"Bohemian Rhapsody" Film casts Rami Malek (per November 2016)

I know this is kind of old news as I alluded to from the copied/pasted forum post I made a bit ago.

But this guy, Rami Malek is going to play Freddie? I guess if it got the Queen guys approval...I mean they are having Adam Lambert as well (and Paul Rodgers a few years back), so I guess a skeptical casting can't be shocking.

And I imagine it can't be any worse than Penn Badgley playing Jeff Buckley.

But, it goes back to, if you're going to do it, get the right person for the role. And they obviously waited for many years here given how long Sacha Baron Cohen was attached to this thing. 10 years maybe or more.

Blech.

I suppose I don't want to fully judge a book by its cover. I may not care for him in Mr.Robot (which honestly, has become more popular than Psych probably, which is baffling. At least from an Awards standpoint. Probably because it's a drama. But it has Christian Slater even, a guy who seemed cursed with tv shows for many years. They always got canceled. Emmy/Globe? lol..never. But only since Tony Shaloub and Monk, has a  USA Network show/actor received so much attention, whereas year after year it seemed Psych and Roday deserved recognition and NEVER did.).

And he has a somewhat prolific career that goes back to Glmore Girls in 2004, so maybe this will surprise me.

But on the surface, I still wonder if there was someone else who would make more sense.

Maybe they won't fuck up the Syd Barrett and Keith Moon biopics that are also long overdue.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1727824/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_1

just saw Rami Malek,  the lead actor from USA Network's show "Mr. Robot" on Stephen Colbert. And I know it's kind of old news (November), but they talked about him starring as Freddie Mercury in "Bohemian Rhapsody" the Freddie biopic; the one that Sacha Baron Cohen was attached-to for a long time, but ultimately dismissed.

I honestly am not all that crazy about this casting, really, not any more than Sacha Baron Cohen. I suppose his height might be closer to Freddie's (SBC was WAY too tall), but he doesn't look all that much like Freddie (loosely, his dimples and facial expressions I guess I can see); I guess once they show some production pics, maybe that could help. 

But I'm still skeptical as I don't find Rami Malek all that amazing in the clips I've seen from Mr.Robot and some of his other work (Short Term 12, I honestly didn't find his character all that memorable in just revisiting some clips online).

2011 Independent Spirit Award Nominations

So as I've written in the past, my history with these is about 10 or more years ago, I became or found myself to really love the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and Independent movies in general. And these awards included. And the actual program on IFC as well.

But I'd say more or less for the last 5 years, they have been a lot more spotty or hit and miss.

Well, while there are some omissions still on this list, I can claim to probably like and have seen more on this list than in most years. At least from memory, it looks that way.

I enjoyed Winter's Bone, Greenberg and Exit Through the Gift Shop. And I have wanted to see The Kids Are All Right for awhile. I also saw Please Give but don't have as much supportive thoughts about that particular movie.

edit: well, maybe I was overestimating a little.

The 2011 Independent Spirit Awards take place on Saturday February 26th, 2011 and air on the Independent Film Channel. The show will be hosted by NBC's Community star Joel McHale (could be worse, but not my 1st choice. Rain Wilson was rather good doing them a few years ago. And I gotta believe he'll be better than last year's host Eddie Izzard).

BEST FEATURE
"127 Hours"
"Black Swan"
"Greenberg"
"The Kids Are All Right"
"Winter's Bone"

Hope: Winter's Bone
Prediction: The Kids Are All Right

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"
Danny Boyle, "127 Hours"
Lisa Cholodenko, "The Kids Are All Right"
Debra Granik, "Winter's Bone"
John Cameron Mitchell, "Rabbit Hole"

Hope: Debra Granik
Prediction: Lisa Cholodenko

BEST SCREENPLAY
Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko, "The Kids Are All Right"
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini, "Winter's Bone"
Nicole Holofcener, "Please Give"
David Lindsay-Abaire, "Rabbit Hole"
Todd Solondz, "Life During Wartime"

Hope: Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini
Prediction: Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko

BEST FIRST FEATURE
"Everything Strange and New," Frazer Bradshaw
"Get Low," Aaron Schneider
"Night Catches Us," Tanya Hamilton
"The Last Exorcism," Daniel Stamm
"Tiny Furniture," Lena Dunham

no idea, but this is probably a list of movies I should check out trailers for on youtube soon.

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Diane Bell, "Obselidia"
Lena Dunham, "Tiny Furniture"
Nik Fackler, "Lovely, Still"
Bob Glaudini, "Jack Goes Boating"
Dana Adam Shapiro & Evan M. Wiener, "Monogamy"

no idea, but this is probably a list of movies I should check out trailers for on youtube soon.

