_Rocketman_ -- the Elton John biopic! Starring...Tom Hardy!

I didn't realize that until last week. Hated Sing but that song was a highlight

He has quite a long history with Elton’s music - he chose to sing “Your Song” when he auditioned for RADA

this was excellent, completely blown away

agree, and i don't like this kind of music *at all*

John Reid's reputation already seemed to be in bad shape after he got canned by John for stealing from him and had to pay him something like four million pounds. Also, I learned that Reid's company made 78 million pounds from representing EJ until 1998.

He probably doesn't even consider this a "bad depiction"

"wow, they made me the hero of the film!"

The fact that he’s portrayed by Richard Madden should def be taken as immense flattery lol

I’ve now seen this 3 times and I’d gladly see more.

For me the reason why it works so well is because it is so steeped in memory & feeling & the fantasy that comes from that. It allows for more narrative freedom. And the choice of songs for the moments they illustrate, especially the ones out of chronology, I think work even better than they should on paper.

Like sure, Border Song or Take Me To The Pilot would be great deployed at the Troub like it really was - but Take Me To the Pilot used as the bed (pun intended) for his first sexual encounter deploys the ~feeling~ of that song in such a great, perfect way.

Same w Crocodile Rock. I pretty much hated it as twee overplayed nonsense but when the LAAAAAA’s lift everyone off the ground, taking Linda Ronstadt’s famous levitation quote & making it literal, the silliness of the song converts to crazy joy & it feels right, even when the logic of it should make me get all Annie Wilkes HE DIDNT GET OUT OF THE COCKADOODIE CAR nitpicky.

To me, the direction, the music, the acting in the movie all show that the cast & crew collectively understood his music on an emotional level & weren’t afraid to dig deep & get weird to really show that. I might reconsider later but right now, I think that it takes more courage & commitment to show that, than it does to show they understood his music intellectually. There’s so much of his innateness that would be left out of a more factual, musically/critically intelligent story, tbh imo. I’m not saying there isn’t room for both obv, and I have a hard time explaining what I mean without sounding like it’s an either/or proposition. But for Elton John the emotional human being, the kind of person he is, the kind of music he plays, and the kind of self-healing journey the movie is taking you on, it’s absolutely the right choice. imo.

tbh I enjoy your enjoyment of the movie even more than I enjoyed the movie

I will say the ending was bittersweet to me: “and he never recorded a really great song again...”

(I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues gets close but gets let down by the backing vox at the end)

also really been enjoying the opportunity to revisit the Elton poll threads

honestly the best gift the movie gave me is a) making me enjoy “Honky Cat” and b) all i want to do is listen to his music constantly again & i love that

been playing the Spotify list from the poll pretty frequently.

gotta admit I still don’t know what you people see in Grey Seal lol

oh man i love Gray Seal
it’s lovely pop is what it is

I’m just glad my votes got Holiday Inn and Where to Now St Peter into the rollout

<3

I'm so basic
https://img.discogs.com/-XhbqI1aWmygs56eRGEARqodykU=/fit-in/600x598/filters:strip_icc():format(jpeg):mode_rgb():quality(90)/discogs-images/R-392937-1253268060.jpeg.jpg

The fact that he’s portrayed by Richard Madden should def be taken as immense flattery lol

^ this

Stunned by how many people like or loved this movie. I thought it was terrible. Such an enormous lack of imagination, and how....HOW can you make an Elton John biopic and not include "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"? that should've OPENED the movie. not every musician movie needs to go all the way I'm Not There but I was shocked by how few Elton John songs were featured at all- only two from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? I don't get it...it was fine I guess, but that's not enough. I didn't see Bohemian Rhapsody.

It's my fav Elton song but...why, exactly, should it have opened the movie?

Feh. Some Elton fan! If you really were a fan, you'd claim the movie should have opened with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xh2hkTzcT7c

this is freaky cause i honestly just now woke up thinking about "heartache all over the world"

Guys. GUYSZ We all know it should have opened with I Wanna Kiss The Bride

"hercules" was maybe the deepest cut to make an appearance... i was pretty stoked at that. still think the Captain Fantastic material overall would have been gold for this. "sartorial eloquence" would have been great for the whole party's-gotten-too-big period.* the sacrificial use of "victim of love" was pretty cool. where exactly in his career is he supposed to be when jerky jerkface tells him he'd sell more records if he weren't recording "MOR shit" --- Blue Moves?

* for some weird reason yesterday, rather than listening to the new taylor swift video, i watched it on mute with "sartorial eloquence" playing. the lipsync didn't work out much but it kinda worked otherwise. a certain star-studded excessiveness.

ooh yeah i should reread the poll threads. how the fuck has it been six years since that?! seems like yesterday. would be worth it just for shakey's schtick of constantly acting surprised and disappointed that bernie has written a passionate, irony-free pastiche, and that elton john sings on it.

It's my fav Elton song but...why, exactly, should it have opened the movie?

