Michael (2026) Film Review

The early life of the famous musician Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop.

Michael is directed by Antoine Fuqua director of Training Day (2001), Olympus Has Fallen (2013), The Equalizer trilogy (2014-2023), Southpaw (2015), The Guilty (2021), Emancipation (2022) and many others. Michael follows the early life of Michael Jackson, covering the period from his involvement in the Jackson 5 up until to the Bad tour.

Michael is something that I like to call a “textbook biopic” in short this basically means biopics that feel like you are reading straight out of a textbook or Wikipedia page. They don’t say anything or do anything interesting they just simply tell you information that you already know, in cases where the subject of the biopic is lesser known that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There has been cases in the past where biopics about far lesser known figures have done this and succeeded. However when you tackle figures like Michael Jackson who was one of if not arguably the most famous person on the planet and your biopic is very textbook like there comes a lot of issues.

Before that however, I’ll jump into what made the movie work because there are a few elements here that worked. Jaafar Jackson who is Michael Jackson’s nephew plays Michael and does such a fantastic job as him. He sounds like him, he acts like him and he even has the spark of what made Michael such an entertaining performer. It’s especially impressive considering this is Jaafar Jackson’s first acting role, even when the script is incredibly lacking in depth. Jaafar Jackson is able to make the material work simply due to his body language and how much charisma he has. I’m not exactly sure what Jaafar Jackson has planned next, whether he’s going to act in different films. But I would love to see that happen if he decides to go forward.

The music is of course excellent, this goes without saying but Michael Jackson’s music is some of the most celebrated pieces of music of all time and the set pieces during the music moments do a good job of explaining why that’s the case. From Beat It to Thriller to Bad it’s all well done and admittedly I was tapping my foot, it really does capture of what Michael such a great singer and performer.

Then the rest of the movie happens and unfortunately this is where Michael completely falls on its face, the rest of the performances while not particularly bad just don’t end up landing effectively. None of Jackson’s brothers are given any time to really shine, Nia Long does have a couple of sweet moments but is ultimately not given a lot to work with in the writing department.

Colman Domingo as Joe Jackson has his effective moments, but ultimately comes off as this mustache twirling villain. The abusive nature of Joe Jackson is captured (and those moments are genuinely uncomfortable) but the rest of his personality really does feel very exaggerated. Also quick fun fact, Michael is the second biopic within the last couple months to include Don King (the first one being Christy.) Finally there is Miles Teller who feels out of place, it’s not his worst performance as there is one sort of great moment towards the end. However you can’t help but feel like he’s in a completely separate movie.

The dialogue is the equivalent of those motivational posters you see in a classroom which to be fair to Michael, a lot of other music biopics are guilty of this it’s a common trope at this point to expect. Michael just so happens to be a prime example of it, almost every scene ends in this “believe in yourself” or “you can do this” sort of vibe. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when you end so many scenes like this it does start to become incredibly grating.

Finally the movie itself almost feels like a montage of Michael’s greatest moments, it’s nice to see these moments on the big screen. But without any sort of strong writing in between said moments it ultimately leaves the question of “why bother?” The movie fails to really paint the whole picture of what made Michael such an interesting person, as I said before. It does capture what made him a great performer and singer, but as a person? There is a whole lot missing here even when the movie is split into two parts.

Overall Michael is entertaining at times and has a fantastic performance from Jaafar Jackson, but that’s as far as the movie goes. It’s very unfortunate because there are a ton of hints to a great movie here, a lot of it is just stuck in this generic realm.

Michael is currently in theaters.

5/10 C

Christy (2025) Film Review

Christy Martin never imagined life beyond her small-town roots in West Virginia, until she discovered a knack for punching people. Fueled by grit, raw determination, and an unshakable desire to win, she charges into the world of boxing under the guidance of her trainer and manager-turned-husband, Jim. Flaunting a fiery persona in the ring, her toughest battles start to unfold outside of it as she confronts family, identity, and a relationship that just might become life-or-death.

