Blu-ray Review: Rio 2 (2014)

Now Available to Own 
 

  
Related Review:
Rio (2011)

Photo Slideshow
   

Blue Sky Studios’ globally-minded musically driven 3D CG-animated adventure movie Rio brought its aptly named Blue Macaw Blu and his bookish owner Linda (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and Leslie Mann respectively) from Minnesota to the titular Rio in the infectious 2011 original that enchanted viewers with its high-spirited energy and fast moving storyline which danced at a steady Samba pace.

Unfortunately while it’s as beautifully vibrant as ever in a visually breathtaking opener that once again feels like it's an animated half-pint version of the Carnival classic Black Orpheus, the second film is an undeniably busy, ambitiously overstuffed and disappointingly episodic return to the delightful high-flying world of Rio.

Strategically released to coincide with the World Cup, Rio 2 incorporates a soccer fueled scene that’s – like everything else in the film – ratcheted up a million degrees so that it’s storyboarded less like a regular match and more like a spectacular Harry Potter styled aerial game of Quidditch.

And despite its pro-nature message about preserving the Amazon Rainforest (as well as the endangered birds in another through-line admirably carried over from the first film), far too much gets lost in the shuffle of individually isolated “scenes” in a movie that ultimately lacks the cohesive focus of a well-conceptualized whole.

As Rio 2 begins, we check back in with the paired off lovebirds (Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway) from the original as the couple and their three young flappers leave Rio behind before flying into acquaintances both new and old in the sequel’s dominated Rainforest setting.

Essentially a feathered version of Meet the Parents for the small set, in Rio 2, Hathaway’s Jewel is stunned to discover that the family she’d long thought to have been deceased is alive and well in her old Amazon home.

While indulging in his opportunity to play the Robert De Niro like Parents heavy, voice actor Andy Garcia is clearly having a ball as Jewell's long lost father who takes an immediate dislike and disapproval to Blu by admonishing him as a mere “pet.” However, the biggest surprise is musician Bruno Mars, who steals several scenes in an often screamingly funny role as a childhood friend who still clearly carries a torch for Jewel.

Burning through subplot and supporting characters (including a return of the first film’s fan favorite Jemaine Clement who’s now partnered with Kristin Chenoweth), from its snappy one-liners to obligatory pop songs and brightly colored, firework-fast diversions, Rio 2’s key takeaway about preserving plant and animal life on Earth gets pushed into the periphery.

Sloppily written, the film shortchanges its talented cast and expectant audience alike with a collection of sitcom level scenes edited together with a few eye-opening epic moments (such as the aforementioned opener) buried in between in order to satisfy the shortest of attention spans.

A pleasant enough diversion for your tiniest tots especially given the multiple format combo pack release which boasts a Blu-ray, DVD and digital copy, director Carlos Saldanha’s effort works better than a majority of run of the mill fare like The Nut Job.

And likewise given the studio's dedicated to discovering new topics, techniques, and terrain (even by way of a preexisting template), it is a stronger than average follow-up as far as animated movies go.

Nonetheless there’s still no beating the South American spirit of Blu’s original opus that showed ticket-buyers that outside of the frozen tundra of the impressive Ice Age franchise, Blue Sky has a bright future ahead of them in the sun.

   

Text ©2014, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited and in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  FTC Disclosure: Per standard professional practice, I may have received a review copy of this title in order to evaluate it for my readers, which had no impact whatsoever on whether or not it received a favorable or unfavorable critique.

TV on Blu-ray: Pushing Daisies -- The Complete Second Season (2008-2009)

Own the Entire Series

Photo Slideshow



The Emmy Award Winning Music

When the second and final disc had been spun in the Blu-ray collection of Pushing Daisies Season 2, I became determined to analyze the curious case and tragically transient existence of Bryan Fuller's Warner Brothers produced series on ABC.

And in my quest, I therefore assumed that-- much like Ned "The Pie-Maker" (Lee Pace), "Dead Girl" Chuck (Anna Friel), Kristin Chenoweth's smiling waitress Olive Snook who specializes in "counter-intelligence via pie-delivery," and Private Investigator Emerson Cod-- I would find myself gobsmacked.

However, unlike those characters, I knew I wouldn't be presented with dead people but I assumed I'd be blown away by so many figurative pies in the face of why such a unique and award-winning series disappeared from the airwaves far too soon.

