movie review
The best music movies throughout history.
A Filmmaker's Guide to the Best Performances: Al Jolson
Al Jolson was known as one of the greatest entertainers of his day and is possibly one of the greatest entertainers in history after the likes of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. An incredible singer, Jolson also played the piano, did vaudevillian theatre and dance, performed on screen in film and gave live performances. He really was a man of all talents. But, he was probably most famous for his role in the very first 'talkie' in 1927 playing the lead role in the legendary classic film - "The Jazz Singer" (1927). The storyline of the film is just as famous as the fact it was the first 'talkie' in which a Jewish man is torn between the tradition of his faith due to his strict father who wishes for him to move forward in Judaism, and his love for being a Jazz Singer. The rage of choosing between the two causes rift between the family and ultimately, he leaves home to seek his dream out.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Beat
My Review of "Yesterday"
I thought that Yesterday had a very interesting premise when I first saw its trailer. It took me a while to finally watch this movie but I'm really glad that I got to see it. It's a clever and fun movie that was more than what I thought it was going to be.
By Brian Anonymous6 years ago in Beat
A Filmmaker's Review: "What Happened Miss Simone?" (2015)
Nina Simone is known as not only one of the world's greatest entertainers, but also one of the 20th century's greatest pianists. A singer of revolutionary politics, she was not as appreciated at her time as she has been after her revival period. Her songs have often been anthems for causes such as the seminal "Mississippi Goddam" and her covers of jazz classics have always reminded us of the legendary Billie Holiday as Nina Simone once sang "My Baby Just Cares For Me" and even the song "Fine and Mellow".
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Beat
How Does this Movie Exist? 'Rockula' 1990
This might just be me being a little… hyperbolic, but, the 1990 musical comedy Rockula starring Dean Cameron is disease somehow rendered as a movie. Watching Rockula, which was released 30 years ago as of this writing, in February of 2020, was what I imagine contracting the plague must have been like. It begins as discomfort that grows into genuine aches and pains before developing into an all consuming feeling of slow, painful, agonizing death.
By Sean Patrick6 years ago in Beat
Miss Americana
As a black man, in my early fifties and having grown up in south London, my musical influences and leanings were towards soul and funk with a smidgen of reggae. My clubbing days were solidly soul and funk, moving into house and garage music and embracing the musical mores that surrounded that scene.
By Q-ell Betton6 years ago in Beat
A Filmmaker's Review: 'I Saw the Light' (2015)
Hank Williams is one of my all-time favourite singers and when I was a slightly younger me, I used to really enjoy watching this film. All in all, it is a fun film about Hank Williams and shows us what his fame would've looked like way back when he was actually alive. Set in the late 40s, this film gives light to the final years of the singer with the deterioration of his marriage to Audrey and his alcoholism getting the better of him. The only problem I had upon the next and more analytic watch of this film is that it really lacks some substance. Yes, it's a fun film - but nothing that you'd say is any good critically and that's how we're going to look at it today.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Beat
A Filmmaker's Review: 'Behind the Candelabra' (2013)
Behind the Candelabra (2013) is one of those films that everyone remembers being released but nobody knows where it went. It's like after its cinema play it kind of dropped off the face of the earth even though it did fairly well at the box office. I can assure you that this film, if you haven't seen it, is a lot more entertaining than you think it is. A mixture of music, comedy, drama and biography - this film tells an incredibly whimsical and slightly off-key tale of the latter part of Liberace's career. It is a visually stunning movie and I think that Liberace himself would've liked it quite a lot. Let's start off with my history with this movie...
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Beat
A Filmmaker's Review: 'La Bamba' (1987)
The stunning story of the father of Chicano Rock, Ritchie Valens - this film gives us a highlight of his short life and his shoot to stardom when the song "Come On, Let's Go" gets released as a single. I'm not going to lie, I purely enjoyed this film because Ritchie Valens is one of my favourite singers of all time. This film is so enjoyable because it's fun and musical - it doesn't focus all too much on tragedy but focuses instead on giving you enough of Ritchie Valens to know how his legend was perfectly preserved by those around him. It is such an incredible film to watch.
By Annie Kapur6 years ago in Beat
My Review of 'Rocketman'
Rocketman came out not too long after Bohemian Rhapsody. Both are about flamboyantly gay musicians making it big in the music industry with tons of drugs, sex and underhanded people. The fact that the characters of these two movies are so similar and that the movies came out so close to one another entails that comparisons will be made, but these two movies are very different from one another.
By Brian Anonymous6 years ago in Beat
