All in Review
Pop-star biopics have become a colossal phenomenon in recent years, and it is no surprise that one was made about the 70’s success story Elton John. Rocketman tells the story of a talented child who wasn’t loved by his parents, ending up with serious substance abuse problems and, yet, a reaching-for-the-stars kind of music career.
Freddie Mercury is something bigger than colorful, boozy parties and yellow leather jackets, and that’s why the movie made in honor of his life in 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody, should be praised for its respectful and clever focus on the immortal performer’s musical legacy.
The 1920s. Helsinki. Live singing. Murder. These are four of my favourite things – all of which and more The Alexander Theatre offers Finnish musical devotees with their 2019 production “Iloisten Sielujen Hotelli”. Paradoxically, the performance was both thoroughly enjoyable and entertaining and painfully sunk in humdrum mediocrity.
Raw and unpredictable nature, melancholy, humble attitude, and ‘sisu’ – what could be more Finnish? The Helsinki City Theatre offers the celebrating people of the 100-year-old Finland a beautiful musical story that has already warmed our hearts in the form of a TV series, and is based on novels written by Anni Blomqvist: Myrskyluodon Maija.
You’d be forgiven for having very low expectations for the newest version of Stephen King’s It, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you dismiss this film as just a lazy cash-grab capitalizing on a known property.
