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Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Started by surreal, May 15, 2018, 02:51:48 PM

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Quote from: phantom_power on May 16, 2018, 01:18:10 PM
I take your point but from the other side of the coin I don't see the point in criticising a film for being something that it isn't ever going to be. Taxi Driver? Not enough spaceships.

This seems like rather unclear thinking to me. No piece of work is ever going to be more than what it is, so it seems like a bit of a facile point to make, but is expecting "an interesting film or portrayal of the band" really too much to ask? For something to simply have a more interesting take on the particular chosen subject?

All this 'target demographic' stuff is just market-speak wank. That's just saying "I'm exactly as cynical as the people who make this stuff". I thought we were better than that.

Thomas

Ah! The film title is like the song title.

Keebleman

Fair play though, that actor has nailed Brian May's speaking voice.  And he's playing Brian May too, which is a bit of luck.

The crucial thing that will decide whether this film can be treated with any respect or not is how it handles the Sun City business. 

surreal

Quote from: Keebleman on May 16, 2018, 02:38:07 PM
Fair play though, that actor has nailed Brian May's speaking voice.

He really has, also his constantly "happy / surprised" facial expression.

Also wondering if they will feature Kenny Everett in this as he was key to getting the song played on radio.

phantom_power

Quote from: Monsieur Verdoux on May 16, 2018, 01:27:59 PM
This seems like rather unclear thinking to me. No piece of work is ever going to be more than what it is, so it seems like a bit of a facile point to make, but is expecting "an interesting film or portrayal of the band" really too much to ask? For something to simply have a more interesting take on the particular chosen subject?

As I have said, I have no problems with people being critical of the film. It will probably be a bag of shit. My issue is with the poster wondering why he would want to watch the film. The answer is, he wouldn't. It isn't made for him, or me, or probably you. It is akin to wondering why you would sit through The Emoji Movie. Again, the clue is in the question. It is a small point that I made with a flippant response that I am coming to greatly regret

I am not sure this film really demands or requires this level of analysis so I am going to leave it there

It was a facile point, that doesn't indicate anything interesting and takes a reductive view of the scope of conversation that can be had around this subject. You might as well have said "not everything is for everyone" and it would have been just as profound and necessary.

spamwangler

why would anyone want to play a 6 min song on the radio?!

cut to a montage of DJs having long, relaxing shits as bo-rap plays quetly in the background.

'thankyou, freddie mercury' one exclaims, looking heavean wards

Custard

Viz could tell their entire story in 3 panels

Bad Ambassador

Quote from: surreal on May 16, 2018, 03:01:53 PM
Also wondering if they will feature Kenny Everett in this as he was key to getting the song played on radio.

Accoridng to IMDb, he's played by someone called Dickie Beau (who does have some real credits that aren't porn). Wiki claims Mike Myers is playing him. Apparently he is in the film, but his role hasn't been announced. Probably playing Bowie.

itsfredtitmus

Quote from: Nowhere Man on May 16, 2018, 11:59:55 AM
I wonder if they'll bring up the often held myth that Bohemian Rhapsody was the first music video? (Even though The Beatles were doing that a fucking decade earlier)
tbh every single band ever has been thought of as having made the first music video

According to IMDB Mike Myers has an unspecified role in this. Will we finally see his Keith Moon?

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: phantom_power on May 16, 2018, 08:28:27 AM
Hint: I don't think this film was made for you

Well, for a while I was a proper Queen fan, deep cuts an all, and I still find myself defending them on here and elsewhere.  Seeing their Live Aid performance when I was 12 or so made me want to be a frontman and learn how to use my voice properly, and I still occasionally look around on YouTube for new clips or documentaries about them and Mercury.  I'd say I'm probably somewhere in their target demographic.

My disillusionment with the idea of this film is because of the actual production history and the people they've put at the helm.  I was pretty enthusiastic back when Sacha Baron Cohen was spearheading.

Dr Rock

Roger: So, Elvis is dead eh? Another one bites the dust.
Freddie: That gives me a great idea for a song!

Freddie: Hey David Bowie, you look tired, maybe finish writing that new song now eh?
David Bowie: Don't stop me now.
Freddie: That gives me a great idea for a song!

The drummer: Cor, I ain't half tired rocking myself in this rocking chair.
Roger and Brian: Don't worry mate, we will rock you.
Freddie: That gives me a great idea for a song!

Roger: Look on the telly, a bicycle race.
Freddie: That gives me a great idea for a song!


(I know Freddie didn't write all those songs)

I think it was in his Howard Stern interview that Sacha said the remaining Queen members wanted the narrative to extend to the things Queen did in the times after Freddy died. This piece of information caused me to lose interest in the film. I'm not a serious Queen fan and I can't speak for those who are, but surely no one really cares about the post-Freddy years? What are you gonna show, Brian May on top of Buckingham palace?

But that interview was a long time ago and much could have changed since then. I've no idea if this upcoming film is going to cover that (let's face it, irrelevant) later period.

Nowhere Man

I don't know much about the band's history besides Freddie being born in Africa and his death and a few other tidbits, but is there really that much of a story to tell?

From looking at Wikipedia all it has told me is that they pretty much met at college, got a recording contract, Brian May once had hepatitis, they went more synthy in the 80s, they perform at Live Aid and Sun City (hmm, think that might not be mentioned), Freddie dies of aids, Brian May + Roger Taylor bring back the band name to keep the gravy train rolling and John Deacon wisely stays the fuck away.

