Most Recent Film: 12 Years A Slave (2013) Next Film: N/A Best Film: 12 Years A Slave (2013) No, not the film star who has been dead since 1980, but the director of the same name. British filmmaker Steve McQueen is yet to make a bad career move. His first picture, Hunger, which starred Michael Fassbender, was all kinds of depressing, but it cemented McQueen as a talent to watch; his second picture, Shame - also starring Fassbender - honed in on sex addiction, and managed to be even more depressing than his first. And then came 12 Years a Slave, his Oscar-winning masterpiece (also depressing, by the way). What can be said about Steve McQueen, then, other than that he likes to make depressing movies? A lot, actually. He is one of very few modern filmmakers who seems unafraid to tackle the big, controversial subjects in intelligent ways. McQueen's films don't pander and they don't shy away from horror; you see things in this director's movies that most would be eager to keep from you. He's a truly honest filmmaker; we should be thankful for that.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
