13 Hours

The film 13 Hours is directed by Michael Bay and stars John Krasinksi, James Badge Dale, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, Dominic Fumusa, and Max Martini direct the movie 13 Hours. It is based off of the book, which is based on true events. The film goes hour by hour as the events that occurred in Benghazi unfolded.

Summary: A team of C.I.A contractors is in charge of protecting the only outpost, called the Annex, in the dangerous Benghazi. The U.S Ambassador to Libya is stationed at a compound a few miles from the Annex.  Hour by hour the events unfold which ultimately lead to the attack on the compound guarded by only a few men. The attacking militants invade the compound and the security detail take the Ambassador into the panic room where they know the militants cant get in. After trying to break into the room the militants pour gasoline on the floor of the outside room and light it on fire; the Ambassador and security detail are trapped. The men at the Annex are informed of the attack and want to go help but the Chief refuses to let them go. The team ignores the order and goes anyways; once there they find the Ambassador dead due to smoke inhalation. The team heads back to the Annex warding off the attack of the militants. The Annex team is notified that help is on the way; the militants launch a mortar strike against the Annex and two men are killed. As morning arrives a large group of vehicles arrive outside of the Annex and the team is relieved to find that they are friendly; it is the Libyan army. They gather the survivors and take them to an airbase where they send them home. Before the end credits role text appears stating that 28 Americans were rescued that day but that Libya was a failed state and a stronghold for ISIS. Day’s later Libyan civilians mourned the death of U. S. Ambassador Stevens. The CIA contractors retired and are now living in peace with their families.

Review: This movie has you on the edge of your seat from the time it starts. I think each actor played their characters, which are real people, as truthfully as possible. Michael Bay had the soldiers who experienced it in real life on set to help the actors hold their weapons properly and move around as a trained soldier would. The special effects were phenomenal and the makeup was nothing short of wonderfully gruesome. I think everyone should see this movie because it gives you a small glimpse into what American soldiers go through. This film depicts bravery, courage, sacrifice, and what it means to be a hero.     

The Revenant

The Revenant is directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, and Will Poulter. Based off of the historical, non-fiction book written by Michael Punke. *The movies is based in part on the book*

Quick Summary: Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his half Native American son join a fur trade company after their tribe was viciously attacked and left Glass's wife dead. Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) is part of this company and they are lead by Captain Andrew Henry (Domhnall Gleeson). When gathering beaver pelt the company is attacked by a Native tribe and are forced to gather as many of the pelts as they can and sail down river. Once safe they set up camp; Hugh Glass goes off to hunt and stumbles across bear cubs, right as he tries to leave the mom shows herself and attacks him leaving him to die. Found by his company Glass is holding on to life by a string; his son and some of the other men make a stretcher for him and carry them as far and as long as they can. Captain Henry says that whoever stays with Glass and waits to give him a proper burial that they will recieve and extra $70. Glass' son, Bridger (Will Poulter), and Fitzgerald stay. Fitzgerald attempts to smother Glass so they can hurry and catch up with the rest of the company but Glass' son sees this and starts shouting for Bridger; in order to quiet him Fitzgerald stabs him in front of Glass and drags his body off so that Bridger won't see it. Fitzgerald convinces Bridger, who is still a teenager, that he saw the Indians that attacked them along the river and that they should abandon Glass and move forward. They end up doing so and Glass crawls to his son's body until he hears the Indians and rides down the river to escape them. As Glass continues his journey to find his company and hopefully the men that abandoned him he sees a Pawnee Indian feasting on a bison. Gesturing for food the Indian throws him a bison liver which Glass eats. The Pawnee discovers the bear wounds on Glass and Glass recounts the story of the attack and the abandonment by Bridger and Fitzgerald. Glass and the Indian move forward. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald and Bridger reach their company and Fitzgerald states that they  couldn't save Glass and his son when the Indians attacked; they collect their payment, however, Bridger feels guilt and remorse for what they did. The Indian is tending to Glass' wounds but when he wakes up he sees that the kind man has been hung by French fur trappers. Glass goes to their camp where he sees one of the Frenchmen raping an Indian woman. He hold the rapist at gunpoint, frees the woman, and cuts all their horses free. Glass rides off on one of the horses and sets up camp in the forest. The tribe searching for the Indian woman come across Glass and he rides away from them but they pursue, he falls off of a cliff which kills his horse and leaves him even more injured. Before night comes and it gets colder outside, Glass cuts open his horse, removes the organs and sleeps inside in order to stay warm. Henry leads a search party after he finds out that Glass may still be alive and stumble upon him crawling on the ground. They take him back to the outpost where Glass tells the Captain everything. The two go off in search of Fitzgerald to bring him to justice, they split up when they see him in an attempt to surround him but Fitzgerald ends up shooting and killing Captain Henry. Glass come across Henry's body and props him up on his horse; Fitzgerald shoots at who he thinks is Glass and believes he has killed him, he finds out that he has shot Henry and runs with Glass in pursuit. They reach a creek where they begin to fight; Fitzgerald states that killing him won't bring his son back, Glass looks across the river where he sees the tribe that pursued him on the cliff and sends Fitzgerald downstream towards them, leaving revenge in God's hands. Glass is alone again and the final shot is of Glass' eyes filling up with tears as he breathes heavily and looks at the audience.

