DOWNTON ABBEY (2019) – My rating: 10/10

Downton Abbey is a British period drama that represents the continuation of the BBC television series of the same name. The film is directed by Michael Engler and written by Julian Fellowes, who is also the creator and executive producer of the television series. Much of the original cast has returned as they perform the first Downton Abbey movie.  An official state visit by the British Monarchy to Downton Abbey upsets the entire staff and their way of life, as they bend over backward to please the King and  Queen of England. I found Downey Abbey to be one of the year’s best movie and I absolutely loved it.

****  SPOILERS BELOW  ****

Downton Abbey begins in 1927 when Robert Crawley (Hugh Bonneville), the Earl of Grantham, receives a letter from Buckingham Palace announcing that King George V (Simon Jones) and Queen Mary (Geraldine James) are coming to Downton Abbey as part of a royal tour through the country. Robert’s daughter, Lady Mary Talbot (Michelle Dockery) and son-in-law, Tom Branson (Allen Leech) are the first to learn of the royal visit, which leads to Drama 1: The Countess of Grantham, Violet Crawley, Dowager  (Maggie Smith), is perturbed that Queen Mary’s lady-in-waiting, Lady Maud Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton), will also be coming to Downton with the royal family. Lady Maud is Robert’s cousin and the two families have fallen out over Lady Maud choosing her personal maid, Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton) as her heir over Robert.  Drama 2: Occurs when the royal staff arrives, which includes the Royal Butler, Mr. Wilson (David Haig), the Queen’s Royal Housemaid, Mrs. Webb (Richenda Carey),  the snooty Royal Chef, Monsieur Courbet (Philippe Spall) and the King’s Royal Dresser, Richard Ellis (Max Brown) — the Downton staff is affronted by their extreme arrogance. Drama 3: Occurs when Lady Mary believes that Thomas Barrow (Robert James-Collier), Downton Abbey’s butler, will fall short for the royal occasion, so she asks Charles Carson (Jim Carter), Downton’s retired butler, to temporarily resume his former duties, upsetting Barrow. Drama 4: The plumber, Mr. Sellick (James Cartwright) who arrives to repair the broken boiler flirts with Daisy Mason (Sophie McShera), Downton’s assistant cook, upsetting her fiancé, footman Andy Parker (Michael  C. Fox). Drama 5: A man calling himself Major Chetwode (Stephen Campbell Moore), arrives in Downton village. He seeks out Tom, who suspects he is a royal detective involved with security for the royal visit. Lady Mary sees Tom and Major Chetwode leaving a pub together.  Assuming something’s not quite right, she follows them. Drama 6: The king informs the Marchioness of Hexham’s, Edith Pelham (Laura Carmichael), husband, Bertie Pelham (Harry Hadden-Paton), the 7th Marquess of Hexham, that he is to accompany the Prince of Wales on a three-month tour of Africa. This is a problem for Edith who is pleased for Bertie but also upset because she needs him home at the time of the tour. Drama 7: Anna Bates (Joanne Froggatt) discovers that one of the royal staff, Miss Lawton (Susan Lynch) has been stealing from Downton Abbey. She agrees to say nothing provided Lawton returns the stolen items and remakes a ballgown for Lady Edith after the wrong size garment was delivered to her. Drama 8: Downstairs, Anna and John Bates (Brendan Coyle) have a plan to retake the household and restore Downton’s honor. The staff agrees. Drama 9: Thomas Barrow meets Chris Webster (Perry Fitzpatrick), who invites him to a club. Webster takes Barrow to a secret nightclub where the patrons are mostly men dancing together. The police storm the club, arresting everyone. Mr. Ellis of the royal staff is watching from across the street and sees the whole incident. Drama 10: At dinner, the king is impressed by the revised menu and praises his chef’s culinary skills, however, footmen, Mr. Joseph Molesley (Kevin Doyle) is quick to defend Downton and blurts out that the head cook, Mrs. Beryl Patmore (Lesley Nicol) prepared the dinner and that the Downton staff are the ones serving it. Everyone is stunned by Mr. Molesley speaking to the king without permission. Robert apologizes for Molesley’s outburst, but the queen praises Mrs. Beryl Patmore’s cooking and tells the Countess of Grantham, Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern) that they are accustomed to people behaving strangely around them.