Yet unfortunately, I wasn't flooded with reasons or a creamy center of whipped cream, fudge or berries that I could really even justify quoting the series' unnamed narrator voiced by Jim Dale who prepares us with "the facts were these" before routinely walking viewers through convoluted Agatha Christie like works of intricate eccentricity.

No, sadly, and rather ironically, it seems at least that-- from my modest sleuthing-- the show that was as vibrant both on the page as it was visually was ultimately brought down by the pen which proved far mightier than any CGI sword. And sadly despite my intense admiration for the insanely rich dialogue that you could listen to again and again before you realize you'd rather hear the nonsense than "the facts were these" any day of the week-- like several other shows that dangled on the edge of the cliff following the writers' strike, Pushing Daisies never managed to find a second life.

Where was Ned when we needed him? I'm not sure but all that remains are those lingering facts that Daisies couldn't bounce back after its triumphant debut in the 2007 Fall season. Although the show received a full order by its home network of ABC, perhaps because of their exquisite beauty and intelligence which finds Fuller's love of "heightened dialogue" and ability to jam his screwball-paced scripts with enough rhythm, beats, and melodies for Chenoweth to consider them musical-- the former acclaimed Star Trek and Heroes scribe and his staff only finished nine episodes before the WGA hit the streets.

Instead of picking up in the narrative where he'd left off, Fuller took advantage of the strike and show's absence to change the ending of the ninth episode in order to lead it into a cliffhanger that would segue directly into the next season instead of continuing the momentum in its original twenty-two episode first season ordered run.

Adding further irony-- when the second season eventually rolled around and the final three episodes ultimately aired here in the United States rather quietly-- when the number of episodes of the seasons are added together, they only total the mere twenty-two that Fuller had originally been promised and aspired to make for its debut season.

Despite its shaky life on the air, the series about Ned-- a young boy who discovers he has a bizarre gift to wake the dead for sixty seconds with a touch of the finger before the second touch puts them back to eternal slumber-- earned not just a cult following of fans but a dozen Emmy nominations last year and three awards. The significance of the awards cannot be overstated since the three given to Daisies especially point to its cinematic nature.

With executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, Get Shorty) earning a deserved award for his inspired direction, another statue for the flawless editing and Jim Dooley's "wall-to-wall" music score which as Fuller notes in one of the four special features in this two disc set hearkens back to the show's '40s romantic comedy inspiration-- it's easy to imagine that we haven't seen the last of these characters.

Often described as a living storybook or fairytale by both the critics and those who work in the areas of the production design and cinematography-- citing Amelie and the filmography of director Tim Burton as examples-- per the advice of CGI veteran Sonnenfeld the color blue was specifically avoided throughout for digital purposes and to add to the cheery nature.

Circular patterns including pies also abound. However, these are perhaps metaphors for the circular nature of life of the characters who live and work in and around The Pie-Hole including our unconventional couple Ned and his beloved Chuck (Anna Friel) whom he can't touch since he'd brought her back to life and one more even accidental contact could be fatal. Yet more than just visually, it's the stories that will have your head spinning in circles.

Including all thirteen episodes contained in the second season-- while immediately it's the jaw-dropping clarity of the most gorgeous and crisp (zero artifacting, excellent sound balance) Warner Brothers Blu-ray release I've seen so far that first captivated and prompting me to watch the helpful lengthy season one refresher three times-- soon, the visual design just serves to augment the increasingly complicated storylines.

While some of the episodes seem slightly padded and fire in a few directions that don't feel quite right such as Chuck's eventually cured agoraphobic aunts who take part in "The Darling Mermaid Darlings" that bogs down a majority of the rest of the emotionally satisfying finale-- special attention must be paid to the introduction of some truly inspired subplots.

In one of the best, the series finally goes deeper into the backstory of Emerson Cod (Chi McBride) and the vintage '40s noir like tale of an ex who had left him seven years earlier with his daughter in tow which leads to a great Grifters meets Chinatown "Daisyfied" confection to borrow a Dooley phrase.

