Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney)
in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly
routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving
Stone and Kowalsky completely alone - tethered to nothing but each other
and spiraling out into the blackness.
My Verdict: 4.5/5
In the early 1990s, Jordan Belfort teamed with his partner Donny Azoff
and started brokerage firm Stratford-Oakmont. Their company quickly
grows from a staff of 20 to a staff of more than 250 and their status in
the trading community and Wall Street grows exponentially. So much that
companies file their initial public offerings through them. As their
status grows, so do the amount of substances they abuse, and so do their
lies. They draw attention like no other, throwing lavish parties for
their staff when they hit the jackpot on high trades. That ultimately
leads to Belfort featured on the cover of Forbes Magazine, being called
"The Wolf Of Wall St.". With the FBI onto Belfort's trading schemes, he
devises new ways to cover his tracks and watch his fortune grow. Belfort
ultimately comes up with a scheme to stash their cash in a European
bank. But with the FBI watching him like a hawk, how long will Belfort
and Azoff be able to maintain their elaborate wealth and luxurious
lifestyles?
My Verdict: 3.5/5
A fictional film set in the alluring world of one of the most stunning
scandals to rock our nation, American Hustle tells the story of
brilliant con man Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale), who along with his equally cunning and seductive British partner Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) is forced to work for a wild FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper). DiMaso pushes them into a world of Jersey powerbrokers and mafia that's as dangerous as it is enchanting. Jeremy Renner
is Carmine Polito, the passionate, volatile, New Jersey political
operator caught between the con-artists and Feds. Irving's unpredictable
wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence) could be the one to pull the thread that brings the entire world crashing down.
My Verdict: 3.5/5
Captain Phillips is a multi-layered examination of the 2009 hijacking of
the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama by a crew of Somali pirates. It
is - through director Paul Greengrass's distinctive lens -
simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the
myriad effects of globalization. The film focuses on the relationship
between the Alabama's commanding officer, Captain Richard Phillips (two
time Academy Award®-winner Tom Hanks), and the Somali pirate captain,
Muse (Barkhad Abdi), who takes him hostage. Phillips and Muse are set on
an unstoppable collision course when Muse and his crew target Phillips'
unarmed ship; in the ensuing standoff, 145 miles off the Somali coast,
both men will find themselves at the mercy of forces beyond their
control.
My Verdict: 4/5
Based on an incredible true story of one man's fight for survival and
freedom. In the pre-Civil War United States, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor),
a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into
slavery. Facing cruelty (personified by a malevolent slave owner,
portrayed by Michael Fassbender),
as well as unexpected kindnesses, Solomon struggles not only to stay
alive, but to retain his dignity. In the twelfth year of his
unforgettable odyssey, Solomon's chance meeting with a Canadian
abolitionist (Brad Pitt) will forever alter his life.
My Verdict: 4/5
Jasmine French used to be on the top of the heap as a New York
socialite, but now is returning to her estranged sister in San Francisco
utterly ruined. As Jasmine struggles with her haunting memories of a
privileged past bearing dark realities she ignored, she tries to recover
in her present. Unfortunately, it all proves a losing battle as
Jasmine's narcissistic hangups and their consequences begin to overwhelm
her. In doing so, her old pretensions and new deceits begin to foul up
everyone's lives, especially her own.
My Verdict: 3/5
Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. When he's not working as a letter writer, his down time is spent playing video games and occasionally hanging out with friends. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, "It's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness," the ad states. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha, the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS?
My Verdict: 3/5
A real-life Texas
cowboy Ron Woodroof, has free-wheeling life that was overturned in 1985
when he was diagnosed as HIV-positive and given 30 days to live. These
were the early days of the AIDS epidemic, and the U.S. was divided over
how to combat the virus. Ron, now shunned and ostracized by many of his
old friends, and bereft of government-approved effective medicines,
decided to take matters in his own hands, tracking down alternative
treatments
from all over the world
by means both legal and illegal. Bypassing the establishment, the
entrepreneurial Woodroof joined forces with an unlikely band of
renegades and outcasts - who he once would have shunned - and
established a hugely successful "buyers' club." Their shared struggle
for dignity and acceptance is a uniquely American story of the
transformative power of resilience.
My Verdict: 3.5/5
A look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family,
whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the
Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who
raised them.
My Verdict: 3.5/5
Nebraska is a father and son road trip, from Billings, Montana to
Lincoln, Nebraska that gets waylaid at a small town in central Nebraska,
where the father grew up and has scores to settle. The father was convinced he won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes and the son was grudgingly agrees to drive him to Nebraska to claim his winnings. Told with deadpan
humor and a unique visual style, it's ultimately the story of a son
trying to get through to a father he doesn't understand.
My Verdict: 4/5
When former journalist Martin Sixsmith is dismissed from the Labour
Party in disgrace, he is at a loss as to what do. That changes when a
young Irish woman approaches him about a story of her mother, Philomena,
who had her son taken away when she was a teenage inmate of a Catholic
convent. Martin arranges a magazine assignment about her search for him
that eventually leads to America. Along the way, Martin and Philomena
discover as much about each other as about her son's fate. Furthermore,
both find their basic beliefs challenged.
My Verdict: 4/5
My Ranking for the Best Picture
1. Gravity
2. Philomena
3. Captain Phillips
4. Nebraska
5. 12 Years a Slave
6. Dallas Buyers Club
7. American Hustle
8. The Wolf of Wallstreet
9. Her
Best Picture: Gravity
Best Director: Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Best Actor: Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Best Actress: Judi Dench - Philomena
Runner Up: Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmin
Runner Up: Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmin
Best Supporting Actor: Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Best Cinematography: Gravity
Best Production Design: The Great Gatsby
Best Costume Design: American Hustle
Best Film Editing: Gravity
Best Writing - Adapted Screenplay: 12 Years a Slave
Best Writing - Original Screenplay: Her
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