I don't know a lot about Nina Simone specifically, but the fact they decided to deliver this portrayal of her as an angry, mentally ill person without delving into the reasons why or the context she grew up and worked and expressed herself in, and especially with how often black women are portrayed as angry and irrational for no other reason than being black... y i k e s.
Precisely, this COULD have been a genuinely compelling biopic, but they took so many creative liberties, and fabricated a relationship that didn't actually happen, and wasted so many talents both on and off screen.
It really is like they took every opportunity to make Nina Simone "safe." Her bipolar depression is from an ABC special, both of them are straightwashed, her activism is either ignored or very "Wow wasn't MLK cool." Even Saldana's look and voice is just very safe.
Reminds me of the South Park episode where the envoy from China kept screwing up the kids' band's story to make it acceptable for their market. Usually these sorts of things over exaggerate things to give them artificial drama. This is a baffling case of under utilizing anything that could have made an organic drama.
@@mightyfilm Because genuine drama is potentially alienating, and won't appeal to literally every person. The real story of this woman is an actively political one, you can't present the facts apolitically, like do you support her very radical politics or disagree with them? There is no safe answer that makes you look good, so they don't even invoke her actual beliefs or ideas. But even doing that shows your hand politically, as a fence-sitting neolib who wants to appeal to as many people as possible. As does making Nina and her manager straight and in love with her manager.
Problem with biopic films is ether it’s an advertisement for the music or an excuse to canvas a real person into a story. You end up looking for a good story and not the actual story because it’s based on a true story.
This is gonna sound weird, but I think a great cast for Nina Simone would be Leslie Jones. It's not just how similar they look, I really want to see Jones break out of comedy, and she has a ferocious intensity that I think would work great.
Nina Simone REALLY deserves a better biopic than this dismal misfire. Zoe Saldana tried her best, but even her talents couldn't save the clunky writing.
Zoe shouldn't have taken the job, but I don't blame her. She is also a person of color, and let's not forget the opportunities for prestige projects for women of color are few and far between. I totally get why she took the job.
@Caitlyn Carvalho I think there was definitely reason to be mad at her portrayal, particularly because they had to "blacken her up". But I don't blame Zoe for wanting to work.
@Caitlyn Carvalho I am not that familiar, but it could be similar. I think a big difference is that chalamet didn't have to change his skin color or face to be in the movie.
@Caitlyn Carvalho Interesting. I didn’t know that about Laurie but Katniss Everdeen and Aragorn are also characters described as having tan or olive skin but were portrayed by pale actors with very little pushback from fans.
@caitlyncarvalho7637 The problem is that while Zoe is a WoC she is still light and therefore is more likely to be casted in general than darker skinned BW as a whole. She should not have even been up for the part to begin with. Colorism is a thing and her casting is an egregious example of it.
Nina and Clifton's relationship feels like it's there to add a certain kind of drama. ...But it's a *Nina Simone* biopic. Why would you ever need to *add* drama? It feels like the project was greenlit because of the dramatic potential, only for the people in charge to realise too late that the drama was largely not the *palatable* kind of drama for a typical biopic and try to make Simone's story fit that mould.
I don't know much about Nina Simone. What about her life wouldn't be palatable for a biopic? Edit: I read through her Wikipedia page and read some articles about her. Why even make a biopic about her if they weren't willing to address topics like racism?
@Deen maybe her radical (political) ideals? or her relationship with her ex-husband/manager and daughter? she was definitely a very complex person and not everything she did was palatable, especially for the general public. I'd check out "what happened, nina simone?" on Netflix for a more truthful look at her life (not that it's the definitive bio on her life or anything)
@@deen7530 Diva goes into some of it - the TL:DR is that her life and art are impossible to honestly examine in any detail without bluntly confronting racism, and art that's confrontational is considered inherently risky. Studios don't like risk. Simone's era is within living memory and many of her songs are still relevant today. Studios are usually only comfortable condemning racism if it's far back enough in the past for the audience to go "sure, things were bad for Black people back then, but that was a long time ago. It's all in the past." There's not enough distance here for that to work. Also, as mentioned above, her political views, personal relationships and occasionally violent temper might not be considered palatable for a general (white) audience.
Speaking of sanding down the edges, Zoey Saldana's voice is of course nothing like Nina Simone's, which entirely unconventional. Whether you like her music or not, there's absolutely no mistaking her voice. Saldana's voice by contrast, while obviously well-trained, sounds very much like something from the homogenized era of American Idol and X Factor, as though the film doesn't trust modern audiences to be able to engage with the real thing.
I'll bet Mary J. Blige breathed a sigh of relief she ducked out of this mess. I wonder if she could have exercised some better creative control or if it still would have been... this.
Eesh, the fact that that punishment could still bring you through the 2010s is part of what makes it especially fitting. Having just come off “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” it’s definitely more in the serious category (not surprising, it was written by the same guy who wrote bohemian rhapsody) but there were MOMENTS where it could have been fun, thanks to Kasi Lemmons being a much better director than Bryan Singer. Mostly I weep for the wasted potential of these iconic women.
I would love to see Diva rip apart Bohemian Rhapsody. How do you take a story about Freddie Mercury and make it boring?!?! Bryan Singer cannot direct. I will die on that hill.
@@karrihart1 I think Lindsay Ellis described it as the "Pocahontas Problem" once, they're so afraid of being seen as offensive, they rip out anything with any kind of bite to it (character complexity, story substance,) and end up with the only thing a movie can be that's worse than bad... boring. I remember this happening for Hillbilly Elegy just a couple of years ago, too; once they sucked out all the controversial bits, all that was left was a boring-ass story.
@@colleen4ever I liked parts of it, and I think the parts I liked were directed by Dexter Fletcher (who directed Rocketman, which I loved). But the movie as a whole was a mess. It really should’ve been a Netflix or HBO series.
I’m glad current biopics about artists who are STILL alive are letting the artist have a say. I remember an article where studio wanted to make Rocket Man PG13, and he was pissed about it. He told them his life wasn’t PG13
Here's one way the movie could be better. Have the scene where she calls him a very rude word, but it's "You a *** or not?" "He says "Yeah"... She goes "Oh...shit." AND THEN PORTRAY THIS AS THE TURNING POINT OF THE RELATIONSHIP. Because Clifton is the one person she knows, who she is confident isn't using her. Give her a nice speech on it. Wait, my friend Thrythlind actually did that in a novel...and it actually gave a lot of insight/it worked...
Firstly, Happy New Year? Secondly, I'm glad that somebody finally covered "Nina". Zoe Salaña's miscasting and use of blackface are pretty infamous but most people don't talk about "Nina" itself!
100% agree with Diva. I like when musical biopics (and most movies in general) don't take themselves seriously, and this is a great example as to why. I hate these boring, bleak, award-baity type nonsense type movies. Give me films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Strange Wilderness any day over this boring junk. Side note, please review Blues Brothers 2000, that movie is an insult.
Ironically I think zoe saldana might be a very good fit to play her. She's good with that playful but proud attitude ms kitt often has in songs and roles.
I’m not awake enough, cause I thought you meant Etta James first, which made me think of Christina Aguilera (Etta was a big influence on Xtina, later on friend), then I remembered Beyoncé played her in the late 00s. Then I realised you meant Eartha Kitt, not Etta James. I don’t know why, but I think a super campy, OG Batman-esc film would be a good idea. Like, just go over the top with it.
If you ever get a chance to, you might want see a performance of the “Four Women,” a fictional meeting of Simone and three other Black women after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. I saw it a year or so ago at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and I loved the production. It punctuates the lives and experiences of all four with her songs.
Damn after hearing about the casting I thought this would just be another boring biopic with nothing else to say about it, but it’s wild that a 2010’s movie would still do straightwashing too.
I have never been a fan of biopics because they are always changing little things that wind up irritating the fans ... and historians. Clearly casting Zoe Saldana was a big mistake, one she recognized later, but I am not sure who would be better cast. Very disappointing. I always think of Ed Wood as a biopic that doesn't work AS a biopic (Tim Burton kinda treats it as a fairy tale, not reality), but it was an entertaining movie nonetheless. I never saw Nina, but judging from this, it doesn't work as a biopic OR an entertaining movie.
This is definitely one of the biggest oh sweet lucifer why moments. Happy new year Diva here's to watching awful musicals and warning the public about it.
As bad as Wired and The Babe Ruth Story are, they're at least fascinatingly terrible, with some truly WTF moments, like John Belushi betting on his life through a pinball game, and Babe Ruth curing a kids inability to walk just by saying hello to him. But Nina is one of the most phoned in, basic, and by the numbers bio-pics I've ever seen. By the end of this review, I was like "That's it?! That's the movie?! Barely anything happened!"
isn't it a bummer when biopics just... don't do your favorite artists justice? it's why i'll always prefer the documentary format to these kinds of movies. the only biopic i can think of that i enjoyed is Love & Mercy, but comparing that to Nina feels like kind of an insult to Love & Mercy.
The Doors movie by Oliver Stone is kind of a moody affair as well. It mostly shows Jim Morrison as some kind of drunken sociopath who cares so little for everything including himself. They also got so much wrong with the film regarding the historical timeline that it ended up being controversial with fans but mostly Jim's friends, family and the other band members namely their keyboardist Ray Manzarek.
That ought to be my favorite verdict, since this one is LOL!!! Next Christmas, why not do one on Hanukkah, since there isn't very much to blast about. Would "Adam Sander's Eight Crazy Nights" be perfect for you? While you at it, why not do one on "Pinocchio: A True Story". That's the one with Pauley Shore, and a scene that make you cry out, "Jimmy Jellikers"!!!
Also just as egregious as the blackface, the voice performance. Jesus christ, when you hear Simone sing you're simultaneously weeping while wanting to break and destroy everything in your way out of sheer frustration and grief. Zoe Saldana sounds like a youtube cute girl cover compared to Nina. I feel bad for harping on Zoe cause I blame the production just as hard, but this is what you get when you compare yourself to Nina Simone
Zoe Saldana has often been typecast in movies. For example, two of her most recognizable roles are both sci-fi films where she is a defiant badass opposite a buffoonish macho man. Given that this film has a skewed interpretation of Who Nina Simone was, i find the fact that an actress Who had a history of being type-casted interesting, albeit telling of Hollywood's one step forward, two steps back approach to casting POC actors. Of course, that's merely my interpretation
Ya did it again, Diva! Worth waiting an extra week and an extra long day at work for! Charming? Sounds like another fairy tale parody. Looking forward to it!!
@@eoghanfeighery7383 Considering the sequel to the Puss in Boots film came out last month. I think now's an appropriate time to cover a film like that.
Even though mental illness is a neurodivergence, as an autistic person, I don't know if I am comfortable with " untreated neurodivergence". Maybe "untreated mental illness" helps to differentiate between curable or medicated illnesses and Neuro divergent in general.
