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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.
  
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
2015 | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
When we last saw former cop turned wasteland warrior Max, it was nearly 30 years ago. Writer/Director George Miller had envisioned a follow up back in 2000, but various factors delayed the film so much that star Mel Gibson believed he had become too old to play the character which opened the door for Tom Hardy to don the knee brace of the famous character.

In “Fury Road”, fans are given a lavish spectacle that is one non-stop ride of intensity that is as my wife put it, “pushing me so far back into my seat that I am almost in the row behind us”.

When Max is captured by a vicious group lead by Immortal Joe, he stumbles into a true hell on earth as Joe has legions of warriors, most of whom have various health issues, it is assumed from the post nuclear world in which they live. They use captured individuals as blood donors to help make the sick live longer and Joe himself controls a large supply of fresh water as well as oversees what he considers his breeding stock of women.

When Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron), goes rogue and abducts Joe’s harem, this begins a breakneck and deadly pursuit across the wastelands where Max finds himself literally chained to the front of a car as a blood bag for the driver.

Amidst the eventually carnage that follows, Max is able to free himself and forges an uneasy alliance with Furiosa as she is attempting to lead the women she has liberated from Joe to safety.

With Joe and his large band of followers hot on their heels, Max must once again face overwhelming odds to save the day.

The film does an amazing job of creating an intense visual spectacle as the car chases and combat take up a good half the film and they are absolutely breathtaking to watch. CGI is kept to a minimum and what you see on the screen is a clash of metal as vehicles flip through the air, crash, and explode in spectacular fashion.

The film though is light on details as much of the story is left for you to read between the lines and fill in the blanks. Theron has explained her characters motivations very well in interviews but in the film it is at times murky. The limited dialogue in the film can at times be hard to understand due to accent and a form of “New Speak” but it is Hardy himself who is most interesting. He plays Max as a strong and silent type who is haunted by ghosts of his past, the people he could not save are a constant presence in his life as he sees them in his dreams and when he is awake, this leads to a character who is reduced to little more than pure survival instinct and does not allow for much in the way of character development.

In many ways this is a reintroduction of Max to a new generation so much of the charisma and intensity that was a part of Gibson’s portrayal has been scaled back to a world weary individual who has pretty much given up on finding the better life that he lost many years ago.

Miller has said he has enough material for two more films and if they are in the same league as this one, I would love to see further adventures for Max, let us just hope the wait is not as long next time out.

http://sknr.net/2015/05/14/mad-max-fury-road/
  
The Darkness
The Darkness
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Darkness by Ragnar Jónasson is an exciting Icelandic crime story, that’s dark, moody and realistic in both setting and characterisation.

The moment Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir of the Reykjavik Police was rudely told to leave her job and take early retirement to make way for a younger replacement I knew I was going to love this book. From there on, I wanted her to succeed in anything she touched, if only to get her own back on her boss.

After negotiating whilst still in shock, the detective was told she could stay on, but only if she worked on one of the cold, unsolved cases during her final two weeks. The fact that her current cases and other work had already been distributed to other staff angered both me and Hulda!

Fortunately, Hulda kept her cool (much better than I did) and immediately decided which case to pick, since it was one she’d felt her colleague Alexander had never dealt with properly in the first place, but at the time she was not in the position to argue with him.

With two weeks in her position left she re-opened the cold case of the Russian girl and asylum seeker, Elena. eager to prove she didn’t kill herself by drowning but was murdered. And in the first 24 hours she knew more than what was put on Alexander’s original report. Go girl!

From here on, we follow Hulda’s investigation, in third person point of view, and we also hear the story of an unknown girl’s own narrative in first person.

Oh, how I loved Alexander’s reaction when he discovered Hulda looking into his closed case. If that’s not the sign of a guilty man then I don’t know what is! Brilliant!

In addition, when Hulda’s two weeks on the case were reduced to only one day by her angry boss, I raced through this book as if reading it faster would help her solve the case even quicker!

Hulda is one of my favourite ‘older’ characters, who has been through a lot, with secrets of her own, and I rooted for her throughout this story. She’s a courageous, hardworking and down-to-earth character who has faced a lot of prejudice during her career in the police force just for being a woman. The fact that Ragnar Jónasson has clearly emphasised this point right up to her last few days on the job, makes the sucker-punch of an ending even harder to deal with.

I loved every minute of this book, and even the sad, disappointing, yet shocking and annoying ending cannot sway me from awarding this book five stars. Confession Time; Want to know something else? I only picked this book up to have a brief look, with the thought of getting to it soon. But once I picked it up I couldn’t put the bloody thing back down again…
  
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)
2016 | Comedy
More of the same
After the phenomenal success of Captain America: Civil War, the multiplexes have calmed down a little; that is until the release of X-Men: Apocalypse next week.

Sandwiched in between these two box-office behemoths is the sequel to Universal Studio’s surprise comedy hit, Bad Neighbours. But does another helping of Seth Rogen and Zac Efron’s adult humour hit the spot?

It’s fair to say that these films have a target audience firmly in mind. The first film was received best by University students and younger men according to box-office analysts and managed to gross a whopping $270m on an $18m budget – a sequel whilst completely unnecessary was as likely as an April shower.

Bad Neighbours 2 follows a very well-worn path, so well-worn in fact that it shoehorns the exact same premise from its predecessor into another 90 minute comedy, with just a few new twists and turns to stop it from being a carbon copy.