Christy is directed by David Michôd director of Animal Kingdom (2010), The Rover (2014), War Machine (2017) and The King (2019).

Christy tells the story of Christy Martin which mainly tells her rise to becoming America’s best known female boxer in the 1990s and later her coach turned husband James V. Martin’s attempted murder of her.

What starts out as a very by the numbers biopic ends up turning into something genuinely interesting and even disturbing, Michôd’s choice of mixing both the rise of Christy’s career and the abuse she faced is a very risky move but one that ultimately does payoff which is mostly thanks to the performances.

Sydney Sweeney does an excellent job here, it does take a bit of time for her to get into the core of her performance but she ultimately leaves the viewer with a very powerful impression. This is a much different type of performance for Sweeney, one that pushes her to her limits and brings out this raw and at times upsetting performance. The final act of the film brings this into detail brutally with one scene in particular that is quite upsetting, Sweeney delivers this incredibly well with genuine pain and betrayal in her eyes and voice, its horrifying and never really leaves your mind even after the credits roll. Sweeney is a main part of why Christy works as well as it does, she paints this portrait of Christy Martin a woman who had beautiful rise but also horrifying betrayal.

Ben Foster as James V. Martin is the other half of what makes the film work so well. Foster delivers a terrifying and disturbing performance, when the film explores the abuse Christy faced the film suddenly becomes this disturbing ticking time bomb. Foster’s ability to switch someone who is kind and constantly praising Christy to a manipulative and abusive monster who wants to destroy Christy is both quite impressive and disturbing at the same time. The interactions between the two have this horrifying rawness that could potentially feel relatable for abuse victims, both Foster and Sweeney truly bring this film from a traditional biopic into something a lot stronger and interesting.

The writing as I said starts out as this typical biopic, we explore the highlights of Christy Martin’s career and her rise to fame. Even if this does have familiar beats, you can’t help but root for her. Christy and her team are fun and engaging, some of the supporting cast do not get a whole lot to do but they make the most of it. As we get into the film’s exploration of abuse that’s when the film strays away from the usual biopic and brings in a much different atmosphere and direction.

The film’s fight scenes are pretty solid as well, there definitely are some odd camera choices but those are a far and few in between. For the most part you get these up close and striking shots that have strength on their own. The film does suffer a bit from padding in some areas and the supporting cast does feel a bit underutilized.

Overall Christy is a very solid film with fantastic performances and tells Christy Martin’s story of her career and her survival very well. It’s horrifying yet ends on a positive note for Christy.

Christy is available on all VOD platforms.

8/10 B+

NYFF Review: Sprinsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (2025)

On the cusp of global superstardom, New Jersey rocker Bruce Springsteen struggles to reconcile the pressures of success with the ghosts of his past as he records the album “Nebraska” in the early 1980s.

New York Film Festival Review

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is directed by Scott Cooper director of Crazy Heart (2009), Out Of The Furnace (2013), Black Mass (2015), Hostiles (2017), Antlers (2021) and The Pale Blue Eye (2022).

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is very different from the usual music biopic, for one thing the film mainly focuses on the conception of Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska and the struggles he went through making it. There are some flashbacks to his childhood as well but those are more so sprinkled in between and help paint the picture of what the film is telling us. All of this combined with the feel of being in Springsteen’s mind, the excellent performances and the film tackling mental health helps the film feel incredibly striking.

First and foremost we have the performances that are all very well done. Jeremy Allen White completely disappears in the role of Bruce Springsteen, not only does he capture Bruce’s voice incredibly well but he delivers this vulnerable and balance performance of striking depth and power. The quiet moments of him just staring tell so much without uttering a word, he bounces off of the rest of the cast masterfully and with his performance truly paints this beautiful picture of Bruce and what he was going through during this period of time. Jeremy Allen White really shows how excellent he is as an actor here and goes all out with playing Springsteen, during the later half of the film we see the vulnerability and the pain he’s going through which easily brings the viewer into the film. With this, Jeremy Allen White gives one of the most raw and beautiful performances of the year.