Although past family secrets and lies unravel like yarn on a scratchy old sweater where Chuck, Ned, and others are concerned throughout the entire second season. Romantic complications are always front and center as well. For, sensing a wedge growing in their already unconventional relationship when Chuck gets her first job (after faking her first resume) and moving into her own apartment, Ned questions how much emphasis he's placed on his own happiness over the woman he loves when he insists he keeps the secret she's alive all to himself. While meanwhile Olive (the ever-delightful Chenoweth) shines in one of the brightest episodes as the group solves an impossibly complex crime at a nunnery.

Filled with bursts of unexpected humor, warmth, and heart which is the way that Pushing Daisies managed to shockingly enchant viewers with what could've otherwise been such a bleak concept-- ultimately I couldn't help feeling at times as though it was still moving much too quickly. Similar to that twinge of regret you feel when you realize you hardly had a chance to know someone like when you scribble empty promises to keep in touch in a high school yearbook, fortunately Fuller has never ruled out a film adaptation to wrap up loose ends and has also gone as far as to announce that Warner Brothers' comic division DC Comics will publish a twelve issue long "fresh take" for the show's "third season."

Of course, keeping the Daisies in bloom will definitely be of great news to those who've been with it from the start. However, I'm writing as someone who loves getting lost in the finished product and the pitch perfect marriage of the candy store like visuals of vintage cars, clothing, and items from seven different decades in any given show.

And therefore I'll miss the way Chenoweth would suddenly burst into song, Ned and Chuck would have to once again reevaluate their relationship in a hyper-real, overly analytical yet adorable way, and the way Jim Dale managed to tie it all up by announcing that in the end, the facts had been "these."

View Episodes, Clips & More

Poster Art

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years (2008)

Watch the Trailer

Dancing Onto DVD on November 18

Order It Today:

Although she began her career on film as a self-described "second banana" at one point filming three movies simultaneously which she loved with stars such as Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Betty Grable, Marilyn Monroe, and Ethel Merman, the legendary Miss Mitzi Gaynor's big break came with one extremely sudsy batch of shampoo, sounding the battle cry of wronged women everywhere with "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair."

Of course, the film that later had Mitzi proclaiming "I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderful guy"-- namely Rodgers and Hammerstein's classic musical South Pacific, catapulted her into the spotlight and earned her a well-deserved Golden Globe nomination for a challenging performance that showcased her ability for dramatic work.

Yet as Marlene Dietrich would later advise Mitzi Gaynor, that despite her love for the dramatics, "you're much more charming when you're amusing," and Gaynor took that advice to heart. The global television watching public wouldn't have it any other way as, following a successful run in Las Vegas which began in 1961 and showcased her tremendous versatility, she got her second chance to razzle and dazzle with a show-stopping performance of the musical number "Georgy Girl," at the Academy Awards which an interviewee on the DVD notes still holds the record for the longest standing ovation following a musical act.

After the Oscars brought the sunny, guileless blonde into everyone's living room, as we learn in Mitzi Gaynor: Razzle Dazzle! The Special Years, "for ten solid years, the world demanded a Mitzi Gaynor special." Launching headfirst into the idea of a variety special that had the look, glamour and class of both a big budget Hollywood movie and Broadway musical, Gaynor relied on the talent and partnership of some extraordinarily creative collaborators including her main director and choreographer Tony Charmoli, dancers Alton Ruff and Randy Doney, and of course, Mr. Bob Mackie who crafted the wonderfully inventive and nearly nude costumes she donned in the eight specials that were broadcast for a decade following her debut with 1968's "Mitzi!"

Not content to simply be a song and dance girl, Gaynor showed off her range as a comedienne playing a "Hipsy Pipsy Gypsy" (see above) which Mackie seemed to find irresistible, noting that "there's just something about a glamorous woman with a rubber chicken." Additionally, she managed to do an incredibly authentic impression of a singing Rita Hayworth or Doris Day changing clothes every two seconds, or in those masculine grand pinstripes and shoulder pads as Rosalind Russell opposite George Hamilton's killer imitation of Cary Grant.

