Review: "Selma" is the Civil Rights War Movie We Need Right Now

There is something that seems suspect about director Ava Duvernay's Selma. It isn't any potential historical inaccuracies. It isn't that the film seems shoddily made. It is more the relevance that it manages to have in the current moment. Compared to most other 2014 biopics such as The Theory of Everything or The Imitation Game, the events of Martin Luther King Jr. (David Oyelowo) and the protesters who marched feel like supplants for contemporary news such the Ferguson riots or Eric Garner. Thankfully, the film itself still manages to feel relevant and comes spiked with triumph in ways that don't make this just the story of King, but of a country at a cross section, wishing to better itself against prejudices ranging from law to race.

A Few Thoughts on "Selma" as the First Trailer is Released

Left to right: David Oyelowo and Carmen Ejogo

As the race burns on, there's a few names that randomly pop up as late entries. Among them is director Ava DuVernay's Selma, which chronicles the events surrounding Martin Luther King Jr.'s (David Oyelowo) march through Selma, GA back in the 60's. It is an important event and one that seems very opportune for a biopic. With the release of the first trailer for Selma, I figured that I would share some truths: I have already seen this film at an advanced preview. What I say should be taken as opinion, but reflective of how I feel that it will do in the race based on the compiled version, which admittedly was still going through edits at the time about a month ago.