Movie Review - The Most Hated Woman in America

Welcome back everyone! I hope that this week is treating you well! This week I watched The Most Hated Woman in America, a Netflix original movie which gives an intriguing look into the true story of the life of Madalyn Murray O'Hair, infamous activist who became the head of American Atheist.

If you're concerned about the religious aspects of this movie, there's really no need. The film is mostly focused on the implications of nonconformist activism and rising to fame and fortune by being hated.

While I've found in the past that biopics tend to be dull, slow, or simply uninteresting, The Most Hated Woman in America was none of these. The movie had a truly interesting story, kept it's pace, and never lost my attention. It provided a really interesting look into Madalyn's life and moments in U.S. history that I had never considered before. One thing that impressed me with this movie is that even though it was a biopic, it didn't feel like it took huge creative liberties like so many others do.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for an opportunity to explore the life of someone they may have never heard of, but had a rather significant impact on our everyday lives. Madalyn's entire adult life was broadcast to the masses, and yet this film is a rare opportunity for us to observe what lead to her demise, somehow so out of the public's attention.

The Most Hated Woman in America (2017) 1 hour 31 mins long

Movie Review - The Invasion

Hope everyone had a wonderful break! Welcome back tigers and happy humpday to everyone else! This week I am reviewing The Invasion, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  There’s a lot of zombie and ghost themed thrillers going around right now and I thought this movie was a good way to break it up.  It’s in the category of Sci-Fi Thriller but i thought it was a nice break from the typical thrillers coming out.  

The movie is about a psychiatrist and her young son in the middle of an alien invasion of sorts.  Instead of a typical alien takeover it is incorporated as an unidentifiable virus that takes over a person and relinquishes power of the person over to the alien control.  So there is no true alien coming down but it is kind of a freaky way to bring in the zombie/alien side. The interesting part is that it doesn’t change the appearance of the person, it just takes over their mind so it blends into crowd until it is too late. The aliens also have no emotions or feelings, they only work to achieve their agenda, which is to take over the human race.  The movie follows her journey as a psychiatrist slowly realizes what's happening to people and her ex-husband, the head of the CDC, is behind infecting millions of people because he is one of the first people infected.  

I would give this movie a 9/10 because I think it broke away from the mold and did a really good job tell a different story.  It was fast paced and kept me guessing, which for me is key.  The actors did a great job portraying their characters, especially when they had to become the aliens because the whole idea of the aliens were that they had no emotion or feelings.  

The Invasion (2007) 1 hr 39 mins long  

Movie Review - The Woman in Gold

This week I took a look at The Woman in Gold and fell in love, with both the painting and the movie.  If you are a history buff you will probably really enjoy this retelling of an amazing true story. If you are really interested look up the story of the painting before watching and it will give you some good insight on the characters.

The Woman in Gold shows a beautiful and emotional story of an Austrian woman working to get back her families property that was stolen by Nazis during the holocaust.  Maria Altman's family was persecuted by the Nazis in Austria which caused Maria to flee to America during the holocaust.  The movie does a great job really showing the emotions and memories of Altman as she challenges the Austrian government to get back the painting of her aunt Adele, which was painted by a very famous Austrian artist of the period.  The movie is a retelling of the fight for restitution for this woman and her family to reclaim what was stolen so many years ago.  

Overall I really enjoyed the movie and did a little research after I watched it to see what the painting looked like and see if the details matched up.  I would give this movie a 8/10 only because of the slow pace. The actors did a great job really portraying the emotions of these characters and the flash backs of Altman's memories were perfectly placed so you could slowly piece together the whole picture. This movie is a little long but it is great to watch in pieces, so its perfect to break up studying (which is what I did), its slower pace makes it great to use for a study break.

The Woman in Gold (2015) 1 hour 49 mins long 

Movie Review - The White Helmets

I’m coming at you for a second time this week to tell you about a movie that won the Oscar for Best Documentary, Short Subject this Sunday! The White Helmets gives us a look into the efforts of a group of first responders in Syria who work to save the lives of their fellow civilians as repeated airstrikes hit their nation. These first responder’s aptly call themselves The White Helmets for their identifying headgear.

The White Helmets are responsible for saving the lives of tens of thousands of Syrians caught in the conflict, and have been nominated for the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. At only about 40 minutes long, the documentary isn’t going to be too demanding on your busy college schedule. The White Helmets offers a good opportunity to see into the Syrian conflict in a short period of time.

Given the content of the documentary and the sensitivity of the subject, I am choosing to not give this movie a rating, but simply say that I encourage you to take the time to watch. If you are interested in becoming more informed on The White Helmets beyond the film, I encourage you to check out their website, www.whitehelmets.org/en.

The White Helmets (2016) 41 min long