Thursday Movie Picks-Movies based on True Events

It has been a sad week with the shooting in Virginia(Gun laws anyone??) and the horrible Fire in London...my thoughts are with the victims and their families. On Tuesday there was a tractor Trailer that overturned and phosphine gas was the cargo. Thankfully, the highly flammable gas was not disrupted but there were evacuations over a 2 mile radius. We live right near that 2 mile radius but we did not have to leave. Let's hope the rest of the week is boring. Let's talk movies to get our minds off all this sadness and this week it is all about movies based on true events. I am going all New movies so no old films showing here this week:) Head on over to Wandering Through The Shelves to see what the others have chosen. Here are my 3....

1.  HACKSAW RIDGE-2016

I was unsure how this film would be since I don't like violence for violence sake and I don't like religion being thumped on my head, but I was very pleased to say this film is neither. Now, don't get me wrong, it is violent but it is based on a horrible battle during World War 2 so there will be violence and I think what was shown is real and not overdone. In fact I think it is needed since we should not glorify it. Andrew Garfield plays Desmond T Doss a real life hero who, due to his religious beliefs, refused to carry a gun and was chastised and bullied by his own men until he proved just how brave he was when the battle began and the men were trapped. This man saved many, many men and won the Congressional Medal of Honor. It is beautifully acted and the battle scenes are well done.

2. HIDDEN FIGURES-2016

Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughn and Mary Jackson are 3 African American women who work as "computers" at NASA in the early 1960's. They not only have to deal with being women in a male dominated workplace but they must also deal with being black. It just seems to showcase how a first world country can be so disgusting with their views of a people who are persecuted just for having a different colour skin. Ok, so these 3 women had to fight to show that their prowess is needed at NASA and that the space program may not have moved forward if not for them. It is well acted by the three leads but also Kevin Costner as the head of the space program. I loved Taraji P Henson's performance of this great lady (Katherine Johnson who is still alive at 99) and how she stands up for her rights and her knowledge of science and math. Just watching this made me laugh at myself since I still use my fingers to count.

3. LION-2016

This true story starts in 1987 and ends in 2012 and what a journey! The little boy who plays Saroo (Sunny Pawar) should have been up for an Oscar because he was excellent. Saroo adores his big brother who has a job and, after much begging, allows Saroo to join him. The big brother tells his baby brother to stay at the train station since Saroo is so very tired and has a tough time waking up. He watches his big brother leave and this is when his journey begins. Young Saroo wakes to find himself alone and he starts looking for his brother. He ends up on a train and falls asleep waking up to the train moving across the country and now he is totally lost. He must fend off many dangerous situations, never mind hunger and ends up at an orphanage where he is finally adopted by a very kind Australian couple. When he is in his 20's, he can not shake his home and must find out where he comes from and must find his mother and brother. A beautifully acted film and one that sticks pretty close to what happened.

What would be your 3??