“Real love’s hard to come by. So you find a way to cope without it.” – Elton John
SYNOPSIS: A musical fantasy about the fantastical human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years. – via IMDB
Well, this certainly wasn’t Bohemian Rhapsody. Not that I really expected that per se, because I did watch the preview and I wasn’t sold then, but I didn’t think it would be quite so… bland and generic?
Bryce Dallas Howard knocks it out of the park. Honestly, what a reprehensible character. Excellent. However, that does not detract from the fact that the characters were all incredibly one-dimensional. Taron Egerton and Jamie Bell both perform admirably in their roles, and are the only two with actual fleshed out characters. The costumes were really well designed, and really reminds you how Elton John was this larger than life character.
One thing that really got under my skin is how this movie squeezed these bizarre musical numbers in between everything, making the movie not flamboyant or musical enough to be a musical, but the musical numbers were jarring enough to yank you out of the narrative every single time, leaving you with the feeling that the movie couldn’t quite decide what it wanted to be. I know some have praised the choice of it being a musical fantasy, but it just didn’t quite work for me.
Anyway, as you can tell, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this movie. It is not the worst thing you will ever sit down to watch, but it certainly feels like an extremely one-sided story. The music is really good, the performances are fine, but the movie is long and, ultimately, won’t really be remembered.
“Okay, okay, fine. So, what else do you do?” – Ricky Rollins
SYNOPSIS: A young rock band, half of its members from England and half from the U.S., drops out of college and moves to the Sunset Strip to chase their dreams. – via IMDB
So we were recommended this by a fellow metalhead friend, so naturally my husband and I were sold. We love metal, we love movies, we had hope. After watching the trailer, we thought that this was a pretty solid looking movie. So we hopped up for American Satan, and ultimately it was a really mixed bag for us.
While watching, my husband and I were a bit let down by the music. It’s just not our type of metal – which is not to say that this is bad, it just isn’t our cup of tea. I still commented that it reminded me of that angsty, screamo type stuff like Black Veil Brides/bands of that ilk. I then found out after that Biersack is the BVB lead o.O So, there was that. But anyway. Moving on from the music – the movie itself wasn’t too shabby. I mean, it escalated really quickly, from like “we’re in L.A. and we are going to do what we must to make it”, to “fuck yeah, lemme kill that dude and sell my soul to Satan for fame”.
Naturally, you can’t look too closely at the logic in a movie like this, even though the escalation was super rapid and super extreme. I did like watching how the band went from one thing to this huge beast, and it was interesting to see how it all plays out, how the band influences the masses, etc. Naturally what follows is the expected debauchery and insanity of a big rock band on tour. There are plot holes, for sure, but for the most part, just sit back and go with it.
So not all the acting was top notch or perfect in this, and there were times where it was a little cringy and awkward, but it still worked. I liked watching certain friendships, and I liked the fact that this movie didn’t look like some really cheap movie – which is good. A lot of times, movies like this won’t necessarily look like films that had money to play with. So it looks good and it doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t, and I liked the satire it presented on the music industry peppered throughout.
I was looking forward to this after hearing about it, and while it didn’t necessarily deliver all the goods, it wasn’t an awful watch. The music might not have been my jam, but it was nice to see a metal movie. It’s worth a look see, at the very least, if you are into metal.
“So here’s my theory, okay? If we want to knock people on their asses, then we’ve gotta give them a show. The punks, they’re doing the minimalist thing, so let’s take it in the exact opposite direction. I’m talking, I’m talking a stadium show in the clubs, man.” – Nikki Sixx
SYNOPSIS: The story of how Mötley Crüe came to be one of the most notorious rock ‘n roll groups in history. – via IMDB
So, I know I might not be a Mötley Crüe fan or anything like that, but I still wanted to see how this would go. I believe options to do this film have been turned down for years, and that some big names have been pushed aside. So to know that it had finally happened, I was interested to see what the final product would be. And, how is that? Flat. Really, truly, honestly, flat.
The movie spends two hours essentially revelling in the debauchery that was Mötley Crüe’s heyday. And I mean that. Instead of taking any time to make these characters into real people, to look at all the nasty that was done in the past, to use it as an inspiration or anything like that, it is instead just an ode to how crazy these guys were (and not a particularly grand one, either). It also doesn’t help that the cast isn’t very engaging. Douglas Booth doesn’t possess the oomph to play the lead for this, or to be a horrific heroin junkie. I think the two that annoyed me the least were Colson Baker, and Iwan Rheon as Mick Mars. Okay let’s not even play – the performances all round were just a little sketchy.