Whether it was creating an entire special as "A Tribute to the American Housewife" or an inspired, groundbreaking take on "Roarin' in the 20's," Gaynor was fearless in trying everything from dancing with animation (a la Gene Kelly in Anchors Aweigh), a mirror number (reminiscent of Fosse's Chicago), participating in a grand sweeping overhead shot number in the vein of Busby Berkley, performing with Olympic athletes, sliding off of a kitchen counter, kicking her leg up to her nose in a freeze-frame, or dancing, singing, and kissing one hundred of the most famous men on television. Yet much like her popular number "Everybody Loves My Baby," Gaynor and her husband and collaborator Jack Bean only had eyes for each other as they stayed together for fifty-three years in a happy and creatively supportive partnership of love and respect.

Transferring the hour long special which debuted originally on PBS with an additional hour of extras for the DVD including full-length clips (one from each special), bonus interviews (including a wonderful in-depth conversation with Mackie and Gaynor regarding the elaborate costumes), it's a must-own for Gaynor fans and those who love retro musical and comedy specials, especially considering all of the wonderful first-hand accounts by the humble, charming, and lovable Gaynor whose eyes still sparkle with wonder in her recollections that yes, she really did do everything being shown.

Fascinating and as colorful as the Mackie costumes themselves, the documentary-- like all great entertainers and indicative of its veteran star-- leaves us wanting more and in this case, a box set of all eight of Gaynor's specials which earned seventeen nominations and six Emmy Awards during their run. Today Gaynor still remains as vital as ever, serving as the President of The Professional Dancers Society which helps dancers both active and retired through the good times and the bad ("providing low income housing, retirement, and nursing facilities") as well as working on an upcoming new one-woman show and autobiography. Yet, the documentary is so incredible that it made me wonder just why in forty years since her variety show debut, television has plummeted so much that we now have reality shows like Wife Swap and game shows with submissive, statuesque, nearly silent women holding briefcases on Deal or No Deal.

While word that Rosie O'Donnell is set to launch a Carol Burnett inspired new era of variety shows within the upcoming weeks cheered me considerably, in the mean time we can take comfort in a woman who still fondly explains that her respect for her audience can be summed up with her signature closing song, "You are the Sunshine of My Life."

And thanks to City Lights Home Entertainment and Green Isle Inc.'s new DVD release, Gaynor's wondrous sunlight will continue to shine a bit brighter and hopefully inspire the company to remaster those old specials soon. Until then, you'll be delighted to know that Miss Mitzi Gaynor has created a YouTube Channel where so far, you can see a few of her classic clips right on your computer.

So go wash whatever you need right out of your hair, "Come on and Dance," reach into your closet for your brightest, most glamorous clothing confections, and prepare for some good old fashioned Razzle Dazzle!

View A Slideshow
Featuring Mackie's Costumes Below
(click to see it full-screen)

Tinker Bell (2008)

View the Trailer, Exclusive Clips, & Photo Gallery

The first in a planned series of films centering on Disney Fairies and winner of Heartland's Truly Moving Picture Award, Walt Disney's DisneyToon Studios offers one of the company's most exquisitely crafted wholly original works, making its DVD and Blu-ray debut on 10/28/08. With incredible computer generated animation that's nearly 3D in quality, one of the company's most iconic figures--the pixie dust delivering, wand carrying fairy in the logo-- Tinker Bell herself is finally given a voice in a film that centers specifically upon her own origins.

While initially, I admit that it sounded a bit odd to hear the quiet, miniature flying golden-tressed fairy speak, the film is a truly classy addition to the J.M. Barrie character landscape and the tiny heroine we first encountered in Peter Pan. Voiced by Mae Whitman, we meet the young Tinker Bell as she becomes acquainted with the other fairies living in Pixie Hollow, including the wise matriarch Queen Clarion (Anjelica Huston) and her new friends, the light fairy Iridessa (Raven-Symone), the garden fairy Rosetta (Pushing Daisies star Kristin Chenoweth), water fairy Silvermist (Lucy Liu), America Ferrera's animal fairy Fawn, and her envious rival Vidia (Pamela Adlon).

As Tinker Bell challenges her position as a fairy whose role is to "tinker," by trying to overstep her bounds, she ultimately discovers that it's best to stay true to herself. Simply awe-inspiring in its imaginative depiction of an inspirational world as the fairies "nurture nature" whether it's occupying the winter woods with the Snow Fairies, ushering in Summer or Autumn, or in a breathtaking sequence helping grow flowers and inspire rainbows for Spring, the world of Pixie Hollow is, for my money, far more enchanting than that of Never, Never Land.

