Bohemian Rhapsody
Bohemian Rhapsody
wonkit
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/30/08
#2Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/4/18 at 10:24pm
59% on Rotten Tomatoes but the audience reviews are mostly raves. I love their music, and don't know enough about their actual history to decide if it is an accurate story. But I'll go anyway. Worst year for movies in a long, long time.
#4Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/5/18 at 1:32pm
Pammylicious said: "I loved the movie why the hate from the critics"
Maybe because it's homophobic, revisionist history?
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Is an Insult to Freddie Mercury
The mean-spirited, gay-shaming biopic of the Queen frontman rewrites history and manipulates the truth in order to, for some reason, punish the late gay icon and vocal superstar.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bohemian-rhapsody-is-an-insult-to-freddie-mercury
#5Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/5/18 at 1:50pm
It also happens to be horrendously written, directed, and acted.
Rami did what he could with a **** script and **** direction.
JP2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/2/07
#6Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/5/18 at 2:13pm
ErikJ972 said: "Pammylicious said: "I loved the movie why the hate from the critics"
Maybe because it's homophobic, revisionist history?
?Bohemian Rhapsody’ Is an Insult to Freddie Mercury
The mean-spirited, gay-shaming biopic of the Queen frontman rewrites history and manipulates the truth in order to, for some reason, punish the late gay icon and vocal superstar.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bohemian-rhapsody-is-an-insult-to-freddie-mercury
"
What a crock of ****.
Anyway, as a lifelong Queen fan I loved the film.
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#7Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/5/18 at 2:30pm
The negative reviews are pretty much about the film's distortions of Mercury's sexuality and other factual liberties. The positive reviews and responses are from folks who just wanted a good time at the movies and to get some Queen coverband action.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
JP2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/2/07
#8Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/5/18 at 3:03pm
Roscoe said: "The negative reviews are pretty muchabout the film's distortions of Mercury's sexuality and other factual liberties. The positive reviews and responses are from folks who just wanted a good time at the movies and to get some Queen coverband action."
And I get that, but the film was always about the formation and rise of QUEEN the band. Not a deep R-rated character study of one man.
Queen has always been big, brass, bright and celebratory, and that's what the film delivered.
#9Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/6/18 at 10:02am
JP2 said: "Roscoe said: "The negative reviews are pretty muchabout the film's distortions of Mercury's sexuality and other factual liberties. The positive reviews and responses are from folks who just wanted a good time at the movies and to get some Queen coverband action."
And I get that, but the film was always about the formation and rise of QUEEN the band. Not a deep R-rated character study of one man.
Queen has always been big, brass, bright and celebratory, and that's what the film delivered."
Except the film got the band's formation wrong, got their rise wrong, got their internal conflict wrong, got their musical history wrong, got their lead singer's personal history wrong.
Great use of their live recordings, but the script was on par with a Hallmark movie, and essentially made up everything the band went through post-1974. It's not about what it did to Freddie's sexuality, it's about what it did to his legacy.
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
Roscoe
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#11Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/6/18 at 11:51am
So BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY is this year's THE IMITATION GAME.
"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry about the answers." Thomas Pynchon, GRAVITY'S RAINBOW
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." Philip K. Dick
My blog: http://www.roscoewrites.blogspot.com/
#12Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/6/18 at 4:38pm
I can understand criticism if the film just isn’t accurate but I’m so frustrated at this blatant lying claiming his sexuality is somehow ignored or swept under the rug. It’s a major major theme in the movie from so many angles - his relationships, family, AIDS. It is the complete opposite of sweeping it under the rug. The reason the audiences probably rate it so highly is because they don’t feel the need to pander to this PC bull**** claiming it is straightwashing. Stop blatantly lying. What they are saying is not true and anyone who has seen the movie knows it.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 11/6/18 at 04:38 PM
#13Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/7/18 at 9:42am
"I can understand criticism if the film just isn’t accurate "
The film, including much to do with Mercury's sexuality, IS NOT accurate.
#14Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/7/18 at 3:04pm
It appears that many of the details and convenient plot points have been Hollywood-ised, but it doesn't appear to be portraying a completely different person. By all accounts, Mercury was a promiscuous non-heterosexual man who slept around, took drugs, and got HIV in the process. Thank god the movie did not shy away from that truth. That would have been shameful.
