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12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen is on those authors whose movies will be remembered for many, many decades. This movie, just like Shame and Hunger, goes beyond the masterful aesthetic of the picture and camera to a sober, solid and honest drama about a free man who is kidnapped and sold into slavery on the United States. 12 Years a Slave embodies by nature the characteristics required to be considered an award winning movie, that is sure, but the movie goes a lot further and disconnects itself from that award aura. The north-American slavery theme is not a recurring one in cinema, even if the recent Django Unchained walked those steps one year ago. McQueen proposes a well paced movie that chooses feeling over gore, atmosphere over shock. The movie develops and gets better over time, presenting a lot of well written real characters that end up being shadowed by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender's unbelievable performances, only matched by Cate Blanchett's Blue Jasmine this year. 12 Years a Slave is not an easy movie to sit through, nor is it a particularly hard one. It is, above the drama, a contemplative movie that respects the audience. This is not a candy to chew on, but a gourmet dish to look at before tasting. Cinema at its best level, and probably the best movie of 2013. Visit thefadingcam blog on blogspot! Also like us on facebook to follow all our reviews!

James Wan's "Insidious" borrows, like almost every Hollywood horror flick, the clichés, jump scares, and ideas from all the commercial horror movies from the past decades. However, it manages to successfully build a mysterious, eerie and dreadful atmosphere. Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne headline a cast that delivers a good portrait of the haunted family with a first half that sets the bar high, very high, that will leave you at the edge of the seat and afraid of dark. The final act tough begins too soon and drags for too long, taking the movie through a fantasy outcome that is doubtful and perhaps too literal. It is a nice chiller tough, and those are getting rarer by the day. Well done. Visit thefadingcam blog on blogspot for more! Also like us on facebook to follow all our reviews!

Following the commercial success of the first chapter, Insidious: Chapter 2 eventually happened. With a lot of hype and anticipation, Insidious 2 arrived. Unfortunately, not with the quality standard of the first. The movie starts well, in an intriguing and mysterious way, but it doesn't take much time to understand what we are going to watch. It tries to be a direct sequel (what audiences normally wants), and thus we are presented with a squeezed new story that intertwines with the one of the first chapter, and kind of explains it, losing all the mystery. Mystery lost, Insidious 2 main weapon is the jump scare, the sudden loud sound effect, the ugly faces. When you understand whats in the dark, what could there be left to scare you? Barbra Hershey is forcefully presented on an almost main role on a plot that is filled with holes. By the end we have a full bag of unimaginative clichés and crappy fantasy, losing all the credibility this Insidious' 2 horror could have. It's a shame, because James Wan knows how to scare you, like he already proved this year with The Conjuring. Visit us on thefadingcam blog on blogspot. Also like us on facebook to follow all our reviews!