― Got your butt drank (Neanderthal), Tuesday, June 18, 2019 4:05 AM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

because it's awesome and starts with an overture

ding ding ding

I watched this on the plane yesterday and I have never cried so much while watching a movie

I cried when he says he's an alcoholic in the first scene
When Bernie very clearly writes "Your Song" about Elton
When he makes his debut at the Troubadour
The sex scene which is like um finally a normal extremely hot gay sex scene in a Hollywood movie
When the dad hugs Elton's half-brothers
When his mom tells him he'll never be loved
When he played "Pinball Wizard"
When Robb Stark turns into an asshole
Literally every time Bernie gazes as Elton with the most intense fraternal adoration
"Bennie And The Jets"
The stark re-arrangement of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"
Every single time the orchestral score nodded to the chorus-modulation from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
When adult Elton hugs his childhood self

And when it was over I was sitting there like, "why do I feel one way about Bowie (overt worship), and feel another way about Elton (sheepish tolerance)". I understand that Bowie was far more successful and pulling a look and Elton was all awkwardness but... I was sitting there, shaken, like "have I forsaken Elton in this weird way by spending as much time lolling about "Honky Cat" as I do worshipping "Daniel"?"

"I'm Still Standing" was used so incredibly, too. idk, overall just a wonderful film.

:D

i found it overwhelmingly emotional too. every time i see it i find more things to cry about

i love when Bernie sings Yellow Brick Road - the arrangement to suit Jamie Bell’s voice, the character etc - and Bell’s voice!

and I like how Taron Egerton can give all those internal emotions just with his eyes & his expression, and the way the anger & insecurity is always right there just below the surface

I appreciated the fact that the filmmakers were deliberately winking at the audience enough to make it clear that "this is fantastical revisionism", no efforts made to conceal the fact that this was a self-aggrandizing piece, and in fact acknowledging it slyly

totally

jamie bell’s accent in this is utterly confounding

That scene in the cafe where they hesitantly share how much they love Country music and then both burst into song at customer-bothering volume was straight-up genius. I could have taken an entire film (Backbeat/Nowhere Boy style) of Bernie and Elton larking around young and drunk in the London suburbs but i was very grateful there were some scenes depicting that at all.

The only real false note for me was.. why on Earth would he randomly have an entirely new and unrehearsed band for that first Troubador show?? Just nitpicking that though.

Best biopic since Walk The Line.

yeah the cafe Streets of Laredo scene is ridic charming, one of my faves

Full length Honky Cat number featuring the full dance number that was cut from the movie

it’s v cute

https://youtu.be/bAX5RzN5b0g

Wowwww

I want to applaud everyone involved from the orchestrator who made it magical to the intern who threw the soccer ball

I just watched this yesterday too - great movie! I wonder how much of Bohemian Rhapsody Fletcher had input on, because this had much bolder direction. It was refreshing to see a biopic embrace the falseness of biopics, and some of the song choices were legit surprising, like I Want Love. Was wondering if even a Lion King song would show up

I don't think Fletcher had much input on BR at all. He finished it up, I believe the majority of the movie was maybe already shot and done.

hmm. I think it was a good call to cut that number. The Busby Berkeley instrumental part doesn't work. The part with the reggae beat isn't great either.

xp that would make sense, the two movies are like night and day

Dex was on board before the movie switched studios, when Ben Whishaw was attached & they were ginning for an R rating. VERY different movie, obv.

But it sounds like he had very little input on the final version when they brought him back - I mean he only worked on the Live Aid portion at the end and a handful of other scenes, and it was mostly just to help them finish shooting.

I was a little taken aback when I read (via a Vulture article? maybe?) that the bits in Rocketman about Elton's mum and dad ("You will never be loved properly" and "no hugs for you, they'll make you soft", respectively) were apocryphal. They did such a good job depicting, frankly, the glorious first blush of gay male flirtation and sexiness and then the descent into callous abuse, all of that was chef's kiss. Why did they need to get all revisionist about his family situation? I get the impulse to do so (drama!) but it felt like a betrayal for people who, like, actually have to deal with that kind of familial rejection. Anyway, whatever, it was really nice to see a movie really Do Gay Justice in the face of Bohemian Rhapsody ignoring it and Call Me By Your Name creating some bizarre white-washed fantasy version of it.

didn't know they were apocryphal; elton and his mother had a completely fucking horrible relationship up to her death though so I can see why he'd be happy to portray her in a negative light.

I think that using Elton’s own memories as the basis for the story allows for more license, and maybe pushing the envelope for added impact - they didn’t factually say it, but it ~felt~ that way? Maybe thats a copout though, idk

i agree that it would be hard to hear as those irl ppl though

and yeah his relationship w his mum was pretty sad

On a separate note: one of my favorite 'because we can' moments in the film is him rocketing up from Dodger Stadium into the passing jet.

I wonder how much of Bohemian Rhapsody Fletcher had input on, because this had much bolder direction

Apart from his BoRhap role being to play cleanup, he'd quit the film originally because he didn't like the script they ended up with, or the sanitised tone. Rocketman is presumably more like what he would have done with Queen if able, but his job on the released Rhapsody was to be anonymous and finish the film that hundreds of ppl were already making, not to suddenly turn it into his own vision.

Enjoying the rush of enthusiasm in this revive, I'll probably check it out sometime based on this.

xpost yeah some of the transitions are really inventive, that one is the most bonkers and a+

I take back my snippy comment on the trailer, this film was wonderful in every sense.
A minor shock to realise I have been listening to the first "Greatest Hits" compilation for 45 years now, Jesus.