1 of 5 | Robbie Williams appears behind the scenes of his biopic “Better Man,” in theaters Dec. 25. Photo courtesy of Paramount
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 21 (UPI) — Robbie Williams is the latest subject of a musician biopic. Better Man, in theaters Dec. 25, takes such a wild approach that it easily stands apart from films like Walk the Line and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Williams got the performing bug at age 9 in a school performance of The Pirates of Penzance. As a teenager, he auditioned to be in a boy band and landed a spot in Take That.
Williams went solo after friction with the band but still struggled to write original lyrics. By Better Man‘s accounts, Williams had a similar cinematic trajectory as Johnny Cash or Freddie Mercury.
However, Better Man represents Williams as a talking monkey. Director Michael Gracey explains in a pre-film video that he took Williams literally when the singer called himself a performing monkey.
So this is a Planet of the Apes visual effect. It’s Williams’ voice but Jonno Davies performing the reference footage, along with a few other performers for elaborate dance scenes.
The film never gets used to having a monkey as the lead character, a real-life figure who is still alive at that. It never ceases to be off-putting, especially when Williams sings and dances elaborate choreography, and that is part of the film’s power.
Now, when Williams goes through the stereotypical spiral into drugs and alcohol, watching a monkey recreate those scenes is avant-garde art. The visual effect captures Williams’ charm and emotional turmoil, so it’s not a joke.
It only becomes more shocking the more famous Williams gets. Once he starts sporting revealing dance outfits, even more fur is on display.
It’s not even a movie star embodying Williams. There’s neither the real Williams nor an actor’s persona to attach to the film, removing yet another layer of artifice but replacing it with an even more jarring one.
As if one monkey isn’t daring enough, Williams’ inner demons are also visualized as monkeys. So many scenes boast monkey Williams staring at disapproving monkeys too.
Other biopic traditions include a scene where Williams sings a rough demo of his future hit “Something Beautiful” and confronting his absent father (Steve Pemberton) over abandoning him. The biopic tradition of showing photos of the real Williams during the credits actually breaks the spell when audiences can see he was not an actual monkey.
The monkey is the boldest leap Better Man takes but it is not the only one. A disco ball effect lights vast outdoor locations, and the film includes a climactic action scene.
Musical numbers are dynamic, including a romp through the streets of London in an unbroken take. A duet between Williams and lover Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) evokes Astaire and Rogers.
The film embodies Williams’ irreverent spirit, as if a drama starring a monkey could ever be reverent. In his narration, Williams is self-deprecating, and some of the dance numbers blatantly injure pedestrians in their choreography.
The new arrangements of Williams’ songs add dimensions to his hits.
Better Man is bold cinema. The audacity alone is worth celebrating, but the fact that it works is a miracle.
Fred Topel, who attended film school at Ithaca College, is a UPI entertainment writer based in Los Angeles. He has been a professional film critic since 1999, a Rotten Tomatoes critic since 2001, and a member of the Television Critics Association since 2012 and the Critics Choice Association since 2023. Read more of his work in Entertainment.
By BREANNA WHIPPLE
Starring Bruce G. Hallenbeck, Martha Hallenbeck and Paul Bartholomew
Directed by Seth Breedlove
Small Town Monsters
Whether you are a skeptic or a believer, it cannot be denied that certain pockets of our planet are hotspots for unusual activity. You’d be hard-pressed to find a person unfamiliar with the mysterious disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle, for example. Furthermore, places like Skinwalker Ranch in Utah have been documented extensively after multitudes of reports of various phenomena – UFOs, ghosts, cryptids, ancient shapeshifting elemental spirits that consume human flesh… it has it all. The Pacific Northwest is another location of intrigue with phenomena ranging from UFOs and cryptids to ghosts and sea monsters.
More often than not, all that is supernatural seems to flow collectively. It’s not at all uncommon for grey aliens to come with a side of poltergeists and shapeshifters. Evidently, where there is smoke, there is fire. And Kinderhook, New York, is one such place ablaze with the high strangeness.
Nestled in the Hudson Valley, Kinderhook is an old town with even older legends. Despite being over 100km from the village of Sleepy Hollow, Kinderhook was the inspiration for Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. (Ichabod Crane was modelled after a Kinderhook schoolmaster; plaques honour this fact in the small community.) At a glance, one can sense an otherworldly ether in this place where the veil is seemingly especially thin.
THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE is a companion piece to The Kinderhook Creature & Beyond: A Personal Reminiscence by Bruce G. Hallenbeck. Naturally, Hallenbeck guides the unfolding events chronicled in the doc. Growing up under the care of his beloved late grandmother, Martha Hallenbeck, in a home surrounded by dense woods, he has memories that read like a choose-your-own-adventure novel. An unseen, incomprehensible, supernatural threat to shock and astound lurks around every corner. Martha was once quoted as saying, “I’d love to live in a haunted house!” Bruce’s apt response was, “Grandma, I think you do.”
“Haunted” feels like an inappropriate description. What happens in Kinderhook is so fantastical that it is difficult to fit under a single umbrella. White, bloblike apparitions are only the tip of the iceberg. A sargantuan beast with red eyes, the doc’s eponymous creature, has been seen stalking nearby. Strange noises emanate from the woods, UFOs have been spotted, objects have levitated and strange dreams have been had… Something is very different in Kinderhook.