Review: I absolutely loved this movie! I read the book before I saw it and although it was very different the adaptation and execution was phenomenal. Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hardy deserve the nominations as well as Alejandro Inarritu for best director. The film was shot using all natural light so they only had a few hours a day to shoot each scene. They had rigorous rehearsals and endured the cold weather and water. Leonardo actually ate the bison liver! This movie was perfectly cast and each actor held their own. The dialogue was beautifully written and the crew did a fantastic job with the bear attack scene. Although this movie is nearly perfect to me not everyone will be able to sit through it because of the gore, and also because it is very dialogue heavy. If you go in not knowing that this is based on a true story then it will be harder to appreciate the hardship Glass goes through. The makeup artists for this movie did not hold back, they made sure that even the teeth of the actors were true to the time period and that their nails had dirt under them, and the bear attack makeup was the most realistic I have ever seen in a film. I am really hoping that The Revenant wins every category it is nominated for because that's how fantastic of a movie it is!

The Hateful Eight written and directed by Quentin Tarantino stars Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Walton Goggins, and Bruce Dern.

Quick Summary: Kurt Russell plays bounty hunter that captures Jennifer Jason Leigh's character and is on his way to turn her in and watch her hang. A blizzard is approaching and while Russell and Leigh are heading to shelter they are stopped by Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson's character is a bounty hunter as well and asks Russell for a ride to shelter; after consideration and finding out that they knew of each other Russell allowed Jackson onto his stage coach. They also pick up the new sheriff of the town where they are headed to; they allow him onto the stage coach as well. They reach a Haberdashery where they are to wait out the blizzard. There are 4 men already there and Russell makes it clear to them that Leigh is his prisoner and he will kill anyone who tries to help her or take her for their own. As the movie moves along someone poisons the coffee and kills Russell and the stage coach driver. Jackson ends up killing the older man there (played by Bruce Dern) because he fought for the Confederate army during the Civil War. Jackson lines up the rest of the men against a wall, except for the sheriff (played by Walton Goggins) and tries to figure out who poisoned the coffee. Jackson kills one of the men and Goggins shoots Tim Roth and gets shot in the leg. It is revealed who poisoned the coffee and Leigh's brother (played by Channing Tatum) is hiding under a door beneath the floor boards where Jackson is standing; Tatum shoots him in the groin. Tatum is forced to come out from beneath the floor boards and is instantly shot in the head. Leigh reveals that her brother was the leader of the gang that she and the men in the Haberdashery were in. Laugh tries to get the sheriff by letting her go or else the rest of her brothers gang will kill him. All of the men are die except for Jackson and Goggins who string up Leigh and hang her until she dies in honor of Russell who wanted to see her hung for her crimes. It is left open as to whether or not Jackson and Goggins die of blood loss.

Review: This movie has been on of my favorite to come out this year. The writing is brilliant and the story line is just complex enough to hold the audience without seeming as if the movie is longer than it is. I really wanted to see the movie in the 70 mm screen it was filmed in. The cinematography was stunning and the camera shots and angles added so much to the movie. Each actor played their character so well and made them their own without being outlandish. Jennifer Jason Leigh held her own as the only female lead. Tarantino is notorious for having violence, gore, and blood in all of his movies and The Hateful Eight does not disappoint. The first half of the movie is propelled by dialogue the second half, however, is where all the violence and blood comes in and takes over the rest of the movie.

Tarantino's eighth movie lived up to the hype and was visually stunning. His use of older actors was in the best interest of the movie and their performances were nothing short of spectacular. I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in seeing it.