Meanwhile, Henry Talbot (Matthew Goode), Lady Mary’s husband, arrives home in time to accompany the family to the ball at Harewood. As a self-appointed peacemaker, Lady Isobel Merton (Penelope Wilton) makes an important discovery that should settle an age-old feud. Mr. Carson and his wife, Mrs. Elsie Hughes Carson (Phyllis Logan) discuss Downton Abbey’s future. Carson asserts it will stand for another hundred years with the Crawley family still living in it.

As a fan of the popular BBC TV series, I was happy to see Downton Abbey come to the big screen, despite the long wait of three years since it ended on TV.  From the moment I heard the familiar Downton Abbey music while entering the movie theater, my heart started jumping for joy.  From what I could see of the trailer, the whole cast had reassembled once again to excite us with the ups and downs of a British hierarchy family in the late 1920s.  I learned so much about the culture just watching through-out the 6 seasons that Downton Abbey aired.  The movie didn’t slack on the heartfelt comings and goings of the household.  I found the movie generated much enjoyment with just the right touch of drama and secrets, as well as disappointments.  Downton Abbey left me with hopes of seeing a second movie, but without one beloved character, who I will not disclose at this time.  Make no mistake, there is a lot more story to be told.  I’m trying not to spoil all the surprises or all of the twist and turns this movie has I stored for you. Aside from my love of period pieces, I deem Downton Abbey as one of the better movies of 2019.  It opened with a $31M box office and is slated to pull in much more.  I highly recommend it to all ages — Downton Abbey is just simply delightful.  Check It Out!

 

BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY (2018) – My rating: 9/10

Bohemian Rhapsody is a biographical film about British rock band, Queen and  is Directed by Bryan Singer, written by Anthony McCarten, produced by Graham King and former Queen manager, Jim Beach.  Bohemian Rhapsody follows singer Freddie Mercury’s life leading to Queen’s Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium in 1985.  Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor served as creative and musical consultants on the film. I was pumped to see Bohemian Rhapsody because I really love Queen. I was not disappointed.

**** SOME SPOILERS BELOW ****

In 1970, Farrokh Bulsara / Freddie Mercury (Rami Malek), an Indian-British Parsi college student and baggage handler at Heathrow Airport, watches a local band, called Smile, perform at a nightclub after following them for some time. After the show, he meets Smile’s guitarist, Brian May (Gwilym Lee) and drummer, Roger Taylor (Ben Hardy) and offers to replace their singer, Tim Staffell (Jack Roth), who has quit the band to join Humpy Bong. With the addition of the bassist, John Deacon (Joseph Mazzello), the band, now known as Queen, plays gigs across Britain until they sell their van in order to raise enough money to produce their debut album. Their musical style lands them a contract with EMI Records. At the same time, Farrokh legally changes his name to Freddie Mercury and becomes engaged to Biba a store clerk named Mary Austin (Lucy Boynton). The album hits the charts in America, and during the band’s U.S. tour, Freddie begins to question his sexuality.

In 1975, Queen record their fourth album, A Night at the Opera, but leaves EMI when executive Ray Foster (Mike Myers) refuses to have the six-minute song “Bohemian Rhapsody” released as the album’s first single. Freddie has Capital Radio DJ Kenny Everett (Dickie Beau) debut the song on the airwaves. Despite mixed reviews, “Bohemian Rhapsody” becomes a big hit. Shortly after the band’s world tour, Freddie begins an affair with Paul Prenter (Allen Leech), his personal manager. Mary breaks up with Freddie when he comes out to her as bisexual, although she assures him that he is gay. The band’s success continues through to the early 1980s, but tensions arise over the direction of their music and a change in Freddie’s attitude. In 1981, after a lavish party at his home, Freddie falls in love with Jim Hutton (Aaron McCusker), one of the waiters at the party. They shortly part ways, with Jim telling Freddie to look for him when he learns to like himself.

I really liked Bohemian Rhapsody.  I thought it was well put together and showed Queen from their beginnings to their end with Freddie Mercury.  While their were some inaccuracies, the film was close enough.  2 performances really stood out for me, Rami Malek as Freddie and Joseph Mazzello as John Deacon.  Actually, the entire film was brilliantly acted.  I was entertained from the start to the finish while my heart went out to Queen for their loss.  I highly recommend Bohemian Rhapsody — it’s well worth your time and money plus the music was fantastic.  Check it Out!

[Bohemian Rhapsody is Oscar nominated for BEST: Picture, Actor, Film Editing, Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing]