Pitch Perfect 2

Pitch Perfect 2

Posted on May 14, 2015 at 5:48 pm

B+
Lowest Recommended Age: High School
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for innuendo and language
Profanity: Some strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs: Drinking
Violence/ Scariness: Comic peril and violence, no one hurt
Diversity Issues: Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters: May 15, 2015
Date Released to DVD: September 21, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN: B00NYC3SG4
Copyright 2015 Universal
Copyright 2015 Universal

“Pitch Perfect 2” is — bear with me — the musical comedy variation on the “Furious 7” recipe for success.  The sequel jettisons any pretense of seriousness of purpose, structural logic, or psychological authenticity, joyfully tosses off any pretense of taking itself, its heartwarmingly diverse characters, or its storyline seriously.  And both, unexpectedly but utterly deservedly, will make you teary-eyed.  Substitute exquisitely harmonized snippets of popular songs for cars flying out of planes, and it’s basically the same movie.  And there’s nothing wrong with that.  “Pitch Perfect 2” is even more fun than the first.

Beca (Anna Kendrick) was just starting college in the first film, about her reluctant agreement to join the all-girl acapella group called The Barden Bellas, led by Aubrey (Anna Camp) and her loyal lieutenant Chloe (Brittany Snow).  Now Aubrey has graduated but Chloe is still there, deliberately flunking so she will not have to leave the now-three-time national champion Bellas.  Beca is a senior, hoping she can take on a dream internship with a musical producer (Keegan-Michael Key, the “angry Obama”) without disrupting the group.

But the group has been disrupted.  The Bellas performed at the President’s birthday celebration (footage of the Obamas is inserted to make it look like they were really there), with Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) coming in like a wrecking ball on a trapeze.  It was a triumph until it became a disaster when Fat Amy’s skin-tight jumpsuit split open and she wasn’t wearing underwear.

The Bellas are banned from collegiate competition, and are not even allowed to conduct auditions. Too bad for those hoping for a reprise of one of the first film’s most entertaining scenes, but there is simply no time. We hardly get a chance to hear Barden’s male acapella group, the Treblemakers, either. This is all about the Bellas fighting their way back with the only option left to them — an international competition, up against the world champions, Germany’s Das Sound Machine, a group so terrifyingly huge and technically perfect it is a kind of acapella Triumph of the Will.

But we’re not here for the plot; we’re here for the music, and there is a ton of it, all so good and so varied that it is frustrating to get it in such short snippets. Songs made popular by the Andrews Sisters, Hansen, Taylor Swift, En Vogue, Mika, Montell Jordan, and Carrie Underwood zip by, most hilariously in a sing-off that tops the original’s. Categories include “Songs About Butts” (one character points out that’s pretty much everything on the radio) and “I Dated John Mayer.” Hilariously, one of the competing acapella groups is the Green Bay Packers. And Snoop Dogg shows up to sing a Christmas song.

There is one new addition to the Bellas, though, “True Grit’s” Hailee Steinfeld as Emily, an eager but shy freshman whose mom (Katey Sagal) was a Bella, so she’s a legacy. She also writes songs.

Will the Bellas get their mojo back? Will Beca impress her boss? Will Aubrey show up for a pep talk? Will there be some delicious silliness along the way? Will Emily’s new songs be game-changers when the long-standing tradition is covers only? How about some romance (a bit) and some comedy (a lot)?  But what’s the deal with the false eyelashes on everyone?  Did Elizabeth Banks bring on her Effie Trinket makeup team?  Fat Amy’s no/yes from Fat Amy when Bumper (Adam Devine of “Modern Family”) says he wants to have sex with her is ooky and just plain off.

But first time director Banks, who co-produced the first film and the sequel, and returns, this time as both commentator on acapella competitions and as head of the organization, manages a very large cast and an even larger set list.  She keeps the tone light and breezy, balancing the outrageous (hate mail from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor?) with the touching.  A call-back to the first film’s breakout hit “Cups,” is simply lovely.  If some elements of what we can barely dignify by terming a storyline are pat and predictable, the song choices are not. From the very first moment, with an a capella rendition of the Universal” logo music, we are in mash-up heaven. It is worth the price of admission to hear “MmmBop” acapella, and then, icing on the cake and cherry on the sundae, we get some Kris Kross “Jump” action as well. Acca-heaven.

Parents should know that this film includes some crude sexual and bodily function humor, some strong language, and comic violence (no one hurt). There is a joke that seems to imply that a woman’s “no” to an invitation to have sex is not to be taken seriously, but it later turns out that this is part of a consensual relationship.

