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We Will Rock You
We Will Rock You
2002 | Musical
9
7.8 (5 Ratings)
Show Rating
I went to watch We Will Rock You at the Palace Theatre in Manchester back in February, and I had such a fantastic night.

It really is a genius marketing idea to announce a tour of this show not long after the release of the hugely successful Bohemian Rhapsody film. And boy is it a good show. I knew nothing about this other than it was Queen music, and I'm not sure what I had been expecting from the actual story but this wasn't it! The plot centres around a futuristic world where rock music is banned, and whilst the actual story element isn't particularly strong, it more than makes up for this by being downright hilarious. You can tell this is a Ben Elton written musical. The script is so funny and clever, and I love how it's obviously been updated over the years to still be relevant with modern pop culture. The acting and singing too are very strong. The two leads have stunning voices and whilst Ian McIntosh isn't quite Freddie, he still has an amazing voice. Although for me the two standouts were Adam Strong as Khashoggi (who really needed even more stage time) and Michael McKell as Buddy. McKell especially was amazing, really embracing the camp Jack Sparrow-esque Buddy and bringing the house down with his delivery on the jokes.

Whilst the plot may not be the strongest, this more than makes up for it in sheer fun and entertainment.
  
Stan & Ollie (2018)
Stan & Ollie (2018)
2018 | Biography, Comedy, Drama
Like two peas in a pod-duh
I'm a super-fan of The Boys. In fact, they're one of my favorite things in life. I've watched their films & shorts dozens of times, hundreds of times for some & I laugh just as hard now, as the first time I saw them. Let me say that Reilly & Coogan are unbelievable as Stan & Ollie. Every mannerism, their speech, their singing voices, everything, perfect! The movie begins in their Hal Roach days, while they are filming their classic "Way Out West". This is the end of the duo's time together at the studio. It then moves ahead 16 years, where their movies are done & they're on tour in Europe doing some shows. So, we get a look at some stuff we may not have known & what went on.

The movie features many of their recreations of their skits & songs from their films, as they are acted out in their shows. There were many times I laughed out loud. But, the movie has drama as well & I found myself getting worried for them, even though I knew what happened. Unlike most other bio-films like Bohemian Rhapsody or The Dirt, this film seems to be true to the real story. Since I'm such a fan, I may be biased towards liking the film. As for people who aren't fans, which would probably mean they've never seen a L&H film, I think they should watch it anyway. I'm sure you'll like it too.
  
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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) rated Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) in Movies

Oct 25, 2018 (Updated Oct 25, 2018)  
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama, Music
Sublime performance from Rami Malek (1 more)
Sound mixing
Could have taken more risks (0 more)
They Will Rock You
I feel like I should preface this review with some context. Queen were the first band that I was properly into and the Bohemian Rhapsody/These Are The Days Of Our Loves double A side CD was the first piece of music that I ever bought with my own money. I have loved Queen's music for the vast majority of my life and I have grown up watching their concerts and music videos. I have been waiting for this movie to be made for a long time.

So did it meet my lofty expectations? Well, that depends on what aspects you choose to highlight. If you are asking me if Rami Malek did a good job portraying Freddie Mercury, then I would reply; that is the understatement of the century. This performance is the best I've seen so far this year. There were points that I genuinely forgot that I wasn't watching the real Freddie onscreen, Malek totally disappeared into the persona and if there is any justice, the academy will recognise that come Oscar nomination time. Not only did he capture Freddie's onstage mannerisms, but even the subtle way that Freddie would shift his eyes or lick his lips during interviews etc was absolutely spot on. In terms of the singing, I believe the method used was that Malek would sing into a computer and Freddie's voice was then added over the top, then it was manipulated to where it best resembled Freddie's vocal. If this film deserves another Oscar nod, it's for the sound mixing. They managed to recreate Freddie's unique vocal range perfectly and the lip syncing is also lined up incredibly well.

The rest of the cast are great too. The rest of the band were well cast, especially Gwilym Lee as Brian May. I really enjoyed the chemistry and camaraderie between the band members too. I also enjoyed what Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander and an unrecognisable Mike Myers brought to the film. Lucy Boynton was also believable as Freddie's one true love, Mary Austin and she and Malek brought a new dimension to Mary's and Freddie's relationship that I had never really thought too much about.

