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Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 7:47 pm
by pinback
Two hours of spoon-fed horseshit. Enjoyable horseshit, though. 2.5 stars. The fact that this was in the discussion for (much less won) "best (anything)" makes as much sense as Donald Trump being President of the United States. So here we are.

Apparently they did the singing voice by mixing Rami Malek with a Freddie Mercury impersonator. The first indication that your movie is not great is when people are googling how you did stuff while they're watching the movie. They did really cool stuff!

The Brian May guy looks more like Brian May than Brian May does. If anyone shoulda won an Oscar, it was him, for Best Guy Who Looks Exactly Like Brian May.

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 9:09 pm
by Ice Cream Jonsey
Everything I come up with in real time I try to put in Cyberganked, after I evaluate it for "being clever in real time, as in someone came up with this instantly" versus "nobody will believe I came up with it instantly." This seemed too dark for the game, so I'll put it here, I guess.

I got into Queen right before I became a freshman at college. When you are a freshman in college and get into a band everyone thinks (thought?) THAT is the band you are truly into and were into before and forever will be. I got lucky in a way because they stopped making music when Freddie died, I guess. They are still my 4th favorite band after H&O, Crowded House and Yes.

Lots of people that I know have seen Bohemian Rhapsody and I haven't yet. Not because I didn't want to, I just didn't get around to it. Which speaks to why advertisers are interested in people of a certain age. You reach a certain age and you spend so much of your life living for other people you can't see a movie based on one of your favorite things. I honestly feel that if ZORK or WHEN GRAVITY FAILS came out as a movie, I am not 100% guaranteed that I'd see it in the theater, which is awful.

So I'm at the RheinHaus and my friend from college is telling me about Bohemian Rhapsody (which is the finest title they could have given it). I mostly want to know of Lex's dad is in it. Lex's Dad - Douglas Boogie Gray - was the bassist of Queen before John Deacon signed up. Nobody can answer this question. I should ask Lex directly. I will do that on his extremely popular Discord channel right now. And my friend says, "They have this scene in the movie that was awesome, it was at Live Aid"

And I say, "Yeah, they came on right before The Cure at Live Aid"

And he doesn't know I am joking at first and goes, "????"

And I say again, "I'm pretty sure Freddie came out for that show before the cure" and the bar got too loud and maybe he understood me and probably he didn't.

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sat Mar 23, 2019 10:34 pm
by Flack
One of the first albums I remember listening to was Queen's Live Killers. My dad was a fan of the band, and bought the album when it was released. By the time I was six or seven I had my own stack of Queen 45s: We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions, Bohemian Rhapsody, You're My Best Friend, Another One Bites the Dust... maybe one or two more. Back then you could buy a single for a buck fifty at Walmart, and I used to get $3/week allowance, which meant two records a week.

I enjoyed Bohemian Rhapsody, but as someone who grew up listening to their music and following their career, there wasn't a single surprise in it for me. It was more like watching a movie of a book you've already read; the only surprise is in which stories made the cut and which ones didn't. More than that, Bohemian Rhapsody is a product of "now," whatever that is. A lot of people assumed Freddie Mercury was gay, but he didn't talk about it openly, not like they portrayed it in the movie. In real life, he announced he had AIDS only the day before he died. If they had made this movie in 2000 instead of 2018, it would have been a different film.

(For what it's worth, my "college freshman" band was Led Zeppelin.)

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 6:35 am
by AArdvark
I feel it was the Disney version of Freddy Mercury 's life.

Maybe there will be a ride in Orlando soon.

I could never get into Queen as a band. The songs are good and everything but they just never struck a chord with me. Not like Zeppelin or The Who.

THE
MAXIMUM
AARDVARK

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 9:11 am
by Ice Cream Jonsey
I asked Lex and they didn't mention his dad at all. He said it was the cleaned-up version of the band's life and all Hollywood. I'll still see it and I bet I enjoy it, just good to know what we're in for.

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Sun Mar 24, 2019 1:48 pm
by pinback
I agree with Aardvark, it was the safest, most "paint-by-numbers" crowd-pleasing version of what could have been a very interesting story.

Queen is a band that, one of their songs (Killer Queen) is the first rock song I remember hearing, understanding was a song, and playing endlessly on a 45 at the age of like 4 or 5. It was my first favorite song ever. My love for them has only declined with age, but there's no getting around their importance and impact.

And if you don't, still, after the 10,000th listen, bob your head Wayne's World-style when the end of BR kicks in, you've died inside a little.

(I've died inside a lot, so I know what I'm talking about.)

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 1:09 pm
by Jizaboz
I had that same 45 as a kid!

Re: Bohemian Rhapsody

Posted: Mon Mar 25, 2019 2:03 pm
by pinback
I remember mainly liking it because it had laser beams in it, and that weird laser beam voice effect.