Episode 8 – The 2014 Oscars Review: A Deeper Look at 12 Years a Slave – Part II
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Why Watch That Welcome back to part 2 of the 2014 Oscar Review. In this episode the Critic and the Referee continue their discussion about the 2014 Oscar Nominations and go deeper into 12 Years a Slave. Enjoy the conclusion of the 2014 Oscar Review.
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.
Steve McQueen (Director) Steven Rodney “Steve” McQueen CBE is a British film director, screenwriter, and video artist. He is a winner of the Caméra d’Or and a BAFTA.
John Ridley (Writer) John Ridley is an American writer and director. Ridley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in Mequon. (wikipedia)
Other Films
Hunger is a 2008 British-Irish historical drama film directed by Steve McQueen and starring Michael Fassbender, Liam Cunningham, and Liam McMahon, about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was written by Enda Walsh and McQueen. (wikipedia)
Irish republican Bobby Sands leads the inmates of a Northern Irish prison in a hunger strike.(IMDb)
Shame is a 2011 British drama film cowritten and directed by Steve McQueen, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. It was co-produced by Film4 and See-Saw Films. (wikipedia)
In New York City, Brandon’s carefully cultivated private life — which allows him to indulge his sexual addiction — is disrupted when his sister arrives unannounced for an indefinite stay. (IMDb)
Blue Jasmine is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen. It tells the story of a rich Manhattan socialite (played by Cate Blanchett) falling into poverty and homelessness. It was released on July 26, 2013, in New York and Los Angeles. (wikipedia)
This may remind you of A Street Car Named Desire, says the Referee.
August: Osage County is a 2013 American black comedy-drama film written by Tracy Letts and based on his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name. The film is directed by John Wells and produced by George Clooney, Jean Doumanian, Grant Heslov, Steve Traxler, and Bob and Harvey Weinstein. (wikipedia)
A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew-up in and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
Documentary Nomination Recommendation (Netflix Instant Alert)
The Act of Killing is a 2012 documentary film directed by Joshua Oppenheimer, and co-directed by Christine Cynn and an anonymous Indonesian. It is a Danish-British-Norwegian co-production, presented by Final Cut for Real in Denmark and produced by Signe Byrge Sørensen. The executive producers were Werner Herzog, Errol Morris, Joram ten Brink, and Andre Singer.
The filmmakers examine a country where death squad leaders are celebrated as heroes, challenging them to reenact their real-life mass-killings in the style of the American movies they love. The hallucinatory result is a cinematic fever dream, an unsettling journey deep into the imaginations of mass-murderers and the shockingly banal regime of corruption and impunity they inhabit.
Episode Metaphor
Michael Fassbender is to Steve McQueen what Leonardo DiCaprio is to Martin Scorsese
Actor with a capital “A”
Alfre Woodard: Alfre Ette Woodard is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has been nominated once for an Academy Award and Grammy Award, 18 times for the Emmy Award, and has also won a Golden Globe Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. (wikipedia)
Musical Theatre Acting Reference
Chiwetel Ejiofor’s musical breakthrough moment in 12 Years a Slave
Quote of the Episode
“Brad [Pitt].., have several seats!” – Referee