So, what are these twists and turns I hear you cry? Well, for one, Zac Efron’s Teddy Sanders is all grown up for one, returning to help Seth Rogen’s Mac, and Rose Byrne’s Kelly face-off against a sorority (instead of a fraternity) – headed by the excellent Chloe Grace Moretz.

Plot wise, that’s about it; in fact there is no plot to speak off and the real highlight in this simple film are the reams and reams of adult gags. The majority of them hit the spot; a brilliantly shot sequence at a college ‘festival’ is absolutely hilarious, and then a few of them don’t – but that’s to be expected in any comedy.

When it comes to the acting, it’s a by-the-numbers affair. Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are dependable with the latter’s credentials in the genre expanding by the day. From Bridesmaids to Spy, she’s fast becoming a new comedy star, and there’s no complaint from me there.

Zac Efron is now utterly typecast but I doubt he’ll care if his movies keep packing out cinemas across the world. Despite his usual reliable performances, he’s starting to look a little older than his ‘frat boy’ characters would have you believe and if he can’t shake off that tag, he’ll end up in the bargain bins alongside Tobey Maguire. That’s a shame, as his more serious roles prove he has the acting chops to go with his good looks.

Elsewhere, Chloe Grace Moretz is the only sorority girl to make an impact and her sweet, if predictable backstory provide Bad Neighbours 2 with its only real sense of emotion.

Overall, Bad Neighbours 2 is a very funny adult comedy despite its lack of plot and the by-the-numbers casting. Returning director Nicholas Stoller has introduced a more female-orientated film that will no doubt pay dividends at the box-office. It definitely wasn’t needed, but as is the case in the film world, money talks.

https://moviemetropolis.net/2016/05/14/more-of-the-same-bad-neighbours-2-review/
  
Do Not Become Alarmed
Do Not Become Alarmed
Maile Meloy | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Liv and Nora are cousins and practically sisters. They decide to take their families on a two week cruise down the coast of Central America. Both women cautious, they spend the first several days aboard the ship. When they finally decide to take an excursion, the men head for golf and the women take the kids on a zip line tour. This is when all hell breaks loose! From the bus breaking down, to six children going missing in a foreign country, this family vacation is definitely not going to plan. Told from the perspective of the children and the parents, as well other key characters that are introduced throughout, you dive deep into the story and it's hard to get drawn out!

This is the first book I've read by Maile Meloy, and I can't wait to read more! I think this is one of the very few times I have read a book with so many characters taking their turn to tell the story and not gotten confused by what is going on. The story flowed perfectly with the unbelievable around every turn.
 
I will say, not any of the characters in this story are likable, except for Nora's son, Marcus, but I don't think they need to be. You are still intrigued by what is going on and what is going to happen next. This does make you want to hug your kids a little tighter, if you have them. Tell them you love them no matter what and make you want to protect them even more than you already do. To me, this book was amazing and I highly recommend it!

Imagine, all your plans for the day going down the tube. Your tour bus breaks down, so you decide to wait at the beach while a new bus arrives. Then maybe you drift off to sleep while the kids are playing in the water near by. The kids are old enough to look after themselves and those who aren't, have the older kids to look after them. Now imagine waking up from what felt like just a moments rest, to find the children that were just there playing in front of you, have vanished. No where to be found no idea where they could have gone. What do you do, who do you call? You're in a foreign country and you opted not to get the international plan for you phone. Where are your children, and what is being done to them?
  
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Chris Sawin (602 KP) rated Bronson (2009) in Movies

Jun 19, 2019 (Updated Jun 20, 2019)  
Bronson (2009)
Bronson (2009)
2009 | Action, Drama
Michael Peterson has always wanted to be famous, but didn't really have any potential to be much of anything. So he robbed a post office and received a seven year sentence. That seven years soon became over thirty and the majority of it was spent in solitary confinement. It was during this time that Michael Peterson let his alter-ego, Charles Bronson, take over. During his multi-year prison sentence, Peterson became violent and unpredictable. To this day, he's still considered to be Britain's most famous prisoner. Michael Peterson was no more and Charles Bronson was all that remained.

Bronson is one of the more interesting films I've had the pleasure of sitting through as of late. In the trailer (and movie poster), a quote can be seen where a reviewer called the film, "A Clockwork Orange for the 21st century." That quote is really spot-on. There is a big Clockwork Orange influence in this film. While Michael Peterson narrates the entire film, the film jumps between what actually happened and Peterson performing in front of an audience in a rather large theater. The make-up, the setting, and Hardy's performance are all very Clockwork Orange-esque. Another film that came to mind was Snatch. The action sequences and a lot of the humor gave off the same kind of vibe Guy Ritchie's film did. Bronson is very much its own film, but shares the same beloved qualities of the films mentioned.

Bronson is what it is because of Tom Hardy's performance. He's guiding you through his life, his dreams, and his goals while you're with him the duration of the film, so it's only logical that he steals the show since he gets the most screen time. The fact that he doesn't waste any of it is something to be proud of though. He makes what would be a rather dismal story entertaining, exciting, and worth sitting through. Hardy's performance is the highlight of the film. There's really no questioning that.

Bronson was really a sleeper hit for me since its premise didn't interest me at all, but it wound up luring me in with its trailer. It's a very unorthodox type of film that isn't like many other films out there. Films like Bronson think outside the box of normal cinema and is the type of gem you'd hope to find whenever you journey out to your favorite theater. If you're looking for a film that is a knock-down-drag-out, eccentric, thrill-ride with a strong lead actor performance, then look no further. Bronson is exactly what you're looking for.