12 Years a Slave Movie Review

Slavery's Schindler's List, and deserving of all the appreciation and praise. 

From Steve McQueen, director of one-word, underrated masterpieces such as Hunger and Shame, comes this slavery epic starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender. The film follows Solomon Northup, a free man living with his family in New York, after he is tricked, kidnapped, and then sold into slavery. For 12 years he was degraded and tortured- both physically and mentally. His terrifying journey begins with working for Master Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch), a kind slave owner; as kind as a slave holder can be. Solomon's journey then leads to him to owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), a crazed, overly-relegious, cruel owner. Solomon must muster up all the strength he has and never give up hope, for if he surrenders and accepts the position he is in, even if he survives he will never live. Back in 1993, Steven Spielberg directed the cinematic masterpiece Schindler's List. The incredible film took an unflinching look at the Holocaust and the sheer brutality of the Nazis. The film took home 7 Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Film of the Year. Since then, many movies have taken a realistic, terrifying look at the Holocaust; for instance, The Boy with the Stripped Pajamas and Inglourious Bastards. However, no Holocaust film has lived up to the unwavering storytelling of Schindler's List. 12 Years a Slave is not about the Holocaust, but it's aggressive look at slavery is just as awe-inspiring. I have been somewhat of a fan of director Steven McQueen for a while now, even since I experienced Hunger. His directing is unlike anything I've ever seen, the stillness and steadiness of some of his movies is hauntingly beautiful. 

The best thing about McQueen is that he can really get amazing, realistic performances from his actors. From the extremely underrated Chiwetel Ejiofor, to a cameo performance from Brad Pitt, the ensemble in this film was phenomenal. Everyone had an important part to play and everyone did an outstanding job, particularly Ejiofor. Before watching this movie, I had quite the conundrum when it came to who should win best actor. Tom Hanks did an amazing job as Captain Phillips in Captain Phillips, it looked like Matthew Mcaughnahy is continuing his incredible career improvement in Dallas Buyer's Club, and I'm one of those people who thinks it's absolutely ridiculous that Leonardo DiCaprio hasn't won an Academy Award yet, so I was hoping for the best with The Wolf of Wallstreet. I had no idea who should win, now I do. Chiwetel's performance as Solomon Northup was undoubtedly the best this whole year. He is incredibly powerful and sympathetic, and he makes you hope and pray the character will survive this horrific ordeal. The amount of fear and turmoil he can convey with just a single look is mesmerizing. And I highly doubt he is the only actor who will bring home the golden statue for this movie. Michael Fassbender, playing the ruthless Edwin Epps, also delivers one of the best performances this year.

He has some competition with Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer's Club, but his chances are still pretty good. He's a villan who lacks any sort of redemption, much like Ralph Fienne's performance in Schindler's List. His purpose in the movie is for the audience to hate and despise him, and it's safe to say they achieved their objective. Then there is novice actress Lupita Nyong'o, playing Patesy, a slave on the Epps plantation that Edwin has an attraction towards. Her performance, even though she only shows up half way through the movie, is one of the most memorable. Every single actor did an astonishing job, and they all deserve to be recognized for it. Then we get to the writing, one of the most crucial parts of any motion picture. At first, when I heard that the screenwriter was going to be the same writer of Red Tails and Undercover Brother, I was terrified. Both films were terribly written and it would be unfortunate for a movie with this amount of potential to fall apart due to an inconsistent script. Luckily, the writing was superb as well. The characters were well fleshed out and the pacing was hauntingly realistic. Solomon Northup's true story is an incredible one full of courage and strength, it's nice to see the film adaptation does it justice. Overall, 12 Years A Slave is the quintessential slavery epic. Thanks to Steve McQueen's harrowing, realistic direction, the lead actor's powerful and heart wrenching performance, 12 Years A Slave is, without a doubt, the most incredible film of 2013, and one of the best ever made. It's fair to say it more than deserves such a prestigous title. Final Rating: A

Thor: The Dark World Movie Review

Nothing new, which isn't such a bad thing.

Thor returns to the big screen after the events that occurred in The Avengers. It starts with Loki back home, preparing to face Asgardian justice for the crimes he committed in New York. Now, Thor is faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, so he now must embark on his most dangerous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. Thor: The Dark World is the second feature film of Phase Two in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, following Iron Man 3. The entire original main cast of the original reprise their roles, including Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, and Anthony Hopkins. There are also some new cast members, like former-Doctor Who actor Christopher Eccleston. The cast aren't the only new additions to the movie. With director Kenneth Branagh (5-time Oscar Nominee famous for great Shakespearean adaptations such as Hamlet and Henry V) no longer in the the director's chair, it's Alan Taylor (famous for his work on popular shows such as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos) who gets behind the camera. At first, this direction change was nerve-racking. Branagh is a tremendous director, and Taylor is primarily a TV-director for hire. Luckily, Taylor didn't screw this up. It may have been the disappointment I had with Iron Man 3, but I really didn't have high expectations for this film. I came to terms with the fact that no Superhero movie, be that DC or Marvel, is going to live up to the Avengers. 

