Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Although I love many of their songs, I wouldn't call myself a Queen fan as I barely know a thing about the band other than Freddie Mercury dying of AIDS. That's the reason I wanted to see Bohemian Rhapsody, to learn more about them. But Bryan Singer happened to direct it and, having no intention of giving that "man" money, I skipped the theatrical release and waited for it to be online. And I'm glad I did that because I'd rather burn my money than pay to see this. 

Anyways, as you probably guessed, the film tells the story of the legendary British rock band Queen, from their very rapid rise through their revolutionary sound and songs that were destined to become classics to the band's struggles to find a way to keep the band together as Freddy Mercury's (Rami Malek) wild lifestyle starts to spiral out of control.

As I mentioned above, I don't know much about Queen's story so I can't really say whether the film is accurate or not —although many reviews I've read online suggest that it's not, that it depicts the events not chronologically but to fit the narrative the filmmakers went for. I can judge the storytelling though, and Bohemian Rhapsody has one of the worst storytellings of 2018 as it's uninteresting, uncompelling, and tremendously boring.

The film could have got away with that though with strong characters. Of course, Bohemian Rhapsody and strong cannot co-exist in the same sentence as the characters in here are thin, uninteresting and unlikeable. It's therefore hard, if not impossible to develop any kind of emotional connection with them. 

As for the acting, I have a question for the Acamedy: what acting? Because Rami Malek sure isn't portraying Freddie Mercury in here, all he does he reproducing several peculiarities of Mercury and it feels like watching a caricature, a parody almost, rather than the real artist. He really looks like the real thing but he just doesn't feel like him. Also, I wouldn't put my money on it, but I'm pretty sure Malek does not the singing unless he nailed Mercury's voice and by nailed I mean sounds exactly like him. Hence the question, why award such a mediocre performance?

20th Century Fox

As for the technical aspect, I have another question for the Academy: where's the Oscar-worthy editing? The editing in the stadium scene couldn't look any more unprofessional than that. It's not like the rest of the editing is any better though as it is sloppy and inconsistent. The cinematography, while it isn't dreadful, is barely mediocre and there's absolutely nothing captivating about it. The only redeeming aspect of Bohemian Rhapsody? The songs, the only thing the filmmakers had no power on.

Walk the Line (2005)

Genre

Biography | Drama | Music | Romance

Director

James Mangold

Country

USA

Cast

Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Hailey Anne Nelson, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Johnny Holliday, Larry Bagby, Shelby Lynne, Sandra Ellis, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne, Shooter Jenning, Clay Steakley, Jonathan Rice, Lucas Till, Ridge Canipe

Storyline

A chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's (Joaquin Phoenix) life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis.

Opinion

Based on Johnny Cash's autobiography, "Walk the Line" is a quite engaging biopic enhanced by two great performances that make this film worth checking out.

Unfortunately, once the movie is over, you realize that is practically identical, both in direction and storytelling, to "Ray". Basically the only difference is the colour of the skin. The two films are so similar it's embarrassing.

This biopic uses the same map of storyline: both coming from a very poor background, both witness traumatic events involving their brothers, both in love with women more straight-laced then they are, both are drug addicts, both bottom out, both have an epiphany, and both rise with the help of family and friends.

I do realize that there are music biopics everywhere, and bringing something new was not easy, but director James Mangold could have done more. He did manage to capture the essence of the relationship between Johnny Cash and June Carter, but some sense of humour could have done here.

To balance the negative aspects there are equally positive aspects. Phedon Papamichael's cinematography, for example, is quite inspired - even though he has done better than this - and there's a lot of good music.

At last the performances. Joaquin Phoenix wears Johnny Cash like a suit and gives a mesmerizing performance able to communicate love for a woman as profoundly as I've never seen before. He also does his own singing. Reese Witherspoon is absolutely magnificent as June Carter - Academy Award fully deserved - and her chemistry with Phoenix pretty much carries the film.