Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

I finally saw this film and it wasn't as bad as some of the reviews nor was it anywhere near good enough to be the best dramatic film of the year.
Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek) doesn't start out as Freddie Mercury, he's Farrokh Balsara, who works in baggage claims at Heathrow.
But he stumbles upon a band and they instantly become family, which is slightly odd. And their rise to fame is epicly quick, after they get funky creating a record after they sell their old, broken down van. They have one of the best producers in the business but he scoffs at the long song, the six minute Bohemian Rhapsody, but Freddie schmoozes all the radio stations, so the song becomes a hit nevertheless.
Then, the film, jumps ahead five years as Freddie's life is spent drinking and getting high and there are plenty of internal problems, such as Freddie being an asshole to basically everyone in his life and the manager, John Reid (Aiden Gillan) wants Freddie to break solo, which Freddie doesn't want to do, though later he changes his mind, thanks to the a slimy, undeveloped villain of Paul Prenter (a nearly uncognizable Downton Abbey's Allen Leech), he later tries to go solo anyway and is even more miserable than before. And he's getting sick.
It isn't until his former fiance, Mary (Lucy Boynton, from the great little film Sing Street) shows up and informs him about the concert event Live Aid, that Freddie realizes what a little slimy worm Paul is that Freddie kicks him to the curb and gets the band back together, and grovels for their forgiveness, which they give far too easily, that things finally click back in place for Freddie as he is finally making good music again, though he knows his time on Earth is limited as he is diagnosed with AIDS, which in the 1980s is a death sentence.
Yet, the performance at Live Aid is an epic one which should not be forgotten.
Now, while the film has large plot holes, Malek is brilliant, and is truly convincing as British, as most Americans playing Brits are less than stellar (see Anne Hathaway and Renee Zellweger) but Malek does very well. The fellow bandmates are also good though far less developed, Gwilyn Lee (Brian May), Ben Hardy (Roger Taylor) and Joe Mazzello (John Deacon), and of course, Tom Hollander is good in the small role of lawyer turned manager.
The set is also gorgeous along with all the music numbers. And Freddie is a huge cat lover (all each have their own room in his house) so it is hard not to like him, though he surrounds himself with some dreadful people.
So, I guess my takeaway from this film is that Freddie's life was too interesting to be crammed into a film and the other members needed equal screen time for a film to be about Queen, not just Freddie Mercury. That being said, it was still interesting and kept me engaged the whole time, so the film was still very good nevertheless. Grade: B

Vox Lux (2018)

This was a super bizarre film.
Celeste (played by Raffey Cassidy as a teenager and Natalie Portman as an adult) survives a wicked school shooting and nearly dies herself, leaving a bullet lodged in her spine. But she turns that pain into a song, which goes viral before YouTube even exists.
But Celeste and her sister, Ellie (Stacy Martin) aren't the small-town girls they appear to be, both into heavy partying, underage drinking and experiments with drugs, but Ellie is able to leave that behind while Celeste cannot.
The narrator (Willem Dafoe) refers in a near-tragic accident where Celeste is high on household cleaners (you can drink those and survive?) and gets behind the wheel and runs over a pedestrian who fortunately survives, but this incident is only referred to as the second half of the film opts to focus on the opening night of her new tour, which coincides with another mass shooting (this one in Europe) and the nasty shooters happen to be wearing masks which were also worn by Celeste in her first hit music video.
Now, the plot is bizarre and I feel like huge parts are missing. But Portman is magnificent in a role very different than Jackie Kennedy or Nina Sayers or Jane Jones. However, she really has the only colorful role and completely stands out in a cast of basically stock characters.
However, this film is also different as it has a French new wave feel to it though it also distinctly American. And who is Celeste? She is a mix between Sia (who penned some of the songs) and Lady Gaga (calling her fans Angels instead of Little Monsters) and it doesn't actually matter if she can sing or not because the lyrics are so auto-tuned it doesn't matter.
Unfortunately, this film could have been great and Celeste is a character who says stuff that matters but she's lost under all the make-up and booze and other illegal drugs. The dynamic between the sisters is one of the giant plot holes that needs fleshed out better. This film was a noble effort but it just ultimately, had too many mistakes to be special or extraordinary. Grade: B-