Hardly a more incredible story than the music, is it? (As the trailer likes to say)

Steven

Quote from: Default to the negative on May 16, 2018, 06:06:06 PM
I think it was in his Howard Stern interview that Sacha said the remaining Queen members wanted the narrative to extend to the things Queen did in the times after Freddy died. This piece of information caused me to lose interest in the film. I'm not a serious Queen fan and I can't speak for those who are, but surely no one really cares about the post-Freddy years? What are you gonna show, Brian May on top of Buckingham palace?

Quote from: Steven on March 09, 2016, 01:30:36 PM
Fuck that, it should be all about May, listening to early rock and roll on the radio and getting a hankering for it, making a guitar out of a toilet seat, public school hi-jinks, there's a cameo featuring Bulsara asking to sing for his band and we can change it to Brian coming up with the Mercury name, the success of the Brian May Band, then meeting Anita Dobson and recording Anyone Can Fall In Love, could have a scene of him leaving a funeral a bit weepy but don't mention anything, don't want to upset anybody, then an uplifting bit doing mega-hit Driven By You, loads of ace animal activism stuff, a poscript about Queen the musical and then ending on his legendary concert on Buck Palace, the end, beautiful. No need to mention AIDS and bringing everyone down.

phantom_power

Quote from: Noodle Lizard on May 16, 2018, 05:35:58 PM
Well, for a while I was a proper Queen fan, deep cuts an all, and I still find myself defending them on here and elsewhere.  Seeing their Live Aid performance when I was 12 or so made me want to be a frontman and learn how to use my voice properly, and I still occasionally look around on YouTube for new clips or documentaries about them and Mercury.  I'd say I'm probably somewhere in their target demographic.

My disillusionment with the idea of this film is because of the actual production history and the people they've put at the helm.  I was pretty enthusiastic back when Sacha Baron Cohen was spearheading.

Yeah it was the airbrushed, Richard Curtisified nature of the final product I was getting at really, apparently not very well. I can see how a Queen fan would want a proper Queen biopic, or even a non-Queen fan for that matter given how interesting their story could be in the right hands. It is just pretty obvious that isn't what we are going to get, yet it will still probably appeal to the less discerning fans of Queen and/or films.

I was paying you a compliment really

Brundle-Fly

Who is playing Sid Vicious for this bit? Dicky Beau could double up his Kenny Everett portrayal with his Gizzard Puke impression.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQI9HMg1yyY



biggytitbo

Who's playing that big Russian guy him and Kenny Everett got AIDS from?

Phil_A

I'd totally forgotten Rami Malek was playing Freddie in this. He does look good in the part, at least. Probably not enough to ever make me actually want to see it, but still.

biggytitbo

He looks OK but I've no idea whose voice he is doing.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

This film should spend at least 20 minutes on the other three insisting that John Deacon be credited as Deacon John on the first album, in a doomed attempt to make him sound more interesting.

bgmnts

And whenever John Deacon isnt onscreen all the other characters should be asking "Where's John Deacon?".

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Sylvester Stallone wanted to use Another One Bites The Dust as the Rocky III theme tune, but Queen inexplicably turned him down. That's why Survivor ended up recording Eye Of The Tiger at Stallone's behest. The rest, as they say, is history.

There should be a bit about that in the film too.

Phil_A

Quote from: biggytitbo on May 16, 2018, 08:24:38 PM
He looks OK but I've no idea whose voice he is doing.

Dunno, it seems pretty close to Freddie's India-via-Middlesex intonation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azfHrtgaLgc

mothman

Quote from: BlodwynPig on May 16, 2018, 09:00:29 AM
Who was it made for?

People who go to see Queen + Adam Lambert. Not just once, but several times.

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on May 16, 2018, 08:45:56 PM
Sylvester Stallone wanted to use Another One Bites The Dust as the Rocky III theme tune, but Queen inexplicably turned him down. That's why Survivor ended up recording Eye Of The Tiger at Stallone's behest. The rest, as they say, is history.

There should be a bit about that in the film too.

People jest, but I think the film really should be about interesting trivia tidbits like this. Otherwise why bother? There is already an abundance of Queen nostalgia and tributes out there, reanimating the old favourites. A good film would explore the less well-known side.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

As far as I'm aware, there have only ever been two good music-based biopics: 24 Hour Party People and Love & Mercy, both of which played around with the standard tropes of these films. They were also steeped a genuine love and deep understanding of the music and artists they were based on.

I suppose you could argue that Oliver Stone's Doors film was formally ambitious too, at least up to a point, but it was such a laughable heap of pretentious old bobbins, it inadvertently and irrevocably damaged the image of the man it was supposed to be celebrating.
 

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: Default to the negative on May 16, 2018, 09:18:09 PM
People jest, but I think the film really should be about interesting trivia tidbits like this. Otherwise why bother? There is already an abundance of Queen nostalgia and tributes out there, reanimating the old favourites. A good film would explore the less well-known side.

I agree, I'd love to see a biopic which managed to cover all the major story beats while finding time for interesting little asides and weird, colourful details. I mean, what's the fucking point of making a Johnny Cash biopic if it doesn't cover the time he was almost killed by an angry ostrich?

biggytitbo

Quote from: Ballad of Ballard Berkley on May 16, 2018, 08:45:56 PM
Sylvester Stallone wanted to use Another One Bites The Dust as the Rocky III theme tune, but Queen inexplicably turned him down. That's why Survivor ended up recording Eye Of The Tiger at Stallone's behest. The rest, as they say, is history.

There should be a bit about that in the film too.


Not quite true - first choice was Agadoo, but Black Lace didn't want to be associated with something as low brow as a Rocky film so Stallone selected the Queen song, which they also turned down as you say.