Belfast (2021)

For this must-see movie, director/writer Kenneth Branagh was inspired by his childhood during "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland, expertly blending terror and unrest with 1960s music, a young boy's optimism, a family's love for each other and their homeland, and magnificent black and white photography. With 120 nominations and 26 wins as of this writing, the movie is an Oscar darling. See my running list of selected nominations and awards.

Young Jude Hill couldn't be cuter as Buddy, while his parents (Caitriona Balfe and Jamie Dornan) and grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciaran Hinds) are strong but playful.

Branagh recruited fellow Belfastian (see this link about what to call them) Van Morrison for the soundtrack but I can't find it online for streaming. I messaged Focus Features to ask, but they didn't get back to me before I finished writing. Imdb has this list of songs and here's one song from the movie on Spotify.

Director of Photography Haris Zambarloukos' glorious pictures were shot in Belfast and County Antrim, Northern Ireland, and London.

Buddy and his family also love movies, and the website ScreenRant has compiled a fun list of "Movie Easter Eggs and Pop Culture References."  I advise you to read the link after seeing the movie.

There's a dedication on an end title card which will serve as a bonus for my fellow intrepid credits-watchers.

Branagh was last blogged for directing Murder on the Orient Express (as for his writing, he previously adapted six Shakespeare plays plus the opera The Magic Flute into movie scripts). Balfe was last in these pages for Ford v Ferrari, Dench and Zambarloukos for the aforementioned Murder on the Orient Express, and Hinds for The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby. This is Morrison's seventh feature film score.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics aren't too troubled, averaging 86%, while its audiences are more optimistic at 91. We rented it on iTunes on December 14.