Nothing But the Best: "12 Years a Slave" (2013)

Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave

Welcome to the series Nothing But the Best in which I chronicle all of the Academy Award Best Picture winners as they celebrate their anniversaries. Instead of going in chronological order, this series will be presented on each film's anniversary and will feature personal opinions as well as facts regarding its legacy and behind the scenes information. The goal is to create an in depth essay for each film while looking not only how the medium progressed, but how the film is integral to pop culture. In some cases, it will be easy. Others not so much. Without further ado, let's start the show.

Review: "Inherent Vice" is a Head Trip of Culture Clash with Wit and Expertise

Director Paul Thomas Anderson's latest opus Inherent Vice is almost too dedicated to the book. How so? The opening monologue by Sortilege (Joana Newsom) is word-for-word the first paragraph of Thomas Pynchon's book. Where in some cases simply reciting text may seem like a lazy offense, this time it reads as a testament to the creatively slurred together sentences of this 60's ode to film noir and drugs. This is the first Pynchon film adaptation and thankfully Anderson knows his stuff by keeping the words the same and using his dry, confusing tone to once again prove why he is one of the greats in modern cinema.

"12 Years a Slave" Impresses Tiff and Raises Oscar Buzz Potential

Left to right: Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong'o, and Chiwetel Ejiofir

This past week saw many already put the stamp on what is going to be the Best Picture winner this year.With such high praise, many critics who attended the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) were privy to seeing one of my most anticipated movies of the Fall: director Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave. While it has also given many other reveals on potential nominees (including the critically panned August: Osage County), this is great news not only from the standpoint of the director, but for the season to come. It may make the season dull, but to know that we already have a front runner suggests that Oscar Buzz season is starting off just right.