The movie does nothing to sell me on Crüe, still, so nothing has changed. I also thought it cold and callous how some major issues were glossed over (that awful car accident, Skylar’s death, etc). There was pretty much no remorse from these guys, and that would be fine. except that this movie glorifies the band and their antics, but no lessons are learned. I believe this is based on the book (and not The Heroin Diaries, which I have been meaning to get to for years), and I might have to rather check that out if I am hoping for anything remotely resembling substance.
So, when all is said and done, The Dirt doesn’t deliver the goods in any way. There is nothing worth seeing here – essentially it is like watching Tremaine give us a better produced Jackass – all the outrage, wrapped up into the semblance of a movie. There was potential here, and it didn’t deliver. The Dirt is shallow and completely and utterly forgettable.
“Now we’re four misfits who don’t belong together, we’re playing for the other misfits. They’re the outcasts, right at the back of the room. We’re pretty sure they don’t belong either. We belong to them.” – Freddie Mercury
SYNOPSIS: The story of the legendary rock band Queen and lead singer Freddie Mercury, leading up to their famous performance at Live Aid (1985). – via IMDB
So I went to see this when it came out in cinema, and I was sadly out of the blogosphere when it hit, so I didn’t write about it. I recently purchased it in Blu Ray and I was interested to see whether it would hold up for a second viewing, and if the experience would be diminished any by not seeing it in theatre, on a big screen.
Well, let me tell you, no disappointment to be had over here! I thought that Bohemian Rhapsody was just as good at home as it was in the cinema, I don’t feel like any magic was lost. So, let me see what I can say about this movie… obviously it had one of the best soundtracks of all time xD Seriously, I absolutely loved listening to the music, seeing it come to life on the screen, it was great and there were so many moments where I had goosebumps because wow.
So on to the performances. I am not usually a fan of Rami Malek. I don’t know, I’ve never actually liked him outside of his video game portrayal of Josh in Until Dawn. So when I heard he had been cast to play the iconic Freddie Mercury, I was dubious to say the least. I mean, he isn’t a terrible actor or anything, he has just (until now) not really done anything that has really blown me away. Then I saw pictures of him as Freddie and I was quite surprised. By the time we had hit the trailers, I was really excited, and Malek nailed it. Not only is Malek fantastic, but the rest of the cast playing the members of Queen are brilliant and cannot be overlooked. Gwilym Lee’s Brian May (or was it actually just Brian May defying ageing??), Ben Hardy’s Roger Taylor, and Joseph Mazzello’s John Deacon are excellent. The actors had wonderful chemistry and it was great to watch them. Such solid performances all round from them, and man, they nailed the look of each of the band members. Excellent casting – not only did everyone look right, they appeared right, too, without stuffy performances.
I really liked that the movie stayed more with the band and the music as opposed to a tell all scandalous interpretation of everything. I get that there was drama and all that, but that is so not why I went to see this. So yes, the narrative is a little skinny and all that, but that takes nothing away from it. What you need is there – some drama, some backstory, some struggle and all that, but the movie focuses on the band and the music, and I appreciated that. Also, there was some highly entetaining humour sprinkled through it.
Naturally, this review would not be rcomplete if I didn’t mention that phenomenal Live Aid performance, so here it is. Wow. I was so impressed with the level of detail that went into this (especially if you take the time to watch the two side by side). I love that such care and attention went into it.
So, overall, I obviously highly recommend checking out Bohemian Rhapsody. It is not a biographical, gossipy tell all or anything like that, but if you like Queen (hell, even if you don’t), and you like the music, then this is well worth the look see. It is just as charming the second time around, and even my husband willingly rewatched it – seriously, no coaxing or begging or anything, he asked! I had a great time with this, and I can see how I will go back to it a few times. Okay, I am going to stop here. Just go watch it.
Okay, not technically a Sporadic Scene, sure, but holy crapsticks man, I love this! My dear Chop, I am sure that you will find the same type of satisfaction in this, you and I can be so bad. This speaks to my soul. Anyway, I will stop waffling, check this out if you haven’t already, lots of fun and totally worth a few minutes of your time 🙂
The Sporadic Chronicles 