The 2019 Next Level Blockbuster Award Winners

Best Picture

Avengers: Infinity War (Winner)

Aquaman

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

Creed II

Green Book

Isle of Dogs

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

A Star Is Born

Best Comedy Picture

Crazy Rich Asians (Winner)

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Blockers

Deadpool 2

A Futile and Stupid Gesture

Best Action Picture

Mission: Impossible- Fallout (Winner)

Aquaman

Black Panther

Bumblebee

Venom

Best Horror Picture

Halloween (Winner)

The First Purge

The Nun

A Quiet Place

The Strangers: Prey At Night

Best Inspirational Picture

I Can Only Imagine (Winner)

God Bless the Broken Road

March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step

Pick of the Litter

Unbroken: Path to Redemption

Best Drama Picture

Bohemian Rhapsody (Winner)

Creed II

First Man

Green Book

A Star Is Born

Best Science Fiction Picture

Avengers: Infinity War (Winner)

The Cloverfield Paradox

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Live Action Family Picture

Paddington 2 (Winner)

Benji

Christopher Robin

Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween

The House with a Clock in Its Walls

Best Animated Family Picture

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Winner)

The Grinch

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Incredibles 2

Teen Titans Go! To the Movies

Best Digital or Direct to Video Picture

Bird Box (Winner)

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

The Cloverfield Paradox

A Futile and Stupid Gesture

Roma

Best Actor

Rami Malek/Bohemian Rhapsody (Winner)

Christian Bale/Vice

Chadwick Boseman/Black Panther

Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born

Robert Downey Jr./Avengers: Infinity War

Ryan Gosling/First Man

Michael B. Jordan/Creed II

Viggo Mortensen/Green Book

Ryan Reynolds/Deadpool 2

John David Washington/BlacKkKlansman

Best Actress

Lady Gaga/A Star Is Born (Winner)

Yalitza Aparicio/Roma

Emily Blunt/A Quiet Place

Sandra Bullock/Bird Box

Jamie Lee Curtis/Halloween

Jennifer Lawrence/Red Sparrow

Evangeline Lilly/Ant-Man and the Wasp

Danielle Macdonald/Dumplin‘

Tessa Thompson/Creed II

Constance Wu/Crazy Rich Asians

Best Supporting Actress

Michelle Yeoh/Crazy Rich Asians (Winner)

Jennifer Aniston/Dumplin‘

Awkwafina/Crazy Rich Asians

Marina de Tavira/Roma

Cynthia Erivo/Bad Times at the El Royale

Claire Foy/First Man

Danai Gurira/Black Panther

Zoe Kazan/The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Regina King/If Beale Street Could Talk

Lupita Nyong’o/Black Panther

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali/Green Book (Winner)

Josh Brolin/Avengers: Infinity War

Adam Driver/BlacKkKlansman

Donald Glover/Solo: A Star Wars Story

Woody Harrelson/Solo: A Star Wars Story

Tom Holland/Avengers: Infinity War

Michael B. Jordan/Black Panther

Tim Blake Nelson/The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Sylvester Stallone/Creed II

Patrick Wilson/Aquaman

Best Ensemble

Avengers: Infinity War (Winner)

Aquaman

Black Panther

Crazy Rich Asians

Mission: Impossible- Fallout

Best Director

Bradley Cooper/A Star Is Born (Winner)

Wes Anderson/Isle of Dogs

Steven Caple Jr./Creed II

Damien Chazelle/First Man

Ryan Coogler/Black Panther

Peter Farrelly/Green Book

Ron Howard/Solo: A Star Wars Story

Anthony and Joe Russo/Avengers: Infinity War

Bryan Singer/Bohemian Rhapsody

James Wan/Aquaman

Best Adapted Screenplay

Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely/Avengers: Infinity War (Winner)

Ryan Coogler and Joe Robert Cole/Black Panther

Jonathan Kasdan and Lawrence Kasdan/Solo: A Star Wars Story

Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman/Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Eric Roth, Bradley Cooper, and Will Fetters/A Star Is Born

Best Original Screenplay

Anthony McCarten/Bohemian Rhapsody (Winner)

Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie, and Peter Farrelly/Green Book

Wes Anderson/Isle of Dogs

Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, and John Krasinski/A Quiet Place

Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian/Searching

Best Original Music

Ludwig Göransson/Black Panther (Winner)

Alan Silvestri/Avengers: Infinity War

Justin Hurwitz/First Man

Alexandre Desplat/Isle of Dogs

John Powell/Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Original Song

“Shallow” performed by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper

from the motion picture “A Star Is Born” (Winner)

“All the Stars” performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA

from the motion picture “Black Panther”

“Pray for Me” performed by The Weekend and Kendrick Lamar

from the motion picture “Black Panther”

“Sunflower” performed by Post Malone and Swae Lee

from the motion picture “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

“Venom” performed by Eminem

from the motion picture “Venom”

Best Production Design

Black Panther (Winner)

Aquaman

First Man

Mute

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Cinematography

First Man (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

Roma

A Star Is Born

Best Costume Design

Solo: A Star Wars Story (Winner)

