With the real life passing of Nelson Mandela this year, there was no better time for the release of the period piece recollecting a better part of his life, “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom”. Now, with U2 getting nominated for the song that plays during the end credits of the film, there’s a good chance, even more people will see this film and be impressed, not just by the performances from Idris Elba and Naomie Harris, but of the true-to-life struggles that Mandela went through for his country. The song does capture the essence of the film and delivers a powerful message of love and acceptance. But will it have what it takes to beat out the feminism anthem in “Let It Go” from “Frozen”. In my personal opinion, no, it doesn’t. “Frozen” has the much more powerful and much more meaningful song in “Let It Go”, capturing an entire film’s emotions in one song. I’m also not a huge fan of U2, which makes it harder for me to vote for that song. At the moment, Gold Derby is still predicting “Let It Go” to win, but with the recent Golden Globes win for “Ordinary Love”, there is some healthy competition in this category for once, despite the controversy early on in this category. This is U2’s second Oscar nomination, last time for their song in “Gangs Of New York” (2002).

// Produced by Anant Singh and David M. Thompson // Directed by Justin Chadwick //
// Dated Viewed: Saturday, February 15th, 2014 // ONLINE STREAMING //  14 films – 16 days //