When you move out & you no longer have access to all the services for films that you used too & no cinemas are open due to lockdown for you to go & see your films at, you really look for the ones you can on netflix to try & get as many done before the Baftas & Oscars. Well tomorrow is BAFTA night to i need to watch Ma Rainey before the awards to have an opinion on it, so lets do this peoples. & also lets try & get this review done straight away afterwards.

This will be more a cinema club review than a normal sofa viewer review, due to people trying to catch up before the oscars.

So this film has drawn a lot of attention due to the death of Chadwick Boseman. A man so dedicated to inspire & make people happy, that it brought him happiness in his own life & suffering. This was the last film he made before he died & im not just saying it, but it is his film. He must of know this was probably going to be it & he went out in style & acting his arse off. If he was alive he would still be up for best actor at all of this years awards. A man so desperate for fame & fortune & determined to break away from his shackles & then when its all coming together for it to all crash around him & for his past struggles & life to haunt him. Its an inspirational performance. I dont know anything really about Blues Music of Ma & her band to tell you how close it is to what it really was but it is his film. No matter how good Viola is (i mean shes cracking too) but its his film & he deserves all the accolades he is receiving.

I did say it in the paragraph above but despite not actually being the main star in her own film Viola was immense as well. Everyone applauds when Christian Bale puts on all that weight for one role & then the next role 6 months later hes skeletal, she basically does the same & we dont applaud & celebrate that dedications, like we do with Bale. So here i am celebrating her for doing it & having such range. I mean she is in charge of every scene shes in. Ma isnt very likeable in this film being a pre-Madonna, but i think that is the point. She wants she gets end of, & i dont blame her at all.

I like how it tackles some stuff about race & attitudes head on & how almost 100 years later its not moved on as far from there as where we all thinking it should be . I love films that are brave enough to do that because it just highlights the problem even more, when you know there shouldn’t be a problem to have anymore. I think the last singing shot of the film sums that up quite well that there was a problem with this.

Its a lot of talk for a film about music but all of the conversations between everyone are so gripping & either inspiring, engaging or shocking that you sit there & go oh wow yea this is a good film.

& without spoiling it i cant say anymore.

I fully expect to be sitting here in 20 hours time saying Chadwick has a posthumous bafta. Its such a shame hes not here to collect it in person. I mean as a brit it would still be nice for Riz to win it, but Chadwick does deserve all the applause he is getting for this film. He nails it. How much more did he have to give. Its just so sad.

The film is worth watching for his performance alone.