Category Archives: Music

Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody       2 ½ stars

I finally got the chance to see Bohemian Rhapsody, the 2018 biopic about Freddy Mercury, the lead singer of the legendary rock group Queen of the seventies and eighties.  It has much in common with other biopics about music legends we have seen in the past twenty years, the genius of a young performer, the troubled relationships with family, the flashes of genius and the downward spiral.  One type of movie I really love are those that show the creative process of writing a new song, how it gradually gets put together.  Here the formula is applied to We Will Rock You and Another One Bites the Dust,(both I remember well from the eighties) but it’s like the song is instantly put together in the heat of an argument.  Rami Malek does a good job as Mercury, but the look of his teeth was overdone.  There was some mention of his life style and his contracting AIDS, but for the most part the movie was not about this aspect of his life.  It did serve as a reminder of what the eighties was like, when gay people had to remain hidden even in the music industry and AIDS was ripping through the gay community.  The final scene of the LIVE AID concert was certainly entertaining even though much of it had to be lip synced.  If you watch it on DVD there is an extended version of the concert scene that is even more enjoyable.  There are other musical biopics I liked much better.  The ones about Elton John and James Brown come to mind.

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues

Spinal Tap II: The End Continues                3 stars

It has been forty-one years since director Marty DiBergi brought us the documentary (or rockumentary) This is Spinal Tap that followed the legendary rock band Spinal Tap as they went on a meandering tour facing some rocky times and ended with a peculiar performance of their hit Stone Henge. The three rockers: Nigel Tufnel, David St. Hubbins and Derek Smalls continued to perform, but eventually, fifteen years ago they split up and went their separate ways having not spoken to one another in all that time. But ultimately, these talents couldn’t stay apart and started to explore the possibility of returning to the stage for an ultimate performance. That’s where Marty picks things up and follows their journey once more. The resulting sequel captures many moments of them reuniting in New Orleans where Nigel, David and Derek discuss the future of the group and rehearse for the big show. (The house they choose to rehearse in is thought to be haunted and is open to tours.) There are certainly some familiar things about them that many can remember from the original documentary including their odd sound system (“It goes up to eleven!”) and the many arguments and conflicts between them. This time there is a foot pedal contraption that goes beyond ridiculous. David and Nigel once again start their comical open hostility over the chords in a song they are writing. They even get Paul McCartney, who stops by for a visit, to (accidentally) join the arguments! There are some familiar faces that they run in to including Bobbi Flekman “The hostess with the mostest” and Artie Fufkin. Their manager has passed away so now it is his daughter, Hope Faith who assumes the manager role. You may remember the trouble that the band had finding a drummer because they keep dying in peculiar ways. (We learn that they lost a total of eleven drummers.) This time around they find a very talented drummer named Didi Crockett who fills the role. There are many chuckles in the movie, but it’s not exactly gut busting. Back in the eighties the group had a real over-the-top approach to things and their music was actually good. Now the aging rock stars are shadows of their former selves, but still fun to have around. They perform some of their hits that include All the Way Home, Hell Toupee and Listen to the Flower People. Be sure to stick around till the end. Do you remember the mini Stone Henge in the original movie? Well, it makes a return appearance in the final act and it is a real showstopper for sure!

Blaze

Blaze                     4 stars

Blaze is a sad biopic about Texas singer songwriter Blaze Foley, a promising but tortured talent in folk/country music in the seventies and eighties. This film, written and directed by Ethan Hawke explores the music and life of this little-known musician through three different periods told in nonlinear fashion. We see his early life with Jewish girlfriend/wife Sybil (Alia Shawkat), his later days performing in local bars and diners shortly before his untimely death and a later radio interview where his songwriter friends, Townes and Zee talk about the almost legend. I had never heard of Blaze before who is compared to Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard. I am not really a fan of this type of country music, but the songs sung by star Ben Dickey, himself a rock/country artist are done well and are mesmerizing. The story of a talented musician who shows signs of greatness but whose life is destroyed by his own ego, addiction to drinking and a short temper are all too familiar in the long list of musician biopics we have seen. The largest part of the story is about his relationship with Sybil who does everything in her power to support Blaze and their marriage but is eventually doomed to failure. The tall and large Ben Dickey who is a friend of Ethan Hawke, does a nice job as Blaze making him appear like a poet/philosopher about life. This film seems to be his only acting credit. I recommend the movie to anyone who enjoys folk and country music and would like to learn about this near legend. Fans of Alia Shawkat (Maeby from Arrested Development) would enjoy the movie as well.

