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Nina

Nina (2016)

April. 22,2016
|
5.4
|
NR
| Drama Music

The story of the late jazz musician and classical pianist Nina Simone including her rise to fame and relationship with her manager Clifton Henderson.

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FuzzyTagz
2016/04/22

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

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Nayan Gough
2016/04/23

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

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Kirandeep Yoder
2016/04/24

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

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Scarlet
2016/04/25

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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Prismark10
2016/04/26

Zoe Saldana blacks up to play the difficult, volatile and fiery Nina Simone. Nina took no prisoners and there are people still alive who have the shrapnel wounds to prove it.This film never gets a handle on its subject, it really is all over the place. It sets up to its story from the point of view of Clifton Henderson (David Oyelowo) the psychiatric nurse who becomes her assistant and later her manager.Henderson has a difficult task caring for a diva with mental health issues, money problems, a bad reputation and a voice that is losing its edge. Promoters do not make money from her, clubs do not want to book her and audiences refuse to stay silent when she sings.Director Cynthia Mort had her work cut out to make Nina a sympathetic figure despite her support for the civil rights movement. Nina did not want sympathy when she was alive. Nina would sometimes go on stage and wind up the audience by not singing her greatest hits. Apparently Mort did not have the final cut to this film but what we have is a disappointing bio-pic.

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tomofsweden
2016/04/27

NinaYet another film of a famous person that in reality is just an excuse to show off mental illness. In this case the bipolar condition of Nina Simone. The film assumes that the viewer already is familiar with her life. I wasn't. I only knew her by having heard a couple of her songs. The start of the film rushes ahead through her life to the very end of her life. But it doesn't start at the end and show flash backs. Well... sort of. It was mostly just a confusing mess and I had no clue what her career was like up to the end (where the film begins). The first concert she does is in a small bar. So as a viewer I'm like, OK, so this is the kind of concerts she had. And then I'm told she is one of the most famous singers. OK, so why is she in a small bar performing if she is so famous? And then somebody says that she should be in a huge concert hall, and not in a small bar. And I'm like, yes, so why isn't she? Please tell me, the viewer. No information. The film revolves around her (non-romantic) relationship with her nurse/assistant/manager. This is uninteresting. It never goes anywhere and there's very little tension. I suspect it's just badly acted. David Oyelowo plays the assistant. I had never heard of him. So I looked him up. He has a long career of so-so stuff. So he doesn't seem particularly talented. He seems to be established as a middling talent. So it's an odd casting. It seems to me like he just didn't have what it took to make this role work. Zoe Saldana plays Nina Simone. This is also not particularly interesting. But I don't think it's the acting that's the problem this time. I suspect the problem here is the script. A string of scenes showing a crazy person doing crazy things is not interesting. This is not a comedy. The craziness has to be coupled with her being sensible sometimes. There has to be some sort of balance. Nina Simone in this film goes from being disturbingly weird to being bouncing-off-the-walls-in-a-padded-cell- crazy. She's impossible to like. But she's famous for being a musical genius. She created amazing music and trail-blazed against all odds and conquered the world. This is not shown in this film. Nina Simone in this film is just nuts with no redeeming qualities. It's the stuff that made her famous that I'm interested in. This film provides none of it. They use the "Angry Black Woman" trope to it's fullest extent. Sure, Nina Simone does have ample reason to be angry. But this character seems utterly consumed by it. It's like she has nothing else going for her in her life. It would be nice with a film about a historical black person that doesn't focus on how much a victim he or she is. I'm not saying that black people historically haven't suffered. What I'm saying is that, by looking at the movies produced focusing on black people, black history seems to be defined by being a victim and nothing else. I'm starting to find this tedious. And in this film it's especially obvious, since her talents are so down-played. It's all about Nina, the crazy victim. I learned almost nothing about Nina Simone's music career.

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casaverdin
2016/04/28

Because, many were personally involved in Miss Simone's life, it is easy to understand their annoyance; however, as a person that appreciates Miss Simone's music, I put her on her own pedestal but; I must, in the other hand, contemplate, in total impartiality of judgment, Miss Zaldana's performance, her singing was extraordinary and deserves to be valued independently. There is no comparison possible, for they are both different performers, and as such, must be valued separately. Perhaps, in relation to the portrayal of the character, there were marked unsubstantiated facts, this belongs to the screenwriters and playwrights or whoever. One must be fair and judge the acting and the singing of the artists.

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Veritas99
2016/04/29

I just have seen the movie and I also have read a lot of debates around it. In my opinion, all that "Zoe is not black enough"seems unbelievable - so many actors are using make-up and prosthetics when playing biopics and none was creating such debate. Due to this movie I discovered Nina Simone ( I honestly was not familiar with her music before), I watched a lot of Nina's songs after the movie, and appreciated a lot her music . I also liked a lot how Zoe interpreted the song "Black is the color" minute 35 of the movie) - I have seen all youtube versions interpreted by various artists but Zoe's is the best in my opinion. Yes, Zoe performed, it's mentioned ... I am sorry that this well done biopic was transformed in a political debate...art should be above this.

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