A coming-of-age story set in the middle of a civil war, Kenneth Branagh’s (Hamlet, Cinderella) Belfast tells the incredibly personal account of nine-year-old Buddy (newcomer Jude Hill) who, during the summer of 1969, witnesses the violent clash of his Protestant neighbors trying to eradicate his neighboring Catholic families in the middle of the streets in Belfast, Northern Ireland home.
Category Archives: Based on a True Story
Being the Ricardos (2021)
Meh. There are many better movies to see this year than Aaron Sorkin’s (The Trial of the Chicago 7, Molly’s Game) Being the Ricardos. However, the 2021 Academy Award nominees seem more prominent regarding name recognition than in prior years. Movies that in previous years likely wouldn’t have sniffed a nomination are likely to get multiples this year. Being the Ricardos, with Sorkin and Academy favorites, four-time Oscar nominee Nicole Kidman (The Others, Lion) and three-time nominee Javier Bardem (Biutiful, No Country for Old Men) will receive recognition. Kidman will get a nomination for acting (though she has no chance of winning), but Bardem will not. The film could receive a best-picture nomination, making me cringe.
Bad Education (2019)
Bad Teacher. An Education. Bad Education. Bad Santa. Like with a human being, one might say there is nothing more personable to a person than their name. However, it can become lost in the weeds when a movie doesn’t have a title that can quickly be associated with it. Furthermore, if the film isn’t memorable and has no recognizable title, it’s likely to get even further caught in the weeds. Such could have been, and likely was to many, Cory Finley’s (Thoroughbreds) Bad Education.
Worth (2020)
More often than not, movies that attempt to capitalize on the tragedy of real-life events have mountains to climb over that other movies don’t even have to navigate. The greater the tragedy (at least when it comes to the loss of human life), the closer the attempt to reap any profit from the tragedy through music, literature, art, film, or other types of storytelling expression to the actual event itself presents an even steeper cliff to escalate.
King Richard (2021)
Go ahead and now give the Academy Award for Best Lead Actor to Will Smith (Ali, The Pursuit of Happyness). It might not be a far-off assumption as we are on the cusp of Oscar season. I would wait to hedge my bets in Vegas entirely, but it might be worth taking a flyer without knowing much about the other players who might be up for the award. Smith gives the best performance in his storied career as Richard, the father of (then) future tennis greats Venus Williams and Serena Williams in Reinaldo Marcus Green’s (Joe Bell, Monsters and Men) King Richard.