12 Years A Slave
 

What a powerful movie! But not easy to sit through.

As a former educator, I think it should be shown in every high school classroom in the country.

That sounds like a good idea. I remember going to the movies was kind of a special field day when I was at Earl Wooster High School. We saw a number of movies depicting Native Americans and then picked them apart for attitudes and stereotypes of this group. This was for a Native Americans course and we had other showings in an English class like A Night to Remember. One of our English teacher's Mrs. Mitchell used to go on-and-on about Dirty Harry movies and their search for justice. Never really swallowed that one though.

How is the movie doing as far as audiences? Do people leave? Was the theater crowded when you saw it?

I saw it this weekend also, and I predict some Oscars from the performances!

Maybe fifty people last evening. We thought it would be crowded. But no one left. This is not a "feel good flick" so I don't think it will do well at the box office.

12 years a slave
 

My wife and I wanted to see it but couldn't because it was at The Villages cinema only for a short time!

I would look for it to be back now that it won Best Picture.

No I doubt a re release as it comes out on DVD tomorrow. The bulk of the best picture nominations are out or will come out in next few weeks.

I stand corrected it will be re released in 1,000 theaters this week; not sure if it will come back here

They have almost always brought the Best Picture back. You can always Facebook them. I do occasionally.

I did not see this movie because I thought it would be too hard for me to handle. Really was not in the mood for experiencing such despair.

I'm with you. Age makes my sad button go off and takes me down much faster and keeps me down.


Being sad doesn't help anything.

"All it takes for evil to win is for good people to do nothing."

True. And I have an on-and-off again sister-in-law who is Jamaican who speaks with quite a strong accent when upset. She worked in the US navy as an assistant to the SEALs. My brother is white. They had problems with BOTH blacks and whites about their mixed marriage. And, sadly, my nephew (her son who is not adopted by my brother though) even at five or so would look at me, point at his skin, and say it's only that deep while holding his fingers in a pinch. Do think there is racism still around. It just mutates. I have met blacks who were closet racists at the University of Minnesota Law School and some who seemed completely color blind.

Her other son plays a guy who yells out "Pizza!" in a movie. I am not saying which movie though. ;)

It got best picture Oscar.

I thought it was going to be Gravity but am pleased that the Academy picked the much deeper and much harder to watch movie.

I'm with you Gracie. Seems there's enough sadness and trouble in this world without paying money to cry!

Everyone knows the tragic story and no one can change the past. I'm afraid these movies only cause further division and we should be working on ways to unite and solve our current and future problems!

I believe it depends on how it is handled. These kind of movies can be used quite well to educate our youth about problems in the past which may rear their heads in the present. I remember how much pride an avid Lakota student at the University of Minnesota Law Library had when Dances with Wolves won the Best Picture award. This pride also seemed to go throughout the Lakota communities in the Dakotas and Minnesota.

In this vein Fox Search Light is making available to high schools across the country the book by Solomon Northrup, a study guide and the film. It will be available to be taught in school as I expect Gravity will be taught in film school

That's wonderful news, and a very positive, constructive way for so many to benefit from the movie's message.

Been trying to watch 12 Years a Slave and I will have to take this one in increments. It is one of those stories that if it were a book and it had a happy ending, I would keep turning to the last pages just to get through the book. Hopefully, it has a happy ending as otherwise if would not just be limited to 12 years. Horrible to watch just how inhumane humans can treat other humans.

It reminded me of "The Passion Of The Christ" which I went to see with my lady friend. We both wished we hadn't gone to see it because it was too graphic.

12 Years a Slave I saw by myself at home on DVD and I thought it was also too graphic. The story was based on a true story but it's the director who gets to dramatize what may have already been dramatized in the book.

At least it had a happy ending with the man being reunited with his family. No more slave movies for me.

I agree. With Gracie and with wendyquat.

I could only watch The Passion of the Christ twice. Not sure I could watch it again. I got through 30 minutes of 12 Years a Slave but decided to return it to RedBox. I will watch some more of it on another night. At that price, I can just get it again. Not a DVD I would like to own unless I get it by winning a The-Numbers prediction contest. http://www.the-numbers.com/interacti...hp?newsID=9044

Another movie about evil ran rampant but in a small Iranian village is The Stoning of Soraya M. -- http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/stoning_of_soraya_m/. Very graphic in nature but worth a look.

I felt jerked around by gratuitous torture. got the movie at redbox, at least I wasted itty bitty $$.

I believe after watching the entire movie, the torture scenes were quite necessary to communicate just how bad some situations were involving slavery. A hard movie to watch and you do not find out what happened with the hero or really the villains either. There's an indication that Solomon Northrup became involved with the Underground Railroad and abolitionist movement but not much else than that. http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/...years-a-slave/