Selma (2014)

Selma is a film brought to life one screen by a marvelous cast and an amazing director.  Telling the story of Martin Luther King Jr. after his famous "I Have a Dream" speech.  There was actually a lot to King's story that I didn't already know, and a learned a significant amount from this film.  Every shot in the movie was either breathtaking for the peace protests and church sermons, or horrifying through every brutal riot.  It's crazy what the government used to do to people back then.  President Johnson constancy shoves off King in this film showing that the Civil Rights Movement went far beyond King winning the Nobel Peace Prize.  Stock footage of the riots throughout the film helped us identify exactly what was going on through a minimally choppy and somewhat well paced film.  The cast of this film was absolutely fantastic.  Tim Roth, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Wilkinson, and even Giovanni Ribisi make the roles in this movie really stand out.  David Oyelowo by far though did a fantastic job playing King.  Every speech given by David was enthralling and captivating in only a way King could pull off.  I've never been more pleased to listen to a church sermon.  I think this film deserved a little more credit as far as the Oscars are concerned however.  Most of the acting was brilliant and some of the cinematography was fantastic to watch.  Overall the movie was entertaining as much as it was moving.  Not my pick for best picture this year, but definitely a great film.