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"
Greta Gerwig, "Greenberg"
Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"
Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine"

Hope: Jennifer Lawrence or Greta Gerwig
Prediction: Jennifer Lawrence

BEST MALE LEAD
Ronald Bronstein, "Daddy Longlegs"
Aaron Eckhart, "Rabbit Hole"
James Franco, "127 Hours"
John C. Reilly, "Cyrus"
Ben Stiller, "Greenberg"

Hope: Ben Stiller
Prediction: James Franco. I like him, but that movie 127 doesn't seem too appealing.

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Ashley Bell, "The Last Exorcism"
Dale Dickey, "Winter’s Bone"
Allison Janney, "Life During Wartime"
Daphne Rubin-Vega, "Jack Goes Boating"
Naomi Watts, "Mother and Child"

Hope: Dale Dickey, although her performance was not all that memorable actually
Prediction: Dickey if Winter's Bone does well in the others. Naomi Watts would be nice to see win though.

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
John Hawkes, "Winter's Bone"
Samuel L. Jackson, "Mother and Child"
Bill Murray, "Get Low"
John Ortiz, "Jack Goes Boating"
Mark Ruffalo, "The Kids Are All Right"

Hope: John Hawkes or maybe Bill Murray or Samuel L Jackson from a standpoint of see winning and give an acceptance speech.
Prediction: Mark Ruffalo

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Adam Kimmel, "Never Let Me Go"
Matthew Libatique, "Black Swan"
Jody Lee Lipes, "Tiny Furniture"
Michael McDonough, "Winter’s Bone"
Harris Savides, "Greenberg"

Hope: Michael McDonough I guess.
Prediction: no idea.


BEST DOCUMENTARY
"Exit Through the Gift Shop"
"Marwencol"
"Restrepo"
"Sweetgrass"
"Thunder Soul"

Hope: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Prediction: either ETTGS or Restrepo

BEST FOREIGN FILM
"Kisses" (Ireland)
"Mademoiselle Chambon" (France)
"Of Gods and Men" (Morocco)
"The King's Speech" (United Kingdom)
"Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" (Thailand)

Hope/Prediction: no idea. The Square might have fit here.

So, based on My 2010 Cinema List on rateyourmusic.com, and taking out 1 of my favorites from this year in Easier With Practice, I can at least claim to have some things to root for.

What is not on this list. Obviously the 1 huge thing missing is Fishtank but in looking at the awards info on imdb about Fishtank here it was released in January and as far as a lot of the Film Awards, was part of last year's circulation of movies. Much like Easier With Practice. Although it was not given anything from the IFP's apparently, I follow why it's not included in the 2011 awards. What that means is it was shafted last year I guess. And Katie Jarvis as well.

Is The Ghost Writer eligible? with a $35,000,000 budget, I wouldn't think so. But will it get any love come Golden Globe/Oscar time? hell no.

City Island, The Square, Catfish and No One Knows About Persian Cats are also not on that list at least. The Square is maybe the most surprising. Catfish as well. That probably will find it's way onto the Globes and Oscars though.

edit: it appears The Square was released originally in 2008, lol. I have no clue as far as it's budget. Perhaps Wikipedia tells. But that explains why it's not on this year's list either.

So all in all, yeah there's some notable omissions, but I guess with Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right, I have something to root for. Overall this isn't back to where they once were, but I suppose it's an improvement.

However, overall as far as movies in 2010. This past year, and past Fall and even Summer has been rather mediocre thus far. Probably one of the worst years and Oscar seasons I can recall in recent memory. Where is the Synecdoche, NY or Where the Wild Things Are this year? The best movies that I've seen, were all in the Winter and Spring. I have a bit of catching up to with a few titles like The Kids Are All Right, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (that and the sequels are missing on that list above apparently), Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Hot Tub Time Machine, the A-Team movie and a few others.

Perhaps like Easier With Practice, a few of those titles I'm unfamiliar with I'll be able to check out and discover.

2011 Golden Globe Nominations will be announced on Tuesday December 14th. The ceremony is on Sunday January 16th on NBC.

TV Schedule/Movies/Random Finds Preview/First Ave

Psych 1/9
Monk 1/9
Big Bang Theory 1/12
How I Met Your Mother 1/12
Two and a Half Men 1/12
Kyle XY 1/12
Smallville - 1/15
Battlestar Galactica - 1/16
Lost - January 21st
Burn Notice 1/22
Trust Me ...January 26th (on TNT)
Life on Mars - January 28th
Chuck/Heroes 2/2/09
Dollhouse Feb 13th
Terminator - Feb 13th
Castle... March 9th
Reaper March 17th
Cupid - March 24th
My Boys... March
The Unusuals ...4/8 (Amber Tamblyn lawyer show..replacing Life on Mars)

ABC shows w/ no info yet:
Better Off Ted
Good Behavior (Rob Thomas of Veronica Mars new show)

Party Down (also Rob Thomas..a show on the Starz network)

SAG's:
January 25th

IFP's:
February 21st

Oscars:
announced Jan 22nd
Ceremonies Feb 22nd

Sundance Film Festival 1/16-1/25 TV Coverage/Dailies?..last year I recall they did no daily specials, but just did a summary special. And then a lot of content was on the Sundance Website.