Could the movie have went further than it did in terms of portraying the hedonism went on in Freddie's life? Yes, it definitely could have and that was one of my main concerns going in. I was concerned regarding the film's 12A rating and wondered how they were going to get around this and still show the sexually driven, intense life that Freddie led. Thankfully, I felt that the movie still managed to contain enough implications and allusions to the more adult stuff in the story that you were able to fill in the blanks without feeling robbed of too much of the narrative.

Unfortunately, there was a fairly important part in the movie where the sound abruptly cut out in my cinema hall for about 30 seconds, this obviously isn't the movie's fault, but it did detract from my initial viewing.

Overall, I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody. It catalogued Queen's exceptional inventory of hits and did a fantastic job in casting the right actor to portray a modern day icon. The other actors that rounded out the cast helped to sell the whole movie and the production was very well done in terms of recreating the talent and energy that this band were famous for.
  
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Bruce Dern recommended Amadeus (1984) in Movies (curated)

 
Amadeus (1984)
Amadeus (1984)
1984 | Drama, History, Musical

"""The second movie that stuck with me more than any others was Amadeus. Because that guy did that. You know what I mean? I remember when Prince died a few years ago, I had a Twitter at that time (I don’t have it anymore). But all I put out on my little Twitter was, “We lost our Mozart today.” And I think that’s true. I look at Bohemian Rhapsody and they did a very nice job with it — the kid is very good, this Rami Malek. It was a good movie, but [Freddie Mercury’s] not Mozart. I think [with Amadeus] they did as good a job [as they could] without doing a documentary in the era of 400 years ago or, actually, however many years ago it was. I go back to when Lawrence climbed on a motorcycle at the end of Lawrence of Arabia. And that’s the same thing [with Amadeus]: When Mozart is writing the piece at the end of the movie and Salieri cannot even keep up with him. He’s that quick and he’s that ahead and Salieri says, “No, no, you go too fast, you go too fast, you have to slow down, slow down.” But there’s no slowing down. “Are you with me, are you with me?” And he says, “Yes, yes, I think I get it.” And Mozart says, “And now … 400 voices,” and Salieri just drops the pen and says, “Well that can’t be done. We can’t do that.” And then within five minutes, we see him lying in a potter’s field grave at 26 years old."""

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Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama, Music
“Fame and fortune and everything that goes with it”.
Sometimes a trailer generates a bit of a buzz of excitement with a cinema audience and the first showings of the trailer for “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a case in point. But would the film live up to the potential?

The Plot
Farrokh Bulsara (Rami Malek), born in Zanzibar to Indian parents, is a shy boy with a dramatic singing voice. At a concert he meets Mary (Lucy Boynton) who becomes the “love of his life”. When a space for a lead singer becomes available in a college band, Farrokh leaps at the chance and onstage becomes an exuberant extrovert. The band, of course, changes its name to Queen and with Farrokh assuming the name of Freddie Mercury they are set for global success. But Freddie is a complex character, and the demands and temptations of global super-stardom take a terrible toll.

The Review
Wow! What a great film on so many different levels. As a biopic of Mercury and a history of one of the greatest ever rock bands, the film is highly entertaining. But I wasn’t prepared for how emotional I would find it. Mercury’s life is befitting of a Shakespearian tragedy: an estrangement from his ‘conservative’ father (Ace Bhatti); a public extravert, but privately an insecure and needy bi-sexual, constantly searching for his perch in life; a meteoric rise and an equally spectacular and historic fall.

Do you remember where you were (if anywhere!) during the historic Live Aid concert at Wembley in July 1985? My eagle-minded wife had to remind me that we were travelling to Hampshire to house hunt because of my graduate job offer from IBM Hursley Park. My 3 month old daughter was rolling around, unstrapped, in a carry cot on the back seat: different times; different rules! Why this is relevant is that the film culminates in a recreation of the band’s spectacular 20 minute set for 1985’s Live Aid concert at Wembley. It’s a spectacular piece of cinema and one that – for me – puts the much hyped concert scenes from “A Star is Born” back in its box. Aside from a few niggles (the sound engineers in the booth were, if I’m not mistaken, all the size of Hagrid!) it’s a spectacular piece of CGI work.