Family discussion: What makes you special?  What makes your friends and family special? How do you find your voice to express who you are?

If you like this, try: the first “Pitch Perfect” and the television show “The Sing-Off”

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The Sound of Music Celebrates its 50th Anniversary

Posted on March 9, 2015 at 8:00 am

A glorious new 50th anniversary Blu-Ray edition of Sound of Music is out this week, featuring commentary, behind the scenes footage, and all kinds of extras — sure to be one of your “favorite things.”  

This box-office champ is one of the all-time great family musicals, a Rodgers and Hammerstein triumph based on the true story of the Von Trapp family’s escape from Austria.  

140223073354-von-trapp-family-1946-story-bodyMuch of the story is true.  Maria was a postulant, sent by the convent to become a tutor for one of the ten (not seven) children of nobleman and Naval officer Georg Von Trapp. They got married, but it was seven years before the Nazis took over Austria.  Maria always insisted, though, that Georg was not at all like the stern, humorless character of the early scenes.  And they escaped by train, not by the mountains.  A new book about the real story behind the family and the film is a lot of fun: The Sound of Music Story: How A Beguiling Young Novice, A Handsome Austrian Captain, and Ten Singing Von Trapp Children Inspired the Most Beloved Film of All Time.

The movie musical is still one of the all-time greats.  And you can visit the Von Trapp grandchildren and great-grandchildren at their resort in Stowe, Vermont, where they are still singing.

Their home in Austria is also now a hotel.

A&E Biography did an episode about the Von Trapps.

Here’s a glimpse of the children from the Broadway cast on the game show, “What’s My Line?” (They’re at the end of the show.)

Julie Andrews performed a duet with Maria Von Trapp.

And here is one of my favorite songs from the movie.

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Strange Magic

Posted on January 24, 2015 at 5:25 pm

Copyright 2015 Touchstone Pictures
Copyright 2015 Touchstone Pictures

Despite the big names behind it, including George Lucas, who came up with the story and produced, it feels like a straight-to-DVD, about the level of Disney’s Tinkerbell series. It’s bright, colorful, self-affirming, and bouncy. And, likely to be appreciated more by the adults than the kids in the audience, there is a Glee-style mix, or, perhaps re-mix, of assorted songs from the 60’s through today. But that isn’t enough to make it work on a big screen.

It is supposedly inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but the only similarities are the forest, the fairies, and the love potion.

It takes place in an enchanted world that is divided in parts, whose generic names are characteristic of the dim pilot light of the creative imagination at work  here.  The happy, colorful Fairy Kingdom is ruled by a king (Alfred Molina) with two daughters.  The Dark Forest is ruled by the gnarled, bitter Bog King (Alan Cumming) who hates the idea of love because it is chaotic. “Love is dangerous.  It weakens.  It rots.  It destroys order.  Without order, there is chaos.”

The fairy king’s oldest daughter is the brave and responsible Marianne (Evan Rachel Wood), who, as the movie begins, is thrilled that she is about to marry the handsome Roland (Sam Palladio). She flies through the kingdom singing a sweet, girl pop version of the Elvis classic, “I Can’t Help Falling in Love With You.”  Her younger sister is Dawn (Meredith Anne Bull), who has good intentions but is impetuous and a little naive. Her best friend is an elf named Sonny (Elijah Kelley), who patiently listens to Dawn talk about her various crushes and does not let her know that he is in love with her.  They have a cute duet to Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”

Marianne discovers Roland kissing another girl and breaks their engagement. But Roland wants to be king, and that means he must persuade Marianne to be his wife. He persuades Sonny to cross the border into the Bog King’s domain to get a love potion from the Sugar Plum Fairy (Kristin Chenoweth), who was imprisoned by the Bog King. Sonny agrees so he can get some for Dawn, to make her fall in love with him. Sonny has a lot of adventures on the way to obtaining the potion, and the Sugar Plum Fairy insists on getting out of her cage in return for her services. Sonny gets the glowing green potion, but just as in Shakespeare, it does not work as intended.  The Bog King captures Dawn, demanding the potion as ransom.  Marianne flies in to the rescue, but so do Sonny and Roland, creating some confusion and misunderstandings.  And a lot of singing.  The well-chosen tunes include: “What Do You Get When You Fall In Love?,” “Marianne,” “I Want to Dance With Somebody,” “When You’re Strange,” “Love is Strange,” “Sugarpie Honeybunch,” “Crazy Little Thing Called Love,” “Tell Him,” and “Wild Thing.”