Jeremy Strong as Jon Landau Bruce’s manager is just as fantastic, Strong really ties into the whole mental health part of the film where he is a honest friend to Bruce during his roughest moments. The conversations between the two not only show how incredible Jeremy Strong is as an actor, but shows some of the film’s most beautiful and honest moments. I would be lying if I said that some of these moments almost made me cry, they depict the action and feel of friends letting you know that they are always there and will do the best they possibly can to help you. That’s something Jeremy Strong’s performance truly gives off and it works so incredibly well, while yes he does typical manager stuff during some parts of the film. He still absolutely cares for Bruce and the bond between the two truly is one of the film’s strongest assets.

Paul Walter Hauser gives a solid comedic performance, the comedy does not overstay its welcome which is a smart move considering the themes the film tackles. Odessa Young is solid here, while she is not in the film all that much Bruce’s mental health does impact the two’s relationship and does tie into the whole theme of mental health. It’s one of those “your mind is destroying things you are most looking forward to” sort of moments that feel all to real for anyone who’s dealt with these sort of moments before. Finally there’s Stephen Graham who plays Bruce’s father, Bruce has a complicated relationship with him due to a number of factors and over the course of the film we see said reasons. But we also see that slowly but surely there’s some semblance of reconstructing a bond, Graham gives a very strong performance.

The writing is beautifully done, while it may feel a bit simple at times there truly is something powerful underneath it all. The film shows us the positives and negatives of being a music artist, while yes it’s wonderful it also comes with drawbacks such as the producers wanting what THEY think will be successful rather than letting said artist do what they want. This clearly upsets Springsteen as he wants the authentic version of his music, this is an issue in the music industry that is still quite present today especially with younger artists.

I have brought this up a lot of times now but the way the film tackles mental health is truly powerful, honest and quite beautiful. The film’s main theme here is sometimes you just need someone in your corner and to never be afraid to ask for help, seeing the scenes of Bruce being incredibly happy with Faye Romano (played by Odessa Young) one moment and then seeing their torn apart relationship due to Bruce’s struggles is heartbreaking and as I said before feels all to real. There’s one particular scene where Odessa Young’s dialogue is honest and truly captures a lot of the film’s themes incredibly well.

Luckily the film does end on a hopeful note, one that is an important message for many who struggle with these issues, it’s a truly beautiful film that shows the vulnerability of man and what he was going through at the time.

Overall Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere is a fantastic film that you should check out whether you are a Bruce Springsteen fan, a music biopic fan or are interested in general! It’s a raw and beautiful watch.

Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere releases in theaters Friday.

9/10 A

NYFF Review: Blue Moon (2025)

Lorenz Hart struggles with alcoholism and mental health issues. He attempts to maintain his composure during the premiere of “Oklahoma!”.

Blue Moon is directed by Richard Linklater director of Dazed And Confused (1993), The Before Trilogy (1995-2013), Boyhood (2014), Hit Man (2023) and many others.

Blue Moon is yet another fantastic film from director Richard Linklater, I really do appreciate how with each of his films he gives the viewer a much different experience. This film is an example of Linklater at his most humorous combined with some genuinely strong filmmaking that’s able to keep this beautiful balance to the end.

The performances are all fantastic here, even when certain members of the cast are not asked to do all that much they still land some quite memorable and often hilarious performances. Ethan Hawke plays Lorenz Hart and to cut to the chase, he gives one of the best performances of the year and quite honestly one of the best of his career. Everything that needed to be captured with his performance was and it’s absolutely glorious to watch unfold. Hawke captures the perfect amount of humor and drama needed to really make this all work, he plays off member of the cast masterfully. One moment in particular with Margaret Qualley towards the end of the film is one of the film’s very best moments and is a perfect example of why Hawke’s performance is so great. It’s a comedic yet focused performance that brings some of the best elements of a dramatic performance, this is one of those performances where the actor completely disappears into the role and just keeps getting better and better with every second. Ethan Hawke captures this comedic yet tragic portrayal of Lorenz Hart and absolutely nails it.