The Lion King

The Lion King     2 stars

Disney felt the need to redo the animated beloved movie The Lion King from 1994 only this time with modern CGI effects and a new all star cast. The movie is a technical achievement in visual effects with very realistic looking animals and background terrain, but the feelings of the emotions are missing as none of the facial expressions of the original animated characters can’t be duplicated. I also found it hard to tell some of the characters apart based on their appearance. The familiar story is very much the same as the original so of course there is no new territory covered here. There were good comedic performances by Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner as Pumbaa the warthog and Timon the meercat. The music was impressive with some original songs being sung by an African choir. I am just not convinced that this movie needed to be made even though it had impressive theater ratings.

Frozen II

Frozen II               4 stars

Six years after we met Elsa and Anna, the sister princesses of Arendelle, comes Frozen II, the sequel that finds the kingdom in danger from some unleashed magical spirits from the enchanted forest (if I understand this correctly). We again see the Disney magic with many colorful scenes and musical numbers that made the first movie such a hit. This time around the characters are dealing with some darker forces that have to do with magical spirits that threaten this land and it all has to do with a conflict in the past between the kingdom and another civilization that is now hidden in the enchanted forest. There is plenty of comedy provided by Olaf, the snowman and the lovable oaf Kristoff who is trying to figure out how to propose to his love, Anna. The story is definitely more complicated than the original Frozen and would be hard for young minds to follow, but that may not be all that important. There is a long hidden secret concerning Elsa and Anna’s dead parents that helps to explain the old conflict and why it is that Elsa has magic powers. It was all a little too confusing for me to follow, even. The outstanding cast of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad and Jonathan Groff is expanded with Sterling K. Brown and Evan Rachel Wood. The movie has a positive message for the kids about sticking together through challenges. Overall, it’s a good Disney movie suitable for young minds despite some of the darker moments.

Bill & Ted Face the Music

Bill & Ted Face the Music              2 stars

Those dimwitted time traveling rockers Bill and Ted (Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves) are back 29 years after their last film and are on another adventure, this time to save the universe throughout time by finding their greatest song and uniting the world. This time around they are married to princesses Elizabeth and Joanna and each have a daughter, Thea and Billie who adore their dads even though their dads’ band Wyld Stallyns have not written a good song in all this time. The two girls even sound like their dads saying things like “Woa, dude”. The characters then embark on parallel adventures with Bill and Ted traveling to future years in search of their future selves who may have written great song that will unite the universe through all of time, while their daughters travel back in time trying to put together an incredible band composed of history’s greatest musicians with the likes of Jimi Hendricks, Louie Armstrong and Mozart. The film has some truly funny moments but for the most part it is full of glitzy special effects and loud retreads of the material from the original movie. There is an amusing reappearance of Death in the movie when Bill and Ted try to persuade him to let them leave hell. They finally agree to letting him join their band so they can make their escape in a SWAT van. George Carlin makes a magical appearance as Rufus from the future. I would rather not mention the robot sent from the future. Other than that there was not a lot to get excited about as many routines fall flat after a while. I would recommend revisiting the original Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure to get more entertainment.

The Prom

The Prom            2 ½ stars

The Prom is the new Ryan Murphy directed musical comedy on Netflix that brings together the talents of Meryl Streep, James Corden and Nicole Kidman performing a string of Broadway type musical numbers. The premise is that this group of narcissistic actors after bombing in their latest production (about Eleanor Roosevelt and FCR) need a charitable cause to give them new credibility. They land their sights on a young lesbian teen girl who is being denied her right to go to the high school prom with her girlfriend because of the intolerance of the community (the PTA, of course). The school happens to be in a small Indiana town, since the writers see Indiana as a bastion of intolerance, I suppose. I just hope that their perception doesn’t reflect reality at this point. This group of New York actors are joined by Juilliard graduate Trent Oliver (Andrew Rannells of The New Normal) and proceed to try to persuade the parents to allow the all-inclusive prom that Emma (Jo Ellen Pellman) is asking for. While there are a few well done songs, most of them are forgettable. Much of the movie is what I imagine High School Musical must have been like if I had seen it. There is some unnecessary padding of the story with the personal problems of the self-centered actors that takes focus away from the plight of the young kids. Meryl Streep puts in her usual best effort as a privileged diva. Keegan Michael Key is notable as the high school principal who wants to keep the peace while also getting acquainted with his idol, Dee Dee Allen (Streep). Tracey Ullman makes a worthwhile cameo as the estranged mother of Barry Glickman (Corden). Newcomer Pellman does a creditable job as the poor teen who is the center of the scorn of her classmates. The subject of the intolerance of gay people coming out would seem to be out of date in 2020, so I hope it would really apply to an earlier time in the Midwest, but that may be my wishful thinking.

