It's hard to come to a movie with a title like Judas and the Black Messiah without any preconceptions, but the more openly you can approach this movie the better.

The film follows the events of the late 1960s when a young petty criminal named Bill O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) seeks to avoid prison time for stealing a car by working with the FBI to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, led by Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). O'Neal must gain Hampton's trust, while simultaneously navigating the world of a very white criminal justice organization that he doesn't fully trust.

You might think coming into this film that it's going to glorify the Black Panther Party, but it does not. Neither does it paint them in a fully negative light. There are moments where the people involved in the party are violent and vengeful, but there are also tender moments, showing their humanity. Throughout the film, I found my own allegiances changing from scene to scene, keeping my on my toes as I tried to figure out exactly who was on who's side on screen.

Kaluuya was long rumored to be an Oscar contender for his role in this film, and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor back in February 2021. I was not surprised to see Stanfield receive a nomination for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar alongside Kaluuya and honestly think his portrayal of the O'Neal's Judas character was better than Kaluuya's.

Overall, this is a powerful film with strong performances throughout the cast. I highly recommend this film as we wait to see how many Oscars it can bring home at the end of April.

8 out of 10​​​​

While I have never been a die hard Queen fan, I have always appreciated their music and enjoyed the partial look behind the curtain provided by this film.

I did a little research on Queen performances after watching this film and can't believe how well the musicians were portrayed on the screen, with the obvious focus being on Rami Malek's Freddie Mercury. There are definitely parts throughout the film where Malek completely disappears and all you see on screen is Mercury. The same can be said for Gwilym Lee's portrayal of guitarist Brian May and Joseph Mazzello as bassist John Deacon. Overall, the casting of the film was spectacular and the roles seemed genuine throughout.

From various information I read at the time of the release, this film doesn't delve as deeply as it could have into the causes of Mercury's downfall before rising again for the LiveAid performance in 1985. I know some have quibbled with this fact, but I didn't mind it. There was enough to give the general idea of what was going on with the superstar, while not becoming an R (or X) rated film intended to get reactions from the public.

I appreciated the focus on family throughout the film, be it biological family or family created by the coming together of people from different backgrounds. The message there was strong, even if it may not have been 100% true to the details of reality.

In the final verdict, if you're a Queen fanatic, you've probably already seen the film, but go watch it again. And if you've ever wondered just how they put all those odd pieces together for the song "Bohemian Rhapsody," you'll love the montage that shows the making of that track. Again, not necessarily how it actually happened, but a fun look behind the curtain no less.

8 out of 10

Spike Lee won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay this year, and while this is a great adaptation of Ron Stallworth's autobiographical book by the same name, I felt a little put off by some of the decisions the director made in translating the story to the screen.

Overall, the film is great. It tells an incredible story of the black man who infiltrated the Colorado Springs chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, "The Organization" as those involved call it. As expected, the film has plenty of thoughts on the topic of race and what it means to be fighting for your own race, regardless of what side you come down on.

John David Washington is perfect as Stallworth, Adam Driver shines as his white alter ego, and Topher Grace puts in a good performance as Klan Grand Wizard David Duke. The portrayal of Stallworth as a man stuck between two worlds is hammered home throughout the film when he participates in an undercover investigation as a black power rally, and then ultimately lands his place in the local Klan.

Where I felt the film lacking was in the actual adaptation of the book. I listened to the book on CD, read by the author, immediately prior to watching the film and didn't like some of the plot choices Lee made in translating it to film. While we don't know for sure if the Klan members Stallworth interacted with during his investigation ever suspected his true identity, the film portrays several of them doing just that. The character selected for this suspicion also doesn't come across as the brightest bulb, but somehow puts together the rouse that is being played on him and his pals.

In the end, the film accomplishes the goal of covering race relations from various angles. The closing segment with footage from the vehicle incident in Charlottesville, Virginia from August 2017 is jarring, but a reminder that the world portrayed throughout the film has more in common with today than it has differences. Despite some claiming that we have moved on, there is still plenty of hate in this country, regardless of your political beliefs.

​7 out of 10