I don't know about France, but hipaa wasn't put into place until 1997 in the US so I wouldn't be surprised if France was similar, the EU GDPR which looks like it's similar wasn't enacted until 2017 from what I can tell
Just watching the clips was painful. I don't know how you do it once or twice a month. Also, could you do 1995's The Snow Queen? I think it would make a great winter review.
Oh dear...I've heard of Charming. THAT'S the film you consider to be what makes Love Never Dies look like a feminist masterpiece? Yikes, can't imagine how it falls so much further in comparison, but at the same time, I'm morbidly optimistic for all you'll have to say about it...sounds like another ten-sinner incoming, possibly more. 😆😅
Let me put it to you this way: there's a scene where Snow White is shown to be deeply traumatized by the multiple attempts on her life. It's played for laughs and as a demonstration of her "true love" unsuitability.
@@MusicalHell Oh dear Lord no...😬🙄. I've been comparing the treatment of Christine by LND's narrative and the characters surrounding her recently to that of Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections, which, shockingly enough, shares an *incredible* amount of story similarities to the former. However, I've realized how much all of the latter's takes are significantly better executed, and therefore, just how much LND screws everybody over, Christine included, just to create a worse ending for them all. Based on what you've just told me about Snow, can't imagine how everyone else in the film is treated. 😶
Re Sin Number 7: Personally, I would LOVE to see a dual biopic focused on the friendship of two marginalized people supporting each other through their respective adversity. I remember back when biopics about Liz Taylor & Richard Burton were a thing, but even back then I would've much preferred a movie about Liz & her lifelong friendship with Roddy McDowall. They both started as child actors, met while both starring in LASSIE COME HOME, had been good friends ever since & no doubt had their own personal struggles as a woman & a gay man working in Hollywood.
Me: Readying my fingers to type up a response to why Zoe shouldn't have been cast and the complications of mixed race black woman in Hollywood. You: Sums it up perfectly. Oh. Carry on.
As someone who has actually been on antipsychotics, I can’t disagree that being on them is a fate worse than death. A couple of high doses of Olanzapine were enough to give me PSSD and clitoral atrophy which has not gone away despite my desperate attempts to treat it. I spent a long time feeling like I’d been knocked very hard upside the head. So I don’t think “medication bad” is just a brainless trope- and it is apparently true that she didn’t want to take them so perhaps she also had distressing side effects.
I knew little about Nina Simone before watching this video, but now that I know how disrespectful this is to her legacy, it makes me want to research more to see how royalty they screwed this up. The bad casting and blackface is enough to condemn already, but straightwashing Clifton just for the story purposes is the final nail in the coffin for me.
First off, I've never heard of this film, even the controversy aspect. And this is the internet. It should have been blow out of proportion on both sides enough for it to be inescapable. Anyway, I always hear how everyone's whining about "too many super hero movies," but I'm the one who stands up and says, NO! There are too many exactly the same, Oscar Bait biopics. They had like one or two good ones back in the day, I'd say they all turned into follow the leader drek after the Ray Charles one won all the awards and got all the praise. They feel as soulless and factory made as any low tier action movie gets accused of. It's like we get one or two of them a year, and you just wonder who the next victim is. I didn't get around to seeing it yet, but Weird Al's biopic parody is a GODSEND! Someone needed to brutally rip apart these awful, overused, stock drama tropes.
The fact they completely screwed up Henderson being an ACTUALLY openly gay man makes this film instantly deplorable for me. This movie was MADE in 2016 there was NO EXCUSE for this type of shit. Quite literally disgusting to do such a thing to him. Movies that TRY to make biopics but legit don't put the EFFORT in to show these people for WHO they were are just garbage automatically.
Could you please do a review of the adventures of elmo in grouchland? It's not a horrible movie per say but I could see you getting a lot of joke material out of it.
I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never heard of Nina Simone before this review. I don't know why. She sounds like a fascinating person that deserves a much better film than this turkey.
A. I didn't even knew this movie existed. B. Even if I had, I still can't say I was a fan of hers, and this movie looks like it would utterly fail to make me one.
Hard to believe this movie came out in 2016, you'd think modern Hollywood would jump at the chance to portray Nina and Henderson struggles as faithfully as possible what with all their boisterous virtue-signaling...but I guess it goes to show what most of us already knew; current-year Tinsel Town is all hat and no cattle.
I'm white, and the fact that Zoe Saldana managed to apologize and actually mean it gives me more respect for her than others showcased on this court (Lookin' at you, Sia, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
From what this review tells me, they could've replaced the second N with two Gs and added an antagonist in the form of some KKK members, and nothing would've changed.
It says something that Netflix's What Happened, Miss Simone? from 2015 and Nina Simone La Legende from 1992 were a million times better than the trainwreck known as Nina. In fact, I would rather do myself the big favor of rewatching these two Nina Simone-related incarnations until my dying breath than Nina because they represented Nina Simone's unparalleled artistry a lot better than the poor excuse of a biopic ever could.
Was the actual Nina prone to bouts of violence like this? I'm not saying the people who made this were racist, but having Nina show this amount of violence on top of having a non-black actress play her feels like they're pushing some. problematic stereotypes.
@@colleen4ever I guess, but to me this just feels like they're just portraying Nina as a stereotypical irrational, mentally unwell, violent black woman, they're not going into her mindset of why she does what she does.
There is at least some truth to it (apparently she really did pull a gun on a lawyer at one point). But as you mention, the movie doesn't really dig much into the "why" of it so it does kind of come off as "stereotypical scary Black woman."