Andrew Scott who plays Richard Rogers has plenty of great scenes with Ethan Hawke, the conversations between the two are investing and have this nice balance of seriousness and humor. Bobby Canavale is a scene stealer with his brilliant and glove fitting like comedic timing that is bound to make the viewer laugh. Finally there’s Margaret Qualley who may not get the most screen time, but she still ends up giving such a beautiful and strong performance. She captures the film’s atmosphere with confidence and the previously mentioned scene between her and Ethan Hawke highlights the amount of fun and strength she brings to the film.

The writing is both humorous and sharp, the comedic timing from everyone involved is well done and the writing has a ton of musical theater references that any fan of musical theater will adore. The references themselves are cleverly used and do not overcrowd the film, there’s plenty of other types of humor that everyone can enjoy. The film has its vulgar moments but it’s to the point where it’s endearing and charming, in almost any other circumstance these moments could come off as out of place or they just fall flat. But due to the atmosphere that Linklater goes for and the clever and witty script by writer Robert Kaplow, everything fits together like a jigsaw puzzle.

The jazzy vibe combined with the film taking place in a singular bar is another part that really gives this film its identity. It especially works since hearing Lorenz Hart’s conversations with Eddie (played by Bobby Canavale) or any of the other customers at the bar actually feels like an unhinged night out at the bar, Linklater’s direction does such a fascinating job of showcasing all of these conversations no matter how big or small. You easily get the “life of the party” sense from Lorenz Hart and that shows almost immediately. His unhealthy fascination with Elizabeth Weiland (played by Margaret Qualley) leads to some hilarious back and forths between Hart, Eddie and the rest of the customers it’s all so brilliantly put together.

Overall Blue Moon is one of my favorite films of the year, it’s an absolute joy to watch and is backed by incredibly strong performances especially from Ethan Hawke.

Blue Moon releases tomorrow in theaters.

10/10 A+

A Complete Unknown (2024) Film Review

In the early 1960s, 19-year-old Bob Dylan arrives in New York with his guitar and revolutionary talent, destined to change the course of American music. Forming his most intimate relationships during his rise to fame, he grows restless with the folk movement, making a controversial choice that reverberates worldwide.

A Complete Unknown is directed by James Mangold director of Girl Interrupted (1999), Logan (2017), Ford v Ferrari (2019), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and many others. The film is a biopic that portrays Bob Dylan through his early folk music success until the controversy over using electric instruments at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival.

Music biopics have been releasing nonstop lately, much like a lot of things they all start to have this same sort of formula that ultimately hurts the film. I was worried this was going to be the case for A Complete Unknown but luckily it wasn’t, while this does share some common music biopic elements there’s a few different ingredients that the film uses that most of the films in the genre do not. Capturing the spirit of who the biopic is about, bringing passion into the mix, capturing the time period (in this case the 1960s) and completely bringing the viewer into the film, bring them inside the mind of Bob Dylan.

Timothée Chalamet gives an excellent performance as Bob Dylan, right from the beginning you can tell he went all in with this performance. He even captures Bob Dylan’s voice which he uses so beautifully, every single one of the music moments is perfect and really tells Dylan’s story but themselves. Chalamet is already a fantastic actor, but when you put him as one of the greatest songwriters of all time you get fascinating results. It’s one of those performances from a music biopic where the lead is completely connected with the spirt of the person they are attempting to capture through their performance, the scene that has Blowin’ in the Wind in particular is absolutely beautiful and really sums up Chalamet’s performance. You can feel the emotion and what Dylan is going through when Chalamet sings. One of the very best performances of the year that is truly captivating to watch.

