I was a little hesitant to be definitive when Mark and I recorded our “best of 2025” episode of the Utah FilmPod in January. Though I’d covered my necessary films for the UFCA vote, there were still a couple of un-nominated films that I suspected could wind up on my personal list once I got to them. Anyway, amid the chaos of early 2026, I finally crossed those movies off my list, and at least one of them would definitely rank with my favorites of last year.
“Song Sung Blue” (3 stars out of 4, rated PG-13)
When I first noticed the promotional material for Craig Brewer’s “Song Sung Blue,” I assumed it was a biopic about Neil Diamond. Nothing more than the latest big screen dramatization of the life of a celebrated musician, ready to take its place with “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Ray,” “Walk the Line,” etc. And I made a note to check it out. Then I found out that “Song Sung Blue” is actually the biopic of a Neil Diamond tribute act, and my interest heightened substantially.
Back in my first year of grad school, I briefly played in a Neil Diamond cover band called Dreamy Phil and the Diamond Dazzlers. I saw them play at a house party in my neighborhood, struck up a friendship, and wound up taking over as their drummer for a show at Utah State University’s Valentine’s Dance. Then we transitioned over to some more original material and a half-dozen additional shows over the rest of the semester, and when summer arrives we went our separate ways. (Or rather, I went my separate ways. They regrouped the next year, and I was more preoccupied with my graduate thesis.)
Anyway, with my history, “Song Sung Blue” became a must-see, at least once I got a few other to-do items out of the way in early 2026. The film tells the real-life story of a married couple who saw some legitimate success as a Diamond tribute act in the 1990s, even opening for Pearl Jam at one point (and not just when the Seattle icons were no-names).
Hugh Jackman plays Mike, the beaming embodiment of every middle-aged performing hopeful you’ve ever met who somehow got stuck a few steps shy of the big time. We meet him as he’s struggling to keep his head above water with a group of other tribute artists, including his future wife–and present Patsy Cline impersonator–Claire (Kate Hudson). Mike and Claire discover some instant chemistry, including an appreciation for Mr. Diamond, and their story is off to the races.
A lot of “Song Sung Blue” is what you might expect: the zany misadventures of a not-ready-for-the-big-time tribute act, weaved in with some uplifting moments and some great music. But it’s also quite a bit darker and more serious in places, and some mid-plot twists take the story in some truly unexpected directions. The performances are great–Hudson deserved her Oscar nomination–and of course the music is a lot of fun, but the strangest thing about “Song Sung Blue” might be how (?) captures the whole amateur quality of the whole endeavor, which remains endearing all the same.
“The Ballad of Wallis Island” (3 1/2 stars out of 4, rated PG-13)
Where “Song Sung Blue” is based in fact and flirts with my top ten for 2026, “The Ballad of Wallis Island” is a purely fictional story, and gets a guaranteed spot. This one is at least a close cousin to a John Carney film, if not something the director of “Sing Street” and “Once” might have been proud to have made himself.
Like those Carney titles, “Wallace Island” is a sincere movie about music and the people who make it, and in this case, the people who just love it. Comedian Tim Key plays Charles, the superfan of a long-defunct folk duo who conspires to reunite the act for a personal performance.
The duo is the fictional McGwyer and Mortimer, former lovers and collaborators who eventually split over much of the same “creative differences” that befall so many. Herb McGwyer(Tom Basden) has gone on to some success as a solo act, though his transition to more electric music has undercut his purer instincts. Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) has mostly focused on her personal life, marrying a kind and inoffensive man named Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen).
Herb and Nell haven’t communicated in years, but the lure of a big paycheck brings them to remote Wallis Island, where their benefactor just happens to leave out that little bit about playing with each other again. Luckily the inaccessible location, some genuine inner conflict, and some even more genuine chemistry keep the musicians from bailing out immediately, and “Wallis Island” leads us along with a unique brand of “will they/won’t they.”
Mulligan and Basden are strong in their roles, but the true MVP here is Key, who strikes the perfect balance between lovable and absurdly irritating to keep you laughing without sending things completely over the top. The less you know about his story the better; it’s much more fun to learn about it in real time.
Only time will tell where these two wind up on my all-time list, but it’s no coincidence that the two “don’t forget about me!” movies of 2026 on my checklist were music movies.