Bessie

in the first 10 minutes queen latifah as bessie smith grabs a shard of glass from a broken liquor bottle and stabs a dude who gets a little too fresh with her and she later kicks a klansman in the gut sooooo it may be very biopic-y but also is that not cool as hell!

single white femalien

B. N. C. (BLACK NEVER CRACKS) - A BLACK CINEMA MARATHON Pretty good, if very much by the numbers, biopic of one of the most influential artists in blues, with some apparently calling her the Empress of the genre, Bessie Smith. Dee Rees makes another comeback into this…

Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine

SO many blues queens way back then were queer and I'm so happy they did not skimp out on that part of Bessie!!! She’s been my fave for almost 20 years

Blue Ghosts

It’s been quite a long time since I last watched a film with Queen Latifah as the lead and boy what a way to come back to her filmography.  Bessie embodies the representation of upfront, confrontational confidence through its female protagonist in a way that is unwavering…

claira curtis

As much as I love Gaga, I still don't see how she beat out Queen Latifah for the Golden Globe. Also, this is a prime example of the reason why queer black female filmmakers making films about queer black women is essential because I could only have guessed how things would…

Zā (Vanity Rex)

May the blues never die

bertaaa ୨୧

If Queen Latifah could please allow me the honour of having my neck snapped by her, that would be greatly appreciated.

Jaime 🏳️‍🌈✨

Wow. Queen Latifah is a force of nature as Bessie Smith. She commands the screen unlike she ever has before, she tears up the scenery and chews every scene like mad. This look at Bessie Smith’s life and career is fantastic, Latifah is perfect to play this larger than life…

B E R T

There's a lot of story and life going on in this superbly acted HBO biopic. Although everything was treated rather superficially, I enjoyed watching it; the music is great, of course, and the whole thing is directed with a beautiful flow.

Reto Hochstrasser