“12 Years a Slave” (Oct. 18): Director Steve McQueen’s follow up to “Shame” stars Chiwetel Ejiofor as Solomon Northup, a free black man who is abducted from his upstate New York home and sold into slavery in pre-Civil War America. Michael Fassbender plays a ruthless slave driver, while Brad PItt portrays the Canadian abolitionist who played a crucial role in Northup’s escape.
