Sing Sing - Movie Review

Sing Sing was a truly euphoric experience and I am so excited to talk about it today how's it going everybody welcome back into another episode we need to talk about and today like I've already said we are talking about the newest film from a24 that is Sing Sing now it has been out for a while out for a while it's been limited for a while it played at a bunch of festivals it is now out wide I was finally able to see it and this is a film that I've been highly highly highly ipating since the first trailer came out months ago so we're going to talk about it today I'm going to give you my full breakdown and review and tell you why you need to go see this movie before we get into it two things first off I did a review of House of the Dragon season 2 I really enjoyed the season I think a lot of people are wrong about the season go see my thoughts in the review it'll be linked Down Below in the description and in the comments and also subscribe if you've not already we're doing videos like this every single week in-depth dives into the movies that you should be seeing when they're in theaters but without further Ado let's get into it Divine G imprisoned at sing sing for a crime he did not commit finds Purpose By acting in a theater group alongside other incarcerated men in this story of resilience humanity and the transformative power of art like I already said this trailer came out months ago and there was rave reviews it had played like I said at some festivals and this by far shot up the ranks as one of my most anticipated movies of the entire year and it absolutely 100% lived up to that hype I have rated sing sing a 98 out of 100 on my scale the way I grade movies and it currently sits as my number two favorite movie of the year behind Dune part two this film like I said at the very very beginning of the movie it was a very euphoric emotional experience I I read the synopsis I mean it's it's very deep there are some very powerful themes and some very powerful stories in this movie that I absolutely loved and thought was was so like I said emotional it listed that emotion and really res you know it resonates with everyone I mean this is a a film that takes people to a place that not you know that not a lot of people have been a lot of people have been but other people have not uh so it's hard to relate to that aspect but it is easy to relate to the aspect of art as a sort of healing form for everyone and I really like that we'll get into the writing in a little bit but but I just Coleman Domingo Coleman Domingo I don't even know what to say like I'm speechless his performance was absolutely stunning it was it was phenomenal I have literally no notes he literally comes out and starts out with a monologue in a play and he does it with such Grace and such gravitas and you are instantly glued to the screen the second he starts talking I mean it's just this is going to be his Oscar vehicle I think I mean I haven't seen every Oscar movie we're not even in Oscar season yet so it's too early to tell but my God this could very well be his Oscar vehicle and I hope I hope it is because he's done a lot of really great stuff um he's just magnificent this movie movie if you go for one thing go for his performance it's absolutely incredible but I also want to give shout out to uh Clarence Macklin who is who who you know you know who who plays himself in this movie um he he really is I would say part of the lifeblood of this story this really is a a story of divine G and and in Clarence Macklin's character Clarence um at odds with with each other but then coming together and helping each other along the way and I think the ending of this movie is absolutely beautiful and I'm not going to spoil it but uh again I employ you to go watch the movie um this story really is it's their story and them kind of going back and forth one kind of falling in love for art one kind of falling out of Art and then them coming together at the end it's a very very beautiful story and um I think Macklin in particular also gives just a phenomenal performance and again a majority of this cast is former inmates um that that are that are here and I think that the entire supporting C like you wouldn't know like they're they're you know they're living outlived experience but but but they're also they're doing it in a way on screen that is is is so good like I loved every single every single person in this cast they were they were all fantastic but really the props Coleman Domingo Clarence Macklin it's their story it's it's really is their story they are the two that are kind of the uh the north star of the story and they are both fantastic Paul R is also in here as well he's great as well um but overall it's those two that just absolutely kill it um I really I this is definitely an a24 movie it's stylistic it looks fantastic the cinematography is topnotch the score is one of my favorites of the year uh set design C oh that's great like you get that classic a24 flare here it's got the grainy film image as well uh it feels very lived in it feels very gritty um and in the middle of that grit and grime there is like I already talked about this this very beautiful impactful story um about the healing power and transformative power of art um so yeah I think the direction is phenomenal shot composition beautiful like I already said I think the cinematography is fantastic um and this the way that they just go through this story and the visual element of the story is it's just as good as it as it gets it's as good as it gets and that that's that's why you go to the movies you know for these small intimate story you you come you go for the big Blockbusters you also go for these small intimate stories and a24 ain't no one doing it like a24 and they just absolutely knock it out of the park just absolutely incredible all right let's talk about the writing talk about the writing here because this is I think for me one of the best parts of the movie um like I already said it's it's about a theater group within Sing Sing uh prison and how you know you've got all these people from all different walks of life that are you know that that are in a they're in a tough spot and they come together and they they all back behind a theater in art and how that can be an escape for them how that can be a way for them to release their emotions and how it it it heals you know it heals and um we learn the stories of these men and how you know even if they did do really ter really terrible things um there's a lot of grief there's a lot of guilt there's a lot of emotion that that they that