of everyone elses time.  If you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability because you form habits.  You can't just make up your mind when you want to be great and when you want to slack off.  It doesn't work that way.  You work to be excellent in everything you do.  I feel like determination and excellence go hand and hand, so that's partly why I like both of them.

The Power of Hope

I absolutley loved this movie.  The storyline was phenomenal, and Russel Crow did an outstanding job portraying the hard working Jim Braddock.  The beginning was a little slow, but quickly picked up.  The overall struggle of the Braddock family and Jim's perseverence to overcome the adversity that was striking them was truly intruiging.  His hard work and dedication seemingly just kept you hooked throughout the movie.  You felt his emotions, and were pulling for him the whole time even without realizing you were at first.  The movie just made me feel good about myself.  I felt inspired like I could accomplish anything that I wanted to accomplish.  All you need is a reason to do something.  A reason that you are willing to risk all that you have to accomplish the goal that you have set out to do.  Anything is possible.

People felt with Braddock because of his story.  Here was a man who was on top, then the depression hit and he basically lost it all.  He and his family struggled through the tough, tough times, but they never lost hope.  He always found a way to support for his family whether it was begging for jobs, or swallowing his pride and getting help from the government.  In my eyes, swallowing the pride was one of the most brave things he could have done.  Anyways, people could relate to the position he was in because they were struggling too.  All of a sudden, this man seems to rise from nothing, living his dream and providing for his family, living a cinderella story.  People thought of themselves as him, hoping one day soon that they too could find a way to provide.  It's just like in todays world.  People all the time look to athletes to provide inspiration for their daily lives.  We for some reason cling to these people who have made a name for themselves.  It's just inspiring how hard they have worked to get to this point.  These kind of people simply just strike hope into an ordinary person.  Hope that they could keep providing for their family.  Hope that one day they can retire and have no worries.  Hope that they can be the best person that they can be.  Many and any types of hope that there are, these special people give that to us ordinary people.  It's just the power of hope that keeps people going, because without hope, no one would work for anything.