Film Review: 12 Years a Slave (2013)

When I first watched 12 Years a Slave back in November, I was so overwhelmed by the experience that I felt like I couldn't write about it. It wasn't merely that it was good, but I found the story of Solomon Northup so moving that I couldn't really put my thoughts into any cogent order. Despite that, I had no qualms putting it in my Top 20 of the year, and was pleased to see how much success the film enjoyed both critically and commercially.

Online Film Critics Society Award Winners Announced

This morning, the winners for the 17th Annual Online Film Critics Society Awards were revealed. The big winner, as has been case with many other critics' groups, was Steve McQueen's 12 Years A Slave, which was awarded Best Picture, Actor, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay. Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity was no slouch, either; it won Best Director, Editing and Cinematography, and was awarded a special award for its revolutionary special effects.

Meanwhile, Act of Killing won Best Documentary in an incredibly strong category; Cate Blanchett took Best Actress for Blue Jasmine; Blue is the Warmest Colour was awarded Best Film Not In The English Language; and The Wind Rises, the final film from Hayao Miyazaki, won Best Animated Feature. 

Here's the full list of nominations. The winners have been highlighted in red, while the nominees I put as number one on my ballot have been represented by an asterisks.

Film Review: Shame (2011)

Shame, the second film by artist-turned-director Steve McQueen, is a technically dazzling examination of Brandon (Michael Fassbender), a sex addict whose carefully cultivated routine of Internet pornography and meaningless one-night stands is thrown into disarray when his younger sister (Carey Mulligan) comes to stay with him. It's important to mention Shame's technical prowess up front since its meticulously planned tracking shots, languid pacing and evocation of New York at night, great though they are, only serve to mask the fact that the film they are in service of is shallow, banal and dull.