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12 Years a Slave (2013)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
2013 | Biography, Drama, History
Story: Watching how Solomon struggles to just survive let alone becoming free again. We see how different men who have slaves treat them, some well some badly. The story shows the tragic truth about how slaves were treated and even though this story get a happy ending of freedom, most never got that chance, with this still happening in the modern world it should make everyone be thankful for the fact they are free now. The story is an inspiration story of survival and not giving up hope. (10/10)

 

Actor Reviews

 

Chiwetel Ejiofor: Solomon kidnapped and sold into slavery, not resting on the fact he will never escape he tries over the 12 years to find a way to get his own freedom before finally finding someone to trust enough. Chiwetel is brilliant in the role and fully deserved his BAFTA for best actor. (10/10)

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Michael Fassbender: Edwin Epps the drunken plantation owner who abuses his slaves for his own pleasure, enforced strict rules and taking all the hope out of his slaves. Great performance from Fassbender playing a character that is driven to be hated. (9/10)

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Lupita Nyong’o: Patsey one of the slaves on Epps’s plantation who is his favourite as she is the best picker and also he favourite for his sexual pleasures. Great performance, showing that the hope had been taken from some of the slaves. (10/10)

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Brad Pitt: Bass a free roaming labourer who doesn’t turn up to late in the film, becomes the last chance for Solomon. Only a small role but does a good job.(8/10)

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Paul Dano: Tibeats, Ford’s evil slaver runner who pushes all of them to limits they shouldn’t have to go, he thinks he is better than all of the slaves, but Solomon teaches him a thing or too. Good performance from Dano showing he can fit into any role with ease. (8/10)

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Paul Giamatti: Freeman the slave sales man who put them all up for show so that the highest bidder will purchase them. Only a small role but affectively showing how the slavery sales were made to be glamorous for what they are doing. (7/10)

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Benedict Cumberbatch: Ford a good man who looks after his slaves, Ford purchases Solomon and is willing to listen to Solomon’s ideas to improve his work. Forced to sell on Solomon, but always looked after them all fair. Good supporting performance and his character reflexes how evil Epps is.(8/10)

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Sarah Paulson: Mistress Epps the wife of Edwin, who has a dislike for Patsey but an almost sympatric side to the rest of the slaves. Good performance and the one scene with Patsey is really stand out. (9/10)

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Director Review: Steve McQueen – Brilliant direction to tell such an amazing story of one man’s journey. (10/10)

 

Biography: Amazing look at how Solomon survived his ordeal. (10/10)

Drama: Stunning look at something that could have been all guns, blood and gore, but focuses on the emotions involved with the people. (10/10)

History: Good look at how people were treated during the slave times. (10/10)

Settings: Beautiful settings used to create the story. (10/10)

Suggestion: This really should be watched by all, but I do feel the more casual film fan may find it hard to watch. (Watch)

 

Best Part: Chiwetel Performance.

Worst Part: Some of the punishment scenes are hard to watch.

Favourite Quote: Solomon ‘I will not fall into despair! I will keep myself hardy until freedom is opportune!’

Believability: Based on Solomon’s true story. (10/10)

Chances of Tears: No (0/10)

Chances of Sequel: No

Post Credits Scene: No


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Oscar Chances: Won 3 Oscars.

Box Office: $178,413,838

Budget: $20 Million

Runtime: 2 Hours 13 Minutes

Tagline: The extraordinary true story of Solomon Northup.

 

Overall: Stunning Story

https://moviesreview101.com/2014/05/12/12-years-a-slave-2013/
  
12 Years a Slave (2013)
12 Years a Slave (2013)
2013 | Biography, Drama, History
Cast and acting is spectacular (1 more)
Fantastic direction by Steve McQueen
Harrowing, disturbing beyond belief
It's taken me four years to watch this film out of fear I'd be seriously disturbed by the end of it. And no doubt it is disturbing.

The story of Solomon Northrup entails a free black man in America being kidnapped and then sold into slavery. He is gifted and educated, on top of having led a free life with his wife and children, hence in many ways it can be seen as even more traumatic knowing what is already out there.

What's interesting is the complicity of others involved, including other African Americans who have had to turn the other cheek in order to survive. The white men are despicable in this film, the brutality is truly horrifying.

It goes without saying Chiwetel Ejiofor is fantastic as Solomon, he's understated which makes his acting all the more moving. Michael Fassbender is particularly gratuitous in his role as a slave owner. Lupita Nyong'o is absolutely outstanding, playing a woman brutalized by the master for his own disgusting needs. The women go through a particular hell in this horrid period of history. You'll need a strong countenance to watch this.
  
Show all 5 comments.
40x40

Suswatibasu (1701 KP) Sep 7, 2017

This is quite different as one it's based on a true story and two, slavery is a horrific time in history. So it's brutal.

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Lindsay (1693 KP) Sep 7, 2017

I believe that.

A Dark Song (2016)
A Dark Song (2016)
2016 | Horror
Story: A Dark Song starts as Sophia Howard (Walker) rents a remote house in the countryside, she hires occultist Joseph Solomon (Oram) to perform a yearlong ritual so Sophia can communicate with her late son, one more time.

With the rules set, the ritual begins leaving the two to need to be prepared for anything good or evil that they would summon from the other side.

 

Thoughts on A Dark Song

 

Characters – Sophia is the lady that wants to communicate with dead child, she has turned to an occultist to help her, she will go through as many different rituals to achieve her desired outcome. Joseph Solomon is the occultist that reluctant agrees to help Sophia with her ritual, he has plenty of experience and even when he knows she is lying he will help her.

Performances – Steve Oram and Catherine Walker are the main two stars of this movie, their performances need to be strong for this movie to work. They both give us captivating performance where you are wondering where the characters will be going next.

Story – The story dives into the idea of how far would you go to communicate with a dead loved one, would you turn to the occult knowing it wouldn’t be the best idea because of what else you could summon, or would you let the police punish the people responsible, these are the main questions being asked in this movie. When we follow the ritual side of the film doesn’t give us a full scale of the time the two are performing them, but then again the story doesn’t focus on the rituals that much, rather focusing on what would be the correct decision made by the Sophia.

Horror – The horror involved in this movie is mostly about what could happen with rituals are performed, we only get a moment of actual horror late in the film.

Settings – The settings keep the two in one house for up to a year which gives the characters the much-needed isolation for the rituals to happen.

Special Effects – The effects used in the film are save the few moments that need them and seem to be great practical use of them too.


Scene of the Movie – Cross the line.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – While you are left waiting for something to happen, not much does happen.

Final Thoughts – This is a horror that focuses more in the drama of what could happen and following to people that need to focus on letting the past lay over trying to scare us.

 

Overall: A horror that lacks the scares.

https://moviesreview101.com/2018/10/18/a-dark-song-2016/gnree/