BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) in Movies
Nov 4, 2018
Fortunately, this film rekindled my love for the music of Queen. I gotta admit, I was cranking Queen tunes in the car on the ride home. Unfortunately, the storytelling is weak, so I really did not gain any insight into Freddy, his family, the group, his marriage, his bi-sexuality, his drug use, the times they lived in or the AIDS epidemic of the '80's. All these items were touched upon in the movie, but not delved into, leaving a void in the part of my brain that craves a good, meaningful and touching story with my movie/musicals. It certainly doesn't help this story that I have the wonderful A STAR IS BORN sitting in my recent memory.
But the music, the musical performances and the acting performances of all involved almost make up for this void, leaving a very satisfying experience at the movies.
BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY follows young Farrokh Bulsara as he joins the band SMILE, changes the bands name to QUEEN, changes his name to Freddie Mercury and becomes an International Superstar leading up to the inevitable fall and resurgence at the Live Aid concert in the 1980's.
In the lead, Rami Malik is wonderful. He has the essence of the superstar we know down well. He is a winning, watchable presence on screen and I wouldn't be surprised if he is mentioned when Oscar nominations roll around. Joining him as members of the band are Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, Joe Mazzello as John Deacon and Gwilym Lee as Brian May. All are effective enough in their roles - and believable in the musical scenes - with Lee standing out just a bit more than the others.
Also along for the ride are Lucy Boyton as Freddy's wife, Mary Austin and Tom Hollander, Mike Myers and Aidan Gillen as music execs aiding and attempting to guide Queen to the top. Only Allen Leech as Paul Prenter is unconvincing on the screen. But, I blame this more to the decisions of the screenwriters and directors for Paul is the "villain" of this piece - and a not-too-subtle villain at that.
But, Director Bryan Singer (X-MEN, THE USUAL SUSPECTS) is forgiven his lapses in content and subtlety as the music scenes are strong - and the film finishes with a 20 minute recreation of Queen at the Live Aid concert that is worth the price of admission all on it's own.
All in all, a good time at the movies. If you like Queen, you'll be entertained by this film.
Letter Grade: A-
8 (out of 10) stars and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
10.0
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A masterpiece of investigative reporting, And the Band Played On is the definitive history of the...
The Complete Annotated Gilbert & Sullivan
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Ian Bradley's Complete Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan has established itself across the world as the...
Moskva
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'Even better than Child 44' Daily Telegraph 'Given that the definitive thriller in 1980's Moscow...
Regional Impacts of Resource Developments
C.C. Kissling, M.J. Taylor and N.J. Thrift
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Originally published in 1984. Australia is a resource-rich country deriving a significant proportion...
Time After Time
7.0
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Number one bestselling author Louise Pentland is back with her brand new novel that will make you...
Time Travel 1980’s
ClareR (5991 KP) rated The Paris Library in Books
Mar 2, 2021
In 1930’s - 1940’s Paris, we follow Odile, a young woman who wants to be a librarian in the American Library. She gets her dream job - much to her parents dismay. She meets and falls in love with a young police officer, but life begins to get much more difficult when the Germans invade France, occupying Paris. Odile’s twin brother is imprisoned in a camp after he is captured on the front, and her Jewish subscribers at the library are forbidden from going there. Odile’s wartime experiences are fascinating to read about, and I really enjoyed these flashbacks.
We also meet Lily in the 1980’s - Odile’s neighbour in the small Montana town that they both live in. They become good friends when Lily decides that she wants to write a school report about France during the Occupation. Odile teaches Lily to speak French, and they share a love of books. Odile becomes a grandmotherly figure in Lily’s life, and I loved the relationship between the two of them.
I found this book so interesting: when I was reading about Lily, I was desperate to know what would happen in the next Paris flashback, and when I was reading about Odile’s Paris, I wanted to know what would happen to Lily in her next section. I would say that this is the sign of a good book!
The Parisian sections weren’t gratuitously violent - in fact the Nazi heading the library department of the invading forces seemed to be a reasonable man. It’s made clear that the characters don’t like the Germans, and we’re told that Jews go missing, but the German’s themselves are very low key. This is about Odile’s experience, and Lily’s life in the 80’s. And the power of books.
The bravery of the Parisian librarians was admirable, especially as they could have been imprisoned or killed if their acts of resistance had ever been revealed.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this book - it was a pleasure to read.
Sohng: Prisoner of Fate (Tales of Arca #1)
6.0
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n a world of hidden secrets, all will be revealed in this Dark, Science Fiction, Fantasy Adventure....
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated The Secret History in Books
Jan 3, 2018
Surrounding a misfit at an exclusive New England college, Richard finds kindred spirits in the five eccentric students of his ancient Greek class. He becomes engulfed in their dark secrets and things spiral out of control.
The atmosphere surrounding this group of elitist college students smacks of a wannabe Great Gatsby - there's a sense of self-importance, entitlement, and grandeur, of self-indulgence and pretence. While this worked to an extent in terms of characterisation, it also made for a great exasperation for the reader. The characters are so unlikable that you don't even care about what happens to them. And they do appear to be grotesque caricatures of 19th century archetypes bolted on to an otherwise standard 1980's drink and drugs college environment.
The characters lacked depth, although Tartt attempted to mirror them in the Greek stories they studied. In essence it is a good story with some stylish writing but also some dull and tedious conversations and descriptions. Disappointing.