The best biopic is still Walk Hard, and that’s a parody. Should about sum up the genre’s credibility and lack of creativity or depth or interest in actually exploring the lives of real people
Nina Simone deserves so so much better than this! Firstly, I love the song "Feeling Good" and Nina's version is absolutely breathtaking. Secondly, this movie takes the dynamic, beautifully tragic, and inspirational life of a unique and amazing individual and twists it into an unwatchable hour-and-a-half display of a gagworthy racial stereotype. This movie deserves to be at the bottom of a Walmart DVD dump bin. You're absolutely right, Diva. This film took itself way too seriously and tried way too hard to win awards. There have been plenty of entertaining and thought provoking musician biopics that have won awards for taking risks, but this movie was too afraid to pry itself away from tired tropes. Everyone should avoid this movie and watch on of the many amazing documentaries about Nina Simone instead.
Hello my fellow “Owl House” and “Amphibia” fans. If we ever get a dramatic Hollywood-style biopic of either Dana Terrace or Matt Braly, what would those biopics be like?
It would probably barely even talk about those shows “BeCaUsE AnImAtIoN Is FoR KiDs”, a tacked on, bland, melodramatic romance, insultingly rewrites history to make Disney look like the greatest company ever made, (Looking at you terrible Chip And Dale movie), and an out of nowhere climax, with a crazed fan tries to kill Dana Terrace with a bomb, while Matt Braly has to battle evil robots, pirates and race against the clock to save her.
The awful casting and straight washing was all I knew about this film, but it seems like it wasn't really written to play on Nina Simone's strengths either. If there was a better story to work with either Uzo Aduba or Anika Noni Rose would have been great.
I don't know a lot about Nina Simone specifically, but the fact they decided to deliver this portrayal of her as an angry, mentally ill person without delving into the reasons why or the context she grew up and worked and expressed herself in, and especially with how often black women are portrayed as angry and irrational for no other reason than being black... y i k e s.
Yeah good point. Leaves a bad taste in your mouth doesn’t it.
You didn’t even mention the fact that Nina herself was bisexual so that adds insult to injury as not only did they straightwash Clifton but her too.
Precisely, this COULD have been a genuinely compelling biopic, but they took so many creative liberties, and fabricated a relationship that didn't actually happen, and wasted so many talents both on and off screen.
@@trinaq executive meddling as Dica said
@@trinaq “Creative liberties” is what I call making someone’s blue shirt blue zebra. This was uncreative bland-washing.
It really is like they took every opportunity to make Nina Simone "safe." Her bipolar depression is from an ABC special, both of them are straightwashed, her activism is either ignored or very "Wow wasn't MLK cool." Even Saldana's look and voice is just very safe.
Reminds me of the South Park episode where the envoy from China kept screwing up the kids' band's story to make it acceptable for their market. Usually these sorts of things over exaggerate things to give them artificial drama. This is a baffling case of under utilizing anything that could have made an organic drama.
@@mightyfilm Because genuine drama is potentially alienating, and won't appeal to literally every person. The real story of this woman is an actively political one, you can't present the facts apolitically, like do you support her very radical politics or disagree with them? There is no safe answer that makes you look good, so they don't even invoke her actual beliefs or ideas. But even doing that shows your hand politically, as a fence-sitting neolib who wants to appeal to as many people as possible. As does making Nina and her manager straight and in love with her manager.
Problem with biopic films is ether it’s an advertisement for the music or an excuse to canvas a real person into a story. You end up looking for a good story and not the actual story because it’s based on a true story.
We need more complicated and troubled women of color being given love and care and second chances in media.
This is gonna sound weird, but I think a great cast for Nina Simone would be Leslie Jones. It's not just how similar they look, I really want to see Jones break out of comedy, and she has a ferocious intensity that I think would work great.
That'd have been interesting to see.
@@0ne0nlyLarry I'd prefer to see that over what we got here.
At the time, the general consensus was Uzo Aduba would've been perfect.
Nina Simone REALLY deserves a better biopic than this dismal misfire. Zoe Saldana tried her best, but even her talents couldn't save the clunky writing.
Zoe shouldn't have taken the job, but I don't blame her. She is also a person of color, and let's not forget the opportunities for prestige projects for women of color are few and far between. I totally get why she took the job.
@Caitlyn Carvalho I think there was definitely reason to be mad at her portrayal, particularly because they had to "blacken her up". But I don't blame Zoe for wanting to work.
@Caitlyn Carvalho I am not that familiar, but it could be similar. I think a big difference is that chalamet didn't have to change his skin color or face to be in the movie.
@Caitlyn Carvalho Interesting. I didn’t know that about Laurie but Katniss Everdeen and Aragorn are also characters described as having tan or olive skin but were portrayed by pale actors with very little pushback from fans.
@caitlyncarvalho7637 The problem is that while Zoe is a WoC she is still light and therefore is more likely to be casted in general than darker skinned BW as a whole. She should not have even been up for the part to begin with. Colorism is a thing and her casting is an egregious example of it.
Nina and Clifton's relationship feels like it's there to add a certain kind of drama. ...But it's a *Nina Simone* biopic. Why would you ever need to *add* drama?
It feels like the project was greenlit because of the dramatic potential, only for the people in charge to realise too late that the drama was largely not the *palatable* kind of drama for a typical biopic and try to make Simone's story fit that mould.
I don't know much about Nina Simone. What about her life wouldn't be palatable for a biopic?
Edit: I read through her Wikipedia page and read some articles about her. Why even make a biopic about her if they weren't willing to address topics like racism?