To call THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE a wild-ride would be a gross understatement – the film is so full of so many unexpected twists, turns and encounters that it is a curious wonder why the area hasn’t been more widely acknowledged in cryptozoological circles until now. Again, director Seth Breedlove and the Small Monsters team have shone their spotlight on a tiny, strange corner of the world. On top of fantastic interview content, the documentary is chock-full of archival footage. Masterfully edited, THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE is made with love and attentive care, which is much deserved for a field of interest that isn’t always taken very seriously.
Of course, mystery is the source of the allure. As a species, we simply cannot know everything. Not every mystery can be solved, regardless of how advanced we become. Apelike humanoid sightings have been reported for as long as Indigenous people have been recording history with hide and stone. Theorists pore over speculations of time-travelling advanced beings, primitive species, protectors of the forest… It all sounds outrageous to those who have yet to open their mind to the possibility that there are forces at work that we simply cannot comprehend. One can easily write off the Patterson-Gimlin film as a hoax, but how can one explain the similarities in sightings from around the globe, again, for decades, if not centuries? One of the tales told in THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE mentions a sighting of a family of the Bigfoot-like cryptid. A similar occurrence is documented in the 1956 book The Long Walk by Sławomir Rawicz – a dramatic, first-hand account of a group of Gulag escapees in the 1940s that encountered a family of Yeti-like creatures in the Himalayas after fleeing Siberia on foot.
Even in the specific cases presented in THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE, there are curious synchronicities spanning a century. A woman speaks of an instance in 1981 when she and a friend skipped school to pick apples. While biking down a dirt road flanked by corn fields on both sides, they encountered a massive creature that towered above the stalks. Its gait was so wide that it was able to jump across the road with ease, its apelike arms swinging. What the girls likely did not know was that 100 years earlier, in 1881, livestock regularly went missing in the area. Locals eventually found a cave with piles of bones lying outside the entrance. Upon this discovery, they encountered a similar beast. They shot at it, nearly missing it. However, it left a mysterious lock of brown hair behind.
Breedlove has proved time and time again that Small Town Monsters is the reigning champion of quality cryptozoological documentaries. Aside from the obvious fun that naturally comes with investigating strange phenomena, much of the film focuses on Hallenbeck’s relationship with his grandmother. The bond they shared was beyond unique. They seemed to share an abundance of love, joy, fun and an appreciation for the mysterious.
We can learn a lot from these stories, exploring history, fear and curiosity. With THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE, Small Town Monsters again proves that cryptids and the legends that surround them will never get boring.
THE KINDERHOOK CREATURE: IN THE SHADOW OF SASQUATCH is available now on digital platforms.
Lisa Dent
Weekdays 2-6pm
A native of Rockford, Lisa Dent, heard 2 pm to 6 pm weekdays, began her radio career in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin in 1981. She has worked at stations in Minneapolis, San Diego, Seattle, and Houston. Dent returned to Chicago in 2002. (Click for more.)
The world of cinema and TV series offers hundreds of premieres every year, but not all of them are worth the time spent. Viewers are increasingly looking not just for entertainment, but for meaning — stories that leave an aftertaste, make them think, or help them experience strong emotions. That is why reviews are becoming an important guide: they help separate truly high-quality content from loud but empty hype. UNN has reviewed the most anticipated premieres and selected films worth watching.
The film shows war not only as combat operations but also as a test of human dignity, character, and choice. Through the fate of the main character, the viewer sees how difficult it is to make decisions in extreme circumstances when every step can affect the lives of others. The director masterfully combines psychological tension with realistic details, creating an atmosphere of complete immersion. The film is not only about war but also about human responsibility, strength of spirit, and the ability to remain human in the chaos of events.
The premiere will take place on March 1, 2026. This is a continuation of the Ukrainian fantasy tradition, where national myths and legends come to life on screen. The film reveals Mavka’s inner world, her desire for love and freedom, as well as the conflict between the human and the magical. The animation promises to be bright and detailed, and the story is universal: it touches on the themes of choice, self-discovery, and responsibility for one’s feelings. This film will be a good example of modern Ukrainian animation, capable of captivating both children and adults.
A comedy about personal life and work relationships that raises questions about the balance between career and personal feelings. The film humorously shows how easy it is to get confused in one’s own emotions, trying to satisfy the expectations of others. The authors successfully combined light life situations and ironic dialogues, which makes the viewing entertaining but not superficial. This film is for those who appreciate modern humor and recognize themselves or colleagues in the characters.
A large-scale adaptation of Odysseus’s travels after the Trojan War. The film shows not only the hero’s physical trials but also his inner transformation: courage, ingenuity, patience, and moral choice in critical moments. The artistic design and the use of modern technologies to create epic landscapes and battle scenes are impressive. The director managed to combine a classic story with a modern cinematic rhythm, which makes “Odyssey” not only spectacular but also emotionally deep.
The film transports the viewer into a vibrant magical world where heroes fight for justice, and the line between good and evil constantly shifts. This is a story about courage, self-sacrifice, and responsibility for one’s own destiny and the destiny of others. The combination of special effects, a fantasy world, and an adventure plot makes the film attractive to a wide audience. But the main thing is not the effects, but the internal struggle of the characters, which gives the film depth and meaning.
The return to the famous slasher franchise proved unsuccessful. Despite the direction of series veteran Kevin Williamson and the comeback of Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics.
Thus, 2026 promises to be a landmark year for Ukrainian and world cinema. Even with fewer premieres, there is a tendency towards a deep elaboration of characters, psychological conflicts, and moral issues, which makes modern films and series not only entertainment but also a way of understanding human life and the modern world.
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