BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Review

It's not what you say, it's how you say it. It is this common expression that the rather simple and safe interpretation of the story of Queen that Bohemian Rhapsody tells might have benefited from remembering. In a nutshell, Bryan Singer and Dexter Fletcher's biopic covers the early years of Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and Roger Taylor's (Ben Hardy) band just before it recruits lead singer Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) and becomes known as Queen up through their 1985 performance at Live Aid that is considered one of the greatest performances in rock history. This is all well and good and makes sense for the arc of the band during its peak time of popularity, but within this arc Anthony McCarten's (The Theory of Everything, Darkest Hour) screenplay never digs deep enough for audiences to really catch a glimpse of what actually defined Queen as a group or what made them, as a unit, so willing and trusting in one another to the extent they'd each be willing to bet everything on the titular song being a hit despite the fact a senior A&R exec with more experience than all of the members of Queen combined doesn't believe it to be. Of course, this is where one would retaliate with the, "fortune favors the bold," phrase that is also used in the movie and I'm not saying the members of Queen were wrong or stupid for doing this-obviously they weren't-or that the A&R exec was right-obviously he wasn't-but what I am saying is that Bohemian Rhapsody, the film, never gives the audience reason to trust in the word of Mercury, May, Taylor, and bassist John Deacon (Joe Mazzello) over this more experienced character outside of the fact it presumes the audience knows the story and music of Queen well enough to just go with it. And that's exactly what Bohemian Rhapsody does the majority of the time: it simply asks the audience to "go with it" as it rotates through the band's greatest hits and gives the expected beats of their meteoric rise, the inner tensions and turmoil that come with fame and notoriety, the distance that naturally grows between Mercury and the rest of his band mates, and their eventual reconciliation that leads to a triumphant return. It's all here, but the real disappointment with the story of Queen in particular is that it has so many unique variables and perspectives that this predictable pattern of the music biopic could have been used purely as a template while the actual style and substance of what was being communicated could have been fulfilled in more creative and effective ways. Instead, Bohemian Rhapsody is unapologetically "fine" and will largely be remembered for finding an excuse to play so many great songs on theater quality sound systems.

Official Trailer for BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY Starring Rami Malek

The second and official trailer for the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody, has been released by 20th Century Fox ahead of its early November release date. The film, which has a hell of a development history seemed destined to have some production troubles as well and those came in the form of original director Bryan Singer (X-Men, The Usual Susapects) being fired from the gig due to tensions with his star, Rami Malek, and his apparent lack of regard for punctuality. Eddie the Eagle director Dexter Fletcher was brought into complete the film, but now it has been finalized that Singer will in fact be the credited as the director on the picture though I can't imagine he's had any say in the final cut of the film. It's a weird road, no doubt, and as much as I would have loved to have seen the Freddie Mercury-centric film that Sacha Baron Cohen would have liked to have made this latest clip along with the first teaser trailer for the film have more than piqued my interest in Malek's performance. Malek certainly looks the part and if you've seen any of the behind the scenes video that puts on full display how well he's been able to mimic Mercury's movements during the Live AID performance, but while I'm all in on any kind of music biopic I have to wonder how much of this will indeed be focused on Mercury and how much of it will put equal stock in the remaining band members given they were seemingly given their way when Cohen stepped away from the project. The text cards during the trailer itself certainly seem to play up the fact this is ultimately Mercury's story and as Singer is an out and proud gay man I assume the film will find a respectful, but honest way to discuss Mercury's own sexuality as well as his fast descent into sex, drugs, and the rock and roll lifestyle that came to too quick an end in 1991 when Mercury died from AIDS. Regardless, what comes to pass-whether it be a masterpiece or a dumpster fire-will certainly hold a fair amount of intrigue up until its release and likely even through to some if not every aspect of the finished product. Bohemian Rhapsody also stars Aidan Gillen, Tom Hollander, Lucy Boynton, Ben Hardy, Gwilym Lee, Joseph Mazzello, Allen Leech, Aaron McCusker, and opens on November 2nd, 2018.

KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD Review

I like Guy Ritchie, I like his style, and I enjoy his approach to storytelling. The writer/director understands the unique ways in which one can convey something as simple as a montage and how such interpretive change can alter the reception and/or investment of an audience in something as simple as a montage. If you've seen any of Ritchie's s previous films, such as Snatch, RocknRolla, or either of the two Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes adventures, then you'll certainly recognize the marks of the director in his latest film; another re-telling of the King Arthur story. It was inevitable the legend of Arthur and his knights of the roundtable would eventually get their own gritty re-boot, but when it was announced Ritchie would be the one bringing said gritty reboot to the big screen the trend all of a sudden didn't feel so tired. Too bad we spoke too soon for despite the fact Ritchie gets a director, co-writer, and producer credit on this $175 million flick-it reeks of studio intervention and countless pacing issues due to as much. Before we get too far into this though, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword isn't an outright train wreck and has some rather inspired and interesting moments whether that be in character and set design, some of the performances, or of course the notable editing and inventive storytelling. Still, at the end of the day, this is a film whose parts are greater than its (overlong) summation and unfortunately that leaves a rather forgettable taste. Bland. Bland is the word I'm looking for. And while one might have advised Ritchie and the gang against rebooting a brand name no one seemed to be particularly interested in (the last incarnation of King Arthur came just over a decade ago and only delivered $200 million worldwide) there was always that hope Ritchie might put enough of a directorial stamp on the material that this new version might come to be more than justified. There are hints of Ritchie's British blue collar mentality and sense of humor that pop up throughout that hint at what could have been, a medieval Lock, Stock if you will, but more often than not King Arthur: Legend of the Sword becomes a bloated, CGI-fest that is more hollow spectacle than engaging character drama.