@Deen maybe her radical (political) ideals? or her relationship with her ex-husband/manager and daughter? she was definitely a very complex person and not everything she did was palatable, especially for the general public. I'd check out "what happened, nina simone?" on Netflix for a more truthful look at her life (not that it's the definitive bio on her life or anything)
@@deen7530 Diva goes into some of it - the TL:DR is that her life and art are impossible to honestly examine in any detail without bluntly confronting racism, and art that's confrontational is considered inherently risky. Studios don't like risk. Simone's era is within living memory and many of her songs are still relevant today. Studios are usually only comfortable condemning racism if it's far back enough in the past for the audience to go "sure, things were bad for Black people back then, but that was a long time ago. It's all in the past." There's not enough distance here for that to work.
Also, as mentioned above, her political views, personal relationships and occasionally violent temper might not be considered palatable for a general (white) audience.
Speaking of sanding down the edges, Zoey Saldana's voice is of course nothing like Nina Simone's, which entirely unconventional. Whether you like her music or not, there's absolutely no mistaking her voice. Saldana's voice by contrast, while obviously well-trained, sounds very much like something from the homogenized era of American Idol and X Factor, as though the film doesn't trust modern audiences to be able to engage with the real thing.
Nine Simone's life story feels like it would be better suited to an Expressionistic Stage Musical that could match her Passionate Intensity.
I'll bet Mary J. Blige breathed a sigh of relief she ducked out of this mess. I wonder if she could have exercised some better creative control or if it still would have been... this.
Would have loved to hear THAT soundtrack!
I do too
Seeing Zoe Saldana made up to look like Nina Simone makes me so uncomfortable. How could they look at that and thought it was okay?
Zoe was in Avatar right?
Eesh, the fact that that punishment could still bring you through the 2010s is part of what makes it especially fitting. Having just come off “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” it’s definitely more in the serious category (not surprising, it was written by the same guy who wrote bohemian rhapsody) but there were MOMENTS where it could have been fun, thanks to Kasi Lemmons being a much better director than Bryan Singer. Mostly I weep for the wasted potential of these iconic women.
I would love to see Diva rip apart Bohemian Rhapsody. How do you take a story about Freddie Mercury and make it boring?!?!
Bryan Singer cannot direct. I will die on that hill.
@@karrihart1 I think Lindsay Ellis described it as the "Pocahontas Problem" once, they're so afraid of being seen as offensive, they rip out anything with any kind of bite to it (character complexity, story substance,) and end up with the only thing a movie can be that's worse than bad... boring. I remember this happening for Hillbilly Elegy just a couple of years ago, too; once they sucked out all the controversial bits, all that was left was a boring-ass story.
@@karrihart1 Really? I liked that movie. I cried at the end.
@@colleen4ever I liked parts of it, and I think the parts I liked were directed by Dexter Fletcher (who directed Rocketman, which I loved). But the movie as a whole was a mess. It really should’ve been a Netflix or HBO series.
I’m glad current biopics about artists who are STILL alive are letting the artist have a say.
I remember an article where studio wanted to make Rocket Man PG13, and he was pissed about it. He told them his life wasn’t PG13
Here's one way the movie could be better. Have the scene where she calls him a very rude word, but it's "You a *** or not?"
"He says "Yeah"...
She goes "Oh...shit."
AND THEN PORTRAY THIS AS THE TURNING POINT OF THE RELATIONSHIP. Because Clifton is the one person she knows, who she is confident isn't using her. Give her a nice speech on it.
Wait, my friend Thrythlind actually did that in a novel...and it actually gave a lot of insight/it worked...
Firstly, Happy New Year? Secondly, I'm glad that somebody finally covered "Nina". Zoe Salaña's miscasting and use of blackface are pretty infamous but most people don't talk about "Nina" itself!
The snippets of music were NOT evocative of Nina's music. WTF?
100% agree with Diva. I like when musical biopics (and most movies in general) don't take themselves seriously, and this is a great example as to why. I hate these boring, bleak, award-baity type nonsense type movies. Give me films like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Strange Wilderness any day over this boring junk.
Side note, please review Blues Brothers 2000, that movie is an insult.
I wonder I there'll ever be a musical biopic movie based on Eartha Kitt.
Her Complex Life would be best told in a Six or Eight Part HBO Miniseries.
if there everrrrrr be it betterrrrr include rrrravishingly rrrrrroling RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRs :3 she is still the best catwoman
Ironically I think zoe saldana might be a very good fit to play her. She's good with that playful but proud attitude ms kitt often has in songs and roles.
RuPaul’s Drag Race favorite Jujubee would also be a good candidate to play Eartha.
I’m not awake enough, cause I thought you meant Etta James first, which made me think of Christina Aguilera (Etta was a big influence on Xtina, later on friend), then I remembered Beyoncé played her in the late 00s.
Then I realised you meant Eartha Kitt, not Etta James.
I don’t know why, but I think a super campy, OG Batman-esc film would be a good idea. Like, just go over the top with it.
Thank you for the “Band that played ‘California Lady’” cutaway. That was hilarious, and I love that you enjoy *MST3K* too.
What movie was that scene from?
@@colleen4ever Track of the Moon Beast.
It's one of my favorite host segments and seemed very fitting for the melodramatic tenor of this movie.
If you ever get a chance to, you might want see a performance of the “Four Women,” a fictional meeting of Simone and three other Black women after the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. I saw it a year or so ago at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and I loved the production. It punctuates the lives and experiences of all four with her songs.
Damn after hearing about the casting I thought this would just be another boring biopic with nothing else to say about it, but it’s wild that a 2010’s movie would still do straightwashing too.
