Ocean's 8

Ocean's 8 - 110 min - PG13

This is a marvelous addition to the franchise. I love how this does nothing to the original fils it doesn't change any of the established story it just adds to it.

This hits every mark of the heist film as well as brings us new characters to explore. Read my full review here on Blackflix. 

Les Misérables

Les Misérables – 158min – PG-13

I have been putting off writing about this movie. It was such a good movie that I feel unworthy to write about it. The best way to describe it was like going to see the musical from right on stage with the performers. This movie is the musical recorded live as the performers acted on set. All of the performance were outstanding. I now have a new appreciation for this story. I have seen the other movie and enjoyed it but to truly get the scope and majesty of this story you need to see the musical. Obviously this deserves nothing less than a green light.

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is a man who is jailed for stealing food for his starving nephew. His jailor, Javert (Russell Crowe) tells him that he is free but will always be a criminal. Jean Valjean then goes out into the world to rebuild his life. He has to face the fact that he is a criminal and that he needs to separate himself from the system that has made him into a criminal and rebuild himself completely. He breaks his parole and starts a new life. He becomes a respected member of the community but inadvertently causes Fantine (Anne Hathaway) to lose her job and forces her to sell her body, figurative and literally, on the street to get money together to send to the people watching her child. He finds Fantine and saves her from going to prison and promises to save her daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Fantine dies with the knowledge that her daughter will be safe. Javert catches up to Jean Valjean but he escapes with Cosette to Paris. We flash forward, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) is a young woman and they are living during the time of the revolution. She falls in love with a young man by the name of Marius (Eddie Redmayne) who is in danger of dying in the revolution; Jean Valjean saves him so that Cosette can have a happy life. As Jean Valjean has worked so hard for the redemption of his crimes he final dies with the blessings he has created through his good work. He dies redeemed.

I have given you the full over arching story but there are so many sub plots to this story you will still see lots that is new. Because each performance is given with all of the heart and soul from each performer it’s like having a wonderful full course meal for your eyes and ears. The wicked innkeeper and his wife were plated by Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter. They were marvelous in their roles and brought a level of vile oiliness to the parts that made you feel slimy afterwards.

The Director (Tom Hooper) is probably best known for his work on The King's Speech. He can bring out the spirit of a character through the work he does with his performers. One thing I have liked about both of his films is his dedication to the emotional connection he can build with the audience.

There was one performance that stood out to me more than any other and that was Samantha Barks and her Portrayal of Éponine was so engaging. You will need to keep an eye out for her future career because she has a very small résumé but an immense talent.

Warning Spoilers!!!! Only those who fight for the people can click on this link!!!!!

This movie was exactly what I needed, I cried my head off at the end of this movie and it all started with Anne Hathaway and lead to Samantha Barks right on the heals is Daniel Huttlestone and then finish off with Hugh Jackman. If you need a good emotional release go see his spectacular rendition of this story that is beyond compare.

I did not cry when Javert took his own life but it did shock me, I knew what we was going to do but the performance was so well done it took me by surprise.

Sacha Baron Cohen is a puzzle for me. He is an excellent performer and really enjoyed his role and his performance, but his other work really just rubs me the wrong way. I think that if he would focus on more performances like this and leave his asshattery alone he would reach a much wider audience. He is his own worst enemy.

What was the last movie that moved you to the point of tears? Why?

Rio

Rio – 96 min - G

Wow! This is A first for The Fat Samurai – a review of an animated movie. I truly enjoyed this film from many aspects: story, animation and performance. The performers did a wonderful job of bringing depth to the characters. This movie gets a green light from me. If you are looking for a family movie that everyone can enjoy, take them down to Rio. Well, the movie Rio not the actual Rio, Rio. The actual Rio might be great but the movie is cheaper and closer.

In Rio, macaw Blue (Jesse Eisenburg) and his owner Linda (Leslie Mann) are approached by Ornithologist Dr. Barbosa (Gracinha Leporace). Dr Barbosa tells them Blue is the last male of his kind and they need to take him to Rio to mate with Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the last blue macaw female. They head to Rio but along the way Blue and Jewel are bird-napped. With the help of some local birds (voiced by Jamie Foxx, Will i Am, and George Lopez) they adventure across Rio to get back to safety.

Walking up to the booth and being informed that the next movie is Rio took me by surprise. I thought, “this should be interesting”. I have enjoyed animated movies in the past but since I have started really looking at movies for this blog I have observed so much more of the creation process. Reviewing an animated movie seems harder to me. I don’t just focus on whether it was a good story or how it made me feel, I look at films from a production standpoint. How a movie was performed and filmed are important to my review process. I spent most of the time watching this film with my ears, I enjoyed what I was seeing but I also focused on not just what was being said but how it was said. I think that most people who see a movie like this don’t truly realize how hard it is to sell a performance with just your voice. The cast was well chosen for the different feel of each of the characters they were portraying. Typically they complete all of the voice acting first and then have the animators create the scenes. This speaks volumes to how the animators created a life like image based on the mannerisms of the creature they are modeling infused with the actor’s inflection and performance.

The animators did a great job of modeling the movements of the birds. All of the characters in this film were done really well. Everything was does with such attention to detail, the smallest things helped give this movie a life-like feel. I did see this movie in 3D and they did a good job of not overdoing the in-your-face novelty that you sometimes see. I liked how they made some of the subtle things in this movie show in different layers. The scenes that took place in the jungle also benefited from the 3D effects. There were two scenes that I really appreciated the 3D, one was during the parade and I felt like the confetti was going to fall on me and in the long swooping scenes of flight over the landmarks of Rio de Janeiro.

This is the part of the blog that I usually talk about the crew, and how they shot the film, but in this case I am way out of my league. I have never really thought how much an animated movie also relies on camera placement and lighting. Even those elements are still very much a part of this process. It was hard for me to think of this movie like that. The Director Carlos Saldanha has brought us the Ice Age movie so this kind of film is nothing new to him. He has several people on his previous films working on this movie as well, so they do work well together. The sound track to this movie was also very catchy, I did want to go get a copy of it and many movies don’t movie me to get the sound track.

So the question I have for you on this post is what animated movie made you cry, This movie did not have any moment that made me cry but I know that Toy Story 3 had a few tear jerking moments as well as Cars, I know I know some stupid animated cars made me cry. When Lightning goes back at the end to make sure the king finished his last race. Snif, Snif gets me every time.