A much more female-centric take on J.M. Barrie's beloved characters, this "girl power" laced prequel to Peter Pan is simply "flitterific" as its characters might say. However, but more than that, it's a worthwhile film with a positive message and one that seems to resonate a bit more than traditional Disney Princess pictures do in encouraging girls to contemplate science and the beauty in the world around them and appreciate the value of hard work and assisting others.

Running a brisk seventy-eight minutes, frequent Disney sequel director Bradley Raymond's Tinker Bell never overstays its welcome. Additionally, the film arriving on both DVD and Blu-ray this coming Tuesday is equipped with a fun collection of extras to explore including a Magical Guide to Pixie Hollow, a DVD-ROM Activity entitled "Tinker Trainer," other magical offerings as well as more mainstream selections taken out of Pixie Hollow and targeted to "The Mainland" including a "making-of" featurette with the filmmakers, a music video with Selena Gomez of the Disney Channel, and deleted scenes.

Space Chimps

Director: Kirk DeMicco

Every monkey dance now! I’m not sure when the trend started, but by now it’s nearly become a prerequisite for all animated children’s movies to contain at least one '70s or '80s-inspired dance party sequence. In addition, the mandates seem to be doubly serious when the animated characters are animals — whether they’re penguins partying in the snow with their Happy Feet or getting jiggy with Shark Tale. Let’s just say that in the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion can’t sleep tonight because he’s breaking in his dancing shoes, much to the delight of audiences everywhere even if it only occupies a precious few moments of screen time.

And while “the few, the proud, the monkeys” in Space Chimps are a bit footloose and fancy free, they’re more preoccupied with being chosen by a slightly shady Senator (voiced to delicious effect by Stanley Tucci) to “straighten up and fly right.” In this throwback to the days when NASA utilized primates in their earliest space missions, they are being sent on a risky quest to retrieve an unmanned lost ship that has journeyed through a black hole. While the no-nonsense, NASA-trained Titan (Seinfeld’s Patrick Warburton) and Luna (Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Cheryl Hines) take their assignment seriously, they find their rank challenged when the cynical, circus-performing grandson of the first ape in space, Ham III (Andy Samberg), is recruited to join the flight by the publicity hungry senator hoping to up the mission’s coolness factor.

With his career in mind, realizing that by now NASA and scientists in general are so nerdy that if this assignment is unsuccessful, the Senator has devised a fall-back plan to turn the center into a “Paint Your Own Plate” arts and crafts emporium. His motives seem to be unapparent to everyone except Samberg’s rebellious Ham, who says he doesn’t “want to be the warm-up act for human astronauts.” Tricking Ham into believing he’s taking part in a simulated mission, the three monkeys blast off for the great beyond, sliding through the black hole to arrive alongside the missing pod only to discover an inhabited planet where an egomaniacal and tyrannical leader is threatening to sacrifice the occupants in a hubris-driven ode for supreme reign.

Although on strictly entertainment value, it’s infinitely preferable to another animals in space children’s film due out this summer (the review of which will be forthcoming), Space Chimps pales in comparison to the more polished Pixar offering WALL-E (incidentally also involving the solar system) as well as my two favorite children’s films this year so far, Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who and Kung Fu Panda. Despite this, younger kids will find Space Chimps’ skies far friendlier than the darkness of WALL-E, even if adults may find themselves looking at their watch several times throughout.

Refreshingly, keeping in mind the adults who must tow along the children in their lives, Chimps does make a genuine effort to insert clever intellect and mature humor such as a terrific sequence wherein Ham finds himself in a Freudian conflict between his Superego and Id, while chatting with Luna upon the cloud of Id as she continually asks, “How does that make you feel?” In addition references are made to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust album, modern technology in the form of “banana-berries” as well as sky-travel classics such as Airplane, as one character notes that he’s picked the wrong day to quit eating bananas as a salute to the iconic Lloyd Bridges character.

Harmless and light — although it’s certain to vanish in the wake of The Dark Knight in its opening weekend — the lackluster but mildly entertaining interstellar Chimps will be sure to garner a bigger family friendly audience when it arrives in the DVD galaxy and can be savored in living rooms where toddlers can dance along whenever the chimps feel the obligatory need to turn the beat around.