I have never been a fan of biopics because they are always changing little things that wind up irritating the fans ... and historians. Clearly casting Zoe Saldana was a big mistake, one she recognized later, but I am not sure who would be better cast. Very disappointing.
I always think of Ed Wood as a biopic that doesn't work AS a biopic (Tim Burton kinda treats it as a fairy tale, not reality), but it was an entertaining movie nonetheless. I never saw Nina, but judging from this, it doesn't work as a biopic OR an entertaining movie.
This is definitely one of the biggest oh sweet lucifer why moments.
Happy new year Diva here's to watching awful musicals and warning the public about it.
As bad as Wired and The Babe Ruth Story are, they're at least fascinatingly terrible, with some truly WTF moments, like John Belushi betting on his life through a pinball game, and Babe Ruth curing a kids inability to walk just by saying hello to him. But Nina is one of the most phoned in, basic, and by the numbers bio-pics I've ever seen. By the end of this review, I was like "That's it?! That's the movie?! Barely anything happened!"
The moment you said "...more on that later" on her advances being rejected, I knew this was going to be straightwashing.
13:00 and you were right!
Wait so Nina was bisexual?😅
@@gracekim1998 Yes, but the straightwashing is more about the man being gay in this case.
2:50 THAT's supposed to be Richard Pryor?! It looks nothing like him!!
Yep, Mike Epps played him here, but he doesn't really resemble him in the slightest.
Apparently his role did something right considering he played him again in Winning Time.
Thanks for this! I remember the casting controversy but totally forgot about what they did to Clifton.
isn't it a bummer when biopics just... don't do your favorite artists justice? it's why i'll always prefer the documentary format to these kinds of movies. the only biopic i can think of that i enjoyed is Love & Mercy, but comparing that to Nina feels like kind of an insult to Love & Mercy.
The Doors movie by Oliver Stone is kind of a moody affair as well. It mostly shows Jim Morrison as some kind of drunken sociopath who cares so little for everything including himself. They also got so much wrong with the film regarding the historical timeline that it ended up being controversial with fans but mostly Jim's friends, family and the other band members namely their keyboardist Ray Manzarek.
Nina deserves another biopic. Watching her documentary her story deserves to be told correctly.
Anyone else suddenly intrigued by Nina's repertoire? I'll have to give it a look...
Ikr! I feel like Feeling Good has been done kind of an injustice by being covered by Bublé. I Put A Spell On You, however, I think was given new life
@@sweeneytodd1414 I Put A Spell On You...THAT was her? Wow, you learn something new everyday!
She had a powerful set of lungs!
@@colleen4ever yeah, the Hocus Pocus version did change it though
I can’t believe how artificially dark they made Zoe’s skin using make up. They would have been better off not doing anything
It looks very caked on tbh.
That ought to be my favorite verdict, since this one is LOL!!!
Next Christmas, why not do one on Hanukkah, since there isn't very much to blast about. Would "Adam Sander's Eight Crazy Nights" be perfect for you?
While you at it, why not do one on "Pinocchio: A True Story". That's the one with Pauley Shore, and a scene that make you cry out, "Jimmy Jellikers"!!!
All I remember about that one is “Skidee Skidee Skidee!”
Amazing review as always. If anyone is interested in Ms. Simone’s story, the Netflix documentary What Ever Happened to Ms. Simone? is top tier.
Also just as egregious as the blackface, the voice performance. Jesus christ, when you hear Simone sing you're simultaneously weeping while wanting to break and destroy everything in your way out of sheer frustration and grief. Zoe Saldana sounds like a youtube cute girl cover compared to Nina. I feel bad for harping on Zoe cause I blame the production just as hard, but this is what you get when you compare yourself to Nina Simone
Zoe Saldana has often been typecast in movies. For example, two of her most recognizable roles are both sci-fi films where she is a defiant badass opposite a buffoonish macho man. Given that this film has a skewed interpretation of Who Nina Simone was, i find the fact that an actress Who had a history of being type-casted interesting, albeit telling of Hollywood's one step forward, two steps back approach to casting POC actors. Of course, that's merely my interpretation
Ya did it again, Diva! Worth waiting an extra week and an extra long day at work for!
Charming? Sounds like another fairy tale parody. Looking forward to it!!
Looks like Charming will be the second time Sia will be covered on this show, albeit for different reasons.
Third. She also did soundtrack work on the 2014 Annie.
@@MusicalHell Somehow I missed that tidbit
@@MusicalHell I actually found our about this movie because it was the first thing I saw when I looked up the word "Charming" on Google Images.
Oh boy is that Shrek wannabe that has John Cleese in it, isn't it?
@@eoghanfeighery7383 Considering the sequel to the Puss in Boots film came out last month. I think now's an appropriate time to cover a film like that.
It feels good to see another Musical Hell. The last episode made me worry about your mental health. I hope you're feeling better!
I thought that was Fiona Apple singing 'You Know How I Feel' at first, holy crap
Even Zoe Saldana regretted it.
Even though mental illness is a neurodivergence, as an autistic person, I don't know if I am comfortable with " untreated neurodivergence". Maybe "untreated mental illness" helps to differentiate between curable or medicated illnesses and Neuro divergent in general.
I used both "nuerodivergence" and "mental illness" regarding Simone's bipolar disorder, mostly to hedge my bets on which was the more accurate term.
Anne, mental illness and being neurodivergent are Two DIFFERENT THINGS 😨 they’re not the same
New episode of Musical Hell? What a nice surprise on my birthday:D
Happy birthday!
