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      Bolden

      R Released May 3, 2019 1 hr. 42 min. Biography History Drama Music TRAILER for Bolden: Trailer 1 List
      70% 10 Reviews Tomatometer 42% Fewer than 50 Ratings Audience Score New Orleans cornet player Buddy Bolden becomes a key figure in the birth of jazz, influencing countless musicians for decades to come. Read More Read Less Watch on Fandango at Home Premiered May 08 Buy Now

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      Audience Reviews

      View All (23) audience reviews
      Michael G Having read Gary Krist's book "Empire of Sin" helped me to understand the story line. Without this background, I would have been confused by the movie's presentation of the facts about Bolden's life. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 09/26/23 Full Review john m The structure of this really doesn't do anything to get you in the shoes of Bolden, which I think it's trying to do. It's all over the place and I understand this is supposed to be, like jazz itself, a disconnected, introspective journey, but while that can work on some level, having this cut frantically to random moments for an hour and 40 minutes gets more nauseating and messy than captivating. Should have been a short film with that concept. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review darth darth b A phantasmagorical melange of flashbacks, hallucinations, and cinematic trickery, simulating the madness of Bobby Bolden's final institutionalized days, is the means given to somehow explain the genius, and inevitable subversion, of a life unwilling to change and unwise to hazards. It's a typical, rags-to-not-so-many-rags, sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll story, set in the birth of the New Orleans jazz scene, with convincing bouts of schizophrenia given center stage as the unreliable narrator. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member At times fascinating, at others completely and utterly disorienting. The film is Buddy Bolden's life as seen through his eye's via flashback. While there is nothing inherently flawed with this narrative device, these are the recollections of a man suffering a schizophrenic devolution. So, the film has a very disorienting and surreal effect at times. But I learned a lot about a musical pioneer that I didn't know before, and that made the film well worth the hour. Not to mention that the actors cast for Bolden and Armstrong were perfect, and the film as a period piece was highly effective, giving insights into Southern Black culture in the early 20th century. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Movie jumps around way too much hard to follow story line Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/03/23 Full Review Audience Member Very disjointed. I learned very little about this important jazz figure. Some good music, though. Rated 1 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Bolden

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      Critics Reviews

      View All (10) Critics Reviews
      Tim Cogshell FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles) It's not brilliant, but it does give us a bit of a history about this figure who we know very little about. Sep 28, 2019 Full Review Keith Uhlich Hollywood Reporter Most of the time, the imagery feels busy and labored, edited into elliptical shards and superimpositions as a way of distracting from the movie's overall hollowness. May 7, 2019 Full Review Nadine Matthews Shadow and Act It's a film that is simultaneously beautiful and disturbing to watch. May 6, 2019 Full Review Carla Renata The Curvy Film Critic With an original soundtrack by Wynton Marsalis, Bolden sheds light on the tragic, tortured life of The King of New Orleans Jazz...Buddy Bolden. Reno Wilson and Yaya DaCosta are revelations and totally worth the watch! May 3, 2019 Full Review Clay Cane BET.com Considering how so many Black biopics are botched and exploitative, this film was a proper salute to the late, great Buddy Bolden. Rated: A May 2, 2019 Full Review Kam Williams Sly Fox Don't miss this overdue tribute to a forgotten jazz pioneer! Rated: 4/4 Apr 30, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis New Orleans cornet player Buddy Bolden becomes a key figure in the birth of jazz, influencing countless musicians for decades to come.
      Director
      Dan Pritzker
      Executive Producer
      Ed Arrendell, Leonard Loventhal, Wynton Marsalis
      Screenwriter
      Dan Pritzker
      Distributor
      Abramorama
      Production Co
      King Bolden
      Rating
      R (Language|Brutal Violence|Graphic Nudity|Drug Use|Sexual Content)
      Genre
      Biography, History, Drama, Music
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      May 3, 2019, Limited
      Release Date (Streaming)
      May 7, 2019
      Aspect Ratio
      Flat (1.85:1)
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