Aquaman

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Bohemian Rhapsody

Best 3D Presentation

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (Winner)

Aquaman

Avengers: Infinity War

Skyscraper

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Film Editing

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

Bad Times at the El Royale

Black Panther

Bohemian Rhapsody

Best Sound Editing

Bohemian Rhapsody (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Solo: A Star Wars Story

A Star Is Born

Best Sound Mixing

Bohemian Rhapsody (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

Solo: A Star Wars Story

A Star Is Born

Best Special Effects

Aquaman (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Ready Player One

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Makeup Effects

Vice (Winner)

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Deadpool 2

Solo: A Star Wars Story

Best Stunt Work

Mission: Impossible- Fallout (Winner)

Black Panther

Deadpool 2

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Skyscraper

Best Home Video Release

Batman: The Complete Animated Series Deluxe Limited Edition Blu-ray Set (Winner)

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes MVD Rewind Collection Blu-ray

Avengers: Infinity War 4K Blu-ray

Deadpool 2 Super Duper $@%!#& Cut 4K Blu-ray

Fraggle Rock: The Complete Series Blu-ray Set

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom 3D Blu-ray

Justice League 4K Blu-ray

Night of the Living Dead The Criterion Collection Blu-ray

Stranger Things Season 2 4K Blu-ray Set

Supergirl Warner Bros. Archieve Collection Blu-ray

Next Level Blockbuster Icon Award

Marlon Brando

Heath Ledger

Christopher Reeve

Gene Roddenberry

Orson Welles

Next Level Blockbuster Legacy Award

Ghostbusters

The Godfather

Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Superman: The Movie

“Bohemian Rhapsody” Movie Review

    Queen was and remains one of the most iconic rock and roll groups of all time.  So much of their music has influenced popular culture.  Their music has been popular fixtures on the radio and on films.  Queen is a legendary group which explains why it took so look for a film adaptation to become reality, no one wanted to mess it up.  That being said, “Bohemian Rhapsody” was finally released this week to mixed reactions.  It seemed liked critics hated it or loved it.  Well, I don’t know what movie the critics who hated it saw because I loved this film.
    As stated above, “Bohemian Rhapsody” tells the story of the formation of Queen but it’s primary focus is on lead vocalist Freddy Mercury.  The story of Freddy Mercury is both uplifting and tragic.  The story has been criticized for taking historical liberties with dates and events.  I can understand wanting the most historically accutate movie possible, but films also have to be entertaining so creative license must be allowed, even for a subject as well known as the band Queen.  I do understand why some critics would be upset but almost every historic epics take liberties with facts, a great deal of them take far more drastic liberties than this movie did.
    I suspect a great deal of the critism the film is facing is due to Bryan Singer and the controversy he is currently facing.  Bryan Singer has long been accused of sexual harassment involving minions among others.  This does not make the accusations true, but many Hollywood insiders maintain that these accounts are valid.  Bryan Singer is a very gifted director regardless of  the accusations he faces.  If what he did is true, he is a terrible person but that doesn’t change his films from being well made.  Now, Bryan Singer was fired from the movie after completing 75% of the film for being difficult to work with.  Dexter Fletcher (who is set to helm “Rocket Man”) took over the remaining directing duties and polished the rest of the film.
    The cast was one of the best aspects of the film.  Rami Malek was sensational as Freddy Mercury.  He took the role after Sacha Baron Cohen decided to pass on the film.  Malek channels the confidence and inner turmoil Mercury faced throughout his life.  The supporting cast were great and made you feel like you were really watching the band Queen.  Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy, and Joseph Mazzello portray Brian May, Roger Taylor, and John Deacon.  The chemistry with the cast felt as real as the chemistry of the group.  Mike Myers plays a record executive named Ray Foster.  I thought he might be distracting but I liked his small part in the film.  The film gave a humorous nod to his “Wayne’s World” role as well.
    The love story focused on his relationship with Mary Austin, depicting her as perhaps the true love of his life despite his homosexuality.  This is a very tragic relationship in the movie.  The film doesn’t shy away from his homosexuality despite what some critics are saying.  The film tried to represent love as something deeper and independent of sexuality.  It was really well done and emotional in my opinion and seemed to really want the audience to think about what love truly represents.
    The film was funny and charming.  Seeing the poor reviews showcased for the song “Bohemian Rhapsody” was humorous considering it’s a classic.  The conversations about the song “I’m In Love With My Car” provided a humorous on going joke in the movie.  There were aspects about Freddy Mercury and Queen I wasn’t aware of and found interesting.  I also liked how they focused on each band members contributions to the music and showing how collaborative they all were together.  The concert footage was also beyond fantastic.  The cinematography for those scenes made you feel like you were there.  There were literally people in the theater waving their arms in the air as the music played.

    I wish they covered certain events like scoring “Flash Gordon” and “Highlander” (although “Who Wants to Live Forever” was featured in the movie and used effectively).  My guess is they couldn’t depict that over rights issues.  That was the only thing I can complain about, the movie left me wanting more.  Ultimately “Bohemian Rhapsody” turned out to be one of the best movies and best experiences I have seen in awhile.

Grade: A+