Haooy birthday.
Happy Birthday!
OMG, that Batwoman clip at the end made me almost spit out my coffee!😆
I don't know about France, but hipaa wasn't put into place until 1997 in the US so I wouldn't be surprised if France was similar, the EU GDPR which looks like it's similar wasn't enacted until 2017 from what I can tell
Great use of the "Fish lipped guy biopic" MST3K clip! XD
Just watching the clips was painful. I don't know how you do it once or twice a month.
Also, could you do 1995's The Snow Queen? I think it would make a great winter review.
Oh dear...I've heard of Charming. THAT'S the film you consider to be what makes Love Never Dies look like a feminist masterpiece? Yikes, can't imagine how it falls so much further in comparison, but at the same time, I'm morbidly optimistic for all you'll have to say about it...sounds like another ten-sinner incoming, possibly more. 😆😅
Let me put it to you this way: there's a scene where Snow White is shown to be deeply traumatized by the multiple attempts on her life. It's played for laughs and as a demonstration of her "true love" unsuitability.
@@MusicalHell Isn't that the movie where the Prince knows he's cursed but doesn't care because it gets him women? Real likable hero that one is.
@@MusicalHell Oh dear Lord no...😬🙄. I've been comparing the treatment of Christine by LND's narrative and the characters surrounding her recently to that of Trinity in The Matrix Resurrections, which, shockingly enough, shares an *incredible* amount of story similarities to the former. However, I've realized how much all of the latter's takes are significantly better executed, and therefore, just how much LND screws everybody over, Christine included, just to create a worse ending for them all. Based on what you've just told me about Snow, can't imagine how everyone else in the film is treated. 😶
@@bellabarahona5948 Did a Wiki search on the plot and yep, that about sums it up. 😑
Wait a minute, when did she say that? Did I miss something?
I had never heard Nina Simone, but hearing about the way this film tried to tell her story upsets me.
some of her albums are right here on youtube, give them a listen!
Re Sin Number 7: Personally, I would LOVE to see a dual biopic focused on the friendship of two marginalized people supporting each other through their respective adversity.
I remember back when biopics about Liz Taylor & Richard Burton were a thing, but even back then I would've much preferred a movie about Liz & her lifelong friendship with Roddy McDowall. They both started as child actors, met while both starring in LASSIE COME HOME, had been good friends ever since & no doubt had their own personal struggles as a woman & a gay man working in Hollywood.
Me: Readying my fingers to type up a response to why Zoe shouldn't have been cast and the complications of mixed race black woman in Hollywood.
You: Sums it up perfectly.
Oh. Carry on.
As someone who has actually been on antipsychotics, I can’t disagree that being on them is a fate worse than death. A couple of high doses of Olanzapine were enough to give me PSSD and clitoral atrophy which has not gone away despite my desperate attempts to treat it. I spent a long time feeling like I’d been knocked very hard upside the head. So I don’t think “medication bad” is just a brainless trope- and it is apparently true that she didn’t want to take them so perhaps she also had distressing side effects.
I knew little about Nina Simone before watching this video, but now that I know how disrespectful this is to her legacy, it makes me want to research more to see how royalty they screwed this up. The bad casting and blackface is enough to condemn already, but straightwashing Clifton just for the story purposes is the final nail in the coffin for me.
First off, I've never heard of this film, even the controversy aspect. And this is the internet. It should have been blow out of proportion on both sides enough for it to be inescapable. Anyway, I always hear how everyone's whining about "too many super hero movies," but I'm the one who stands up and says, NO! There are too many exactly the same, Oscar Bait biopics. They had like one or two good ones back in the day, I'd say they all turned into follow the leader drek after the Ray Charles one won all the awards and got all the praise. They feel as soulless and factory made as any low tier action movie gets accused of. It's like we get one or two of them a year, and you just wonder who the next victim is. I didn't get around to seeing it yet, but Weird Al's biopic parody is a GODSEND! Someone needed to brutally rip apart these awful, overused, stock drama tropes.
0:31 I actually liked Bohemian Rhapsody (a lot, in fact is my favorite movie of all time)
It’s sad that your review of this movie is more informative of Nina Simone than the movie itself.
I didn't realize there were other songs in your next case aside from "Trophy Boy".
I didn't even know this next one was a musical.
The fact they completely screwed up Henderson being an ACTUALLY openly gay man makes this film instantly deplorable for me. This movie was MADE in 2016 there was NO EXCUSE for this type of shit. Quite literally disgusting to do such a thing to him. Movies that TRY to make biopics but legit don't put the EFFORT in to show these people for WHO they were are just garbage automatically.
Zoe Saldana deserved to be in something better than this.
And why didn't they use Nina's real voice if they couldn't find someone who could at least get her style? Just lacking in every area.
Ah, the Behind The Music about the band that played California Lady, good choice!
I’m glad your doing videos!!
Someone like Spike Lee would have been a better choice to helm a Nina Simone biopic (especially if we get into the political side of her life).
Him or Cheryl Dunye.
Could you please do a review of the adventures of elmo in grouchland? It's not a horrible movie per say but I could see you getting a lot of joke material out of it.
Well, at least it's not Music.
@Alzoru Ledura I agree
I mentally call Music the "die in a fire" movie.
Music was a straight-up hate crime.
Gee, if I didn't know better 😭I'd think this was written to bury Simone rather than uplift her.
I'm ashamed to admit that I'd never heard of Nina Simone before this review. I don't know why. She sounds like a fascinating person that deserves a much better film than this turkey.
