The Worst Film Ever

Such a frustrating disappointment

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

Why wait till the end of the movie to finally suggest that the reason why Nina Simone was unhappy was because she was bipolar, then maybe we can follow through the entire movie knowing that we're just looking at a crazy woman! I'm confused is she the one to blame for the beatings she took from her husband, for living in a time of racism where it was not even permitted to discuss trauma, for being turned down to go to a school because she was African-American; only to be acknowledged after her death,for her political involvement with civil rights movement, which has always been considered taboo, for being poor, for living in fear of a lynching, for not being permitted to be a mother - just for living in fear! Hey! While you're at it, you can just write her out of the movie all together and just say this is how you become bipolar! This is what happens to women when they are given too much responsibility! We love that story! She can't take care of herself. As long as the men took care of the bills, she couldn't possibly understand the bills. Even in her final moments, she is not heard. It all falls on deaf ears Nina! They're not listening! They can't hear you! They gave you the pills so you could just keep playing! It's three strikes and you're out - African-American, woman, mental illness! I can't imagine a place anywhere and in anytime that a woman like this was not spotted on the street and cared for? Was that the state of mind during the civil rights movement? Can you answer me that question? You are telling me not one person, not a friend,family, or fan came to take care of her? I mean manic-depression has been around quite a long time! Centuries! There has always been people who have it and have been around to treat it. It didn't just happen in the last ten years! I'm sick of the big finale of bipolarism/mental illness! Why not do what has always been done when a writer/director doesn't know how to end a story - just staple a deuce ex machine to it and call it a day! Perfect rags to riches story, hey? Why even mention a mental illness? So those of us who suffer can say, well that's why we'll never be an important part of society! Or those of us who don't suffer as much can button it with, oh thank heavens she got help! Maybe a better ending might be triumphant? The husband is put in jail, finally justice served! By the way, since we are airing out the dirty laundry, what about the husband? What was his mental illness diagnosis? That he was a man and times were different? He gets a pass? The daughter? Anyone with the correct information knows that it runs in the family. How about tieing things up with a prompting of intolerance? Or don't women, African-American and those suffering with mental illness deserve some tolerance? And don't think I didn't miss that you are quick to label an abused woman as bipolar, which is why I asked the question at the beginning. Isn't this what the movie was about? Creating more intolerance! That is why they smacked the mental illness label onto Nina and the ending of the movie: so we could all feel like we were in the same company with the intolerant, nice and cosy. It is a mirror of our intolerance. It's just an easier explanation than and less taboo to just say she lost her fame because of bipolarism and easier to diagnose as she is a woman. Whatever, bravo to the director for an ignorant message! I loved seeing the original footage, but the the director should be cremated! Nina you're not alone. You were never alone. We women are all still dieing silently - African-American, or pathetically diagnosed with a mental illness - for all our tries.

I make it my mission every year to try and watch as many, if not all, of the films nominated in all categories at the Oscars, so it was no surprise that I would watch this documentary film nominated, and the subject of it was going to be interesting as well. Nina Simone, real name Eunice Kathleen Waymon, was born 21 February 1933, this film depicts the life of the American singer-songwriter and civil rights activist, charting her rise to fame, and her hardships during her stardom. During her childhood Nina became a classically trained pianist, and eventually got her break, using a new name, to disguise her identity from her family. Nina made an early appearance alongside Hugh Hefner for a Playboy television show, and rose to fame with her various stage and television appearances, with a broad range of music styles, including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel and pop. During the 1960s however, black people faced prejudice, Nina was a great supporter of the work of activist Martin Luther King, until he was murdered. Nina incorporated her own messages for civil rights into the lyrics of her songs, but this meant many were not played on radio, but she picked herself back up. Nina was known for her temper and frequent outbursts, sometimes occurring during her performances, and she had to struggle not just with racism, but domestic abuse and political turmoil. Eventually, at the height of her fame, Nina decided to walk away from her family, country, career and fans, to move to Liberia and give up performing, she did however return for one last performance many years later. Nina Simone published her autobiography, I Put a Spell on You, in 1992, recorded her last album the same year, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the late 1980s, but died in her sleep on 21 April 2003, after suffering from breast cancer. With contributions by Lisa Simone Kelly, Nina's daughter; civil rights activist and comedian Dick Gregory, Stanley Crouch, Al Schackman, Ambassador Attallah Shabazz and Ilyasah Shabazz. Featuring her most famous songs, including "I Loves You, Porgy", "I Put a Spell on You", "Ain't Got No, I Got Life" (from the Muller advert) and "My Baby Just Cares for Me". Made up of autobiographical tapes, archive footage of news with Walter Cronkite, references to Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, and interviews by those who knew her best, this is a fascinating (in both good and bad ways) story of one of the most famous African-American singers, it makes you realise she was not just a great artist but a troubled soul, a most watchable biographical music documentary. It was nominated the Oscar for Best Documentary. Very good!

Two of the 2015 Academy Award nominees for Best Documentary Feature dealt with artists (specifically singers) who were ultimately undone by their self-destructive tendencies. "Amy" told the sad story of Amy Winehouse, whose struggles with addiction and eating disorders cut her life and career tragically short. "What Happened, Miss Simone?" is about Nina Simone, who used her music to fuel the anger of the civil rights movement until her flame burnt out. Both women changed the nature of their art form; both women were taken from the world much too soon.But for all the similarities, the stories of the two women are quite different. Amy Winehouse is a pathetic figure. We watch as she passively lets fame destroy her. Nina Simone, on the other hand, is full of rage, rage that vents itself through her music. If Winehouse lets strife happen to her, we get the sense that Simone brings it on herself. It's as if she can't handle the anger that a sense of injustice toward the world stokes inside her and destroys herself as a way to be rid of it.Watching Simone sing "Mississippi Goddamn" while seeing images of the Civil Rights movement, images evocative of the recent violence toward blacks perpetrated by law enforcement officials throughout the country, brought home to me how far we still need to go in our efforts toward racial equality and why the slogan "Black Lives Matter" should be heeded by all.Grade: A-

Nina Simone was an extraordinary artist, a singer with an amazing, androgynous voice, a pianist from the age of four, a master of many styles (yet each one made distinctively her own), and a performer who put an amazing amount of herself into every song she sang. But she was also a frequently unhappy woman, a sufferer from manic depression, and while she was involved in the struggle for black civil rights in the United States, she did not allow herself the indulgence of viewing the outcome of that fight with satisfaction. 'What Happened, Miss Simone?' tells the story of her life and career with songs, comments from friends, and extensive excerpts from interviews she gave. It's fascinating, but also overlong, and while many assert the Nina was a difficult woman, few actually describe the reality of living with her in detail, which is a bit frustrating: she was a private person when not on stage, and the frailties hinted at in her public performances are never completely explained. You finish this documentary wanting to know more; but also, perhaps, feeling you could have been told what you've just learnt in a little less time.