What's all the Hoopla About?

Rating: 4/10 (14 March 2019)

Bohemian Rhapsody, just another formula movie. Yes, this film is a telling of a historical character, Freddie Mercury and the rock band Queen. Of the two musical type movies (Bohemian Rhapsody and A Star is Born) nominated for this year's Oscars, my vote would have gone to A Star is Born. Not that BR is a bad film, it is not. It's just that the musical performances by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born were originally performed by the actors.
I grew up in the Queen era and it was nice to hear all this "old time" rock and roll music again. Queen's compositions were very innovative and ahead of their time. Not a lot was known about Freddie Mercury and Queen. Yes, there were rumors and news stories in tabloids floated around. In the years before the Internet and social media rumors were just that, rumors. But in today's world, if it's not on Facebook or Instagram, it's not true.
Nothing against Mr. Melik. He is a fine actor and I can imagine the difficulty in playing such a demanding role. Not to say that Mr. Melik is not deserving of his Best Actor Oscar, I feel that Christian Bale's performance in "Vice" was just as complex and demanding. Both roles are based on iconic figures from history. And both actors did a convincing job.
Now the movie. As previously mentioned, the music was right on. It was difficult to tell if the soundtrack was re-dubbed by new artists or the original music from Queen. Although Melik did some of his own vocals, a lot of the concert vocals were dubbed by a new unknown artist. I am certain his name will be well known by now.
In the end, if you are looking to see all eight nominated films, by all means, watch BR along with Best Picture "Green Book". For me, it would be a tie between "Vice" and "Black Panther", then "Green Book" "A Star is Born" "Bohemian Rhapsody" "BlackkKlansman" and "Roma". As for "The Favourite" it is really not my cup of tea.