Monica Barbaro and Edward Norton are also fantastic here as well, Barbaro has a beautiful singing voice that blends so well with Chalamet during the scenes of the two singing together. Much like Chalamet she’s just captivating to watch and really goes all out with her performance, her facial acting is also top notch. There’s moments where she just stares and that tells you so many different thoughts that are going on inside of her head. Edward Norton has a lot of fantastic moments especially early on (his singing is also kind of amazing). His dialogue with Chalamet is genuinely beautiful during certain moments and he just does such a good job of capturing the spirit of Pete Seeger.

But the part that makes these performances and even the film itself work so well is the screen presence of Chalamet, Norton, Barbaro and everyone else. They all connect with one another so easily and are able to go all out with their talent, there’s times where you really feel like this is a concert film just told with a story and that’s due to just how raw everything feels. It’s so beautiful to see witness Bob Dylan’s story being told in this very passionate light, we see his successes and his bumps in the road. It all makes for such a wonderful picture that tells you so much but at a nice pace that isn’t overloading the viewer with information.

James Mangold clearly knows his stuff when it comes to capturing the 1960s, especially with the early folk music type of feel that is very much present throughout the film. It’s also beautifully shot having this big scope that compliments the early folk music genre and how it important it was for everyone involved with the story, the information being told in the film might not be exactly new especially if you are a major fan of Bob Dylan. But the way Mangold tells Dylan’s story is truly fascinating and captures a lot of what Bob Dylan is all about.

Finally the film does such a beautiful job of making the viewer feel like they personally know Bob Dylan, it very much feels like Dylan himself or someone who knows Dylan is telling you his story (even though there isn’t a narrator in the film.) you get that sort of feel through the film’s beautiful atmosphere that takes you along this path filled with beautifully sung music.

Overall A Complete Unknown is a fantastic film that really surprised me, I highly recommend checking this one out!

A Complete Unknown is currently in theaters!

10/10 A+

Maria (2024) Film Review!

Famed opera singer Maria Callas retreats to Paris in the 1970s after a glamorous yet tumultuous life in the public eye.

Maria is directed by Pablo Larraín director of Jackie (2016), Ema (2019), Spencer (2021), El Conde (2023) and many others. Maria is the third film in Larraín’s trilogy about important 20th century women the other two being Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021). Maria tells the story of opera singer Maria Callas and her final years.

I was pretty excited about this one going in, I really loved both Jackie (2016) and Spencer (2021) especially the latter it’s a film that I consider one of the best of the decade so far. Unfortunately Maria is a huge step down from the other two films of the trilogy, it’s not a bad movie by any means it just falls in line with a lot of other biopics where as Jackie and Spencer did not.

Angelina Jolie undeniably gives a phenomenal performance, it’s one of those performances where you can tell the performer really captured the soul of the person they are portraying. There’s brilliant moments during this film (mostly around the last 25 minutes) that standout quite well, you can absolutely see the pain of Maria Callas through Jolie’s eyes and acting. Jolie’s singing voice is also incredibly beautiful and really captures Callas’s voice, it’s huge and powerful to the point where her singing voice really speaks for certain scenes themselves. Much like Natalie Portman portraying Jacqueline Kennedy or Kristen Stewart portraying Princess Diana, Angelina Jolie completely captures Maria Callas and even when the script falls into typical biopic territory she’s able to still give a phenomenal performance.

The cinematography from Edward Lachman (who was also the cinematographer for Larraín’s previous film El Conde) and the direction from Pablo Larraín both mixed together work well, much like a lot of Larraín’s work the film is beautiful to look at especially when combined with the setting. While I do think Spencer’s more dreamlike filming style is a lot better it still nice to see Lachman again and much like last time with El Conde he nailed it here as well. Larraín’s direction this time around does have its weak points, but it’s still quite great. When you combine his direction with Angelina Jolie’s performance you truly get fascinating results.

