By John Corrado Amidst the modern biopic boom, the Michael Jackson biopic has finally arrived. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer trilogy, Training Day), and starring the late King of Pop’s real life nephew Jaafar Jackson, who is uncanny as his uncle, Michael is about the rise of Michael Jackson, and really only the rise.… Read More Movie Review: Michael
By John Corrado Director Craig Brewer’s Song Sung Blue is now available on Blu-ray, following a run in theatres. The film, of course, netted Kate Hudson an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, which I personally feel is well-deserved. Hudson stars in the film alongside Hugh Jackman, who portray the real life husband and wife Neil… Read More Blu-ray Review: Song Sung Blue (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado Charli XCX stars as a version of herself in The Moment, an A24 film that is neither concert movie or documentary, but rather a sort of docu-fiction hybrid that follows the British pop star on her Brat stadium tour. Or at least a version of all of these things. The film comes… Read More Movie Review: The Moment
By John Corrado The official trailer has just been released for Michael. This is director Antoine Fuqua’s glossy biopic of late pop star Michael Jackson, who is being played in the film by Jackson’s real life nephew Jaafar Jackson, who looks quite good in the role. The resemblance is uncanny. The film has had its… Read More Official Trailer for Antoine Fuqua’s Michael
By John Corrado The music biopic has become a way for films to capitalize off the recognizable song catalogues of their respective musical artists. This brings us to Song Sung Blue, which does a similar thing with the music of Neil Diamond (it’s named for one of his catchiest songs, after all). But, despite following… Read More Movie Review: Song Sung Blue
By John Corrado Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album Nebraska is and was not like other Springsteen albums. Stripped down, acoustic, recorded in a bedroom on a 4-track tape recorder, it was a collection of ten deeply personal songs that had him baring his soul in a poetic, sometimes cryptic way. It’s fitting, then, that director Scott… Read More Movie Review: Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
By John Corrado There’s this idea introduced at the start of director Ryan Coogler’s Sinners about how every culture has a different word for people who can play music so powerful that it can transcend spirit worlds and “pierce the veil” between the living and the dead. It’s a theme that is prevalent throughout Blues… Read More Movie Review: Sinners
By John Corrado Abel Tesfaye (aka The Weeknd) is undoubtedly a Canadian success story, rising from Scarborough to become one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. Tesfaye, who branched out into acting on the HBO series The Idol, now stars as a version of himself in Hurry Up Tomorrow, which serves as a… Read More Movie Review: Hurry Up Tomorrow
By John Corrado Director James Mangold arguably perfected the modern biopic structure with Walk the Line, his Oscar-winning 2005 portrait of country singer Johnny Cash. Mangold now returns to this genre and time period with his Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown (in fact, Cash is even featured here as well, as a contemporary of Dylan’s). Dylan, one… Read More Movie Review: A Complete Unknown
By John Corrado Elton John: Never Too Late, the new music documentary that premiered at TIFF and is now being released on Disney Plus, follows the British rockstar on his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour. Co-directed by R.J. Cutler and David Furnish, the film counts down to his final concert in North America at Dodger… Read More Movie Review: Elton John: Never Too Late (Disney+)
By John Corrado Beatles ‘64, the new Disney Plus documentary from director David Tedeschi and producer Martin Scorsese about the Fab Four’s first visit to America, opens with footage of President John F. Kennedy. These scenes set the film up as a sort of broader time capsule of this specific era, but it also ties… Read More Movie Review: Beatles ’64 (Disney+)
By John Corrado The third entry in Pablo Larraín’s unofficial trilogy depicting the interior lives of famous women (following the one-two punch of Jackie and Spencer), Maria is the Chilean filmmaker’s portrait of the Italian opera singer Maria Callas. Larraín aims to do for Callas what he did for Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Diana in his previous films, which boasted… Read More Movie Review: Maria
By John Corrado Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band is the latest Springsteen documentary from director Thom Zimny, and it’s an electrifying mix of concert doc and intimate snapshot of The Boss on tour. Where as Zimny’s recent portraits Western Stars and Letter to You focused on those specific albums, Road Diary expands its scope to his current world… Read More Movie Review: Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band (Disney+)
By John Corrado Searchlight Pictures has just released the full “official trailer” for A Complete Unknown, director James Mangold’s (Walk the Line) upcoming biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothée Chalamet. The film charts his rise from folk singer in New York’s Greenwich Village to infamously “going electric,” as we see a bit in this trailer… Read More Full Trailer Released for A Complete Unknown
By John Corrado Directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson (Nowhere Boy, Fifty Shades of Grey), Back to Black is a biopic of British singer Amy Winehouse, who passed away at age 27 from alcohol poisoning. The film is named after her (still incredible) Grammy-winning 2006 album Back to Black, which catapulted her from working-class Camden girl to… Read More Blu-ray Review: Back to Black (Collector’s Edition)
By John Corrado Directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard), Bob Marley: One Love is a biopic of iconic reggae artist Bob Marley that features a dedicated performance by Kingsley Ben-Adir, but is otherwise a mixed bag. Ben-Adir, who masterfully portrayed civil rights leader Malcolm X in One Night in Miami, now takes on the… Read More 4K Ultra HD Review: Bob Marley: One Love
By John Corrado In their documentary The Beach Boys, co-directors Frank Marshall (The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart) and Thom Zimney (Western Stars, Springsteen on Broadway) team up to offer a polished look at the history of the California surf rock band The Beach Boys. Made up of brothers Brian, Dennis… Read More Movie Review: The Beach Boys (Disney+)
By John Corrado Released in 1970 amidst the band’s public breakup, director Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s infamous music documentary Let It Be offered a candid portrait of The Beatles recording their album of the same name in 1969. Behind the scenes footage from these sessions provided the basis for director Peter Jackson’s in-depth docuseries The Beatles: Get… Read More Movie Review: The Beatles: Let It Be (Disney+)
By John Corrado ★★★★ (out of 4) Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour is already one of the biggest selling concert tours of all time, a massive juggernaut that has generated billions of dollars in profits, providing a boost to local economies wherever she goes. The success of this tour one hundred percent speaks to the cultural… Read More Review: Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour
By John Corrado ★★★ (out of 4) The title of Dreamin’ Wild, the new music drama from writer-director Bill Pohlad, comes from the name of an album first recorded by teenage brothers Donnie and Joe Emerson on their rural Washington farm in the late 1970s. The album flew under the radar, before finding unexpected success… Read More Review: Dreamin’ Wild
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