The Handmaid's Tale: Season Two Recap and Reaction

This show continues to be the most nauseating hour on TV (or streaming services).
Offred, aka June, (Elisabeth Moss) almost escapes, twice but she doesn't. The first time, she was captured back but the second time, she opts to stay behind just in case there is any chance she can be reunited with her daughter, Hannah, the daughter she created in love.
Yes, her pregnancy continues and she's able to get away with more than before because she's pregnancy but the world moves on around her, including a bombing which forces Janine (Madeline Brewer) and Emily (Alexis Bledel) back from the treacherous and disgusting colonies. Emily's second posting is a particularly bizarre one but it allows her to get away with murdering Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd), shockingly no the most evil character this season. Sure, she's awful but Serena (Yvonne Strahovski) and Fred (Joseph Fiennes) are far worse, as they both rape (I mean, really rape) her to induce labor. But you see a different side of Serena this season, she steps it up and has no problem going back to work while Fred is recovering from nearly dying and is punished for doing so.  In the finale, when she urges all the children of Gilead to be taught how to read so they can read the word of God, she has a finger cut off. And she loves baby Holly (June's baby) even though she is also sick, having created the concept for this world and that she was fine with making all these sacrifices just so she could have a baby. She doesn't think about what it does to June. But fortunately, she lets the baby go to freedom, making the ultimate sacrifice, knowing that Holly deserves a better life than Gilead can give to her.
Now, the season also gets wonky with having Nick (Max Minghella) get married to a young farm girl, Eden (Sydney Sweeney). She's sweet enough and pious enough but Nick doesn't love her. It must be so dreadful for him to have to sleep with someone he doesn't love (June's words, not mine). But he is still nevertheless quite upset when she dies. She runs off with a Guardian and her love, Isaac (Rohan Mead), who is a bit of a jackass and foolishly goes to parents' house and doesn't repent and they are both drowned.
That is the problem with Gilead. There is no room for love in this troubled world. And the little love in this world (between mother and child, actual mother and baby) is stomped out. Which is just wrong and unacceptable. And the rest of the world is relatively normal and the secret Martha letters go viral in Canada, which is a truly great moment as Gilead becomes more and more isolated from the rest of the world. Yet, no one is willing to intervene to stop the abuse and needless violence. It would be better for child to be conceived in love and raised by those parents who love them.
I also wish that June and Luke (O-T Fagbenie) met under different circumstances, without June being the other woman, helping end his first marriage. And when June goes into labor, that is a lot of blood, too much as far as I'm concerned, but then again, I've never had a baby before (to my knowledge).
Still, the performances are truly brilliant and none of these can be easy as they are bringing a truly dreadful time to life and they do so perfectly. Grade: A-

The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

This film wasn't as good as I remembered it but it was a daring film for the time with the Hayes code firmly in place.
Three veterans return from the war and return to their hometown Boone City (somewhere in the mid-west). Al Stephenson (Frederic March, who wears a wedding ring), Fred Derry (Dana Andrews, who does not) and Homer Parish (Harold Russell) have each had different experiences and deal with the aftermath differently.
Al's children finished growing up without him, Fred's wife, Marie (Virginia Mayo) started living her own life and Homer learned how to function without his hands as they were destroyed in the war, burned off.
While each have their own plots, some work better than others. Al has struggles in his professional world. Sure, he got a big promotion which means more money but he just can't deny returning veterans loans so their dreams can be fulfilled which doesn't make the higher ups very happy. He also drinks far too much alcohol but his wife, Millie (Myrna Loy) is loyal and still in love with him, which is good. They don't explore this subject nearly as much as they should (see 1945's The Lost Weekend for that part of the story) but Frederic March has some good scenes nevertheless.
Fred's plots take up most of the film, between his own career issues. Without a college education, his only experience is dropping bombs and filling up ice cream cones. Yet, he forces his wife to quit her job (to be fair, she worked at a night club) so money struggles fill up their marriage and without his uniform, there is nothing special about him so Marie tires of him.
And there is the wildcard of Al's daughter, Peggy (the great Teresa Wright). She works as a nurse and is far more sympathetic to Fred's night terrors and the two quickly fall in love despite Fred being an asshole. On his first night home, he gets drunk and Peggy puts him to bed and he nearly assaults her. She worms away before anything can happen. He apologizes the next morning, not because it was wrong for what he did but because he was married. Despite being married, he falls in love with Peggy anyway and so does she. Even after she meets Marie, she realizes that they don't like each other and decides to break up the marriage over the loud objections of her parents (and who can blame them). Fortunately, Al intervenes so her career as a homewrecker (her own words) is over, thank goodness.
Homer, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily need to worry about finding a job (he never mentions future employment in the film) as he will be receiving a monthly stipend from the government for the rest of his life (thanks to him losing his hands) but rather, how can Wilma (Cathy O'Donnell) still love him and want to be with him? Sure, hooks aren't the same as arms but Wilma, while an underdeveloped character, is stronger than Marie and still wants to spend the rest of her life with Homer, so they do. The film ends with their wedding and Fred and Peggy getting together. For the record, this is okay as Marie announces that she's going back to work and getting a divorce, which is what should have happened far earlier. While Marie is portrayed as a villain, and yes, she is loaded with flaws just as all the characters (save Wilma and Millie) are, she is also a strong feminist character, not putting up with place Fred put her in.
Now, while the film is solid, the screenplay doesn't flow as well as it should but there are plenty of good performances and it is lovely seeing a main character with a disability on screen but Russell's performance is uneven. I almost wonder if the scenes were filmed in the order of the script as he does get better as the film progresses. And Wright was robbed of a nomination.
I also wish that Rob Stephenson (Michael Hall) had more to do as he could have been an interesting character. Still, despite these problems (lest we forget that Fred is a true asshole and borderline abusive to Marie), the film is fascinating to watch and remains timeless. However, if you want to see a film that truly captures the aftermath of soldiers coming home from World War II, watch Mudbound, which is such an underrated film. That film deserves the praise that this one received. Mudbound is daring for this time, The Best Years of Our Lives was daring for its time. Grade: B+

