r/QueenFandom

This July 2nd did you enjoy any Queen or Queen-related media? Any movie, book, documentary?..

What's your favorite one?..

What do you think of it? Have you heard of it before? Will there be anything planned or was there anything that took place for Queen Day celebration near you?

On the 2nd of July 1971 Queen debuted with their definitive lineup featuring Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and in his first ever show with Queen: John Deacon.

This would be the band that would record and release all of Queen's studio albums and that would tour, record and play as Queen between 1971 and 1991.

They had their first ever presentation with their final lineup in Surrey University 55 years ago today.

Since a few years ago also a fan-driven initiative has pushed for this to be celebrated as "World Queen Day" with celebrations, festivals, tribute acts/concerts and collaborations with The Phoenix Mercury Trust.

Happy Queen day!

We also celebrate John Deacon's first show with Queen!

This day also marked his official professional integration to the agroupation and fist stage presentation all together as a group!

John Deacon's addition to the band was one of the most important and decisive steps on Queen's formation as one of the most, if not the most important Rock group of the last century and arguable of all Rock History.

John Deacon on bass as the latest addition to the group would be the last "ingredient" that the band was missing and would play a pivotal role as a skilled musician, a talented player, a proficienct songwriter, even becoming one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century and as technician lending his electronics abilities and equipment created by him like the "Deacy Amp" that would help sculpt Queen's sound and career.

* Illustrative pictures.

Just watched Michael for the second time this Sunday afternoon. What do you think of the Michael biopic? Is it a better biopic than Bohemian Rhapsody? What's your opinion?

I watched it first a few weeks ago and I didn't really know what to make of it, exactly, my mind was processing watching it for the first time and getting familiar with the pacing and beats and scenes.

I couldn't help but immediately think of Bohemian Rhapsody and compare it. They share a lot of the same things, tropes, beat for beat biopic storytelling, the style, sanitized approach, etc. but still it was somewhat better, much, much better.

I thought it was OK and definitely somewhat better than Bohemian Rhapsody, quite obviously, but it hadn't quite clicked in my brain what was better and what made it a good biopic. It's a generic one, and I thought to myself it wasn't that great of a movie, it's not one of the greatest films of all time.

After having watched it a second time today and seeing it with a new perspective and a more experienced view of it, through a new lens, a "new set of eyes", now paying attention to the narrative, the perspectives, the themes and use of symbolic imagery, the effective use of dialogue and sound, how they created organic exposition and the pacing, I realized just how good it is!

I looked at the audience that was amazed and taken aback, I looked around and for several minutes people were immersed in the story, not even eating popcorn, drinking nor eating anything. It absorbed them because of how well made it is.

People there weren't super fans, we're several weeks into its threater run life, and you could tell there were people from all walks of life, even people wearing Metal t-shirts and with long hair as I was. (I saw guys and girls with Whitesnake, Metallica, Death, Dead Kennedy's and even Slayer t-shirts like myself. Even a couple, tattooed, a guy with a mohawk and a girl with glasses and a shaved side of the head. I was kind of surprised.)

You could feel that people respected the film and appreciated it for what it was, that they could tell it was a respectful and genuinely good movie, with good acting good direction and good cinematography.

Compared to Bohemian Rhapsody this is a Stanley Kubrick production and I realized what hit the mark with Michael that Bohemian Rhapsody couldn't achieve:

- First, the narrative and the advancement of the plot through key moments, the tone was also consistent, which made way for some compelling believable storytelling.

- Second, the editing, the editing amwa simply gold, it was, golden, top notch work, something on par with precisely a good Stanley Kubrick or Steven Spielberg film I'd say.

- Third, the directing, the direction was amazing, even the more inexperienced actors (and truth be told, also even the not so good ones) were amazing, they felt natural, fluid, very well placed, they were given the proper space and creative area to develop their craft and interact nicely and smoothly with each other.

- Fourth, the cinematography, yes, it's not a beautiful art house cinema, A24 type of film nor a Wes Anderson art piece, but it does it's job and it gets it done beautifully, I mean, it's not drowned in light, bathed in color when it doesn't requires it, nor is it unwatchably dark, changes through setsnamd scenes are subtle, delicate and tastefully done, as well as conveying purpose, they feel natural, right and the environments feel natural and lived in, not as sets nor as "recreations".

- Fifth, the casting. I mean the casting choice for the different characters is on point. The different actors for the different characters throughout their lives were great and the casting and coaching is amazing - the mannerisms, gestures, acting, personalities, they're on point - not only talking about the resemblances, which were amazing, but the acting itself, the singing, their speaking voices, the way they sing, dance, move and portray their characters. The people in charge of casting really knew their craft really well, it's one of those things you can tell they did a great job because you don't think about it, it's seamless.

…And I'm not even mentioning the great amazing work done by Jafaar Jackson that's exactly what a biopic lead should do and strive to do!!!

None of these five points can I say about Bohemian Rhapsody.

It has had a box office success of almost $980 million usd, grossed in a few weeks, compared to $911 million usd of Bohemian Rhapsody, and I'd say it's well deserved, not without it's flaws but despite of them, because it's a film with great quality both in qualitative and quantitative terms and it also has a great human and humane quality, which resounds with audiences worldwide, it doesn't come across as a cash grab.

It's not one of the greatest movies of all time, it's not a Citizen Kane, it's not a blockbuster extraordinaire like the Avengers movies and neither will it be regarded as a storytelling masterpiece such as Back To The Future, but it sure it a great, great, great biopic, like the ones we haven't seen in the last 20 years or so and it's so refreshing to see such a good one come out of such a tired trope as the biopic itself.

Even as a non-fan or non-die-hard fan of Michaek Jackson it grabs you and immerses you and does exactly what a biopic should do and has fun and let's you have fun with it while playing a bit with fiction but mainly being a reflection of a reality and a history.

If there's a biopic that deserves a three hour cut (which I'd certainly watch) is this one, maybe this and something like Love and Mercy. It wasn't enough with its runtime to tell us everything we'd like to know about the story.

Do you agree with my assessment?

So again I ask:

Is it a better biopic than Bohemian Rhapsody?

There's always discourse and discussion around the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody but what about other Queen-relsted movies and documentaries?

What's your favorite Queen related documentary?

What do you think is the best, more complete, nicest or just your favorite out of all documentaries, docuseries, mini-series and tv specials dedicated to Queen and Freddie Mercury?

Has anyone watched it yet?

Did anyone like it?

I'd say it's a fresh and fun take on the franchise as well as a good summer blockbuster.

It's a good movie for what it is, it's not one of the greatest films of all time but it's a great action fantasy film.

What did you think of it?

Was it a surprise to you the soundtrack?

They were a great pleasure to make