UPC presents Second-Chance Cinema: 'Captain Phillips'

            The University Program Council will present the movie "Captain Phillips" at 7 and 9:45 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 N. 13th St.

            Admission is $1 for UNL students with valid NCard. The event is not open to the public.

            In this Oscar-nominated film, two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks teams with Oscar-nominated director Paul Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray to tell the true story of Richard Phillips, a U.S. cargo-ship captain who surrendered himself to Somali pirates so that his crew would be freed.

            Phillips (played by Hanks) and his crew are carrying freight around the Horn of Africa when four Somali pirates forcefully take over their ship, the MV Maersk Alabama. While Phillips' team follow his orders to hide until they hear him give the safe word, the captain and a few essential crew members remain on the bridge as the heavily armed pirates make their way up to seize control of the ship. But the interlopers soon discover something that sends them into a furious rage: After effectively shutting down the ship, Phillips explains that the Maersk had malfunctioned when the crew pushed it too hard in an attempt to evade the attackers. In order to appease their leader, the ruthless Muse (Barkhad Abdi), Phillips offers them the $30,000 that's been locked in the ship safe. But that isn't enough, and Muse demands that Phillips help him search every corner of the ship to root out the terrified crew. When that plan fails, the pirates agree to take the cash from the safe and flee in the Maersk's lifeboat. At the last minute, however, they kidnap Phillips in the hope of supplementing their take with a sizable ransom -- a decision that leads to a tense standoff with the U.S. Navy, which would sooner see the lifeboat sunk with Phillips inside than allow it to reach Somalia.

            The University Program Council is a student organization that provides diverse, educational and entertaining programs to enhance the UNL community. UPC acts as the executive body responsible for the implementation of programs and activities funded by University Programs and Facilities Fees. For more than 75 years, UPC has been providing entertainment for UNL students in the form of films, speakers, concerts and more. For more information, please visit: http://involved.unl.edu/upc or follow UPC Nebraska on Facebook and Twitter.

Writer: Karen Freimund Wills