There is an unexpectedly endearing romance, and the usual kids-film messages about the importance of what’s inside us.  But the light-weight storyline is weighed down by sub-standard design and low-level animation that relies too much on algorithms and not enough on imagination.

This is where looks do matter, and this film cannot overcome the clunkiness of its design.

Parents should know that there is some fairytale peril and violence, including some scary creatures, some mild gender humor including an accidental same-sex kiss portrayed as gross (really? In 2015?), and brief potty humor.

Family discussion: Why did Marianne and Bog have trouble trusting others? Why did Bog start to be nice?

If you like this, try: “The Book of Life” and the Tinkerbell series of DVDs.

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Animation Fantasy Musical

Interview: Meredith Anne Bull of “Strange Magic”

Posted on January 21, 2015 at 3:57 pm

Bog King (voice of Alan Cumming), Griselda (voice of Maya Rudolph) and Marianne (voice of Evan Rachel Wood) are part of a colorful cast of goblins, elves, fairies and imps in "Strange Magic," a madcap fairy tale musical inspired by “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” Released by Touchstone Pictures, “Strange Magic” is in theaters Jan. 23, 2015. Strange Magic © & TM 2014 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Bog King (voice of Alan Cumming), Griselda (voice of Maya Rudolph) and Marianne (voice of Evan Rachel Wood) in “Strange Magic.” Strange Magic © & TM 2014 Lucasfilm Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Meredith Anne Bull stars in this week’s release “Strange Magic,” an animated musical fairy tale based on a story by George Lucas. She plays Dawn the “young, naive, unaffected and thrilled with life” younger sister of the heroine, Marianne, played by Evan Rachel Wood. She has done voice-over work before, but this was her first time as the voice of a feature film animated character. She says she felt very comfortable working in a recording studio, which is a challenge for some actors who don’t have a musical background. But it was a challenge to create a performance alone in a recording booth, “without the other actors around you to interact with. Sometimes the director will feed you lines and sometimes you are out there on your own and you have to pull from your imagination.” She did get to see some of the movie’s visuals, especially more recently. She began working on the film in 2011, before most of the animation work had been completed.  And the storyline changed over the year. But in the last year she got to see some short clips and had a better idea of what the final version would be like. She says her favorite fairy tales are “Red Riding Hood” and “Goldilocks,” which she thinks is “hilarious.”

Bull told me she originally auditioned for the part of Marianne, singing “Thriller” and “Like a Virgin.” They asked her to read for Dawn, though she says it is Marianne who is more like her in real life, more independent, with more of a dark sense of humor. “But they saw some part of Dawn in me. They’re more to her than being irresponsible and flying off the handle. She’s sensitive, and she really cares about her sister.  Sometimes she can be self-centered, and she lets her sister down at one point, but you see how much she cares about what her sister thinks of her.  She’s not just happy all the time, though that is certainly her go-to emotion.”

The movie has an assortment of contemporary songs, including a duet with Elijah Kelley, Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.”  “They’re not like the typical Prince Charming and Princess.  She’s like three feet taller than he is!”

She says the best piece of advice she ever got was from Kelley, who told her not to be intimidated, no matter who she was working with.  “This was kind of my first big film.  I was not exactly intimidated but a little squirrely to be around these people who are very established.  Elijah talked to me about not being intimidated — we are all people, we all have families, we all have insecurities and disappointments.  You should never let anyone make you feel less than you are.”

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Actors Animation Interview Musical

Premiering on Fox This Week: Empire with Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson

Posted on January 5, 2015 at 3:56 pm

One of the most exciting new televisions shows of the season is “Empire,” premiering on January 7, 2015 on Fox. It is part “King Lear,” part “Godfather,” part “Lion in Winter,” part soap opera, and set in the world of hip-hop music. Terrence Howard plays a drug dealer turned music mogul named Lucious Lyon who has learned he has ALS, with a life expectancy of just a couple of years. He must decide which of his three sons will inherit his business. One son has the business expertise. One has the musical talent. But he is gay, which makes Lyon uncomfortable. The youngest may be the most capable but he is immature and arrogant.

Lyon’s wife, Cookie, took the fall for their drug dealing and has been serving a prison sentence. As the series starts, she is released, furious and determined to make up for the years — and money — she lost. Henson and Howard had sizzling chemistry in “Hustle and Flow,” and it will be a treat to see them setting off against each other. With Lee Daniels (“Precious,” “The Butler”) and Danny Strong (“Game Change”) writing the series, there is sure to be plenty of flinty dialogue to help with the sparks. And, like “Glee” and “Nashville,” each week will have musical numbers (produced by Timbaland) that will be available on iTunes.

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