Jason Foldes (jrfoldes)

A powerful film. What more can be said? Based on the book of the same name, To Kill A Mockingbird is set in the American south in a time when the black community is still not seen as equals to the whites. When a black man is accused of raping a white girl the town is set into turmoil and a lone unbiased well respected publice defender must take a case he know he is going to lose even though the evidence suggest his client is innocent. Although most people look towards the trial as the main plot of the film it is in reality the story that follows the young stars that take centre stage. The film is told through the eyes of young Scott Finch who recounts that faithfull summer when her father Atticus took on the case and when her older brother Jem and their mutual friend were trying to make the resident neighbourhood recluse, Boo Radley come out of his forced housearrest. Perhaps one of the greatest fictional stories ever told this dilm has a lot going for it, and when we do finally meet Boo we can't help but cheer at his heroic actions and the sacrifice Atticus and the town sheriff were willing to make so he does not face further punishment. Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his role as Atticus and it was a performance that will forever go down in film history as memorable. Although I strongly recommend watching this movie, reading the novel first is perhaps a better as you begin to appreciate the film more.

If ever there was a better person in the 20th century it was Oscar Shindler. If ever there was a movie that was worthwhile to tell his story and do justice to one of the horrors of World War Two, then it is Shindler's List. This movie is by far one of the best films ever created. Spielberg stand up and take a bow. After viewing this movie we can actually see how realistic the fear many of our grandparents and great grandparents had to go through in their lives, regardless if they were Jewish or not. The stories were one thing, the pictures another, but to actually see such horrors can make one sick to their stomach which nearly rivals actually being there. Seeing many of those horrific scenes I reminded myself how bad the mental torture would have been, not knowing whether you were going to live or die, simply because of your faith. This was a time where heroes rose in the most unlikely of places, as did Oscar Shindler. In retrospect this movie proves that we can find heroes in the most unlikely of places at the most unlikely of times. We should all take the quote mentioned in the movie from the Talmud to heart "He who saves one life saves the world entire".