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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated Rio (2011) in Movies
Aug 7, 2019
As the very colorful birds of the jungle in Rio de Janeiro are partying it up with singing and aeriel dancing some humans crash the party and capture some of the birds, one of them being a very young blue macaw. From there they are flown to the U.S. with final destinations unknown. Thanks to some poor driving habits the crate containing the young blue macaw is left stranded in the freezing snow of Minnesota but he is soon saved by a young girl named Linda who names him Blu (I know not very original).
Fast forward 15 years, Linda and Blu run a bookstore and even though he has never learned to fly he loves the indoor domestic lifestyle and has never thought of returning to Rio. That is until Dr. Barbosa arrives and informs them that Blu is the last known male blue macaw in the world and that at his bird sanctuary in Rio he has the last known female blue macaw, named Jewel. After some hesitation they decide it is species saving time and go with Dr. Barbosa to Rio. As Blu and Jewel get to know each other (that’s not an euphemism), Dr. Barbosa and Linda decide they should give them some alone time and leave. But while the humans are away making a connection of their own, someone breaks into the bird sanctuary and abducts Blu and Jewel.
The two blue macaws soon find themselves shackled together and locked away with many other birds to be taken to final destinations unknown (hmmm, deja vu). Blu and Jewel are able to escape from their captors but not from the shackles that bind them and thus begins their epic journey to freedom from the shackles. Along the way they befriend some very interesting characters who do their best to help them along the way. Will Jewel and Blu be free of the shackles? Will Blu and Linda ever be reunited? Will Blu ever learn to fly? What about the bookstore?
While the story is very predictable and at least once I could tell the kids were losing interest during a scene, the animation is beautiful and amazing, the humor is great and I saw many of the kids in the theater bobbing their heads along to the songs. They could not have done any better with the incredible voice cast: Blu and Jewel are voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway and Leslie Mann voices Linda. The incredible supporting cast voices iniclude Wanda Sykes, Lane Lynch, Jamie Fox, Will.I.Am and George Lopez.
Overall, regardless of age, everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy the film as much, if not more, as I did. But just to be sure I brought along a friend’s 10 year old to get his perspective and posed a few questions. I was very happy to mostly get more than one word answers:
Fast forward 15 years, Linda and Blu run a bookstore and even though he has never learned to fly he loves the indoor domestic lifestyle and has never thought of returning to Rio. That is until Dr. Barbosa arrives and informs them that Blu is the last known male blue macaw in the world and that at his bird sanctuary in Rio he has the last known female blue macaw, named Jewel. After some hesitation they decide it is species saving time and go with Dr. Barbosa to Rio. As Blu and Jewel get to know each other (that’s not an euphemism), Dr. Barbosa and Linda decide they should give them some alone time and leave. But while the humans are away making a connection of their own, someone breaks into the bird sanctuary and abducts Blu and Jewel.
The two blue macaws soon find themselves shackled together and locked away with many other birds to be taken to final destinations unknown (hmmm, deja vu). Blu and Jewel are able to escape from their captors but not from the shackles that bind them and thus begins their epic journey to freedom from the shackles. Along the way they befriend some very interesting characters who do their best to help them along the way. Will Jewel and Blu be free of the shackles? Will Blu and Linda ever be reunited? Will Blu ever learn to fly? What about the bookstore?
While the story is very predictable and at least once I could tell the kids were losing interest during a scene, the animation is beautiful and amazing, the humor is great and I saw many of the kids in the theater bobbing their heads along to the songs. They could not have done any better with the incredible voice cast: Blu and Jewel are voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway and Leslie Mann voices Linda. The incredible supporting cast voices iniclude Wanda Sykes, Lane Lynch, Jamie Fox, Will.I.Am and George Lopez.
Overall, regardless of age, everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy the film as much, if not more, as I did. But just to be sure I brought along a friend’s 10 year old to get his perspective and posed a few questions. I was very happy to mostly get more than one word answers:
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Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Sound of Metal (2019) in Movies
Apr 13, 2021
Acting by Riz Ahmed, Paul Raci AND Olivia Cooke (2 more)
Wonderful story: show not tell!
