The story of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks), an American pilot who became a hero after landing his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew.
The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the U.S.-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
Director:
Paul Greengrass
Stars:
Tom Hanks,
Barkhad Abdi,
Barkhad Abdirahman
During the Cold War, an American lawyer is recruited to defend an arrested Soviet spy in court, and then help the CIA facilitate an exchange of the spy for the Soviet captured American U2 spy plane pilot, Francis Gary Powers.
A murder inside the Louvre, and clues in Da Vinci paintings, lead to the discovery of a religious mystery protected by a secret society for two thousand years, which could shake the foundations of Christianity.
When Robert Langdon wakes up in an Italian hospital with amnesia, he teams up with Dr. Sienna Brooks, and together they must race across Europe against the clock to foil a deadly global plot.
Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon works with a nuclear physicist to solve a murder and prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican during one of the significant events within the church.
NASA must devise a strategy to return Apollo 13 to Earth safely after the spacecraft undergoes massive internal damage putting the lives of the three astronauts on board in jeopardy.
Navy S.E.A.L. sniper Chris Kyle's (Bradley Cooper's) pinpoint accuracy saves countless lives on the battlefield and turns him into a legend. Back home to his wife and kids after four tours of duty, however, Chris finds that it is the war he can't leave behind.
A dramatization of the disaster in April 2010, when the offshore drilling rig called the Deepwater Horizon exploded, resulting in the worst oil spill in American history.
Director:
Peter Berg
Stars:
Mark Wahlberg,
Kurt Russell,
Douglas M. Griffin
A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between the press and the government.
On Thursday, January 15, 2009, the world witnessed the "Miracle on the Hudson" when pilot Chesley"Sully" Sullenberger (Tom Hanks) glided his disabled plane onto the frigid waters of the Hudson River, saving the lives of all one hundred fifty-five aboard. However, even as Sully was being heralded by the public and the media for his unprecedented feat of aviation skill, an investigation was unfolding that threatened to destroy his reputation and his career.Written by
Warner Bros.
This is the second time Tom Hanks has played an actual aviator who rescued people from a crippled craft, having also played astronaut Jim Lovell in Apollo 13 (1995). See more »
Goofs
At no time during the NTSB hearing are the lives of people on the ground considered. If Sully had chosen to try for either La Guardia or Teterboro airports, he would also have had to consider the possible loss of life other than passengers and crew had he crashed. See more »
Quotes
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger:
[New York late at night and both men can't sleep so they decide to go for a walk. It's cold outside and both are bundled up]
It's all so unreal. I guess I'm just having a little trouble separating reality from whatever the hell this is.
Jeff Skiles:
This is two men freezing their asses off.
[They both laugh]
Jeff Skiles:
Sully
[pause]
Jeff Skiles:
don't worry. You did a great thing and it's going to be remembered for a very long time.
Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger:
Funny thing is, I've delivered a million passengers over 40 years in the air and in the end I'll be ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
Photos of the real plane and rescue are shown during the credits. They are followed by a brief video with real people from that day including the passengers and Captain Sullenburger. See more »
Alternate Versions
The film's IMAX release presented the film open-matte, at an aspect ratio of 1.90:1, meaning there was more picture information visible in the top and bottom of the frame than in normal theaters and on home video. See more »
* technically perfect. What Clint Eastwood shares with Ron Howard is that they are both actors-turned-directors who consistently make technically perfect films. (Howard, on the other hand, was never voted "sexiest man alive" in his acting career. Just a trivia point...)
* what they also share is a penchant for taking larger-than-life people and literally making them much-larger-than-life on the big screen. After this, you will feel like you have known Sully as long as his family.
* in the presence of such directorial talent, it is easy to overlook the casting choices. In this case, I suggest that Hanks may not get the credit he is due. This may be the best performance of his career. He sets a deer-in-the-headlights tone early; and by mid-movie, the viewer starts to feel as paranoid as his character. Amazing performance.
* recommended for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it is one of the best films of the year.
And now the esoteric part of the review:
* have a friend, a university professor, who once explained to me, at some length, that the #1 most "unnatural" event in life is an MRI scan. You are placed immobile in a life-size cassette and then inserted into an appliance that bombards you with EM waves while deafening you with noise unlike you have ever heard before. Like a baby, you are completely dependent on outside help, and, if the machine failed, it is far from certain you could escape on your own. Yet this is a part of our culture, and the common wisdom is we should be grateful the tech exists in the first place.
* the second most un-natural event in our culture? Air travel, he said. (You can do the comparisons on your own.)
* the kicker is that my friend ended his dissertation by mentioning there are "standing" MRIs which do the same job and are more comfortable but expensive, so many hospitals and clinics avoid them. We are, after all, a society that is all about money.
* watching the people leave the plane in the film I remembered my friend's strong views. A century ago, air travel was a very different experience. If you think about it, as is the case with the MRI, it is really all about the money.
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First, the film itself:
* technically perfect. What Clint Eastwood shares with Ron Howard is that they are both actors-turned-directors who consistently make technically perfect films. (Howard, on the other hand, was never voted "sexiest man alive" in his acting career. Just a trivia point...)
* what they also share is a penchant for taking larger-than-life people and literally making them much-larger-than-life on the big screen. After this, you will feel like you have known Sully as long as his family.
* in the presence of such directorial talent, it is easy to overlook the casting choices. In this case, I suggest that Hanks may not get the credit he is due. This may be the best performance of his career. He sets a deer-in-the-headlights tone early; and by mid-movie, the viewer starts to feel as paranoid as his character. Amazing performance.
* recommended for multiple reasons, not the least of which is that it is one of the best films of the year.
And now the esoteric part of the review:
* have a friend, a university professor, who once explained to me, at some length, that the #1 most "unnatural" event in life is an MRI scan. You are placed immobile in a life-size cassette and then inserted into an appliance that bombards you with EM waves while deafening you with noise unlike you have ever heard before. Like a baby, you are completely dependent on outside help, and, if the machine failed, it is far from certain you could escape on your own. Yet this is a part of our culture, and the common wisdom is we should be grateful the tech exists in the first place.
* the second most un-natural event in our culture? Air travel, he said. (You can do the comparisons on your own.)
* the kicker is that my friend ended his dissertation by mentioning there are "standing" MRIs which do the same job and are more comfortable but expensive, so many hospitals and clinics avoid them. We are, after all, a society that is all about money.
* watching the people leave the plane in the film I remembered my friend's strong views. A century ago, air travel was a very different experience. If you think about it, as is the case with the MRI, it is really all about the money.