Les Misérables
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Hugh Jackman, viagra Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Plot: Based on the Broadway musical based on Victor Hugo’s epic Les Misérables, the film follows the story of Jean Valjean (Jackman), released after nineteen years for stealing a loaf of bread, and man of the law Jalvert (Crowe) who swears to catch him. Singing ensues as does a revolution. Vive la France!
Why watch it? The French revolution appears to be based entirely on rides drinking wine and singing tunes – which is the sort of revolution we can all get behind. Oh, and, you’re curious to see if it deserves all the Awards nods.
Why not watch it? 158 minutes of non-stop singing. Non- stop singing.
Django Unchained
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardio DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson
Plot: A spaghetti-western, Django Unchained is set in the Deep South and Old West. Foxx plays Django, a freed slave, who treks across the United States with a bounty hunter (Waltz) to rescue his wife from a plantation owner.
Why watch it? Fans of Westerns will enjoy Tarantino’s take on the genre which also explores America’s slavery past.
Why not watch it? Tarantino’s distinctive style just doesn’t appeal to you and you’re not a fan of having to flinch from violence every five minutes.
Zero Dark 30
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton
Plot: Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) directs “the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man,” a dramatisation of the American operation for Osama bin Laden. Criticised for an allegedly pro-torture stance, Zero Dark Thirty is an unflinchingly intense and intellectually challenging film.
Why watch it? Explore the dark side of war and decide if the means to an end are worth the price paid.
Why not watch it? Aside from Chastain’s single-minded stubbornness that she is right – and, of course, we know she is – the film’s plot is primarily about the unveiling of facts.
Lincoln
Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, David Strathairn, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Plot: Lincoln focuses on the last four months of President Abraham Lincoln’s life; in particular on January 1865 and his attempt to pass the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude.
Why watch it? If you’re a fan of Day-Lewis, this film is made for you with the actor’s talent shining through in portraying Lincoln’s calm self-confidence and patience during a turbulent time of American history.
Why not watch it? Some of the historical inaccuracies may irk you – but unless you’re a Lincoln buff, that probably won’t bother you.
