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Why Watch That?

Join us as the Critic and the Referee discuss the 2014 Oscar Selections. Hear what they think about some of the notable performances of 2013, the Academy’s selections, and this year in film overall. Enjoy part one of this two-part conversation about the Oscars.

Films 

12 Years a Slave is the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who is abducted and sold into slavery.

Captain Phillips focuses on the relationship between Captain Richard Phillips, commanding officer of the MV Maersk Alabama, and the Somali pirate captain, Muse, who takes him hostage.

Gravity is 2013 American 3D science-fiction thriller and space-drama film involving astronauts in the mid-orbit destruction of a space shuttle and their attempt to return to Earth. Listen to our episode about this film.

American Hustle tells the story of brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld, who, along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner, Sydney Prosser, is forced to work for wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso.

    Note: Critic says watch GoodFellas or Casino instead.

The Wolf of Wall Street is the story of a New York stockbroker who runs a firm that engages in securities fraud and corruption on Wall Street in the 1990s.

Dallas Buyers Club is a 2013 American biographical drama film about an AIDS patient who smuggled unapproved pharmaceutical drugs into Texas when he found them effective at improving his symptoms.

Her follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system.

Fun Fact

Barkhad Abdi, an actor in Captain Phillips, worked as a limo driver and clerk at his brother’s Mall of America store.

Quote of the Episode

“I’m not going to sit here and chase the tail of a director who’s having fun with his favorite actors.”- The Critic

2013 Missing Element

Narrative Momentum: This is the driving force of the plot. Stories that are tightly structured tend to have a strong sense of causality. What happens in a scene hopefully prompts the audience to ask, “What Happens Next?”