I only wish, as I'm sure we all do that PreP existed and the HIV treatments of today existed then. So unlucky 
.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 11/7/18 at 03:04 PM
#15Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/7/18 at 3:17pm
qolbinau said: "It appears that many of the details and convenient plot points have been Hollywood-ised, but it doesn't appear to be portraying a completely different person. By all accounts, Mercury was a promiscuous non-heterosexual man who slept around, took drugs, and got HIV in the process.Thank god the movie did not shy away from that truth. That would have been shameful.
I only wish, as I'm sure we all do that PreP existed and the HIV treatments of today existed then. So unlucky ."
But he was not a self-loathing, gay man pining for a woman and tricked into sex and drugs by another gay man because they were lonely. And the insinuation the film makes that he was only member of the band who indulged in that decadence and that everyone else saw what would happen to him and tried to stop it is revisionist and insulting.
"I shall stay until the wind changes."
Armie3
Understudy Joined: 6/18/18
#16Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/12/18 at 9:49am
I'm not a fan.
To completely re-write the personal and medical history of Freddie Mercury just for some bogus narrative arc is reprehensible. This is a work of fiction. The music is great, sure, so the audience will be entertained but let's not confuse this with an actual good movie.
Freddie's family seem to be on board, so I guess that's something...but like I said, I'm not a fan. I'm not sure Freddie would be either.
I don't think this is PC bullsh*t, sorry Qolbinau.
Jarethan
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/10/11
#17Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/12/18 at 9:16pm
I didn't think the movie was good, but I enjoyed it. The last 15 minutes was great. I also enjoyed the scenes showing how they recorded Bohemian Rhapsody, but much of the writing was just awful. I thought that Malek was very good, but those false teeth were ridiculous...Mercury had an overbite (or something), but not nearly as bad as Ramek's. Ramek was very good.
I did not think they white-washed his being gay at all. I would point out that they targeted the movie to be PG-13, so it was never going to be 'gritty.'
Stage Door Sally
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/4/09
#18Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/14/18 at 7:47am
The usually quiet movie theater I saw this in was packed to the rafters, showing the film in two sold out screening rooms.
Despite the film's story flaws and ungodly prosthetic teeth, there was an undeniable love in the crowd for Freddie. It was like attending a memorial concert with Queen fans, with major applause by the audience at the end.
John Adams
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/1/13
#19Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/14/18 at 10:36am
I haven't seen the movie yet, but I know I'm going to when it's released for rental.
RE: the prosthetic teeth, and how Mercury's sexuality is/is not portrayed, there are two factors I'm going to take into consideration.
Malek has a natural, tiny overbite to begin with.
As I haven't seen the movie yet, I'm curious to see if it would have been better to not use prosthetic teeth at all; similar to how when an actor can't do an accent, it's more believable to not use one at all, and let the audience suspend their disbelief. Perhaps Malek's own, natural overbite would have been enough to carry the role.
Right now, I don't understand the criticism regarding "whitewashing" (or whatever an accurate description might be) of Mercury's sexuality.
Mercury himself was not adamant about publicly declaring or defining his sexuality. Reportedly, he left the bulk of his estate to Mary Austin, who he described as "the love of his life". He often publicly distanced himself from his partner, Jim Hutton, also. Although I don't feel he was ashamed of his sexuality, I do see him as a victim of the social ignorance of the era. His fluctuation between blatant flamboyance and cagey, non-response regarding his sexuality seem very understandable and "normal" to me, given the era.
I'm curious to see if the movie reflects that understanding, and if (perhaps) the critics who view it as "whitewashing" are actually incorrectly applying 21st century standards to a man who lived in the latter, mid-20th century.
bear88
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/26/16
#20Bohemian Rhapsody
Posted: 11/16/18 at 2:16am
I'm a Queen fan and know more about the history of the band than the average person, but I'm not an expert by any means.
But it was very easy to spot the things that were wrong, often unncessarily so. The creators of the movie seemed determined to take him down a peg. So Mercury is seen groveling to get back into the band so they can perform at Live Aid when in reality they had just finished a tour. Mercury's solo album is characterized as a major betrayal when two of his bandmates had beaten him to it. So the movie just irritated me. And by blaming his problems on his gay friend, the film felt uncomfortably homophobic. In the end, the real Freddie Mercury just seems like a lot more interesting than the fascimile in the movie.
After a tiresome second half of the film, they try to revive it with a lot of the Live Aid performance. And if you've never seen the real thing, it might work for you. But all it did was make me want to go home and see the real thing on YouTube.
