MOVIE - Bohemian Rhapsody

PG-13 (2:14)

Wide Release 11/2/18

viewed 11/12/18 in Bangor with Fran

RT Critic: 62   Audience:   91
Critic's Consensus:  Bohemian Rhapsody hits a handful of high notes, but as an in-depth look at a beloved band, it offers more of a medley than a true greatest hits collection.

Cag:  5.5 I loved it AND it was awesome

Directed by Bryan Singer

20th Century Fox

Rami Malek!

My comments:  What a fantastic movie.  Great casting, fantastic music (pretty much all the original Queen). I could see this over and over- totally delightful. Rami Malek was EXCEPTIONAL!

RT/ IMDb Summary:  Bohemian Rhapsody is a foot-stomping celebration of Queen, their music and their extraordinary lead singer Freddie Mercury, who defied stereotypes and shattered convention to become one of the most beloved entertainers on the planet. The film traces the meteoric rise of the band through their iconic songs and revolutionary sound, their near-implosion as Mercury's lifestyle spirals out of control, and their triumphant reunion on the eve of Live Aid, where Mercury, facing a life-threatening illness, leads the band in one of the greatest performances in the history of rock music. In the process, cementing the legacy of a band that were always more like a family, and who continue to inspire outsiders, dreamers and music lovers to this day.

MOVIE - Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

PG-13 (1:54)

7/20/18 Wide Release

Viewed 7/23/18 at Carlisle with Laura and Ella
IMBd: 7.3/10

RT Critic: 79   Audience:  76
Critic's Consensus:  Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again doubles down on just about everything fans loved about the original -- and my my, how can fans resist it?

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot - the music is awesome

Directed by Ol Parker

Universal Pictures

Based on the music of ABBA  (a 1970s rock group from Sweden)

Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Andy Garcia, Cher, Meryl Streep

My comments:  Dancin' Queen....You can dance....you can jive....having the time of your life.....
I just returned from seeing this movie.  With some of it was disappointed, but with some of it I felt giddy.  Yup, giddy.  And the grand finale was GRAND!  Best part of the movie!!!  The scenes with the younger versions of the couples seemed over-acted to me, and a teeny, tiny bit off.  Loved it when the three females were performing together, young OR old.  The modern-time numbers were really wonderful.  As is the scenery...how would ANYONE want to leave that place?  Fantastic costumes, too.  And including Cher was a blast.  So. Much. Fun.  Ella really loved it, and immediately wondered if they'd make a number three!
      Perfect movie for three generations to watch together.

RT/ IMDb Summary:

MOVIE - LA LA Land

PG-13 (2:08)

Limited release 12/9/16

Viewed Tuesday, 1/17/17 at RC Carlisle
IMBd: 8.8/10

RT Critic: 93   Audience:  88
Critic's Consensus:  La La Land breathes new life into a bygone genre with thrillingly assured direction, powerful performances, and an irresistible excess of heart.

Cag:  3.5 Liked it, but don't get the hype

Directed by Damien Chazelle

Liongate Films

Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone

My comments: Well, I'm really not sure what everyone is raving about.  The first third of the movie was really slow and I might even say boring.  Some of the singing and dancing were pretty random, some were perfect.  Performances were good...but Academy Award worthy?  It was certainly an homage to Hollywood and its roots.  And an interesting story, but nothing profound.  I was anticipating something really great, but, unfortunately, for me it wasn't.

RT/ IMDb Summary: The story of Mia, an aspiring actress, and Sebastian, a dedicated jazz musician, struggling to make ends meet while pursuing their dreams in a city known for destroying hopes and breaking hearts. With modern day Los Angeles as the backdrop, this musical about everyday life explores what is more important: a once-in-a-lifetime love or the spotlight.

MOVIE - Into the Woods

PG (2:04)

Wide release 12/25/15

Roadhouse Cinema Friday 1/9/15 with Cyra

RT Critic: 72   Audience:   58

Cag: 2/It was okay....

Directed by Rob Marshal

Walt Disney Pictures

Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, 

My comments:  Well, I loved being at the Roadhouse.  I enjoyed the music, the set, and the costumes.  But the story, the plot, the way it all went together just didn't do it for me.  You were expected to know the stories (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk...and I'm still not sure about the baker, his wife, and the witch) so that big important chunks were only discussed after the fact.  The interlude with the baker's wife and Prince Charming (Chris Pine nailed this)????   (My favorite scene was the one between Prince Charming and his brother, Rapunzel's beau, at the waterfall.) What happened to the witch at the end...and why?  Interesting to note:  Some of the audience broke into applause at the end (and the ending stunk).