It’s also worth remembering that whilst today’s massive stadium concerts from the likes of Adele and Coldplay are commonplace, back in the UK of 1985 most of the bands played in more traditional theatre venues: this really was an historic event on so many levels.

If I’m being critical, there are a few bits of the movie that are a tad tacky and twee. A whizz around the world of tour locations is composed of some pretty ropy animations that didn’t work for me. And a few of the ‘creations’ of classic songs – particularly “Another One Bites the Dust” – are a bit forced. Countering that though, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” is mesmerising.

The Turns
I’ll just put it right out there, Rami Malek is just sensational as Mercury! I first called out Malek as someone to watch in “Need For Speed“, but since then he’s gone on to major fame in the TV series “Mr Robot”. Here he is a force of nature on the screen and you literally can’t take your eyes off him. Every nuance of Mercury’s tortured soul is up there. I would love to see the performance recognized in the Awards season, with the showreel clip being a brilliant standoff in the rain with Paul Prenter (“Downton’s” Allen Leech).

The rest of the band – Ben Hardy as drummer Roger Taylor; Gwilym Lee as lead guitar Brian May; and Joseph Mazzello (yes, young Tim from “Jurassic Park”!) as bass guitarist John Deacon – all work well together, with Lee looking more like Brian May than Brian May!

Lucy Boynton, so great in “Sing Street“, gets a meaty dramatic role to sink her teeth into, and the ever-reliable Tom Hollander is great as the band’s legal rep/manager Jim “Miami” Beech: his ‘knowing looks’ near the end of the film are brilliantly done.

The surprise piece of casting though was the very welcome return of Mike Myers as the exec Ray Foster: only seen spasmodically on screen since 2009’s “Inglorious Basterds”. It’s a role that reminded me of Tom Cruise‘s turn in “Tropic Thunder”! But it’s well done. After making “Bohemian Rhapsody” famous again in “Wayne’s World”, how could he have refused? I say “Welcome back Mr Myers”: you’ve been missed.

And a final shout out to Paul Jones, my son-in-law’s brother, who gets a full screen appearance in the crowd, arms outstretched, during the “Fat Bottomed Girls” set! (I must admit, I missed it, so will have to go and see it again!)

Final Thoughts
This is a film that grabs you and propels you through the story at a fast lick. It’s a surprisingly moving story, with a well-known and tragic finale. It’s not a perfect film, but it is up there wih the year’s best as a high-energy cinema experience.
  
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Fred (860 KP) rated Rocketman (2019) in Movies

Aug 16, 2019  
Rocketman (2019)
Rocketman (2019)
2019 | Biography, Drama
Burning out my fuse up here alone.
The comparisons to Bohemian Rhapsody are gonna happen. A bio-pic about a famous gay rock singer? Gotta happen. But these films are so different, there really is no comparison. Where B.R. tried to bring us a realistic (but filled with a lot of B.S.) film, Rocketman is more of a musical in every sense. Rami Malek lip-syncs the entire movie, where Taron Egerton actually sings everything. True, Egerton is nowhere near as good a singer as Elton John is (or myself for that matter.) but he does well enough.

The movie reminded me a lot of "Across the Universe", which used songs from The Beatles to tell a story. Although the story itself had nothing to do with the Beatles. This movie uses Elton's songs to tell the story of Elton John himself. Sure, some of the songs are played way before they actually existed, but this was done on purpose, rather than being an actual blooper, like when the same "mistake" was done in B.R. If you're not a fan of Elton John (they exist?), you may not have known how many hit songs he actually had. And if you are an Elton John fan, you'll realize that if they used all of his hits, the movie would be about 6 hours long.

So what is the movie like? Well, it's crazy. Picture Elton's crazy "Pinball Wizard" scene from the Who's "Tommy" film. It's pretty much like that, but even crazier. I found myself smiling & even laughing joyfully at a few scenes. While watching, my wife said that she liked it better than B.R. & I agree with her. In my review of B.R., I mention thatI would probably never watch it again. But I would definitely watch Rocketman again. Such a fun, entertaining film.
  
