Failed Oscar Campaigns: "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018)

Scene from Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

As awards seasons pick up, so do the campaigns to make your film have the best chances at the Best Picture race. However, like a drunken stupor, sometimes these efforts come off as trying too hard and leave behind a trailer of ridiculous flamboyance. Join me on every other Saturday for a highlight of the failed campaigns that make this season as much about prestige as it does about train wrecks. Come for the Harvey Weinstein comments and stay for the history. It's going to be a fun time as I explore cinema's rich history of attempting to matter.

Review: "Rocketman" is One of the Best Music Biopics in Years

Scene from Rocketman

If there was a better metaphor for a director Dexter Fletcher's career, it would be the opening scene of the Elton John biopic Rocketman. While his previous film Bohemian Rhapsody won four Oscars, it also received massive criticism for its depiction of Freddie Mercury. With many considering it one of the worst Best Picture nominees this decade and placed original director Bryan Singer in a heat of notoriety. Fletcher needed Rocketman more as a chance to prove himself as a filmmaker capable of doing a biopic right. It's why as John (Taron Egerton) sat down in the rehab chair, looking for a second chance at happiness, it feels like Fletcher sitting there in apology. Luckily it doesn't take long not only for him to repent, but prove himself to be a far more capable director than what was let on. Rocketman isn't just a vast improvement over Bohemian Rhapsody, it's one of the best biopics of the decade.