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12 Years a Slave tells the true story of Solomon Northup, an educated and free black man living in New York during the 1840's who gets abducted, shipped to the south, and sold into slavery. It is a film that stimulates at both an emotional level and an intellectual one.

Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Solomon Northup. He's been a "that guy" actor for sometime – film-goers may know his face but not his name. After this film his name will be known. He gives, quite simply, the best performance from a leading actor since Daniel Day Lewis in There Will Be Blood. Because of his character's position as a slave he is usually unable to speak his mind unless he is prepared to be beaten. As a result Ejiofor is forced to utilize body language and his eyes, which become enormous pools of emotion to express himself to the audience. He's forced to endure terrible things, but he always maintains a certain dignity and nobility that makes his plight even more affecting. It's a performance of incredible subtlety that may leave you speechless and in complete awe.

Micheal Fassbender gives the best performance of his already extremely impressive career, even besting his previous high marks from the films Shame and Hunger (both directed by Steve McQueen, who also directed 12 Years a Slave). He plays Edwynn Epps, a vicious and demonic slaver and perhaps the most loathsome and disgusting character ever put on screen. If alive today, he'd likely be a drunk with severe anger management issues. By turns pathetic and terrifying, he embodies the ultimate nightmare of a deeply flawed man given absolute power over other human beings, and through that absolute power finds only madness, which drives him to deeper cruelty. He's always a menacing and malignant presence even when not on screen, as his slaves must always be aware and prepared for his seemingly random bouts of sadism.

Other actors give excellent performances as well. Paul Giamatti, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Sarah Paulson, Alfre Woodard are all great in relatively small roles. But in this film of titans it's the one you've probably never heard of who perhaps stands above them all. In her first role in a feature film, Lupita Nyong'o, playing the pretty young slave Patsey - the object of Edwynn Epps demented and horrifying affections and the emotional epicenter of the entire picture, gives one of the most devastating performances I have ever seen. A portrait of unbearable sadness, her character is a mirror image of Solomon. While Solomon is a man who refuses to break and give up the dignity which he's known since birth, she is one who has long since been broken, and who never knew dignity in the first place. Her life is a living hell, forced to endure the "love" of Edwyn Epps and the brutal jealousy of his wife, she's trapped in a terrible triangle that she can't escape. Despite that, she retains a level of innocence that only heightens the tragedy of her character. It actually gets to the point where simply looking at this character might be enough to bring you to tears. It's a shattering performance.

Starting his career as a video artist before making full length films, Steve McQueen has an uncanny eye for imagery and contrast. He's also a very patient film maker, utilizing long, steady single shots to emphasize various things. In his prior films this has felt like a purely stylistic choice, here, it's a choice aimed directly at our heart. When the events on screen become their most horrifying and ugly is when his camera becomes the most unflinching. At times feeling perhaps like we're seeing out of the solemn eyes of the ghost of some murdered slave, watching in sorrow and rage. This is both McQueen's most accessible and artistically searing film yet.

There are also moments of stunning natural beauty that would make Terrence Malick proud. Alone, these shots would inspire wonder, but in the context of this film they make us feel more forlorn, as if the ugliness of man is encroaching on the natural beauty of the world.

Perhaps the most noteworthy thing about 12 Years a Slave is the way that it portrays slavery itself. Instead of taking the easy way out and limiting his exploration of the topic solely to the slaves, Steve McQueen increases the scope and we see how it affects those who profited by it. Take Benedict Cumberbatch's character. A seemingly decent and caring man who treats his slaves with some semblance of respect and kindness. He comes off as a relatively good man who is trapped within the powerful confines of the institution of slavery. In 12 Years a Slave, slavery is shown as a horrifying and destructive social construct that drains the humanity from everyone it touches, turning good men into moral quandaries, turning flawed men into monsters, and turning an entire race of people into livestock and tools.

To watch 12 Years a Slave is to be confronted with the grim reality of slavery in a way that's never been done before. To say this is the best film ever made about slavery feels trivial, as slavery is a subject in film that has been shown with naive romanticism from films like Gone With the Wind or silly exploitation from something like Django Unchained. Both of which serve to make the topic digestible. To watch 12 Years a Slave is to experience a level of despair and misery that can become overwhelming. It's a film of such ugliness, such blunt emotional trauma, that it may haunt you for hours if not days after seeing it. So why should you watch a film that could leave you reeling and devastated? Because, it's also one of the greatest cinematic achievements of our time.

Some films simply have it; that deep connective tissue between the audience and the main characters that make you care almost beyond bearing for them. To make you Care about their fates and their plight in a way that is truly rare and special. Grave of the Fireflies is among those films.

Grave of the Fireflies is an incredible animated film about two siblings struggling to survive war-torn Japan during the tail end of World War II after being made orphans by the war. It is about their struggles, their plights, and their love for one another. It is also well known as being one of the saddest films ever made. It also might change the way you look at animated films.

While the film is indeed incredibly sad. There are moments of beauty, levity and humor. The relationship between the siblings is treated with an unequaled tenderness. But because of how the film begins all of these moments occur under the shadow of inevitable tragedy and alter the way you will feel from these moments.

The animation is beautiful. Showing off sweeping and awe-inspiring vistas of rural Japan. The film does a magnificent job of juxtaposing natural beauty and man-made destruction, which mirrors the relationship of the brother and sister – beautiful but surrounded by tragic circumstances.

One of the running themes of Grave of the Fireflies is the cruelty of indifference. While these children struggle to survive, the surrounding adults ignore them and offer little help. Some are even overtly cruel towards them, particularly the children's' Aunt, who seems only interested in using them for extra rations, and then treats them with disdain when those rations are no longer available. While the war is to blame for the circumstances that put these children in this position, society as a whole is equally to blame for allowing the selfishness that makes this story possible and believable.

Grave of the Fireflies is one of the most devastating and emotionally affecting films I have ever seen. It has one of the most haunting conclusions I have ever seen. It is a film of such profound power that it can change the way you look at the world and increase the sympathy you feel for those around you.

Moonrise Kingdom is a quasi fantasy film about love. While the main plot line is the most obvious romance story, there are other stories of love embedded here as well. From the Scout Master who loves his job, to wife cheating on her husband with the Captain, to her dissolving marriage to her husband. Love is the theme of this picture.

What is most striking is that the love story between the two children is the most pure, most real love shown in the film. It shows the wonder and beauty that such innocence can bring when it's combined with a deep love of someone.

The shots in the film are captivating and lovely, with the final one bringing tears to my eyes. There are also subtle and not so subtle moments of humor. Bill Murray has some great lines that are easy to miss. He's an alluring actor as always, and brings a quiet joy to the film that always supplements Wes Anderson's oddball style. Most importantly there is a heart to Moonrise Kingdom that few films can match.

As with most Wes Anderson films this is quirky almost to the extreme. But I reject the notion that this film is pretentious. It's the opposite. It is pure, it is a wonderful meditation of what love should be and how as we age and grow more cynical its true meaning becomes lost on us. Love is a poem that doesn't need to rhyme. But the longer we're without it the more we demand that it does.