They Are The Champions

The Golden Globe Awards, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, were on Sunday night. I actually prefer these awards to the Oscars because there seems to be fewer politics and more attention to who really is the best.

During the weeks leading up to the awards, everyone was talking about “A Star Is Born”, “Green Book”, and other movies who were up for several awards each. There was little mention of “Bohemian Rhapsody” a little movie about a slightly popular band from the ’70s and ’80s (she says with tongue firmly planted in cheek).

Then, of course, it was only nominated for two minor awards – Male actor in a lead role and best picture. Rami Malic (said lead actor) was interviewed on one show and asked what he thought his chances of winning were. He replied that he thought his chances were better when he was nominated for Mr. Robot – and he didn’t win, twice.

Hubby and I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody the first weekend it came out, something we rarely do. Actually, we rarely see movies in the theatres so this was a real treat. We also watched it in IMAX which made the concert scenes pop! While there were several facts that I knew to be wrong and then read others later, it was still a very good biopic.

The acting was incredible and attention to detail was amazing. Rami Malic, who played Freddie Mercury was said to have watched Queen’s Live-Aid performance around 1,500 times so that he could get it perfect. There is a YouTube video showing his and Freddie’s performances side by side. You will be hard pressed to find many differences. The actors who played Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were great as well. There were times where I really thought I was watching Queen and I am a die-hard fan.

So, back to the Golden Globes. The only two categories the movie was nominated in happened to be the very last two. Rami Malek was up against tough competition including Bradley Cooper and Willem Dafoe. However, He proved himself the “Champion” when Julianne Moore and Richard Gere called his name. His speech was very humble and sincere. He went backstage as Nicole Kidman came out to present the final award of the night. We were so sure she was going to call out “A Star Is Born”; however, it was “Bohemian Rhapsody”!

Now I mentioned that Rami went backstage (as all winners do) because after the cast and producers of the movie came on stage to accept the award, there was no sign of their star. Finally, he came out after a pause and it seemed like he was very hesitant. He stayed off to the side and even backed into Nicole Kidman. It was sort of like “I got my award, I will let them celebrate theirs”.

Now, I will admit, “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Black Panther” were the only movies we have seen so far, though I do want to see “A Star Is Born”. However, it was such a great feeling to see the ones we were really cheering for actually win. When Rami won, it seemed enough, and then all of a sudden they had two!

The reason this all means something to me is that the one positive constant in my up and down life has been music. As long as I can remember I not only listened, I lived through the songs on the radio or my listening device of the time (record player/cassette player/8-track/CD/MP3). I got to know everything I could about the singers and groups I liked (which was a very large cross-section of artists and genres).

Queen was one of those groups. To find out more about my affection for them and the movie, check out my post, Song Lyric Sunday, “We Are The Champions”.

Congratulations to Queen, Rami Malek, and everyone involved in the making of “Bohemian Rhapsody”. I have included videos of Rami’s acceptance speech and the side by side Live-Aid performances of the real and reel Freddie Mercury!

Lydia!