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Elvis
Very Good 66 Points 2022

Elvis coulda been titled Baz given its near fatal dose of writer-director Baz Luhrmann’s overwrought style. Elvis Presley was no stranger to overwrought style, so the cinematic marriage works to a point. That point gets reached when Baz dwells on the overwrought story of Col. Tom Parker, notwit…

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Rocketman
Great 83 Points 2019

“The bitch is back” in this rockstar revenge pic. Rockumentary in spirit and phantasmagoric in production, Rocketman is a largely satisfying dip in the deep well of Elton John’s bottomless self-regard.

Studded with bits of fantasy, Rocketman is more Across the Universe

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Springsteen on ...
Really Great 66 Points 2018

Searingly honest and comically revealing, Springsteen on Broadway is the Boss at his evocative best, notwithstanding some unintentional irony. This final performance of his 2018 one-man show (basically a live autobiography) hits the solar plexus with emotion and keen insight, more so than even …

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WikChip Video The Boss on his Mom
Bohemian Rhapsody
Very Good 83 Points 2018

Queen were never one of my bands. No Queen on vinyl, nor even any in my pocket. Sure, I was awed by the rangy brilliance of Bohemian Rhapsody, plus well entertained by the propulsive insouciance of Killer Queen and pop perfection of Crazy Little Thing Called Love. But the fascist commercial…

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WikChip Video Legendary Set
A Star is Born
Very Good 83 Points 2018

Bradley Cooper & Lady Gaga got themselves the best Star is Born of the past half-century. Think about it, Cooper & Gaga beat Kristofferson and Streisand all to hell, he the better actor, she the better rock singer.

Nevermind that Cooper’s major moviestar turn as a rootsy rockstar with a ragi…

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WikChip Video A Star is Born Moment
Amazing Grace
Really Great 66 Points 2018

Aretha Franklin was never even that close to being one of my favorite soul singers. There, I’ve said it.
Diana Ross, Nina Simone & Mavis Staples all found more favor with me than did the Queen of Soul.

That’s now chang…

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WikChip Video The most sought-after concert film? Yes!
Clive Davis: Th...
None Yet 0 Points 2017
Popstar: Never ...
Very Good 66 Points 2016

Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island confreres Akiva & Jorma go big in Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, Justin Bieber big. The Biebs and other hip white popstars from Ringo Star to Adam Levine are the target of this big budget satire. A couple dozen celebrity cameos goose the Grammy Quotient, …

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WikChip Video All The Good Stuff
The Beatles: Ei...
Perfect 66 Points 2016

Beatlemania boggles because of the Beatles and the mania around them, especially from ‘62 to ’66 when they exploded on the world and toured to rabid crowds of hormonal girls. Ron Howard’s fun and insightful doc about those halcyon days doesn’t stint on John, Paul, George & Ringo, or the mania…

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WikChip Video "Eric, here is the American public" -...
Get on Up
Really Great 66 Points 2014

Get on Up joins the pantheon of great rock biopics, memorializing James Brown as a seminal rockstar whose power, pomp and circumstances paved the way for the Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Sly & the Family Stone, hip-hop and every other form of funkable & funkadelic music. Get on Up gets on…

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WikChip Video James Brown ✫ Please, Please, Pleas...