Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad tells the true story of Mohammed Assaf, the singer from Gaza who became an international symbol of hope when he won the second season of the “Arab Idol” TV singing competition. But the musical elements aren’t even the most compelling parts — in fact, they’re surprisingly...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — Kill Your Friends
“Kill Your Friends,” a dark satire of the late-’90s music industry, is amusingly slick and biting for a while. Nicholas Hoult stars as a successful and handsome but secretly homicidal A&R executive at a London record label. But comparisons to “American Psycho” are inevitable, and “Kill Your Friends” doesn’t measure...
Read moreWe Are Your Friends
Warner Bros. Pictures Rated R for language throughout, drug use, sexual content and some nudity. Running time: 96 minutes. Three stars out of four. Similar to “Paper Towns,” “We Are Your Friends” is a movie that I liked but I would have loved if I were 20 years younger. It’s...
Read moreStraight Outta Compton
Universal Pictures Rated R for language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence and drug use. Running time: 147 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four. For a movie about a groundbreaking, risk-taking group like N.W.A., “Straight Outta Compton” is surprisingly conventional in its adherence to music biopic tropes. The rise-fall-rise-again...
Read moreAmy
A24 Films Rated R for language and drug material. Running time: 128 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four. There’s a scene toward the end of “Amy,” the documentary about the dizzyingly quick rise and fall of Amy Winehouse, that provides a glimmer of hope, even though we’re...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Wrecking Crew
This affectionate and respectful documentary shines a spotlight on a group of studio musicians who performed on many of the biggest and most enduring hits of the 1960s and early ’70s. There’s a ton of great music in here, but the movie as a whole can get a little scattered...
Read moreUnder the Skin, In the Flesh
One of the most powerful aspects of Jonathan Glazer’s gorgeous and daring “Under the Skin” is its score from British singer-songwriter and producer Mica Levi: a haunting mix of strings, percussion and flute that’s sometimes unsettling, sometimes dreamlike and always original. It keeps you on edge from the very beginning,...
Read moreWhat the Flick?! — Beyond the Lights
Gugu Mbatha-Raw gives a powerhouse performance as a Rihanna-esque R&B singer on the brink of superstardom, and she has insane chemistry with Nate Parker as the member of her security detail with whom she falls in love. Writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood’s film has its melodramatic moments, but Parker and Mbatha-Raw bring...
Read moreWhiplash
Sony Pictures Classics Rated R for strong language including some sexual references. Running time: 106 minutes. Three stars out of four. “Whiplash” puts us in the deliciously uncomfortable position of rooting for the shared success of two characters who are unlikable individually and toxic together. It’s one of the most...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Jimi: All Is By My Side
The makers of the new musical drama about Jimi Hendrix, “Jimi: All Is By My side” took a potential obstacle — the Hendrix estate’s refusal to grant access to any of his music — and turned it into an opportunity. Writer-director John Ridley’s film focuses on the year before Hendrix...
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