Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

I picked this almost at random among the many theater offerings on Monday evening. Queen is one of my favorite bands, but I'd been putting it off because of the highly mixed reviews, with far more positive vibes from the general public than from critics. Then I remembered that Get on Up demonstrated that I could enjoy a reputedly middling musician biopic, and Pitch Perfect 2 taught me that good music alone can make a viewing worth my while.

The story begins shortly before Farrokh Bulsara (Adam Rauf), the man who would become Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), joins the band that would become Queen. The titular song comes together about 40 minutes into the 154. After that, the focus is less on the band's rise and more on its trouble staying together, particularly with Freddie being such a prima donna. And a hot mess.

Floating Weeds (1959)

Some filmmakers and critics, including Roger Ebert, count this film among their top ten. So why do I never hear about it? Oh, right: because it's directed by Yasujirō Ozu. And is neither Tokyo Story nor one of his temporal titles (e.g., Late Spring). You have to get deep into old, foreign, artistic cinema to discover this. Well, despite not getting much out of TS or LS, I decided to look for what a few other Americans saw in FW.

In the summer of '58, a kabuki troupe led by one Komajuro comes to the town where his ex-mistress, Oyoshi, and their adult son, Kiyoshi, reside. Kiyoshi knows his father only as an "uncle." Komajuro's current mistress and co-star, Sumiko, doesn't want him seeing Oyoshi again. When he won't comply with her wishes, Sumiko hires fellow actress Kayo to seduce Kiyoshi and thereby embarrass Komajuro.

The Razor's Edge (1946)

Despite having seen Of Human Bondage and The Letter, I've had a hard time remembering any of what W. Somerset Maugham wrote. My memory of this film may break that pattern, because he himself is a supporting character in it (played by Herbert Marshall). The character's role is roughly that of Nick in The Great Gatsby, for perspective and exposition rather than influence on the plot.

The story begins in 1919 and ends an indefinite amount of time after the crash of '29. Larry (Tyrone Power), a shell-shocked WWI vet, abandons a lucrative job offer to travel in search of meaning. To Isabel (Gene Tierney), his fiancee and the niece of proud aristocrat Elliott (Clifton Webb), this is absurd, so she turns over the ring. When they meet again, Larry has found what he craved and Isabel has married his friend (John Payne) for money, which didn't turn out so well. Now she wants Larry again, but marital status aside, there's the obstacle of his feelings for long-time friend Sophie (Anne Baxter), who needs emotional healing of her own....

Stan & Ollie (2018)

I'm a little disappointed at how many adults today seem ill-acquainted with Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Granted, I haven't watched any of their work since childhood. Their only (barely) feature-length film that I've seen is Way Out West (1937), whose making, incidentally, kicks off this story.

At the peak of their world-famous careers, Stan (Steve Coogan) and Ollie (John C. Reilly) are nearly broke, thanks to a series of divorces and bets. Their different approaches to pursuing more money in the face of an obstinate Hal Roach (Danny Huston) lead to the comedy duo splitting up. When reunited in 1953, they do a series of live performances in the U.K. to generate hype for an upcoming movie. Alas, their stage producer (Rufus Jones) has had trouble booking good venues, and Stan has trouble contacting their movie producer for details...and hiding his worries. Tensions rise, both between Stan and Ollie and between their respective wives, Ida (Nina Arianda) and Lucille (Shirley Henderson). It doesn't help that Ollie has gotten no healthier in his early sixties.

The Class (2008)

It's a little strange that I should see this film in 2019. The last time I heard anyone talk about it was a decade ago, when it was nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards. Mainly I got intrigued by the preview, but to wait this long, I must have also felt some reluctance.

It certainly doesn't boast an original premise: François Marin (François Bégaudeau) teaches ninth-grade French in a Parisian school with an all-White staff and a mostly non-White, foreign-born student body, about half of whom Marin already knows from a previous year. This is based on Bégaudeau's semi-autobiography. (Most of the cast members use their real first names.)

The Fault in Our Stars (2014)

Am I on a romantic drama kick? No, these things just happen sometimes. I checked my Netflix queue to make sure the next delivery is different.

Modern Indianapolis teen Hazel has cancer in her thyroid and lungs. She shows signs of depression until she finally clicks with someone in her support group: slightly older teen Gus, whose bone cancer cost him a leg. Hazel has a policy against getting too close to anyone, since her condition limits how much they're likely to do together, but he's just so endearing....

If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

I have seen disappointingly few films likely to get major Oscar nods this year. Since Barry Jenkins also directed Moonlight and this is closer in popularity to that than to Dear White People, I gave it priority.

In early-'70s Harlem, a young man nicknamed Fonny gets charged with rape of a random stranger, Victoria. Fonny's girlfriend, Tish, doesn't believe the testimony for a moment, not just because she trusts him but because quite a few details don't add up. Getting the jury to see it her way is another matter, as Victoria leaves for Puerto Rico and Officer Bell evidently has it in for Fonny. Complicating the situation is Tish's newfound pregnancy, blessed by some relatives and condemned by the more zealous. Regardless, Tish's family already had trouble making ends meet.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

I liked Wreck-It Ralph so much that I was almost disappointed to learn of a sequel -- because it might negate my fanfic in the works! Nevertheless, I understood why not everyone thought highly of W-IR. The complaints I've read mostly trace to the same problem: the difficulty of making a family movie about video games. Disney sought to appeal to children, adults, boys, girls, old-school gamers, new-school gamers, and non-gamers. This meant dilution, so some viewers wanted more pandering to their demographic than they got. Thus, I was not surprised that the sequel chose a new titular focus that promised to be more universally relatable, and I was only marginally surprised that both my parents came with me.

Six years after the events of W-IR, Ralph (John C. Reilly), hulking designated villain of early-'80s game Fix-It Felix Jr.; and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), a player character from relatively modern kiddie racing sim Sugar Rush, maintain a sibling-like close friendship, hanging out together when the arcade's closed for the night. (Apparently, her inability to leave her game has been fixed, even if she still glitches.) When Sugar Rush has a hardware malfunction, all its characters must look for new lodgings and vocations. Ralph and Vanellope hope to save the game (NPI) from a permanent shutdown by entering the Internet and buying a replacement part on eBay. Of course, they need to raise money online fast, whether by gaming or making viral videos. Amid this strain, friendship also gets strained. And as the title implies, Ralph's tendency to wreck things whether he wants to or not still causes trouble.

Seven Beauties (1975)

Oh, hello, another downer about oppression in Europe. This one stands out first and foremost for making Lina Wertmüller the first woman (of only five to date) to garner an Academy Best Director nomination. If no one had told me, I would not have guessed that a woman directed it.

Pasqualino "Settebellezze" (Giancarlo Giannini) starts as a smooth criminal who will defend his sense of honor in defiance of the law, but as soon as he kills his sister's wretched boyfriend, his life is largely a series of cowardly decisions to maximize his chances of life at the cost of honor. This includes pleading insane, volunteering for the army in World War II, and deserting at the first opportunity. When he ends up in a concentration camp, he puts his ladies' man wiles to the test, hoping to win mercy from the ice-cold commandant (Shirley Stoler).