Sound design is simply epic
When I was young, I remember being scared to death by an old black and white movie about a woman who went blind.... I remember she was travelling on a bus and the movie simulated the view through her eyes as her vision dimmed and then went black. (I've googled this without joy, so can't place the movie!) I found the concept of suddenly losing one of your key senses to be utterly terrifying. So, I was fully engaged with Ruben's issues in this movie.
I thought the movie was going to be downbeat and depressing. But, both with it's positive portrayal of the deaf community and with the extraordinary ending, I found it to be a wonderfully heart-warming tale.
Positives:
- There is just SOOO much depth to this story: a character torn from his familiar world and struggling to adapt to the changes. It's fundamentally a movie about acceptance of self. The last two minutes of the screen time are momentous: one of the best endings of a movie I can remember in recent memory. A truly religious experience.
- "Sound of Metal" won the BAFTA at the weekend for Sound, and deservedly so. It's another leading character in the film, with the editing deftly weaving between the soundscape that most of us live in and Ruben's perception. Apparently, the sound team used a hyper-sensitive microphone in Ahmed's mouth to pick up the inner noises of his body.
- Both Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci are nominated for Oscars. Simply stunning performances from both of them.
- Although not nominated, I'd lob Olivia Cooke's name into that frame too. It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to see the same actress who played "Pixie" in the body of Lou. It's a transformation akin to Charlize Theron's in "Monster". (In fact, it took me until the Paris scenes to actually recognize her!)
- Director Darius Marder - IN HIS DIRECTORIAL FEATURE DEBUT! - delivers a fabulous example of "show not tell". All of the detail is present in the film to tell the story if you look for it. You don't need dialogue to give Lou's backstory: just a casual shot of her lower arm is enough.
Negatives:
- It's a VERY minor quibble but, with a 2 hour running length, the Paris scenes dragged just a little for me. I might have chosen to do a few nips and tucks there in the 'party' scenes. But I wouldn't have wanted to lose much.
"Sound of Metal" has - I'm sure - a guaranteed slot in my Films of the Year list. Simply stunning and highly recommended, this is currently showing in the UK on Amazon Prime.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/04/13/sound-of-metal-dont-ignore-that-ear-bud-volume-warning-on-your-phone-kids/ )
I thought the movie was going to be downbeat and depressing. But, both with it's positive portrayal of the deaf community and with the extraordinary ending, I found it to be a wonderfully heart-warming tale.
Positives:
- There is just SOOO much depth to this story: a character torn from his familiar world and struggling to adapt to the changes. It's fundamentally a movie about acceptance of self. The last two minutes of the screen time are momentous: one of the best endings of a movie I can remember in recent memory. A truly religious experience.
- "Sound of Metal" won the BAFTA at the weekend for Sound, and deservedly so. It's another leading character in the film, with the editing deftly weaving between the soundscape that most of us live in and Ruben's perception. Apparently, the sound team used a hyper-sensitive microphone in Ahmed's mouth to pick up the inner noises of his body.
- Both Riz Ahmed and Paul Raci are nominated for Oscars. Simply stunning performances from both of them.
- Although not nominated, I'd lob Olivia Cooke's name into that frame too. It's almost IMPOSSIBLE to see the same actress who played "Pixie" in the body of Lou. It's a transformation akin to Charlize Theron's in "Monster". (In fact, it took me until the Paris scenes to actually recognize her!)
- Director Darius Marder - IN HIS DIRECTORIAL FEATURE DEBUT! - delivers a fabulous example of "show not tell". All of the detail is present in the film to tell the story if you look for it. You don't need dialogue to give Lou's backstory: just a casual shot of her lower arm is enough.
Negatives:
- It's a VERY minor quibble but, with a 2 hour running length, the Paris scenes dragged just a little for me. I might have chosen to do a few nips and tucks there in the 'party' scenes. But I wouldn't have wanted to lose much.
"Sound of Metal" has - I'm sure - a guaranteed slot in my Films of the Year list. Simply stunning and highly recommended, this is currently showing in the UK on Amazon Prime.