The downside of Maria ultimately comes down to the script from Steven Knight, which is a bit of a disappointment since he also wrote Spencer and that wasn’t written like a traditional biopic. As I said before Maria plays out much like a usual biopic which coming off of Jackie and Spencer you can’t help but feel disappointment, granted nothing is particularly bad here. The movie does a solid job of telling the final years of Maria Callas it’s just not anything really noteworthy, the last 25 minutes or so I will admit are some very powerful moments that do get the ball rolling a bit when it comes to leaving the line of traditional biopics.

Overall Maria is just fine, if you are going to watch the movie watch it for Angelina Jolie’s performance.

Maria is available on Netflix.

6/10 C+

The Apprentice (2024) Film Review

A young Donald Trump, eager to make his name as the hungry second son of a wealthy family in 1970s New York, comes under the spell of cutthroat lawyer Roy Cohn. Cohn sees in Trump the perfect protege: someone with raw ambition, a hunger for success, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

The Apprentice is directed by Ali Abbasi director of Shelley (2016), Border (2018) and Holy Spider (2022). The Apprentice explores Donald Trump’s career as a real estate businessman in New York City in the 1970s and 1980s. It also explores his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn.

For a movie that is about Donald Trump, Roy Cohn ends up being the more interesting person. Maybe it’s because everything that has been said about Trump has already been said, maybe it’s because everything that is shown and said has been known about for years at this point.

The performances are hands down the best part of this movie and the major reason why you would want to watch it. Sebastian Stan does an excellent job as Trump, Stan focuses on giving an actual great performance rather than an impersonation of Trump. Something we have seen countless times over the years and each one is hardly different from one another, Stan captures Trump’s mannerisms and speech quite well that really does make the movie at the very least stand on its legs. Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn is just as fascinating, the best moments are the ones of Stan and Strong going back and forth between the dialogue it’s truly captivating to see the two completely capture the actions, speech and body language of their respective parts.

I quite like the cinematography from Kasper Tuxen it gives the movie this 70s and 80s sound at times which kind of brings you the viewer into the time period, it’s especially effective during those moments of Stan and Strong going back forth that I mentioned earlier. It’s moments like these that are the true highlight of the movie, I also do like the decline of Roy Cohn, it’s another one of the movie’s best moments and Strong’s performance (who I really think should get at least an Oscar nomination) only makes the whole part that much more investing.

The rest of the movie is very standard biopic fluff, as I said before every single thing that’s in this movie is common knowledge. Anyone who had a general good idea of who Trump was (pre 2016 election) could probably tell you the events explored in the movie and you would get the exact same impact.

The Apprentice is overall quite forgettable when it comes to retelling the events of it, but the performances do leave an impression on the viewer. If you are going to watch this movie (completely understandable if you don’t I get it) watch it for the performances that’s the main thing you will walk away remembering most.

The Apprentice is available on all VOD platforms.

5/10 C

Lee (2024) Film Review

The story of photographer Elizabeth `Lee’ Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.

Lee is directed by Ellen Kuras which is directorial debut. Lee is a biopic about Lee Miller a photographer who went on to chronicle the events of World War II for Vogue Magazine.

I have to give respect whenever a passion project is able to be released, this movie took 8 years to make its a film that Kate Winslet had wanted to make for a long time and I’m glad it was able to release. Having that said Lee falls into the trap of being a very middle of the road war biopic.

By far the best part about Lee is Kate Winslet’s performance, it’s undeniable how excellent she really is as Lee Miller. She shows so much talent and really shows why she’s one of the best actresses of her generation, even if the script is on the weaker side of things during the first two acts and plays out like a very traditional war biopic. Winslet is able to turn certain moments into something special due to just how committed she really is to the role, the rest of the performances are very whatever. Andy Sandberg gives somewhat of an interesting performance that you can absolutely make an argument that it’s solid, but Winslet just completely dances circles around everyone else that it doesn’t matter.

The third act is when the movie actually gets quite great, there’s so many hard hitting moments during the final moments of the movie. It’s crushing in a lot of ways that does leave the viewer with an impression and makes you really want to know even more about Lee Miller. When the movie focuses on how these events affected Lee Miller it shines and really brings the viewer closer into Lee’s mind and what she’s thinking.

