The Lost City of Z explores the jungles of South America and the mind

Movie Title:
The Lost City of Z

Grade:  B+

Rating:  PG-13, 140 minutes

In a Nutshell:  This savage story features the true tale of Percival Fawcett and his dream to discover The Lost City of Z along the Amazon river in the early 1900’s.  

Also explored is what makes people tick, their dreams, motivations, and how they hold on to hope.

Based on David Grann’s best-seller The Lost City of Z, it has the look and feel of one of those old-time exploration dramas and will remind you a little bit of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Uplifting theme: 

• Hope
• Discovery
• “To dream, to seek the unknown, to look for what is beautiful is its own reward.” –  Nina Fawcett (Sienna Miller)
• “We are all made of the same clay.” – Percy (Charlie Hunnam)
• “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” - Nina Fawcett  

Things I liked:

• Good for British actor Charlie Hunnam!  He did an excellent job in portraying a complex character who is brave, hopeful, and even reckless.  He also stars in the upcoming King Arthur: Legend of The Sword: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack movie.  He has been in several movies and TV shows, but people are just now starting to really take notice of his wide range of talent.  As the newest hunk to get attention, he doesn't take his shirt off in this film, but he does in King Arthur, ladies.
• There is an interesting USA vs. England dimension as the two countries raced to explore and discover the world first in the 19th and 20th centuries.
• Twilight fans of Robert Pattinson will see him in a new light if they even recognize him at all underneath all that beard and hair.
• I loved that Percy became quite humble and respectful of the land and people he explored, as opposed to his contemporaries, both American and British who arrogantly called the natives "savages."
• While Sienna Miller plays the dutiful wife, she also has some great moments when she reveals graceful wisdom and insight.
• Spiderman!  Tom Holland, who stars in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming - The Art of the Movie, does a great job as Percy's eager son.
• There's a smoky, old-fashioned air to how the movie is filmed that adds to the eery feeling.
• At the end of the movie, text on the screen tells you how the story ended. 
• It's a fascinating character study on what makes men cowards and others brave.

Things I didn’t like:

• Some of the dialogue is pretty weak. The movie was written and directed by James Gray.
• It drags on a bit.  Experts who like that might call it "methodical pacing."
• It's really hard to avoid people suffering in a variety of ways in an exploration story like this.  Wounds, illness, fighting, drowning, being eaten by piranha, arrows, sacrifice, etc.
• I never saw a single trailer for this movie before it played.  The marketing was extremely thin.

Interesting lines:

• “All that matters now is the future.” – Percy
• “Nothing will happen to us that is not our destiny.” – Percy
• “Have fun and be bold.” – Nina  (that's the same advice I give my sons!)
• “So much of life is a mystery, my boy.  We know so little of this world.” – Percy
• “It’s not possible to choose a safe passage through life.” – Jack Fawcett (Tom Holland II)
• “We’ve never let fear determine our future.” – Nina
• ‘It’s his essential nature.  Who am I to betray that?” – Nina Fawcett (Sienna Miller) when she decided to let her son go on a voyage with his father
• “Peace means only that nothing will change.” – Spanish guy at beginning
• “Am I a fool to leave my family for this place?” - Percy

Tips for parents: 

• Topless native women
• Profanity
• There are subtitles you’ll need to read to kids who can’t keep up.
• Violence and brutality.  Some people die in horrible ways. 

MOVIE REVIEW MOM

@trinaboice 

Rio 2 movie review from a tired mom

Movie Title:  Rio 2

G, 1 hour 41 minutes

Grade:   C+

In a Nutshell:   Forgettable.  Young children will be entertained, although the 4 year old sitting behind me kept asking his mother “Can we go home?”  That’s a not a good sign coming from the target audience. 

Theme: 

• Birds of a feather flock together?
• Humans are evil and destroy the planet.  (I’m getting really tired of hearing that from every movie I see lately.)
• Brazil is always ready for a party.

