Review: "Hidden Figures" Turns NASA History Into a Feel Good Movie

Scene from Hidden Figures

Despite taking place 65 years ago, director Theodore Melfi's Hidden Figures is a film that feels prescient to 2016. It comes through in every line of dialogue that states its themes a little too obviously. This isn't specifically a story of how women and blacks were seen as second-class citizens in America at the time, but more of a symbolic gesture of why society shouldn't underestimate the potential that each member brings to the table. The story of NASA is one that's very clear - with this particular story even being told better in The Right Stuff - but the goal of Hidden Figures is to show a side that hasn't been explored before. The ending may be the familiar triumphant period piece fluff, but what Melfi has created is an endearing portrait of teamwork and how every voice counts, no matter what they look like.

Best Song: "Let It Go" (2013)

Scene from Frozen

Welcome to Best Song, a new weekly column released on Sunday dedicated to chronicling the Best Original Song category over the course of its many decades. The goal is to listen to and critique every song that has ever been nominated in the category as well as find the Best Best Song and the Best Loser. By the end, we'll have a comprehensive list of this music category and will hopefully have a better understanding not only of the evolution, but what it takes to receive a nomination here. It may seem easy now, but wait until the bad years.

A Few Thoughts on the Academy Awards Ceremony: The Good

Steve McQueen

In order to best explore all sides of the 86th Academy Awards Ceremony, I have decided to split my opinions up into two posts: the good and the bad. We'll begin with the good, as any given year is not without its charm. For starters, there wasn't any major upsets for those predicting the top dogs. While this means that it limits the bickering for most of the ceremony's legacy, it does mean that the Academy has done something right and the results will now be tested by time. Of course, there is much else to be said from speeches to performances to the overall presentation. Even if this year's ceremony had a lot of downsides, it definitely had a lot of great memorable moments.