I never owned a Queen CD in my life, yet the music is familiar, it is the soundtrack of that era. I thought his transformation and interpretation of the songs and movement was terrific. When I saw the real guy in the end, it wasn’t as extreme, that bothered me. It was so much about the prosthetic, it made him look so grotesque, it was distracting. I mean Lady Gaga was great, but you know where it was going so quickly it didn’t have any surprises for me. There were a lot of closeups of Bradley Cooper, it was the Bradley Cooper story. I just wasn’t interested, I didn’t particularly believe it. There’s something about that story: I don’t care about it, it’s been remade two or three times, it’s so familiar. If I’m engaged with the film I won’t do that.
It’s always a bit of a snag, when it’s based on something true and you start checking it on Wikipedia. I immediately started looking at the real story rather than the one I was given. In the beginning I was engaged with it, but everybody became so unpleasant, it was people wandering around in a corridor with a fish-eye lens. The idea of the green book and these two unlikely characters I liked, but it was not for my taste. It was witty, it took something that could be endless action and invigorated it –which I appreciate in those action movies which are not really my cup of tea.
And again, it was stunning looking, stunning performances. As important as the things he is saying, I enjoyed the madness of the premise and the fact it’s based on a true story. “BlacKkKlansman” is witty, funny, and a bit preachy but it was worth it.
The other foreign films should get a chance. I love the film and I want it to win Best Picture but I won’t vote for it for Best Foreign Film. I love “Roma.” But I am concerned it’s getting so much publicity and attention, it’s a bit cheeky if Alfonso Cuarón also gets nominated for Best Foreign Film, Director, Cinematography and Screenplay. You have to think about the preferential ballot otherwise you are not giving the number one the best possibility.