Google Summary:  As the result of the curse of a once-beautiful witch (Meryl Streep), a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) are childless. Three days before the rise of a blue moon, they venture into the forest to find the ingredients that will reverse the spell and restore the witch's beauty: a milk-white cow, hair as yellow as corn, a blood-red cape, and a slipper of gold. During their journey, they meet Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel and Jack, each one on a quest to fulfill a wish.
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MOVIE - Annie

PG (1:58)

Wide release 12/19/14

12/28/2014 with Ashley & Heather in Bangor

RT Critic:  29  Audience:   63

Cag:  2 /So disappointed!

Directed by Will Gluck

Sony Pictures

Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, Rose Byrne, Bobby Canavale

My comments:  Cameron Diaz was horrible.  Jamie Foxx was coooool.  Annie - Quvenzane Wallis - wasn't sweet and optimistic at all.  And, although I realize it was a musical, if they broke out into song one more time I was going to barf.  It just didn't work.  At all.

RT Summary:  Academy Award (R) nominee Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) stars as Annie, a young, happy foster kid who's also tough enough to make her way on the streets of New York in 2014. Originally left by her parents as a baby with the promise that they'd be back for her someday, it's been a hard knock life ever since with her mean foster mom Miss Hannigan (Cameron Diaz). But everything's about to change when the hard-nosed tycoon and New York mayoral candidate Will Stacks (Jamie Foxx) - advised by his brilliant VP, Grace (Rose Byrne) and his shrewd and scheming campaign advisor, Guy (Bobby Cannavale) - makes a thinly-veiled campaign move and takes her in. Stacks believes he's her guardian angel, but Annie's self-assured nature and bright, sun-will-come-out-tomorrow outlook on life just might mean it's the other way around. 

MOVIE - Footloose

Fun to watch and compare to the 1984 version
Wide release 10-14-11
12-15-11 at Crossroads, alone with about 6 other single women scattered around the theater
PG-13 (1:53)
RT: critics and audience both 71%
cag:  Liked it
Director:  Craig Brewer
Paramount Studios

Dennis Quaid (Preacher), Andie McDowell (wife) Kenny Wormald (Ren) Julianne Hough (Ariel) Miles Teller (Willard)

This movie followed its original, 27 year old version, quite a bit.  (How can the original be 27 years old???) The one big difference, and one that really made sense, was the Ren's single mom had just died of leukemia, and he had been by her side throughout.  He, too, knew firsthand what it was to lose a loved one.  It also gave his character a depth that was missing in Kevin Bacon's role.

Kenny Wormald is adorable.  The guy who played his best friend was just great.  I loved the way the movie was cast, I totally enjoyed the music, and I loved that it began with the night, 3 years before, that had killed Ariel's brother - complete with the Kenny Loggins' version of the song, "Footloose."  I love Blake Shelton, but I wish his version of "Footloose" sounded more Blake Shelton-y.

The Three Swingin' Pigs - Vicky Rubin

Illustrator: Rhode Montijo
For: Kids
Published: 2007
Rating: Fun
Endpapers: Dark Orange

I am always on the lookout for fractured fairy tales - someday I'm going to write a curriculum using them. I stumble on them every once in awhile, as I did a week ago at the library - this was standing up on a shelf above the picutre books. Dark reds and purples and oranges are used in fully illustrated, edge-to-edge acrylic drawings. Much of the easy-to-read font is white on the dark illustration. Its fun to look at, and it's fun to read. It's jazzy.

Yup, a jazz version of the three little pigs:

Satch played sax. Wee-wee-wee-wee!
Mo played bass. Doont-doont-dun-duhhh!
And Ella sang. Scat-scooby-dooby, scat-scooby-dooby, skit-scat-skedoodle, shoooo!

You can hear the music as your read. It reads aloud really well, and I can picture kids taking parts.

...in the Hogland Woods there lived a wolf, and he was baaaaaaaad. On a typicl wolf day, he ate up six coach mice, sate down on other people's tffets, and went around in the most unwolflike of getups. A real bad cat.

It turns out that Wolfie joins the pigs and thye begin a band: 3 Swingin' Pigs and Wolfie. Great fun. Great words. Great music. A cool choral reading (one of my favorite things).