Even though this fact still stands, Thor 2 was a lot better than expected. The action scenes were a lot better than the ones in the original. Even though Alan Taylor is primarily a director for the small screen, nothing about the scale of the action felt small. The biggest down-side to this movie was the comedy. The Avengers was a very funny movie, but it was only funny when the levity was necessary. Thor 2 almost felt like a comedy, but with a lot of great, well-crafted action sequences. If they just would have toned down the humor a bit, the movie could have been a lot better. That, and if they could have improved the plot. The fact is, when we have a cinematic universe that includes something as epic as The Avengers, everything else feels extremely filler. The same happened with the two Iron Man sequels, when you have a movie about an individual Avenger that isn't an origin story, it feels like the only point is to kill time until the next team-up epic. It seems like every action movie nowadays is about the earth being potentially destroyed by some malicious villain and the good guy needs to stop him- which he always does after a CGI-filled 10 minute battle. It's nothing new or groundbreaking when it comes to the concept, it's the execution that really matters. And I'm happy to say that, overall, it is well-executed. The action is still good, the acting and writing were fine, the tone towards the end is a little darker which is appreciated. Overall, it's nothing unprecedented in contemporary cinema, but Thor: The Dark World is filled with enough high-flying action to entertain the masses. Final Rating: B

Breaking Bad Series Review

The Best Drama Series Ever Made.

Breaking Bad follows the events that occur after Walter White, a brilliant yet underachieving chemist, discovers he has lung cancer and has approximately two years to left to live. So, in order to maintain his family's economic well-being after he passes, he chooses to team up with his former chemistry student, Jesse Pinkman, to cook and sell the world's purest crystal meth. Walter White soon learns the accuracy of the proverb "the road to hell is paved with good intentions." There are so many great things to say about Breaking Bad, and one of the few shows out there that I have almost nothing bad to say. The directing, the writing, and especially the acting are all superb. Walter White, played by 3-time Emmy Winner Bryan Cranston, is one of the most brilliantly crafted TV characters of all time.Creator Vince Gilligan has stated plenty of times the the idea that this show would revolve around was taking Mr. Chips (Good-Bye, Mr. Chips), and turning him into Scarface. It's fair to say that transition was completed, and with remarkable realism and gradualness. He goes from being an incredibly shy and scared High School teacher, to becoming the world's best meth cook and savage dealer.

His character isn't the only masterfully crafted one in this show. Jesse Pinkman, played by 2-Time Emmy Award Winner Aaron Paul, is also an incredibly developing, entertaining character. He too undergoes incredible character development; going from stoner, High School drop-out, to becoming one of the most tragic and sympathy-receiving characters in the show. Then we have Skylar, the character hardly anyone has sympathy for. Just to get it out of the way, Skylar is a very annoying character. Actress Anna Gunn does a fantastic job portraying the irritating character, especially in the show's last season. Everyone else in the main cast does there part perfectly, from klepto-purple-obsessed-maniac Marie Shrader and her husband, ASAC Hank Shrader, to other great supporting characters like goofy criminal lawyer Saul Goodman and Mike Ehrmantraut played by the incredibly talented Jonathan Banks. However, with the exception of Cranston and Paul, it was Giancarlo Esposito, playing Gustavo Fring, that shined the most.

As seen in the clip, Gus is pretty awesome. Esposito's performance as Gus delivers on so many levels; making Gus one of the most menacing and well-written antagonist in both TV and film. Writing was another great thing about this show. Not just are the characters extremely well-written, but there are so many jaw-dropping moments in this series that you are always sitting at the edge of your seat. Unpredictability made this show the suspense juggernaut it is today, the truly amazing show it is today. I've seen so many shows in my life and have loved so many as well. However, no show made me fell the way Breaking Bad did. The acting was perfect and realistic, especially from Bryan Cranston. His emotional powerhouse performance every episode was extraordinary, making him one of the best actors in television, and rightfully so. Everything in this show was perfectly executed and put together. Those who have not seen this show have no idea what they are missing. Breaking Bad is the best drama TV show ever. Final Rating- A+