Holly Edwards @hollyedwards01-blog - Tumblr Blog

winterswake

Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight (2008)

chrishemsworht

Shaun of the Dead (2004) dir. Edgar Wright.

cinemastuff

Spirited Away (2001, dir. Hayao Miyazaki)

Rocketman (2019)

Director: Dexter Fletcher

Following the box office and award season success of Bohemian Rhapsody last year, Rocketman is the latest musical biopic from director Dexter Fletcher (Eddie the Eagle, 2015) that tells the story of Elton John and his journey to fame and fortune.

Though Bohemian Rhapsody achieved exponential monetary success, it left a bad taste in many critics mouth following it’s many Oscar nominations. The biggest complaints of the film revolved around the surface-level, almost censored take on Freddy Mercury’s personal and professional journey, as well as the poor editing that film twitter deemed “objectively bad” (the fact it went on to win best film editing at the 2019 Oscars is egregious, not to mention it was directed by a known sexual predator).

Fortunately, the folks behind Rocketman seem to have taken these criticisms on board; the film is pleasantly surprising and generally a superior take on the tortured artist trope that we’ve seen so many times. Taron Egerton, an actor who had not yet demonstrated his range and depth (despite his appearance in the widely well-received Kingsman: The Secret Service), has thrown himself head-first into a complex and demanding role with positive results. Though Rami Malek’s portrayal of Freddie Mercury lends itself to a fine imitation, Egerton has gone a step further by giving a fully-realised, well-rounded performance that focuses on genuine emotion and identity. As the film tackles serious themes of addiction, sexuality, and depression, Egerton wonderfully portrays the self-destructive and reclusive life that consumed Elton John over the course of many years. He makes the role his own; the fact that he actually sings is a testament to this, and he undeniably nails the delivery and tone of every line.

Alongside Egerton, the film is full of great performances - Jamie Bell and Richard Madden the secondary standouts. While Bryce Dallas Howard’s portrayal of Elton’s mother comes off as out of place and over the top at times, the nature of the toxic dynamic of the home environment is generally well-adapted to the screen.

From a film-making standpoint, the cinematography is visually appealing and effective in capturing key moments and spontaneous musical numbers; the narrative structure is non-linear, and narration and montages are used to portray major life events in the form of flashbacks. These musical numbers work well, though the recurrent breaking out in song and dance will be tiresome for some audiences. As far as negatives go, this is a biopic, so many of the same beats and themes are expected and the dialogue is occasionally cheesy and cliche’, though Fletcher’s unique vision adds a compelling and visually stunning take on the genre.

#film #review #rocketman

genterie

Timothée Chalamet on the set of Call me by your name (2017)

madeforgardens

Timothée Chalamet as Elio Perlman in CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (2017)

vivienvalentino

We’re all different. Especially him. But there’s something kind of fantastic about that, isn’t there?

FANTASTIC MR. FOX 2009 | Wes Anderson

talesfromthecrypts

The Witch (2015) // Hereditary (2018)

colinfirthdaily

mydarktv

ghibli-collector

Inside Howl’s Moving Castle - Dir. Hayao Miyazaki (2004)

filmgifs

Do you feel held by him? Does he feel like home to you?

Midsommar (2019) dir. Ari Aster

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Booty shorts that say “don't you swear at me, you little shit! Don't you ever raise your voice at me! I am your mother! Do you understand? All I do is worry and slave and defend you. And all I get back is that fucking face on your face. So full of disdain and resentment and always so annoyed. Well, now your sister is dead. And I know you miss her, and I know it was an accident and I know you're in pain. And I wish I could take that away for you. I wish I could shield you from the knowledge that you did what you did, but your sister is dead! She's gone forever! And what a waste. If it could have maybe brought us together or something. If you could have just said, ‘I'm sorry’, or faced up to what happened. Maybe then we could do something with this. But you can't take responsibility for anything! So now I can't accept... And I can't forgive because... Because nobody admits anything they've done!” on the ass