Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Tags

Bohemian Rhapsody, music, Queen

Despite the troubled production history, Bohemian Rhapsody is a superb biopic of Freddy Mercury and Queen.

It is obviously, and like all such, fictionalised to an extent but it is hard for a casual viewer to tell exactly where the history ends and the fiction begins. That said, the Wikipedia page does a fairly good job of documenting the inaccuracies.

But ultimately this is a film that feels right, that tells a powerful story of a troubled man who was one of the greatest performers of our time.

Plus the music is awesome and it’s often genuinely hard to tell when Rami Malek’s vocals end and recordings of Freddy Mercury’s begin.

Overall I highly recommend Bohemian Rhapsody, see it in the cinemas if you can.

Joe Hisaishi Symphonic Concert: Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki

Tags

Hayao Miyazaki, Joe Hisaishi, music, Studio Ghibli

The short version: Amazing, and absolutely worth getting up at 4:30AM to catch a plane to Melbourne for. I was not crying, it was just very dusty in the Hamer Arts Centre. Click through for the longer version.

WOOOO HOOOOO!! Music from the Studio Ghibli Films of Hayao Miyazaki

Tags

music

Source: Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Some time ago the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra* announced these concerts for the end of April. Note that Joe Hisaishi will be conducting his own compositions.

At the time I had a horribly frustrating experience which resulted in… getting on a wait list in case further concerts were announced.

EDIT: Updated to include image, link, and an overview of how the waitlist is being processed. If you’re still on the waitlist, please click through. 

Lullaby for a Soldier (Arms of the Angel)

Tags

movies, music

Just seen on twitter here’s that hauntingly beautiful song used in the Alita: Battle Angel trailer:

Performed by Maggie Siff and the Forest Rangers

Hat tip to Asia Murphy on twitter.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (2017)

Tags

Fhána, Kyoto Animation, Maidragon, music

Source: http://www.crunchyroll.com/miss-kobayashis-dragon-maid

Ah, Winter 2017: the season of anime finales that make you go “MEH”[1].

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid[2], aka Maidragon on twitter, was a mostly charming show about Kobayashi[3] who somehow winds up with the chaos dragon Tohru as her maid and effective partner in raising the younger dragon Kanna.

The first thing that needs to be said about Maidragon is that it is very fanservice heavy, and some of it, particularly with two minor characters, is both creepy and way overdone.

On the other hand Tohru’s attempts to understand how to live as a human are often hilarious, Kanna is adorable, Kobayashi is a decent deadpan snarker[4], and the slowly growing familial relationship between the three of them is lovely to watch.