Jeff Lubeck

The music group Queen made its mark with an uncanny number of Anthem type songs at the height of Stadium Rock and Roll in the later 1970’s and 1980’s.  We Are Champions, Another One Bites The Dust and other Queen songs play at sporting events to this day.

Bohemian Rhapsody the Brian Singer (The Usual Suspects) Directed film brings the story of Queen and its music to life in a powerful and dynamic manner. Rami Malek (Night At The Museum, Pacific, Mr. Robot) as Lead Man Freddy Mercury is as compelling a watch as recent films can offer.

However, Malek as Mercury is hardly the only exciting or quality aspect of Bohemian Rhapsody.  The story of the band as written in the screenplay by Writer Director Anthony McCarten (AAN The Darkest Hour, AAN The Theory of Everything) and Writer Peter Morgan (AAN Frost\Nixon, AAN The Queen) is lush and makes things feel genuine without being trite.  A true surprise is Gwilym Lee (Isle of Dogs) as Queen’s Lead Guitarist and Arranger Brian May. Gwilym looks, sounds, and appears to play just like May.

Queen was panned by the music critics and adored by fans.  My guess is this film will be appreciated by all.

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Jeff’s Worthless Trivia and Other Thoughts

Queen’s Lead Guitarist and Sound Engineer Brian May was superb in creating Queen’s sound.  Your response could like be “yeah but its not like he is a Scientist or something.”  Well, you would wrong. Dr. Brian May is in fact a world renown astrophysicist that was the Chief Collaborator of NASA’s recent mission to Pluto (New Horizon).

It takes great talent and skill to tell a story we think we already know with an outcome that is also believed to be well known and make it compelling. With the film First Man Director, Damien Chazelle (AA Whiplash, 10 Cloverfield Lane, AA La La Land) demonstrates he has the talent and skill on this front.

First Man presents us the life of Astronaut Neil Armstrong and the American Space Program through his eyes from 1961-1969.  First Man is superb if only viewed for the production values, visual effects, sound, and music score.  However, that would be underselling First Man to a great degree.  All of the actors playing the roles of people involved in Gemini and Apollo Mission are believable and additive. Josh Singer’s (The West Wing, AA Spotlight, The Post) screenplay provides just enough depth and breath to pull this off.  Singer accomplishes the same with injecting aspects about what was  going on with America in general at the time as well.  Singer also provides in a nuanced manner aspects about the relationship between Armstrong and his Wife (Janet).

Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson, Lars and the Real Girl, Fracture) is superb as Armstrong.  Neil Armstrong was ultimately known as a person of strong internalized belief in one’s self that was constantly challenged with melancholy.  As in Lars and the Real Girl, Gosling pulls this aspect off with outstanding effect.  Gosling is so understated in the role, his successful portrayal is at risk of going unnoticed.  Claire Foy (The Crown, Unsane, The Girl in the Spider’s Web) plays the role of Janet Armstrong with equal effect.

However, the production values of First Man is what shines brightest.  Chazelle and the Production team have created a film that is highly immersive and convincing. You often feel as if you are the one in an out of control test vehicle, sitting strapped into a space ship experiencing the G-Force associated with being on top of the the most powerful rocket ever built to this day (Saturn V) or landing on the moon.  What may also jump out in this era of IPhone’s and self driving cars, is the archaic nature of technology in the 1960’s versus today.

The combination of all factors important to the success of a film exist in First Man.

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Jeff’s Worthless Trivia and Other Thoughts

I am fortunate to possess the signatures of the three astronauts involved with the 1st Moon Landing on the same piece of paper; Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.  It was given to me by my father.  I was infatuated with the Manned Space Program as a young boy.  My Dad, given his position as Managing Editor of the Detroit News, loved what the space program was about and devoted big coverage to it. After quarantine was completed, he asked the three of them to sign it for me.