Tag: Biography

First Man

2018   Universal Pictures

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  2 hr  21min

Biography ~ History ~ Drama ~ Adventure

Directed by:  Damien Chazelle

Starring:  Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Christopher Abbott, and Ciarán Hinds.

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong in this first person account of his journey to become the first man on the moon. Claire Foy plays his wife Janet Armstrong. It is the riveting story of the raw early days of Space exploration and how he went from piloting the Air Force x-15, to joining the Nasa’ Gemini program, and ultimately Commanding The Apollo Mission 11 that landed on the moon.

Nasa’s goal of putting a man into space and landing on the moon took more than twenty years. It also cost the lives of dozens of pilots, crew men and astronauts in their race to beat the Soviets into space. It was a journey unknown and untested without a text or a guide book. The bravery of putting their lives at risk to accomplish the goal of being the first in space is well portrayed in the movie. As well as the effect it had on the families who were left at home to wonder if they would be coming back.

Ryan does an excellent job of portraying Neil Armstrong. You feel like you are right there with him along the journey. From being in the cockpit in the X-15 and bouncing off the atmosphere in one very bumpy ride, to being strapped into the Apollo 11 capsule on top of a rocket holding 203,400 gallons of Kerosene and another 318,000 gallons of liquid oxygen. Go ahead and light that up.

I had seen this when it first came out in 2018 and I just watched it again last night, new on Netflix. Absolutely riveting. What a journey that must have been to be the first man on the moon. Well done Neil Armstrong and Ryan Gosling!

I highly recommend this one. An important slice of our history brought to life for us to experience.

Excellent Ride!

Two thumbs Up!

Bob Marley: One Love

2024   Paramount Pictures

Rated:  PG-13

Length:  1 hr 47min

True Story ~ Music ~ Drama

Directed By:  Reinaldo Marcus Green

Starring:  Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, and James Norton.

“One Love, one heart, one destiny.”

So before you read this there are several things you need to know about the guy reviewing this movie:

  1.  I am a huge Bob Marley fan.
  2.  I have read several books on his life and music.
  3.  I am a Musician, guitar player, composer and songwriter.

I am not sure that my review is going to be completely un-biased. Having said that this movie is but a glimpse into Bob Marley’s Life, Music, Beliefs and Religion. A very good glimpse in my opinion but you couldn’t possibly encapsulate Bob Marley’s life story into a couple of hours.

It focuses on the latter period of his life with brief glimpses of the past moments in his history that led to the events portrayed. It also focuses on the depth and closeness of his relationship with his wife Rita Marley.

One of the highlights for me being a musician was the scene in London where members of “The Wailers” are playing the soundtrack album to “Exodus” (A 1960 movie) when Bob hears it and he and Rita go downstairs to hear what’s going on. Bob is working on a song called Exodus and the band members start messing around with a groove and you can see and hear the song come to life. It is a beautiful thing to witness the creation of a song and that scene was incredible to me.

One of the other things I found interesting as a musician and guitar player was realizing that Bob Marley was more of a rhythm guitar player and singer, and that Peter Tosh, Al Anderson, Junior Marvin and Donald Kinsey played the lead guitar roles in the band at different time periods.

Kingsley Ben-Adir, Lashana Lynch, James Norton and the rest of the cast did a terrific job of portraying their characters. If you don’t really know much about Bob Marley or have never heard of him, I highly recommend this movie as an introduction. Watch the movie then listen to  Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley and The Wailers. It is one of my favorite albums.

So that about wraps it up.

I absolutely loved it, yes I will watch it again and I highly recommend it.

Jah Man!

Two Thumbs up!