Widows
Director: Steve McQueen
Writers: Steve McQueen, Gillian Flynn
Cast: Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, Cynthia Erivo, Colin Farrell, Brian Tyree Henry, Daniel Kaluuya, Jacki Weaver, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Liam Neeson
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated R | 129 Minutes
Release Date: November 16, 2018

Steve McQueen‘s Widows is not just a heist film. It’s a heist film with an empowering message, wrapped with social issues that continue to affect us today. It’s a phenomenal piece of work featuring women of color taking back the power. Though it has familiar heist tropes, Widows has plenty of depth, as well as twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat. Check out my full review below.

It’s been five years since we’ve seen anything from Academy Award-winning Steve McQueen. But the director is now back and with fearless female cast. In Widows, Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez, and Cynthia Ervio play a group of women who have suffered the loss of their husbands. The only problem is, they have secrets to hide, leaving these widows with a debt owed to a dangerous group of people.

Check out the latest trailer here below.

Aldous Huxley, author of Brave New World, stated that “experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens to you.” This quote lingered within my thoughts for the majority of the 2013 movie year because there is a remarkable number of films that confirm Huxley’s statement with shocking clarity. During 2013 the majority of characters in cinema experienced a relentless assault of either irrepressible physical violence or emotional turmoil, resulting in each character clinging to their lives, praying that they won’t become defeated. Characters had to either sink or swim. No film provided for them a middle ground that would grant them an easy way out or provide a buoy for them. Characters had to act, and act fast.

In Gravity, becoming disconnected from her partner in the infinite void of space, Dr. Stone had to gain composure quickly or endure an onslaught of debris and isolation. In The Place Beyond the Pines, a cop had to rely on his survival instincts and the ramifications of his decision reverberated throughout generations. In Blue is the Warmest Color, a confused teenage woman, utterly love-sick, discovers the throes and pangs of first love and is left even more confused after the indelible experience. In Dallas Buyers Club, an AIDs victim with a guaranteed death-sentence uses his situation to give hope to thousands of other AIDs victims. And in The Counselor, a man’s experience overwhelms him and he is soon exposed to the most unsavory circumstances that are beyond his control and the most heinous individuals.

Without further hesitance, the best 2013 had to offer.

Hollywood legend and icon Steve McQueen, who was one of the first action stars of the modern era, and had a presence filled with swagger and confidence of the highest salt and piss and vinegar, passed away today on November 7th, 1980, a victim of cancer.

McQueen was the first alpha male by way of the cool variety, sunglasses at night kind of a vibe; he left no stone unturned in doing things at a casual, yet intensified kind of energy that was infused with rugged good looks, snappy charm, no-nonsense eyes, and a spirit which helped to create some of the silver screen’s all time great visual narratives.

12 Years a Slave
Director: Steve McQueen
Screenwriter: John Ridley
Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, Paul Giamatti, Lupita Nyong’o, Sarah Paulson, Brad Pitt
Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rated R | 134 Minutes
Release Date: November 1, 2013

Directed by Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame), 12 Years a Slave is an adaptation of the 1853 autobiographical memoir by Solomon Northup, who was kidnapped in 1841 and sold into slavery.

Written by John Ridley (U Turn), 12 Years a Slave stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (Children of Men) as Northup, a free black man living with his wife and children in Saratoga, New York. Northup is a respected member of the community there, earning a living as a masterful violin player.

He is kidnapped by a pair of men (Scoot McNairy and Taran Killam), drugged, and sold into bondage. In chains, Northup (now called “Platt”) is transported to Washington D.C. where he is purchased by slave owner William Ford (Benedict Cumberbatch).