Absent Friends by The Divine Comedy
Absent Friends by The Divine Comedy
(0 Ratings)
Album Favorite

"Neil Hannon, for me, is the greatest living songwriter that we have, apart from Paul McCartney probably. I think the guy’s an absolute genius. Lyrically, he’s a complete master. The attention to detail is just extraordinary. Absent Friends starts with a great song that name-checks all his inspirations and then there’s 'Leaving Today' which I can really relate to; it’s a song about how he wakes up and his girlfriend is clinging to him like the morning dew, saying, “Don’t go, don’t go off again”… it’s this kind of heart-melting song about how he’s got to get up, get in a taxi and bugger off. 'Our Mutual Friend' is probably the best story I’ve ever heard in six minutes. With that song, it’s such a perfect pop song, we asked Neil about it, when he came and did something with Keane a few years back. Tim [Rice-Oxley, Keane keyboardist] asked him, “What is it about 'Our Mutual Friend', why couldn’t that have been a single?” He said, “I just couldn’t cut the song down to make it any shorter for the radio”. And it just illustrates that thing about how fucking annoying it is, that peoples’ attention spans are only three minutes long and you can’t have anything longer than that on the radio, unless it’s 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. It really annoys me that a song like 'Our Mutual Friend' will never find its place even though it deserves it. I think the same can be said for most of Neil’s writing, if pop music was a more intellectual pursuit, which maybe is a contradiction in terms, but if it were, then Neil would be lauded as the King."

Source
  
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama, Music
Missed the mark by some way
Given the length of the film, there was a real chance to tell the compelling story of one of the biggest rock bands in history.
However, so much of the band's story is missed out in favour of portraying Mercury as a troubled man. The opening 10 minutes of the film basically covers the band's formation, first gigs and name change and within 15 minutes they are pretty much world famous. For me, this would have been the most interesting aspect of their fame. Instead it all just happens in some very short, throwaway scenes where the editing is so abrupt as to make you queasy.
There then follows an over-indulgent, though enjoyable, section showing how the recording of Bohemian Rhapsody came about. Very little about where the inspiration came from, just how it was recorded. Again, this felt like a missed mark.
There were some amusing scenes - arguing over the artistic merit of songs like "I'm in love with my car" for example, and Mike Myers' character saying he couldn't see a group of teenagers listening to Bo-Rap in their car (Wayne's World reference).
The film then spirals into misery, with Freddie's coming out, isolation from friends and family, the band's split and his solo career (with none of the highs of that material, just that it was hard work and the band hated it). His eventual realisation that he'd been lead astray by a negative influence and came back was pretty badly handled.
The culmination of the film, the Band Aid scenes, was excellent and thoroughly enjoyable.
I think the film was trying to show Freddie as being a troubled genius. Instead I found it to show him as being an irritating gullible drama queen.
Malek's portrayal of Freddie was mostly fine, but not Oscar-worthy.
All in all, a boring over-dramatized telling of the worst parts of Mercury's life, and by no means a celebration of his career and talent.
  
Rocketman (2019)
Rocketman (2019)
2019 | Biography, Drama
I knew before watching this that it wasn’t your average biopic but that still didn’t prepare me for how truly wacky and wonderful it was. But then when you think of Elton John, would you really expect anything less flamboyant?

This is more like an Elton John musical complete with rather strange fantasy elements, and I have to admit that the fantasy is mostly the bit I didn’t like. Singing with younger versions of himself were fine, but the rest I just found a little too odd and ill fitting. However despite this, it’s still a rather good musical. All of the songs that you’d expect are in here and it was a struggle not to sing along. I do think that the general sound on the music in this didn’t seem quite as good as Bohemian Rhapsody, it didn’t feel quite as immersive and concert like and it was in the same screen!