they live with and being in this theater group and and putting on these plays and and going through all this is is a sense of healing for them and and and this this power that they you know they can just feel their own humanity and for one second they can just take a deep breath and forget about the situation that they're in um and I thought it was beautiful like I said like like you've got these you've got these incredibly dense human stories that are all that reach ahead and we learn about these characters in a way that is so beautiful through through the art and through these exercise they're going through to get ready for this play and I just thought the way that they told this story was so beautiful because not only you it's kind of a these two stories kind of walking parallel and then merging at the end you've got you have the story of divine G trying to fight for his freedom and Clarence trying you know Clarence kind of Wayne whether or not he deserves to be in prison for life or he should seek parole um and you know he thinks that you know he is destined to be a gangster for the rest of his life no matter what he does so you've got these two stories and them you know living their you know going through their their their struggles in life and and then you've got this other story of all these guys getting ready for this play and and the process of of preparing and learning the lines getting the sets ready and running through the scenes and all of that you've got these two stories that are running parallel and then at the end they kind of cross and like I already kind of touched on um the ending of this story is so beautiful um it really it made me tear up at the end um because it's just a story of resiliency and and Humanity it really is and and I really liked the I really liked the I'm trying to put together the worst because this is very deep and I I really really it really like like hit me um just just watching these two characters like I already mentioned one fall in love with the art form one kind of fall out of love with the art form but then them both pulling each other together and fighting both for freedom but also to do the best they can for this play and in the end we see them come together and and celebrate um not just the um the art form but spoiler alert um but celebrate their freedom at the end together and I thought that that the ending scene was just very beautiful and it's this is just this put this puts a spotlight on like this film is a spotlight on how these theater groups and how these groups in these prisons are helping um helping these men and women H have a little bit of humanity have a little bit of an outlet an emotional outlet and it all just it was it's beautiful is like the word like the word of this movie for me this a very beautiful movie uh in in in physical and mental like you know in literal and and and and you know literal and figurative terms it is a it is a gorgeous movie and I just think it's got some of the best writing of the year it's got some of the best performances of the Year technical is absolutely on point point the direction is great and this is a movie that you all need to see because it's going to break you down and I feel like everyone will find something they can resonate with because this is a film overall about art and this healing power of Art and this this power that art has to bring people together from all walks of life no matter what your situation is I mean that's literally why you go to the movies you go sit in a room with a bunch of people you don't know who they are they are all coming from different backgrounds in life but they're all coming together to enjoy art and that's really at the what the core of this movie is but it but it is again like like I read in the like I read in the um in the in the synopsis it's a story about resiliency too not just putting on the play but also fighting for their freedom and uh there's a line in the movie that you know Clarence asks Divine G you know what happens if he doesn't if his parole hearing doesn't go well and he stays in stays in jail he says well then you go again and you go again and you go again and you go again until you're finally free and that resilience is just so incredible and watching this movie unfold was one of the the most it's one of the best times I've had this year it's it's it's hard it's deep it pulls at your heart strengths it challenges you to think but in the end it's got It's got some of the most euphoric just it's got one of the most euphoric endings of the year and just the payoff is just awesome and it makes you feel good um that you went on this journey with these men so I absolutely loved it uh that's it I don't have much more to say a little bit of a shorter review I know my last few reviews have been like 20 plus minutes long um but this one is it's pretty it's pretty cut and dry don't have a lot I don't like about it there's a few story beats that were a little predictable um but overall there's I don't really have any notes like I said I give it a 98 out of 100 um I I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie and I think you all should watch it seek it out I had to seek it out it wasn't at my AMC I went to the uh the film Center in downtown Dallas which I actually like like it's a smaller theater more of an art house kind of theater and um it was nice quaint intimate experience and I really liked it wasn't some big AMC you know hoot and handy um but yeah go seek it out I highly recommend it it's one of my favorites of the year it's going to stay up it's I I would be hard pressed to for it I would be I would be shocked if it leaves the top five let alone leaves the top three I think this might stay in the top three the rest of the year but go watch it let me know what you thought let me know in the comments down below if you've seen it what did you think um I know some people got to catch at the festivals um some people caught it on limited release now it's wide released so I highly recommend you all go check it out let me know in the comments what you thought if you saw it go watch my house of the Dragon season 2 review like I said it's going to be linked in the comments and the description of today's video excuse me follow me on social media that's going to be down in the description as well like comment subscribe do the things you do on YouTube share this with all your film Ling fans and I love you all so much thank you all so much for watching I hope you all have a fantastic rest of your day go check out sing sing let me know what you thought and we'll see you in the next video