Things I liked:

• The colors are bright and fun, like watching a box of Fruit Loops explode on the big screen.
• I loved all the Brazilian tropical fruits, nuts, plants, and local products on display.
• The animation of the water in the Amazon River looked terrific.
• The only scene that made me laugh out loud was the talent show audition scene. 
• I thought all of the hats Nico tried on were cute.  I’m assuming Jamie Foxx’s character had a larger role in the first Rio?  I never saw it.
• Jesse Eisenberg is capable of playing smooth geniuses (The Social Network and Now You See Me ), as well as unconfident underdogs.
• Beautiful aerial views of Brazil.  I loved the montage of paper pop-up maps as they traveled through the landscapes and cities.  It makes me want to plan a trip to the country.
• The feathers on all of the birds’ heads were well designed and allowed the characters to distinguish their personalities one from the other.  The beaks also had impressive detail.
• There is a sleepy sloth who sings super fast rap.  Have you ever heard a sloth squeak in real life?  Totally adorable.
• I thought the Capoeira turtles were hilarious.  Check out this video about Brazilian Capoeira.

Things I didn’t like:

• I never saw the first Rio .  There is a quick flashback from the first movie to let you know why the cockatiel has a grudge against Blu, but I still felt like I was missing something…like why the first one was popular.  There are minor characters in this movie that were obviously carried over from the first, but since I hadn’t seen the first one, I didn’t feel a bond with them.  Their roles are not that strong in the sequel and didn’t add much to the story. 
• Many of the actors were underutilized, especially the terrific singing talents of Kristen Chenowith, Jamie Fox, Anne Hathaway, and will.i.am.  There were several songs, but most of them were too short for children to fall in love with or know how to sing them at home (like everyone is STILL doing with the soundtrack from Frozen .)  I couldn’t understand the lyrics in the “big” musical number sung by all the birds, making it even more difficult for the audience to leave the theater repeating them.  Kristen Chenoweth’s song was quite operatic, something a little girl is probably not going to be able to duplicate very well.  Her character’s little frog mouth had cute vibrato while she was singing though and I could hear children in the audience repeating her occasional funny lines.  This little lethal lover is sure to be the standout of the movie with children who beg for movie merchandising.   Bruno Mars sings, but it lasts less than 30 seconds as well.  With all this voice and singing talent, why didn’t director Carlos Saldanha really take advantage of it?
• Monkeys are usually scene stealers, but in this movie they’re not even cute.
• I can’t stand all that disgusting drool on the dog.  Why would anyone want a dog that salivates that much all over anything?  The animation was good though.
• The anteater’s tongue was pretty gross.  Cleverly used throughout the movie, but still gross.

Inspiring lines:

• “Happy wife.  Happy life.”    True.  The movie shows the sacrifices Blu is willing to make for his family.  Jewel, his "significant other", scolds him for being selfish, but she doesn't sacrifice a single thing for him in this movie.  It goes both ways to have a happy life.

Funny lines:

• “We’ll attack at the midnight hour, because it’s more evil.”  - Nigel
• We are going to the Amazon…yay!  (Blu)   Pedro says “Like the website?”
• “Wow.  Nigel es muy macho.”  - Gabi
• “I’ll be pooping on your party pronto.” – Nigel
• “It’s a spoon and a fork.  Be afraid.  Be very afraid.” – Blu   “Put down the spork.”  - Tiago
• “I love it when you get all dark and brooding.”  - Gabi

Tips for parents:  There isn’t as much adult humor to keep you entertained, as other animated films out there right now, such as Mr. Peabody and Sherman, but you can always get a nap out of it.   I almost dozed off a few times, but maybe I was just tired? There are a couple of jokes about poo, but otherwise, the language is perfectly clean.  Thankfully, nobody flips the bird in this film. Your children will be preached to about environmentalism.  The “camera” zooms in on this “No entrance” sign, which most children won’t understand.  “No entrar” means no entrance in Portuguese.  Now you can tell your kids and they'll think you're super smart.