Boy Erased (2018)

This film is a devastating look on a gay conversation camp and a hidden gem of a film.
Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges, one of the best actors of his generation) seems to be the typical wonder bread American boy, athletic and all that. His father, Marshall (Russell Crowe) is a pastor and owns a car dealership (because that makes sense) and is the one who sends him off to a gay conversation therapy camp, which is a dreadful experience because you can't pray the gay away, which any sane person would know.
However, Jared isn't like some of the other boys (or girls) there. He isn't angry at this father though he has reason to be and also, he's still struggling with his sexuality, his main sexual experience was when his friend Henry (Joe Alwyn), one of the worst villains in the recent years of film, date rapes him in a truly horrific scene and then wonders what's wrong with him (Henry, not Jared).
And then, Henry calls Jared's mother, Nancy (the brilliant Nicole Kidman) and the whole plot gets underway.
Nancy is the one who takes Jared to this camp, Love In Action but she is more aware than most parents and insists on reading the manual, even though one of the main rules is that nothing leaves the facility, which is foolish. Parents should know what they are paying for. There is child abuse behind those walls, literally beating a young man with a Bible but Jared doesn't fall for that and tries to leave; however, it isn't until his mother threatens to call the cops that Jared is actually allowed to leave. Nancy regrets falling in line with the men (her husband and others) and she starts to truly accept her son for who he is. It takes Marshall years longer and nearly destroys the relationship he has with his wife.
The only problem I had with the film is that I don't fully understand when Xavier (Theodore Pellerin) falls into the timeline. Is he from Jared's high school days or is he during the Henry friendship days?
Still, this film is one of the best films of the year, though slightly predictable (you know which young man will commit suicide), but the screenplay is great and the performances are utterly brilliant. Both Hedges and Kidman should have been nominated for Oscars for their work (Kidman was far better here than in Lion). And the characters are so real, with every little emotion showing on their faces. The score is haunting and the film is put together superbly. It is a must watch, though it is not an easy film to watch knowing how dreadful those conversation therapy camps are and that that practice is still legal in many states. People should be loved for being exactly as they are, unless they enjoy harming others (figured I should put that in). You shouldn't try to change someone just because you don't agree with homosexuality and think that it's a sin. It isn't a choice, its how that person is meant to be.
But back to the film, everyone should watch it, for the brilliant performances, if nothing else. However, it remains one of the most underrated films of the year. Grade: A-

A Private War (2018)

Marie Colvin (Rosamund Pike) is fearless, going through war zones that few would dare willingly trod but, deep down, she is deeply troubled, sucking back cigarette after cigarette and too many whiskey martinis. Still, she tells stories that need to be told, grim and devastating as they may be.
She has seen so much that even she suffers from PTSD, which is likely why she drinks so much to quiet the voices and images she has seen.
The film, as a whole, is decent, though it covers too much ground in too little time. They should have spent the whole film focusing on her time in Homs, Syria openly daring to question Gaffadi as to how he is treating his civilians and showing the world that civilians are being bombed and starved.
My main problem with the film is that random party scene in the middle of the film where she meets her lover, Tony (the pitifully underused Stanley Tucci) which is a nice break from the war-torn countries which fill up the film but it just seemed odd and useless to the main plot.
Still, Pike is a true force to be reckoned with though she is arguably too young for the role and she has nice support from photojournalist Paul Conroy (Jamie Dornan) and her boss, Sean (Tom Hollander) whom she fights with tooth and nail about how her stories make a difference. And this film does almost get you back to Homs and how dangerous and heart-wrenching it was and for that alone, the film is worth watching. Grade: B+