Pitch Perfect 3 is the swan song of the franchise

Movie Title:  
    Pitch Perfect 3

Rating: PG-13, 1 hour 33 minutes

Grade:  C+

In a Nutshell: I admit that Pitch Perfect is one of my guilty pleasures. I’ve seen the first two movies in the Pitch Perfect franchise several times, and so I was really excited and curious to see what was going to happen in this final installment. 

While it was fun to see all of the Barden Bellas together again, their swan song ended on a bit of a low note.

Tips for parents: 

• EXTREMELY crude language.
• LOTS of sex jokes.
• The Bellas are generally NOT good role models for your daughters.  There is a lot of cleavage, foul language, alcohol, an unwed pregnancy, and they say things like, “Let’s get slutty!”

Uplifting theme: 

• “Your real family doesn’t hold you back.  They lift you up.” – Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson)
• “Age wrinkles the body, but quitting wrinkles the soul.” – Aubrey (Anna Camp)
• “I’m part of a group and we all have something special.” - Becca (Anna Kendrick)

                     

Things I liked:

• Great, fun music as always.
• Anna Kendrick and Rebel Wilson carry the show.
• This time the Bellas go to the south of France.  Ooh la la  They also spend a little bit of time in Spain, where I lived for 2 years.  Woot!
• Finally, Jessica and Ashley get a little more attention.  Ha ha
• If you like DJ Khaled, you’ll get a kick out of his appearance in this movie.  In fact, he plays a big role in the story.
• Keep watching during the rolling credits at the end of the movie.
• SPOILER:  We FINALLY get to meet Aubrey's dad who has all of the crazy sayings.
• A lot of the Bellas experience some kind of final resolution in their lives and stories in the end.
• Hailee Steinfeld and Brittany Snow are delightful as ever.
• John Lithgow was a surprise!  The trailer did a great job of hiding his role in the movie.  He's pretty amazing and can do dramatic roles as equally well as he does comedic ones.  He most recently won an Emmy for his impressive role as Winston Churchill in Crown, the - Season 01 , which my husband and I binge-watched and loved.

Things I didn’t like:

• The final song in the first two movies actually made me tear up with some emotional depth, but this one not so much. It just felt like a fond farewell.
•  If you haven't seen the first two movies in the series, you won't understand a lot of the inside jokes, but you'll still be entertained enough.
• Fat Amy's story gets chaotically crazy.
• If you're not a Pitch Perfect fan, you'll think this is a really dumb movie.  If you are a fan (like me), you'll put up with the nonsense and enjoy the last hurrah.
• Ruby Rose as Calamity is so mesmerizing.  I would love to have seen more of her.

Funny lines:

• “You can go wherever you want!” –  Fat Amy's dad (John Lithgow)

“Urban outfitters?” – Fat Amy

• “When am I ever going to learn to open my mail?” – Fat Amy
• “This is way too much cardio.” – Fat Amy
• “As my dad always says, “Always give 100% unless you’re donating blood or getting a divorce.” – Aubrey  

                                            @trinaboice 

Pitch Perfect 2 is A Ca-ffensive fun

Movie:   Pitch Perfect 2

GP-13, 1 hour 54 minutes

Grade:  B

In a Nutshell:   If you’re easily offended, this film is not for you. Every group that exists is a target for distasteful jokes by writer Kay Cannon in this college party flick. Jokes fly as fast and hard as if they were being shot out of one of those T-shirt guns at a football rally, some landing better than others.

Directed and produced by Elizabeth Banks, the singing sequel isn’t as good as the first one, but if you loved the first Pitch Perfect like I did, you’ll still be entertained and have a few new mash-ups and choreo steps to try on your own after the final credits roll.
  

While most of the movie is a bit messy, the ending is sweet and inspiring, leaving us with that sing-a-long feeling like the original movie did.  By the way, keep watching after the rolling credits for a funny scene with Bumper.

Uplifting Theme:

·         Overcome your fears.

·         Everyone has a voice.  Everyone is an original.  Find your unique sound and sing/live it.

Things I liked:

·         There is some pretty good beatboxing.

·         How fun would that be to spend a $42,000 gift card at Dave & Busters?  We use to take the fam         there when we lived in San Diego.

·         I love Emily’s long, gorgeous hair.  Hailee Steinfeld  has grown into a beautiful young woman.          Where have you seen her before?  True Grit and Ender's Game .

·         It was fun to hear Katey Sagal sing.

·         The riff-off scene in the eccentric, rich guy’s basement is a lot of fun.  More please.

·         I loved how Beca could only think of positive things to say about her German nemesis, Valkyrie        (the flawless Birgitte hjort Sorensen).

·         Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) has the best lines.  She also has some of the worst lines.

Things I didn’t like:

·         Lots of slow-motion montages of the Bellas dancing, having a pillow fight, and doing team building activities at a camp retreat. Were they looking for filler material?

·         SPOILER ALERT: There are two odd, creepy, romantic scenes between Fat Amy and Bumper.   I would have liked to see Beca and Jesse sing a duet instead.

·         There are some musical misfires (songs about butts, for example), but overall the music is good. Thankfully, the finale is exactly what we hoped it would be.

·         Beca’s personality vacillates from being the cynical, "alternative" goth she was in the first movie and a more optimistic, happy college girl living her dream.  We all love hearing Anna Kendrick sing again.  How about a solo?  By the way, have you seen her in the musical movie "The Last Five Years"?  She's fantastic in it.

·         Some of the characters we fell in love with in the first movie are in this sequel, but they don’t get developed any further.   If you haven’t seen the first movie, you’ll miss some of the charms of the original characters that get a little lost in this one.

Did you know?

·         The real A Capella group that won Season 3 of The Sing-Off on NBC, Pentataonix, appears in the movie as a group representing Canada in the World Championship.  In real life, they won a Grammy for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella. They’re A Camazing.  Check out their YouTubeChannel, which is the 12 most subscribed-to music channel.

·         The German guy on Das Sound Machine  A Capella team (Flula Borg)  has a funny YouTube channel I discovered a couple of years ago.  Here’s a clip I show my English language students:

·         
Cameo performances in the movie include Snoop Dog, President Obama and First Lady Michelle, Grey's Anatomy creator Shonda Rhymes, and Good Morning America's Robin Roberts.

Producer Max Handelman chose an all male A Capella group from his Alma Mater, the University of Pennsylvania, to perform in the movie as one of the groups in the World Championship.

Funny lines:

·         “Don’t blame yourself.  You’re a ginger; that’s punishment enough.” – Fat Amy

·         “You’re the most talented person I know, and I’ve met three of The Wiggles.” – Fat Amy

·         “Even your sweat smells like cinnamon.” – Beca

·         “We need to scout those Deutschbags.” – Fat Amy about Das Sound Machine

·         “I don’t understand camping.  We’re voluntarily living like dogs.” -  Flo  (Chrissie Fit)

Tips for Parents:

·         Like the first film, there is a lot of crude language and sexual innuendos.

·         Tweens may not understand certain pop-culture references, such as the hate letter supposedly written by Sonia Sotomayor (who is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) and all of the immigration jokes aimed at Flo, the Guatamalan. 

·         A kalimba is mentioned.  Want to see what one looks like?




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