First Trailer for KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD Starring Charlie Hunnam

Does there need to be another movie about King Arthur and his Knights of the round table? No. Do I mind that there is another King Arthur movie coming out that stars Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and is directed by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, RockNRolla, Sherlock Holmes)? Not at all. In fact, it is for this reason that I am excited to see what this new iteration of the classic character holds. It is clear from this first look trailer that this is undoubtedly a Guy Ritchie movie as the grittiness and the obviousness of the editing is front and center. Though there is little given about what quest or adventure this particular story might tell the trailer does a good job of highlighting the familiar beats of the legend we've all heard and seen versions of before while at the same time making the more modern tone and approach to the material very apparent. More than anything else it seems like the cast is having a grand time playing on these tropes for which their characters have been recognized by for years and both upending them as well as elaborating on them. This looks to be especially true of Jude law's Vortigern AKA the guy who killed the titular characters father and brother. As with Kong: Skull Island it seems as if something like an epic King Arthur film should debut in the midst of the summer movie season, but with an early March release the third month of 2017 is shaping up to be a fairly major one. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword also stars Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Eric Bana, Djimon Hounsou, Aidan Gillen, and opens on March 24th, 2017.

SING STREET Review

Director John Carney (Once, Begin Again) is forty-four years old. He was born in 1972 making him thirteen or so in 1985. His latest film, Sing Street, about a boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980's who escapes his strained family life by starting a band feels remarkably autobiographical. Not knowing if this was the case or not before seeing the film (doing a little research reveals it in fact is) I could feel this sense of closeness, of passion for not only the time period and the music that is so evident it's contagious, but in the feelings these characters are actually feeling. In other words, it is beyond evident that Carney, who also wrote the screenplay, experienced much of what is on screen here himself. To accompany these feelings Carney is attempting to resurrect from his childhood is the music of that decade as well. With each of these moments we have a song or a lyric that elicits the grander emotion, the nostalgia-tinted adoration for the promise that youth holds and it is in these elements that Sing Street transcends being more than a simple coming of age story. Sure, on the surface the film could be described as a typical coming of age tale that features a boy trying to impress a girl by playing music and there are of course elements of those types of stories present here, but Carney utilizes such tropes in a fashion that they come across as pure magic. Through the eyes of this child of the eighties we are witness to not only his first love and the experience of him learning, picking up information and ideologies from those around him, informing the person he will become, but we also catch glimpses of the weight of adulthood, the realization that our ambitions can be greater than our inherent talent, and that the best parts of life can be those we leave more to mystery than those we come to know too well. Sing Street is a layered and complex film about adolescence and yet you never feel the weight of such themes because you're too busy being wrapped up in the infectious and heart-warming music the characters create from these circumstances.

CALVARY Review

From the outset of John Michael McDonagh's new film Calvary there is a deeply ominous tone due mostly to the nature of conversation and a single threat that lingers over the picture. The film is decidedly honest in the way it approaches the subject of life and pleasantly unpretentious in the way it deals with the psychology of religion and faith. These aforementioned subjects, these lines of thought and the conversations that spurn from them are always of an interest to me that surpass that of any material subject and McDonagh, working from a script solely of his own doing, plays with these ideas and themes in a way that entices without distancing itself from those who find solace in God. In a way, McDonagh uses the comforts and consolation given by faith and Christ as a cushion for the stories of human nature he chooses to explore here. Not only does the inclusion of a heavy hand in the church bring an interesting dynamic to the more individual stories being told, but it adds layers of concentration on sins and virtues and what, if anything, they add up to. It is easy to look at something such as Calvary and praise it for its beautiful cinematography, its gorgeous music, its fine performances and intelligently constructed screenplay that oozes with dialogue that screams serious thought, but it's the fine line the film walks between being serious about its subjects and ironic about their thoughts that make it all the more fascinating. McDonagh is a sly writer who puts an emphasis on character and lets the themes and ideas breathe through the development of these people and the interesting set of circumstances he has placed them in. The dialogue that says so much and could easily be read deeper into concerning the writers stance on certain issues and points of view simply come off as true to the character speaking them than as any kind of agenda or showy quality. It is to this effect that Calvary succeeds in being more than a story about the priesthood and the scandals that have come along with that profession, but what it's like to be a person in that role innocent of the stigmas and the vicious cycle that rarely forgives the exceptions.