Sinners

Sinners                 5 stars

Ryan Coogler’s new movie, Sinners, about vampires invading a small rural Black town in 1930’s Mississippi, defies genre. While it certainly is a horror movie, it is also a gangster movie and a musical featuring an assortment of Blues numbers with varying styles. It’s hard to believe that this is only Coogler’s fifth time directing, previously directing Creed, two Black Panther movies from the Avengers universe and Fruitvale Station. This time it is in a setting he truly makes his own and is something that could only be made by Coogler. And it is also the fifth time he has featured Michael B. Jordan in a prominent role; this time actually making it two roles with Jordan playing twin brothers, Smoke and Stack. The pair were gangsters in Chicago having acquired a fortune during prohibition, and before that were soldiers in World War I, but now they have returned to their hometown and plan to open a juke joint and make more money. The pair are unsavory, certainly and won’t hesitate to hurt someone who crosses them. Smoke is the serious one of the two, while Stack is more flamboyant. The twins buy an old sawmill from a white man, paying cash, being assured that the Ku Klux Klan is a thing of the past, words that will haunt them later in the film. They link up with Sammie (Miles Caton), a young preacher’s kid who is a master Blues player on the guitar and will play a major part in the events to follow. The brothers reunite with a number of the townsfolk they knew from before and it is clear there is a long history at play here, especially with the women that includes Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Annie (Wunmi Wosaku). The recruiting of musicians, cooks and patrons for the evening’s entertainment takes a good hour of the movie during which we get a taste of the music of the time. It’s apparent to me that the Blues figures highly in Ryan Coogler’s background. It is only after the party starts that we get a hint at the bloodbath that is to come. But first we get a massive display of the music and dancing created here where we see figures from beyond the present dating back to old African culture and future entertainment with musicians on electric guitars and DJs. After the first of the vampires arrives at the venue, it occurred to me that this resembled Quentin Tarantino’s and Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn, the vampire movie from the nineties. As the action filled killing progresses, the characters are not sure who they can trust and suspicions fall on those who were previously close. This was a familiar element that I remember from John Carpenter’s The Thing, when a blood test was used to clear the suspects. Here the act is the forced eating of garlic, a plant fatal to vampires. Everything leads to a final confrontation that leaves few survivors. Not only is Sinners easily the best horror film of the year so far, it gives us an impressive collection of cultures that were a part of the South in the 1930’s including Black, Chinese, native American’s and Irish. I don’t know how long Coogler worked on this soon to be classic, but he certainly had a lot to say. Be sure that you stay all of the way through the credits and don’t miss the multiple endings.

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom            5 stars

There are some truly commanding performances in the George C. Wolfe directed Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (on Netflix). Viola Davis stars as the legendary 1920’s blues singer Ma Rainey in the film based on the August Wilson play of the same name. Alongside her is Chadwick Bozeman as the ambitious cornet player, Levee. This was to be Bozeman’s final performance as he unfortunately passed away last year. The movie is set in 1927 Chicago with most of the story centered around a recording session for Ma and her band as the members of the band and her white manager wait on Ma’s late arrival. Davis gives us a special performance portraying the domineering performer of the blues who won’t let any man walk over her, be he black or white. Her appearance has been transformed with gold teeth and dark makeup giving her a formidable look. Although the movie focuses on the recording session, it is really a way to show the racial injustices that existed for black Americans in the Jim Crow era. We hear examples of it in the stories the characters tell and in their treatment by the white men around them. Ma even says “They don’t care nothing about me. All they want is my voice.” Bozeman also makes the movie exceptional with his character’s dialect and confident nature who wants to break out on his own as a songwriter with his own band, but then falls victim to prejudice and his own temper. Bozeman is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor and has to be the favorite to take the statue. Viola Davis already has one Oscar for Fences, also based on an August Wilson play. She is again nominated for Best Actress and this very could be her second win. The movie is one of a series of movies that Denzel Washington is producing that are based on the works of playwright August Wilson. It will be interesting to see what else there is in store.

Sound of Metal

Sound of Metal                 4 ½ stars

I had not heard much about Sound of Metal before, but am glad that I saw it. Riz Ahmed of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story stars as Ruben, a drummer in a heavy metal band who is on tour with his band, Blackgammon. With him is his girlfriend/manager, Lou (played by Olivia Cooke of Me and Earl and the Dying Girl). Ruben begins to notice something is wrong early on when his hearing become muffled. He is soon diagnosed as having lost 80% of his hearing for an unknown reason, though playing in a very loud band might have something to do with it. Much of the movie focuses on how Ruben learns to live with being deaf by joining a deaf community where he must learn to communicate with others like him including connecting with a teacher for the deaf children at a local school. The feeling of silence is enhanced by imaginative sound effects in the movie that gives us some idea of what things might sound like for the deaf. The subdued acting of Ahmed contributes greatly to the understanding of his character. While at first he is enraged over what he is going through, he learns that he is not alone and must be willing to accept the help of others in his new journey. Sound of Metal is nominated for several Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor (Ahmed), Original Screenplay, Sound and Film Editing.