Tag: Biopic

Rustin is Part How-to Guide for Political Organizing, Part Character Study, All Engaging (Middleburg Film Festival)

As protests rage on around the world, the how of these massive demonstrations is often forgotten or glossed over. Who organizes these protests? How are thousands of people corralled into one place fighting for one cause? Rustin reintroduces…

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Priscilla is a Thorough Documentation of How Troubled Relationships Develop (Middleburg Film Festival)

The life of Elvis Presley has been subject to countless documentaries, TV shows, books, and films. Being one of the most famous and influential musicians of all-time means that much of your life has been examined with a…

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Oppenheimer Explores Guilt, Crisis of Conscience in Fusion of Biopic and Tense Procedural Drama

A three-hour biographical drama shot partially in black-and-white does not usually sound like a recipe for a mid-summer theatrical release, but the formula for blockbuster success changes when director Christopher Nolan is involved. His latest film seeks to…

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Flamin’ Hot is a Classic Feel Good Movie, For Better or Worse

Flamin’ Hot is an autobiographical look at the story of Richard Montanez (Jesse Garcia), the son of a Mexican immigrant, who becomes a janitor at Frito-Lay after his wife Judy (Annie Gonzalez) becomes pregnant with their first child…

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Emancipation is a Brutal Film About Perseverance and Determination

Yep, it’s another slave movie. In recent years, many consumers, of all races, have expressed fatigue over the flow of films coming from Hollywood that depict American slavery and the brutal treatment that the ancestors of African Americans…

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The Fabelmans Uses Film to Teach About Family and Personal Growth

Steven Spielberg makes his return to the big screen in his most personal film yet. The Fabelmans is a semi-autobiographical film about the director’s childhood and love for film and directing. Even more than the movies, this film…

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Danielle Deadwyler Paints an Emotional Portrait of Strength Through Grief in Till (Middleburg Film Festival)

Till tells the true story of the famed, brutal lynching of Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall) in 1955 Mississippi following his encounter with Carolyn Bryant (Haley Bennett) at her family’s grocery store and his mother Mamie Till-Mobley’s (Danielle Deadwyler)…

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Armageddon Time Is an Interesting 1980s Time Capsule, but Not an Interesting Film (Middleburg Film Festival)

The 1980s was a pivotal decade that saw many great changes for the United States. An actor became President, a child star went solo and changed music and television forever, and commerce coined a phrase that would last…

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Blonde is as Uninteresting as It is Weird and Offensive to the Legacy of Its Subject

Blonde is a fictional telling of the life of screen legend and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe (Ana de Armas) based on the bestselling novel by Joyce Carol Oates. The film follows Monroe, born Norma Jeane, from her traumatic…

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Elvis’ Compelling Story Gets Lost in the Recreation of His Flashy Style

There is a lot of responsibility when telling the story of a beloved historical figure. Director Baz Luhrmann has accepted this challenge in depicting the life of perhaps one of the two most famous and celebrated musicians in…

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