(For the full graphical review, please check out the One Mann's Movies review here - https://bob-the-movie-man.com/2021/04/13/sound-of-metal-dont-ignore-that-ear-bud-volume-warning-on-your-phone-kids/ )
Emma @ The Movies (1786 KP) rated War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) in Movies
Sep 25, 2019
I'm terrible with watching films in sequence, but I've been seeing the trailers for War for the Planet of the Apes repeatedly and really wanted to watch it. I saw the first one when it came out in some fashion, the second one has eluded me though.
The films begins with the Alpha-Omega paramilitary group laying down an attack on Caesar's ape clan. There is heavy resistance and several of Alpha-Omega's team are captured. Caesar, wanting to bring some form of peace to his clan, sends back the captured soldiers to the Colonel with a message, they did not start this war and that they want to live in peace together.
Caesar's son, Blue Eyes, returns from searching for a safe haven, and has found a place across the desert for them all to live. Thinking that they need more time to prepare, Caesar puts off their departure with tragic consequences. During the night the Colonel and a team of men infiltrate their camp, and her slaughters Blue Eyes and Caesar's wife, believing it was him.
Seeking revenge, Caesar leaves the camp to hunt down the Colonel, accompanied by a small group. Along the way they encounter a single soldier with his daughter in a camp, who Caesar kills when he goes for his gun. The girl doesn't speak and deciding not to leave her there alone, they take her with them on their journey.
The group make their way to the Border with the help of Bad Ape and Caesar discovers that the rest of their clan has been captured and is imprisoned below. After being captured they must plan their escape from both inside and outside the walls of the Border any way they can...
Quite simple put, this was an epic feat, and well worth the watch. At some point while it was on I honestly forgot that what I was seeing wasn't real. The effects are magnificent, and the emotions in Caesar in particular are just incredible. Those alone should be sure fire reasons to watch it, but if you're not convinced, then the story line isn't bad either.
I always think it's amazing how well movies manage to match up the emotion of the actor with their digitised counterpart. That takes an amazingly skilled group behind the scenes. My first reaction when I saw Woody Harrelson in the trailer was not a good one. He's amusing, but I couldn't name a film of his that I've enjoyed him in. I'm happy to say that this one has changed all of that. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, you see his character go from one end of the spectrum to the other, and Harrelson does it all so well. Amiah Miller who plays Nova was amazing too, barely any lines and acting at something that gets put in the scene after the fact must be incredibly difficult and she managed to pull it off with real emotion.
The films begins with the Alpha-Omega paramilitary group laying down an attack on Caesar's ape clan. There is heavy resistance and several of Alpha-Omega's team are captured. Caesar, wanting to bring some form of peace to his clan, sends back the captured soldiers to the Colonel with a message, they did not start this war and that they want to live in peace together.
Caesar's son, Blue Eyes, returns from searching for a safe haven, and has found a place across the desert for them all to live. Thinking that they need more time to prepare, Caesar puts off their departure with tragic consequences. During the night the Colonel and a team of men infiltrate their camp, and her slaughters Blue Eyes and Caesar's wife, believing it was him.
Seeking revenge, Caesar leaves the camp to hunt down the Colonel, accompanied by a small group. Along the way they encounter a single soldier with his daughter in a camp, who Caesar kills when he goes for his gun. The girl doesn't speak and deciding not to leave her there alone, they take her with them on their journey.
The group make their way to the Border with the help of Bad Ape and Caesar discovers that the rest of their clan has been captured and is imprisoned below. After being captured they must plan their escape from both inside and outside the walls of the Border any way they can...
Quite simple put, this was an epic feat, and well worth the watch. At some point while it was on I honestly forgot that what I was seeing wasn't real. The effects are magnificent, and the emotions in Caesar in particular are just incredible. Those alone should be sure fire reasons to watch it, but if you're not convinced, then the story line isn't bad either.
I always think it's amazing how well movies manage to match up the emotion of the actor with their digitised counterpart. That takes an amazingly skilled group behind the scenes. My first reaction when I saw Woody Harrelson in the trailer was not a good one. He's amusing, but I couldn't name a film of his that I've enjoyed him in. I'm happy to say that this one has changed all of that. I thoroughly enjoyed his performance, you see his character go from one end of the spectrum to the other, and Harrelson does it all so well. Amiah Miller who plays Nova was amazing too, barely any lines and acting at something that gets put in the scene after the fact must be incredibly difficult and she managed to pull it off with real emotion.