12 Years a Slave

This is the film that won Best Film (Drama) at last night's Golden Globe Awards. This was the only award it received. Strangely enough, neither of the two nominated actors - Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o - took home a statue, which is a shame, really. Granted, I have not seen all the films that travel the award circuit this season and cannot attest to either Matthew McConaughey's or Jennifer Lawrence's (the two the afore mentioned lost to) performances in their respective films yet but the one has lost a lot of weight for his film and the other has been Hollywood's darling for the last couple of years (and kudos to them) and this clearly needs to be lauded over actual acting performances.

To the film at hand. Yes, it is about a slavery but fortunately it is not of the sappy kind. The tale unfolds slowly and is told quietly, with only occasional burst of extreme violence.

It is the true story of Solomon Northup, a free man in New York state, who gets lured to Washington D.C. under false pretenses and kidnapped and sold to a slave trader. He first ends up at the plantation of one Mr. Ford, who is not an evil man and probably thinks of himself as someone caught in the system he has no way of opposing. After a fight with the vicious foreman, Solomon is sold on to Edwin Epps. On the Epps property, his name is changed to Platt and his new labor is picking cotton. Epps - unlike Ford - is indeed an evil man and drunkard, proudly calling the slaves his property. He is sexually obsessed with the slave girl Patsey, much to his wife's chagrin. Mistress Epps tries repeatedly to have him sell Patsey and - as he refuses - throws a bottle at her and later scratches her barely healed face. All this, to get back at her husband.

Solomon, meanwhile, tries to survive and does not admit to being able to read and write as to not draw any attention to himself. He does once reach out to a white man picking cotton with him. He asks him to send a letter for him, but the guy immediately tells on him. Solomon can appease Epps by telling him that the man is lying and only trying to get Epps to make him foreman.

After more than a decade in slavery, he finally meets someone he can trust with his story and giving word to his friends and family. Bass, a Canadian who is on the property to build a gazebo does make his opposition to slavery clear and helps Solomon by writing to his folks on his behalf. Solomon is picked up by an old friend and returns to his family for a tearful reunion.

The cast in this is absolutely fantastic (see top of the page).

8/10

Prometheus

My first post on a film-of-the-moment! One that is actually in theaters right now. I give you....Prometheus, the film that has been hyped and hyped and hyped some more over the last year or so (felt that long, didn't it). So, does it live up to the buzz?

Yes, it does. It has its flaws, no doubt, and quite a few of them. But it is what it is supposed to be - a sci-fi summer blockbuster that alternately awes you and freaks you out.

It starts with this guy killing himself. Or something.We do not know where he is (is it a he even?) and we do not know why he drinks that funny stuff he (she?) is drinking. But he (she?) is our ancestor. That much is clear.

So this team of scientists sets out to find a star constellation that has been discovered in many cave drawings by all kinds of different ancient civilizations. They take about 2 years to get there. While they sleep in their fancy futuristic beds, David is manning the ship by himself. David is an adroid without any emotions, that somehow still manages to be quite the douchebag (with an agenda, apparently). He spends his days watching old films (Lawrence of Arabia) and dyeing his roots.

As soon as all the scientist are woken, there follows a lot of exploring dark caves. Ominous lighting FTW!After some exciting discoveries that may or may not prove the initial theory of where all life comes from, the horror kicks in. Black liquids oozing out of vessels (vases), people disintegrating, quite the gross abortion (the horrific highlight in my book!), one big-ass face-hugger...well, more of a full-body-hugger, really.

Thankfully, the film has eye candy galore. There is David (the actual reason girls will watch this):

Despite the bad hair, Michael Fassbender is a welcome sight. There is the badass captain:

Even a character as unemotional and slick as Charlize Theron's succumbs to his rough charms. Sort of. And then there is the guy who looks like the cute brother of Tom Hardy:

Wait. Did she just sort of diss Tom Hardy? Yes, I believe she did. *gasp*

And all that in 3D! Which is totally wasted on this film. There is next to nothing that warrants the use of 3D, other than it looks pretty and sharp. Can we be done with 3D, please?

What was slightly annoying was the ending. We get no answers whatsoever. Because Elizabeth Shaw is "still searching". Uhm, ok. So, there's going to be a sequel, right?

5/10

Blood Creek (aka Town Creek)

What did I just watch?

It starts off with a mysterious Nazi sent to the States to educate himself in the occult and through the help of one special stone achieve a more desireable state of being. All for the Führer, of course. And then it turns into a Zombie flick. Now, I am all for Nazi Zombies (Dead Snow FTW!), but this?

First, we get:

...for all of 10 (!) minutes. And then it turns into:

The fuck did you do to Michael Fassbender? He looks disgusting, he speaks in tongues, he sucks human blood and he tears the skin off his face frequently, which makes him slightly less despicable each time but doesn't get him back to looking pretty again by the end of the film - he gets poisoned, strangled with barbed wire, stabbed and burned.

And not once does he get naked.

3/10