Taron Egerton does a wonderful job, I’ve said before that he’s a marvellous actor and he proves it yet again here. Whilst he doesn’t look exactly like Elton John i can’t imagine anyone else playing this role and there were some moments later on in the film that I had to do a double take as he looked so like him! There are other great performances too, namely Richard Madden as the smarmy John Reid and Jamie Bell as Bernie Taupin. There are some scenes with Bernie and Elton that almost have me in tears. I know fairly little about Elton’s earlier life so for me this was rather an informative and fascinating film too, and I was beyond glad at the end to hear that Bernie is still going. I couldn’t have coped if he wasn’t!

This film isn’t faultless and I felt like it was rather drawn out, but it’s still a rather good musical biopic and definitely one I’d like to see again and sing along too. Indeed, wouldn’t this be marvellous as a musical stage show?
  
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Lee (2222 KP) May 29, 2019

Yeah I didn't feel this was really a sing along kind of movie, in the way Bohemian Rhapsody was

Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
2018 | Biography, Drama, Music
How many of these reviews are going to start with “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” A lot I am willing to bet. The thing is, it’s a good way to start. Bohemian Rhapsody has been a highly anticipated film for many years. I remember back when they were considering Johnny Depp for Freddie Mercury. Then it was Sasha Baren Cohen. And then they announced Rami Malek, and a majority of the country went, “Who?” Rami Malek is mostly known for his work as the lead in the USA Network series Mr. Robot. He got his start in the Night at the Museum series, and has scene big screen time in Need for Speed and, most recently, Papillion alongside Charlie Hunnam. I think it’s safe to say that after November 2, 2018, people will definitely know who he is.

Named for Queen’s most successful song in their portfolio, Bohemian Rhapsody tells the story of Freddie Mercury and how he rose from being a baggage boy at Heathrow, to a literal rock legend. We see how the band Queen was formed, how they got their name, how they made it big, and what made Queen… well Queen. Rami Malek delivers a powerful performance as the front man of the legendary band. For me, it started off a little shaky at first (coming from someone who is fan of Malek), but he quickly made the role his own and personified the late Mercury like no other can. Even Mercury’s own sister saw Malek in full costume and said, “There’s my Freddie.”

Not to downplay the rest of the cast. Rounding at the rest of the band is Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon, Ben Hardy as Roger Taylor, and Gwilym Lee as Brian May. All delivered powerful performances in their own right, and the chemistry between the 4 actors is undeniable. Veterans Aidan Gillen (as John Reid) and Tom Hollander (Jim Beach) deliver in their supporting roles, as does Lucy Boynton, who played Mary Austin. If some of these names do not seem familiar, get ready to learn a lot of the background of Queen in their rise, fall, and then rise again. Also, Mike Myers makes an appearance for a fun cameo as Ray Foster.

Clearly a majority of the film’s score revolves around the band’s expansive portfolio. But it wasn’t just the in your face, obvious music that was there. They did a great job with subtle melodies or bars from the band’s repertoire hanging in the background of impactful scenes throughout the film. Sometimes you’ll miss it, sometimes it’s obvious, and sometimes it might just make you cry.

The story begins with Mercury meeting Taylor and May, and ends with the ever-famous Live-Aid in 1985. While the film is essentially a love-story dedicated to Mercury, I feel it may have left out the rest of the members of the band. We see May, Taylor and Deacon, but we know little about their outside lives other than fleeting statements about their wives and kids, and what they were studying in university prior to Queen taking off. It’s a shame because Queen was not just about Mercury. The film did a really good job stating this, showing how they all contribute, all support each other, and how they are all different. But the focus is still on one man. Queen, the rock band, is an entity. Not an individual. But, I understand the decision behind the path that was chosen. Mercury, to many, was the embodiment of Queen. I am just glad the movie did put out there that he didn’t feel that way.

All of that aside, this film was fantastic. I have been a fan of Queen since I was in diapers, despite a majority of the band’s career having taken place before I was born. It was good to see this story told on screen, though slightly dramatized at points. It was an excellent telling of the story, and people may learn a lot about Freddie Mercury, like his love of cats, and who the love of his life is. Unless you’re absolutely cold-hearted, expect to get goosebumps as you progress through the band’s rise to the top, and to laugh as you how they interacted and developed their music. The movie is not without flaws, but they are so minor that looking past them is easy. Enjoy the film. Enjoy the music. Rock on.