The first two acts as I said before is very middle of the road war biopic stuff, it’s very textbook like and really doesn’t say anything new about Lee Miller. The only thing really keeping the first two acts from completely collapsing is Winslet’s performance, there isn’t necessarily anything terrible just a lot of very typical biopic elements that kind of show that director Ellen Kuras didn’t know what direction to take Lee Miller’s story until the last act.

Overall there really isn’t much else to say, Lee is a movie that had the potential to be far better told as Lee Miller is a very interesting war photographer and deserves her story to be told in a much more focused and powerful way.

Lee is available on all VOD Platforms.

5/10 C

Winner (2024) Film Review!

A brilliant young misfit from Texas finds her morals challenged while serving in the U.S. Air Force and working as an NSA contractor.

Winner is directed by Susanna Fogel director of Life Partners (2014), The Spy Who Dumped Me (2018) and Cat Person (2023).

Despite already getting an incredibly strong film about Reality Winner last year called Reality which was directed by Tina Satter and Sydney Sweeney playing Reality Winner which was a fantastic film and performance. I had some sort of hope Winner would still be solid, the cast intrigued me and I was interested to see what the movie had to say about the topic. Unfortunately this is one of those movies where you are better off reading a Wikipedia page or other articles you find online.

The performances are decent enough, Kathryn Newton although not given a whole lot to do is great in her performance. Connie Britton and Zach Galifianakis definitely bring some emotional moments to the movie that were actually quite touching, especially during the last half of the movie where it does admittedly get a lot better and more focused. There’s a few interesting aspects of Winner’s life before her arrest and for what it’s worth the movie does do well with those moments.

Unfortunately the rest of the movie is incredibly forgettable, Emilia Jones is miscasted as Reality Winner, combine that with the movie’s strange comedic drama tone that it goes for and you have a performance that just does not land with nowhere near enough power as it should. Sydney Sweeney’s performance had atmosphere, tension, focus and attention to detail. While I do understand Jones and Sweeney’s performances were going for two completely different things it really comes down to if they fully worked or not. Obviously that’s going to be up to the viewer but Jones’s performance just doesn’t come off as sincere especially when it’s telling the story of a woman who was called a traitor and arrested, the comedic tone just doesn’t match with the story being told here at all.

We do get some very genuine moments towards the end when Winner is arrested, Britton and Galifianakis throughout the film give very touching performances but this is not enough to really save this movie from being very forgettable unfortunately.

Winner is available on all VOD platforms.

4/10 D+

Kneecap (2024) Film Review!

When fate brings a Belfast teacher into the orbit of self-confessed “lowlife scum” Naoise and Liam Óg, the needle drops on a hip-hop act like no other. Rapping in their native Irish language, they soon lead a movement to save their mother tongue.

Kneecap is directed by Rich Peppiatt which is his directorial debut.

Kneecap is one of I’ve heard a lot about and decided to check out because of that and I’m really glad I did, this is quite different from a lot of music biopics for one thing the members of Kneecap an Irish hip hop trio from West Belfast, Northern Ireland play themselves in the film.

Although the biopic is fictional, the film still manages to be quite grounded especially when you have the performances of Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí playing themselves as I said before. This gives the film the opportunity to really go all out here and that it does.

The music was incredibly well incorporated with some beautifully done music scenes that are so appealing to look at. Speaking of appealing the film itself is very stylized and really goes out of its way to be as energetic as possible.

The performances from the trio are some of the best so far this year, each of them contribute to the film and their bond is just fascinating to watch especially over the course of the film. The dialogue incorporating the music and even some history of Ireland was incredibly clever and beautifully done, there’s so much love and passion here that it almost feels like a celebration to this trio, language as a concept and Ireland.

Overall Kneecap is a fascinating film and definitely one of the best music biopics I’ve seen in quite awhile, it goes for a very different approach that completely works in the film’s favor. Check this one out!

Kneecap is available on all VOD platforms.

9/10 A