Category Archives: Entertainment

Rio – Movie Review

If you want to go for a 90 minutes movie that will give you a blast then Rio is the movie for you.
With the voice talents of Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Anne Hathaway (she doesn’t need any introductions, right?), Rio is a very, very fun animated movie.

Blu is a blue macaw parrot who gets caught while still very young and is shipped to the United States where, by an act of fate, the truck his box is on gets hit and his box drops off. Linda, a little girl, finds Blu and takes care of him for the next fifteen yes. The two become inseparable, the best of friends and Linda becomes as dependent on Blu as he is on her.
However, soon enough, Tulio, a scientist, shows up to Linda’s bookstore and tells her they have found a female counterpart for Blu, the last existent male of his species and that they need to fly him down to Rio so both birds can mate.
Linda reluctantly agrees… but Rio De Janeiro is a hostile place, especially for a rare bird like Blu and it is there that the story unfolds.

Jesse Eisenberg does not stray away from The Social Network’s nerdy Mark Zuckerberg persona in this but he is quite awesome as Blu. I daresay, it’s good for him The Social Network was released before Rio because I’m sure we would have all pictured him as the blue bird instead of Zuckerberg had it been the other way around.

Anne Hathaway displays, yet again, amazing versatility even though only her voice-over skills are put to the test in Rio. Her voice adapts extremely well to the flirty, yet resilient bird Jewel.

You will also hear the vocal talents of Leslie Mann, Black Eyed Peas’ frontman Will.i.am, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez…

All in all, Rio is a movie that will entertain you without asking too much mental involvement on your part. It’s hilarious, sentimental and beyond a doubt authentic.

Carrie Underwood… How Great Thou Art

Praising God magnificently with a divine rendition of the brilliant “How Great Thou Art,” Carrie Underwood has transcended common grounds.

Not only does she send shivers down your spine but listening to her when she brings it all out is truly a magnificent experience.

Jennifer Nettles proclaimed after Carrie finished belting out the last note: “what a voice!”
People in the audience were crying.
The standing ovation started with more than minute left of Carrie singing.

God is great…. but in these moments, we say to Carrie Underwood: how great thou art.

And just as someone shouts just before Carrie started singing: we love you. It’s hard not to after hearing her sing that.

It is a performance like this that further solidifies what Brad Paisley has said about Carrie. “She is the best singer in any format of music today”.
Yes, she is.

Watch the performance here:

Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulain – Movie Review

Amelie Poulain has led a very sheltered and overprotected life. Home-educated by over-bearing parents, she makes up her own fantasy world. When she eventually grows up and moves out to work at a Parisian Cafe, Amelie finds an old tin box containing a schoolboy’s forgotten memories.
It is then that Amelie decides to help others find love and happiness, which she does in a magical and splendid manner – not knowing that on her path to bring love and happiness to others , she will end up finding them herself.

The interesting thing about the movie is how all the characters interact with each other and how they bring this plot to be. If you take the plot in absolute value, there’s nothing extraordinary about it. But Amelie is an extraordinary movie because the way it handles this plot is brilliant. The chase between Amelie and her love interest is absolutely stunning, to say the least, let alone extremely intelligent.

The first ten minutes of Amelie are absolutely one of the best moments of film-making I have ever watched. Never have I been more positively surprised by a movie than I was with Amelie. You cannot but be instantly captivated with the exquisite narrative: “Le 3 Septembre, 1973, à 18h 28 min et 32 secondes….” It’s absolutely brilliant.
The movie ends with an almost similar style of narrative, giving the aspect of wrapping up the whole thing like a big box with a tidy ribbon.

Audrey Tautou gives a brilliant performance in her role as Amelie. She showcases the strong, independent girl persona perfectly and doesn’t shy away from showing compassion when other characters need it. She’s witty, fast, captivating…

The score by Yann Tiersen is absolutely stunning as well. If you haven’t listened to Comptine d’Eté, n°2, then you really must do so. To say it is a good musical composition would be an understatement. And it works perfectly well in the movie.

Le Fabuleux Destin D’Amelie Poulain is probably the best French movie I have ever watched. It made me appreciate having been taught French so I wouldn’t have to add up closed captioning to the movie and hide out some parts of the screen. It’s a whimsical, fun, care-free and simply happy. I wouldn’t say it’s a perfect movie but it’s pretty close. Everything just falls together in an excellent way in it: the acting, the cinematography, the music, the plot, Paris…
It is a must see for everyone who appreciates movies. And, again, if you’re not hooked by the first minute or so, I advise re-watching it. Because something would be definitely wrong if the absolute wittiness of the introduction sequence doesn’t grab you.

Beyonce’s New Song…. What Is She Thinking?

Beyonce has released her new single, a song titled: Who Run The World (Girls).

And while the cover is hot, that’s pretty much the only thing going on for the song.

The song is so bad that I have yet to listen to it in its entirety. Yes, it’s one of those four minute songs that keep you thinking for the first half of it what the artist was thinking when they:

1) recorded this.

2) had the idea of releasing it cross their minds.

3) Actually decided to release it as their debut single from an anticipated album.

4) Film a video for it.

And then you press the stop button.

I understand Beyonce wanted to challenge the current norm on pop radio of electronic music ruling everything but you cannot do so with a bad song. Look at Adele. She is today’s prime exhibit of not going with the flow when it comes to music. Her song, Rolling In The Deep, is currently #1 on iTunes and growing exponentially on pop radio.

Dear Beyonce, out-of-the-box is not always out-of-this-world good. Maybe you should have released a better song so more people could care about your upcoming release and then went on them with a bad song all empowering for the women.

Besides, talk about a topic rehash, it’s not the first time Beyonce tries to empower women in song. If I Were A Boy, Irreplaceable, Single Ladies ring a bell?

I am not the biggest Beyonce fan. But I appreciate her better songs (Halo, for example). This one, however, isn’t even close to being a good song – let alone one of her better songs.

Check out the song: