12 Years a Slave (2013)

[acsc1312]

I really really really wish I hadn't chosen to watch this on a day I was falling asleep I missed some moments because I dozed off (not because of the movie, but because of exhaustion). I'm gonna watch it again to get the full effect, but it was great. Fantastic cast. Pretty much anyone that's white is so despicable and every one of them played it so well. Fassbender is definitely a greatest of all time at this point. Hauntingly infuriating. Paulson does some great work, as always, and of course Ejiofor. Top 5 this year for sure, but I missed some of the beginning, so I can't place it just yet. 

 

A

[Blankments]

I enjoyed it, but it didn't connect emotionally for me... and I have no idea why. I felt like I should've been crying at the end, since I cried for the entire last twenty minutes of Fruitvale Station, but nope, I didn't feel anything. It's gonna be hard to place this one, since I feel like it failed at what its purpose as a film was. That said, I cannot deny that it had great technical values. The directing was top-notch, and the performances by the three buzzed-about was all up to the hype. However, I will say I expected a bit more from Ejiofor based on the hype, and more from Cumberbatch screentime wise. Music wasn't that great either. I can only give it an A rather than the A+ I desperately want to give it, but cannot.

 

I feel like this is the type of movie I would've enjoyed more if I hadn't had been caught up in the hype earlier this year with "standing ovations after every show" and "everyone was sobbing for the last 45 minutes" quotes.

[Michael Gary Scott]

I enjoyed it, but it didn't connect emotionally for me... and I have no idea why. I felt like I should've been crying at the end, since I cried for the entire last twenty minutes of Fruitvale Station, but nope, I didn't feel anything. It's gonna be hard to place this one, since I feel like it failed at what its purpose as a film was. That said, I cannot deny that it had great technical values. The directing was top-notch, and the performances by the three buzzed-about was all up to the hype. However, I will say I expected a bit more from Ejiofor based on the hype, and more from Cumberbatch screentime wise. Music wasn't that great either. I can only give it an A rather than the A+ I desperately want to give it, but cannot.I feel like this is the type of movie I would've enjoyed more if I hadn't had been caught up in the hype earlier this year with "standing ovations after every show" and "everyone was sobbing for the last 45 minutes" quotes.

this except I disagree about the score. I felt bad for soloman but I lacked a connection to him. But to call this one of the best of all time I cant go there. The performances were all great with Fassbender being the best. The direction and cinematography are both great. A very good film. 4.5/5

[DAR]

Those of you that have seen it, is it like Schindler's List in the sense that it's a very important and well made film, but it doesn't really have a great repeat value. I saw Schindler's List in theaters and then didn't watch it again until maybe 15 years later.

[AniNate]

Those of you that have seen it, is it like Schindler's List in the sense that it's a very important and well made film, but it doesn't really have a great repeat value. I saw Schindler's List in theaters and then didn't watch it again until maybe 15 years later.

 

Well, I don't think any film about a depressing subject has much replay value. Part of the point is to make you not want to go through the experience again.

[Jessie]

I'm certainly excited. The best film in a year with Before Midnight, Gravity, and Upstream Color? Damn, this might be the strongest year for film since 2007.

 

Not the greatest of years if you ask me, unless you are pretentious, then its just for you.

[mattmav45]

It's a powerhouse film from one of the best directors working today. However, I have to mention just how brutal Brad Pitt was in this. His lecturing was downright silly and really stopped a lot of the film's momentum at the end. I'm not sure what the hell they were thinking, but his role in the film was simply awful. The film did more than enough to show how terrible slavery was without needing some lame ass moral lecturing outlining it for the audience.A-

Edited November 24, 2013 by mattmav45

[BiffMan]

This along with Schindler's List should be required viewing for all of humanity.  Preferably around middle school.  Perhaps we might suck less as a species if everyone had a glimpse of just how horrible we're capable of being.

 

A+

[baumer]

This along with Schindler's List should be required viewing for all of humanity.  Preferably around middle school.  Perhaps we might suck less as a species if everyone had a glimpse of just how horrible we're capable of being.

 

A+

 

Naaaa, this is Roots light.  Roots did it better when it came out 30 years ago and it did nothing to change anything.  As Arnold says in Terminator 2, "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves."

[4815162342]

It's a very good film but WAY overhyped by critics and awards pundits. The acting is strong all around (though in no way does Nyong'o deserve the Supporting Actress award that critics are handing her on a silver platter. She has one remarkable scene and otherwise is solid but unspectacular).

 

But the film's pacing gets a bit wonky in the back half (could easily chop 10-15 minutes out and lose nothing) and Brad Pitt's character is very jarring.

 

And Zimmer, goddamn Zimmer simply reusing "Time" and all of a sudden it's a frontrunner for Best Score.

 

Somewhere in the bottom half of my Top 10 for now (because most of the acting and dialogue and tension is extremely good) but plenty of films still to be seen.

Edited December 23, 2013 by 4815162342

[Jake Gittes]

Yeah I thought it was quite good, but Pitt's appearance was almost embarrassing (not the character himself - if he'd been played by an unknown actor, also with less of a Jesus look, I wouldn't have minded at all) and as people in this thread have already noted, the dialogue is frequently distracting. When slaves in a Quentin Tarantino joint talk more realistically than in a serious historical drama you know something's wrong.

 

I also have to admit I didn't find Ejiofor's performance particularly special, although that may be due to the odd nature of the character (who's both inside and outside the system, a slave who wasn't born into slavery, a horrified observer as much as a victim, one of countless others as well as a protagonist) which actually doesn't give him a ton of room to act. He did have some great subtle moments, but... I don't know. I just didn't feel it on any deeper level than that, I guess. And I found it flat-out unbelievable that he'd have basically the same appearance after 12 years in captivity - I would expect him to look thinner and visibly older, like someone who had literally gone to hell and come back, but in the final scene he looked exactly the same to me as in the early scenes.

 

I didn't think that much of Nyong'o and then the soap scene happened and she knocked my socks off. That was by far the most powerful moment in the whole thing (as well as the whipping that followed), and that moment when Solomon gets taken away in the end and Patsey runs after him and helplessly watches is when you realize she's really the heart of the film - one of the hundreds of thousands of those who had no choice but to stay. It's a tiny moment but it's quietly devastating.

 

Zimmer receiving awards and nominations for this score (can you even call it that?) is pretty laughable.

 

Finally, I'll be impressed if Paul Dano ever plays a character who's even more slimy, nasty, despicable and completely loathsome than the one he plays here. Kudos, from a certain point a view it's the most perfect casting in this movie and he delivered it all.

[GeneralKong]

Horrifying but necessary, and easily one of my favorite films of the year so far. Another great collaboration between Fassbender and McQueen, they're the new version of Scorsese and DeNiro in terms of their brilliance together. 

[CoolioD1]

Really great. Might even be an all-time great imo.

[AniNate]

I do concede that Zimmer doesn't belong anywhere near awards for his score. However, I will defend Lupita to the death; she totally deserves everything she's getting.

Edited January 2, 2014 by tribefan695

[ChD]

Well, I had to watch this movie in two sittings so maybe the parts where I felt kinda disconnected were because of that. I noticed that this is one of the few movies that aren't really remarkable throughout, but when they end you start noticing what it did to you. While the 'Time' copy composed by Zimmer was okay, I still say the songs (the ones with vocals) are pretty good and I think he deserves to be nominated at least.

 

Everything else was great, and I've got to say that the thing that moved me most throughout the movie was Pitt's character doing what he did, even though he had no proof whatsoever that Solomon was speaking the truth. That's the scene that moved me the most and probably will stay with me. I chose to forget the brutal scenes simply because they are too brutal.

 

Still, I can say that the script is good, but it failed to write what viewers need: connection with the main character. Despite that, a great movie. Not the best of the year, but a good one nonetheless.

 

A

[4815162342]

Most (or likely all) of those vocal songs were actual songs sung by slaves back then.

[CoolioD1]

One of them was an original piece. Zimmer had fuck all to do with that though.

[acsc1312]

So Zimmer will probably win best original score for the two tracks he scored for this? Okay

[Dementeleus]

Pitt was distracting; not for his performance but because he's Pitt. An awkward casting decision there... pretty much the only wrong note in the whole movie. For awhile, I felt McQueen was taking too distant a tone, but it sneaks up on you. The ending was very powerful and emotional. Definitely one of the very best of the year.

[thunder storm]

So I'm the only one who didn't like the movie? F from me.

I do not know why everyone say "the best movie of the year" because this movie was so boringggg. I hope another movie will win at Oscar.