One of these years..I will go. Maybe if I started saving now, little-by-little, I could plan for not 2010, but 2011? The cost would probably be close to what Nearfest or ProgPowerUSA would be..with higher hotel + food cost, but not as much music (or DVDs/Merch?) to buy.

Caught some-of (and need to finish up the rest) Art School Confidential last night on Sundance. Ironically, I noticed GHOST WORLD was on local tv for the 1st time ever perhaps yesterday as well. Daniel Clowes getting the air time. I should finish ASC soon and clear it off my dvr. I remember liking it; especially the dude whose sort of the lead's friend in the drawing and sculpture class. I should look up the actor and see what else he's done; he looks and talks very familiar.

Kate Winslet wins: I love her, and more or less loathe Leonardo DiCaprio, as an actor. But maybe if I saw him in something I liked, my mind would change. I am quite eager to see what she gets nominated for with the Oscars. I am thinking now with the siberia-weather out tomorrow night, I'll skip the free-pass for the Toni Collette/Diablo Cody premier episode-movie-theater-advanced-screening and instead try and see "The Reader" in Oakdale. I'm not gonna expect Kate to win, but somehow this year feels different. Sadly, I still think the best thing I've ever seen her in was SPOTLESS MIND..but granted, THAT MOVIE ITSELF is so damn good, it helps a lot.

Once I get around to THE READER and perhaps BENJAMIN BUTTON..(also FROST/NIXON) and 1 or 2 others..I should post some kind of Ranking/Top Movies. I suppose my goal would be no later than the Oscars, but perhaps sometime in the next few weeks. I've been strapped-down and guilt-tripped with time and focus with this move I made. I moved, yes, but I have masses of material to organize and sort. Still, I have like a dozen blogs I want to do, and should do soon. On MLK day perhaps 1 or 2 of them since I'm getting my car maintenanced all day and will likely be at Dunn Bros to kill time.

The next random finds is close as I not only have increased my headphone time with Kacica of course, but also Oedipus and Run Chico Run a bit. But also, I think it'd be worth adding some names I discovered the last portion of 2008 that I never actually got to write about (that deserve it). Beyond those, I can claim 2 new bands I have caught-on to this week already in Strap the Button and The Sedan Vault. Some others as well, and some names I'm also meaning to sample soon. Estradasphere was/is one, and I played a live youtube video yesterday from them. They seem rather folky and almost Zappa-ish. They reminded me of these 2 guys who were Russian or perhaps from some Eastern bloc country doing jazzy folk music @ The Cedar a few years ago. Liars is another..then some stuff mentioned on some forums and some of the end-of-year lists still. Air France and perhaps Max Tundra (the comparisons to Self have me curious).

-A word on 7th Street Entry and First Ave. I enjoyed the Jeremy Messersmith/best Friends Forever/Caroline Smith show the other night, but it would have been a lot more enjoyable I suspect had this local establishment actually had soundproof walls To go along with a typical late start (10pm?, the 1st band started) and the capacity crowd which of course was pretty scarce to find a spot where some if not many of the crowd wouldn't shut the fuck up between and DURING songs.

Much of the sound issues happened at Amanda Palmer in the mainroom last month.

I wanna go see Bloc Party in March, but it's going to take a can't-miss for me to go back there again. If I know another band is playing in the other venue, and I'm even in the least bit on the fence, I will not go. That is probably near if not the least desire club in the town for me to see a concert now. Sorry, but the lack of soundproofing has lowerd their bar even further. I mean I never was that gung-ho about the place to begin-with. The people there and the crowd always seemed very scenesters and often girls who show up, just to be there (and not for the music it self. Those are the ones that spend the entire show walking back and forth and their ears/hands glued to their cellphones. I don't need it, and now multiple experiences with echoing sound from amplifiers during shows just makes me want to avoid that place like the plague even more. I wish someone would go to the people who run First Ave and get in their face about it. Who the hell wants to pay good $ for a concert that you end up hearing pumped in bass from the other side of the wall every 10 seconds. That's hardly getting your money's worth to me and I imagine others. Hopefully they'll get enough complaints to do something about it. But that may be wishful thinking.

ok, I'm horribly rambling..like Kate or Ms.Imogen-Heap-lookalike-golden-globe-winner-Sally-Hawkins, so I'll try and quit before this gets to be even more of a waste of space.