Despite the claims of many, “12 Years a Slave” is not just a History lecture– it is a powerful portrayal of the subjugation of the human spirit. Without mincing any words, the film is a masterfully acted, beautifully directed and stomach-clenchingly honest film portrayal of antebellum slavery. This film doesn’t show the plight of hundreds of slaves. It narrows our focus onto two very different slaves and lets us watch from a safe distance as horror after horror befall them. With slavery, it’s very easy to fall into histrionics and go for a hollywood exploitation angle and let the brutality of slavery rise to the pitch where it doesn’t register as real anymore, but instead as holywood slavery. This can still register, but adding in the painfully small details of things like Patsey weaving corn husk dolls in the field, or Northrup playing fiddle at a kinder man’s plantation gives the audience a microscopically detailed view of the living, breathing society that this took place in. This is the kind of film that makes a mark on those who see it, whether good or bad.  It leaves a lingering taste in your mouth and a sense of hesitation in your footsteps as you leave the theater. And though the term is trotted out to the point of absurdity, “12 Years a Slave” is a masterpiece.

I have never seen a movie quite like “Her.”  Amidst all of the “1984”s and the “Brave New World”s is “Her”, a film that both accepts and looks forward to the inevitable progress of technology.  Spike Jonze’s view of the future is one that is grounded in realism and simultaneously explores the optimism in which our Science Fiction stories are based on.  Ultimately, I think what impressed me the most about “Her” was its subtlety.  The way the future was realized, the wardrobe, the way that old, physical things existed next  to new technology, the way the colors made it feel somewhat hopeful in contrast the usual dystopian society we’re so used to seeing.  I can only awe at how Jonze masterfully enfolds all of these rich concepts into modest speculations, and then marries them with such relatable emotions and context, and pulls it all off with subtlety and restraint.  There is nothing about “Her” I would ever dream of changing.

Honorable Mentions: “Inside Llewyn Davis”, “The Wolf of Wall Street”