I never saw this movie, but I clicked on the thumbnail out of curiosity.
The ultimate irony is a that much better documentary about her came out that same year 😑
A. I didn't even knew this movie existed.
B. Even if I had, I still can't say I was a fan of hers, and this movie looks like it would utterly fail to make me one.
Hard to believe this movie came out in 2016, you'd think modern Hollywood would jump at the chance to portray Nina and Henderson struggles as faithfully as possible what with all their boisterous virtue-signaling...but I guess it goes to show what most of us already knew; current-year Tinsel Town is all hat and no cattle.
Is the next case that 2018 animated fairytale movie made by Vanguard Animation?
You forgot to reference the Disaster Artist. Which is basically the same genre as the other Biopics mentioned.
So basically a watered down pile of meh.
This review was a sad one but boy if I didn't find myself laughing at the MST3K clips.
I'm so happy that I recommended Rocketman to Diva because I knew it was better than films like this.
I'm white, and the fact that Zoe Saldana managed to apologize and actually mean it gives me more respect for her than others showcased on this court (Lookin' at you, Sia, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)
Rocketman is a MILLION times better than Bohemian Rhapsody!!
Um….😅 I’m sure they’re equally fun
@@gracekim1998 No. No, not really. No.
Nina so bad that rotten tomatoes give it 2 percent on rotten tomatoes
This may truly go down in history as the worst biopic of all time. It feels like a hate crime just to see Zoe Saldana in that makeup.
There's diana
And that awful Aaliyah movie.
@@frankieseward8667 I’m sorry but “Harry my ginger-haired son, you’ll always be second to none” is brilliant and should have won a Tony and a Grammy.
@@tinymxnticore no the other diana the one starring naomi watts
From what this review tells me, they could've replaced the second N with two Gs and added an antagonist in the form of some KKK members, and nothing would've changed.
I’ve never heard of Nina but I’m guessing a better biopic should be made for this person
It says something that Netflix's What Happened, Miss Simone? from 2015 and Nina Simone La Legende from 1992 were a million times better than the trainwreck known as Nina. In fact, I would rather do myself the big favor of rewatching these two Nina Simone-related incarnations until my dying breath than Nina because they represented Nina Simone's unparalleled artistry a lot better than the poor excuse of a biopic ever could.
Take it Away Diva!
Was the actual Nina prone to bouts of violence like this? I'm not saying the people who made this were racist, but having Nina show this amount of violence on top of having a non-black actress play her feels like they're pushing some. problematic stereotypes.
She was bi polar before it was recognized as a serious condition.
@@colleen4ever I guess, but to me this just feels like they're just portraying Nina as a stereotypical irrational, mentally unwell, violent black woman, they're not going into her mindset of why she does what she does.
There is at least some truth to it (apparently she really did pull a gun on a lawyer at one point). But as you mention, the movie doesn't really dig much into the "why" of it so it does kind of come off as "stereotypical scary Black woman."
@@rogue7723 rouge, Zoe is MIXED 🤦♀️
You saying non-black like that …it’s not nice
The best biopic is still Walk Hard, and that’s a parody. Should about sum up the genre’s credibility and lack of creativity or depth or interest in actually exploring the lives of real people
Short and unsatisfying which is not sweet!
Nina Simone deserves so so much better than this!
Firstly, I love the song "Feeling Good" and Nina's version is absolutely breathtaking.
Secondly, this movie takes the dynamic, beautifully tragic, and inspirational life of a unique and amazing individual and twists it into an unwatchable hour-and-a-half display of a gagworthy racial stereotype. This movie deserves to be at the bottom of a Walmart DVD dump bin.
You're absolutely right, Diva. This film took itself way too seriously and tried way too hard to win awards. There have been plenty of entertaining and thought provoking musician biopics that have won awards for taking risks, but this movie was too afraid to pry itself away from tired tropes. Everyone should avoid this movie and watch on of the many amazing documentaries about Nina Simone instead.
well ok this is crazy stuff
Oh my god, Zoe Saldana's make up is so obvious!
Musical hell can you do Meet the feebles???
Oh boy here we go! musical hell take me away!
And people bitched about the 2016 Ghostbusters...
How about stop bringing it up? People’s reaction to it back then was at the wrong aspects anyway
Hello my fellow “Owl House” and “Amphibia” fans. If we ever get a dramatic Hollywood-style biopic of either Dana Terrace or Matt Braly, what would those biopics be like?
Animated
Animated or a Who Framed Roger Rabbit hybrid.
It would probably barely even talk about those shows “BeCaUsE AnImAtIoN Is FoR KiDs”, a tacked on, bland, melodramatic romance, insultingly rewrites history to make Disney look like the greatest company ever made, (Looking at you terrible Chip And Dale movie), and an out of nowhere climax, with a crazed fan tries to kill Dana Terrace with a bomb, while Matt Braly has to battle evil robots, pirates and race against the clock to save her.
@@thesapphireone What shows would barely be mentioned?
@@johnvinals7423 Owl House and Anphibia, what did you think of my story idea?
The film’s aesthetic looks too modern and clean for me, I wish they used Nina’s music to influence more of the look of it….
Oh yeah I need to watch the Weird Al one.
Diva is the best researcher on all of TH-cam.
Musical Hell for Dear Evan Hansen
The awful casting and straight washing was all I knew about this film, but it seems like it wasn't really written to play on Nina Simone's strengths either. If there was a better story to work with either Uzo Aduba or Anika Noni Rose would have been great.
Zoe Saldana is a capable actress who didn't bring it. The clunky writing didn't help.