Mimi Rasiel

If you love strong performances, thoughtful directing and an eye-opening education into Rock music, this film is a must see!!! This biopic tells the story of Freddy Mercury, the frontman for “Queen”. However, I was worried the music would be a turn-off of banging loud heavy metal. Not so! It was instead a very entertaining explanation of a music form, rock, and how bands create their art. We learn frontman Freddy Mercury’s origin as he helps create the wildly successful band “Queen”. His real name and Pakistani roots transform into a wildly talented performer and we see his story unfold. What sells this movie is Rami Malek’s stunning performance. He is so authentic and powerful that we feel what he feels and hear what he hears. The final scene at the immense Live AIDS performance is electrifying. Rami Malek’s astonishing performance deserves the best actor Oscar hands down. For me, this was the finest male performance I have ever seen, bar none.

A timely and brilliantly written, directed and acted film that twists your brain sideways then smacks it over in a whoosh. Timely not only because of the widespread hate crimes that have grown faster than a mutinous cell, but because it opened the very same week as both the pipe bombers and of the Pittsburgh 11 Synagogue massacre found themselves splashed on page one of the times/Times. Brilliantly written from the same young adult bestselling book. Screenwriting at its finest. Directing that was pitch- perfect, emphatic and astonishing. Acted with such fervor and intensity that it took your breath away, especially with the teen daughter and her strong and unflinching father.