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The 33
Great 83 Points 2015

Real-life drama ripped from TV news gets no more riveting or charming than in The 33, about the Chilean miners trapped half a mile below ground five years ago. Some three billion people followed their drama in 2010, including me and probably you. The fact that all 33 were safely brought to the …

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WikChip Video The real story of The 33
In the Heart of...
Great 83 Points 2015

Ron Howard takes on Moby Dick, starring Chris Hemsworth, in the poorly titled but highly accomplished In the Heart of the Sea. It plays like a 19th century Jaws, albeit with a giant Sperm Whale seeking vengeance on puny humans instead of a Great White Shark. It also challenges 21st century sens…

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WikChip Video Whales were considered sea monsters
Concussion
Great 83 Points 2015

Mike Webster was a hero of mine, at a time when heroes were very, very influential in a young man’s life. Iron Mike Webster snapped the ball to Terry Bradshaw in four Super Bowls, all of which the Steelers won – my Steelers. He famously wore short-sleeves and no arm-pads to not get grabbed by def…

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WikChip Video ABC News covers Concussion
13 Hours: The S...
Great 83 Points 2016

The 2012 Islamist militia attack on the two U.S. outposts in Benghazi Libya comes alive as a colossal and utterly predictable central-government failure in 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi. Truth!

The amazing thing is that only four men died, even if one was Ambassador Chris Stevens…

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WikChip Video Gold Star Parents react to 13 Hours
The Finest Hours
Great 83 Points 2016

Real romance precedes real heroism in The Finest Hours. A retro historical drama and Disnefied true-story of the greatest rescue in Coast Guard history, its tone is as extremely earnest as its story is death-defying.

The romance between Bernie & Miriam Webber defines almost the entire first …

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WikChip Video 36 Men in a 36 Foot Boar
Free State of J...
Really Great 83 Points 2016

Newton Knight is a newly essential Matthew McConaughey role that finally knights Newt Knight as a true American hero. Even more, Free State of Jones is an only-in-America story, so corny it could only be true. A deeply moral white man frees enslaved blacks and marries a black woman during the C…

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WikChip Video CBS Sunday Morning feature on Newt Kn...
Sully
Great 83 Points 2016

Tom Hanks does Chesley Sullenberger proud as Sully in Sully, an ideal combo of star and subject.
Hanks is, of course, the Baby Boomer’s Jimmy Stewart, portrayer of self-effacing American heroes.

Clint Eastwood’s capable eye, sense and music bring the Miracle on the Hudson

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WikChip Video The real Sully returns to the Hudson
Restrepo
Great 83 Points 2010

Into the Valley of Death rode the 2nd Platoon of Battle Company, ultimately riding back out with their dignity, humanity and honor intact, a trial by firefight that this important documentary shows in vivid detail. Well, given the ferocity of the fighting, not all rode out. Killed early on was …

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WikChip Video Dauntless Courage and American Spirit
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  • Wick – On this tenth anniversary of 9/11, props to the 2nd ...
The Birth of a ...
Very Good 83 Points 2016

Why don’t slaves revolt? In the South two centuries ago, in the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust or even in Asia now? The Birth of a Nation helps answer that complicated question. Unfortunately the movie itself is complicated. Its creators apparently raped a woman while college students in 19…

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WikChip Image Nate Parker's movie: engaging & affec...
Masterminds
Good 83 Points 2016

Masterminds starts off rock-and-roll, but soon becomes dumb-and-dumber, only not so funny or charming. Loosely “based on a true story”, it oscillates between parody and homage, albeit more the former given its deep SNL roots. Unfortunately, TV-quality sketch comedy bits don’t a great movie make…

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WikChip Video Comedy Great: Kate McKinnon