BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (2017) – My rating: 9/10

Beauty and the Beast is a musical romantic fantasy directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay written by Stephen Chbosky and Evan Spiliotopoulos, and co-produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films. The film is a live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1991 animated film of the same name, itself an adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s eighteenth-century fairy tale. While Beauty and the Beast is a timeless film and story is hasn’t lost it’s appeal.  Every time it’s remade, it gets better and better.  I’m so glad I decided to see it once again.

In Rococo-era France, a beautiful enchantress disguised as an old beggar woman (Hattie Morahan) arrives at a castle during a ball and offers the host, a cruel and selfish prince (Dan Stevens), a rose in return for shelter from the storm. When he refuses, she reveals her identity. To punish the prince for his selfishness, the enchantress transforms him into a beast and his servants into household objects, then erases the castle, the prince and his servants from the memories of their loved ones. She casts a spell on the rose and warns the prince that the curse will only be broken if he learns to love another, and earn their love in return, before the last petal falls.

Some years later, in the small town of Villeneuve, Belle (Emma Watson), the book-loving daughter of a music box maker and artist Maurice (Kevin Kline), dreams of adventure and brushes off advances from Gaston (Luke Evans), an arrogant former soldier. On his way to a convention and lost in the forest, Maurice seeks refuge in the Beast’s castle, but the Beast imprisons him for stealing a rose from his garden as a gift to Belle. When Maurice’s horse returns without him, Belle ventures out in search for him, and finds him locked in the castle dungeon. The Beast agrees to let her take Maurice’s place.

Belle befriends the castle’s servants, who invite her to a spectacular dinner. When she wanders into the forbidden west wing and finds the rose, the Beast scares her into the woods. She is ambushed by a pack of wolves, but the Beast rescues her, and is injured in the process. As Belle nurses his wounds, a friendship develops between them. The Beast shows Belle a gift from the enchantress, a book that transports readers wherever they want. Belle uses the book to visit her childhood home in Paris, where she discovers a plague doctor mask and realizes that she and her father were forced to leave when her mother (Zoe Rainey) succumbed to the plague.

While I’m sure everyone knows the story, I will not give any more of the story away in case you don’t know the story.  I urge everyone to see Beauty and the Beast.  It’s a delightful movie and well done.  Beauty and the Beast is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.  Check it out!

[Beauty and the Beast is Oscar nominated for Best Production Design and Best Costume Designs.]

 

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) – My rating: 10/10

In my humble opinion, War for the Planet of the Apes is by far the best Planet Apes movie I’ve seen and I’ve seen them all.  Incredible makeup, incredible acting, incredible story and incredible directing (Matt Reeves).  The cinematography is outstanding and the message was loud and clear.  This movie couldn’t have come at a better time in our lives.  At one point I just weld up and as tears streamed down my face, couldn’t help but wonder why man makes an already difficult world so much more difficult by adding their egos and evil ways to the mix because one thing is certain, WE ALL WILL DIE SOMEDAY!  Having said that, I had to give War for the Planet of the Apes a whooping 10.

Now hiding in the woods after being attacked by the US military group, Alpha-Omega, Caesar, who is the current leader of the Apes, offers the humans peace if the Apes are left alone to live in peace.  Unfortunately Koba, the former rebellious leader of the Apes, who is now dead, still has many followers that are against Caesar and his clan of intelligent Apes and have joined the US military against Caesar.  After a recent attack, Caesar and his clan decides it’s best to go further into hiding by relocating to a new home across the desert where they won’t be found by Alpha-Omega and their mysterious Colonel.

The night before Caesar and his clan are to journey to their new home, they suffer another attack in the night and many Apes are killed, including Caesar’s family, causing him to go after the mysterious Colonel of the Alpha-Omega and the gorilla called Red.  Caesar’s youngest son Cornelius is now the only family he has left alive.  From this point, the emotions and intensity of the journey is overwhelming.  As the pieces fall into place, War for the planet of the Apes is anything but predictable.  We find out the fears and secrets that drive both sides (Man and Ape).  While the other Apes headed for the desert, Caesar along with Maurice, Luca and Rocket are forced to perform many ill gotten deeds like asphyxiating another Ape, which causes Caesar to worry if he is becoming just like Koba.

Not only is War for the Planet of the Apes the best of the entire franchise, it’s also one of the most entertaining movies of the summer.  Check it out, you won’t be disappointed!  Below are the cast of characters (apes and humans, alike) with  synopsis of each, courtesy of Wikipedia).

CAST OF Apes

• Caesar (Andy Serkis) – an intelligent common chimpanzee who is leader to a tribe of genetically enhanced apes.
• Bad Ape (Steve Zahn) – a common chimpanzee who lived in a zoo before the Simian Flu outbreak and was a hermit before joining Caesar’s group.
• Maurice (Karin Konoval) – a wise and benevolent Bornean orangutan who is Caesar’s adviser.
• Rocket (Terry Notary) – a common chimpanzee who is Caesar’s brother-figure.
• Red (Ty Olsson) – a Western lowland gorilla who was once a follower of Koba, now serving the Colonel to defeat Caesar. Olsson previously played Chief Hamill in Rise.
• Cornelia (Judy Greer) – Caesar’s wife.
• Lake (Sara Canning) – a common chimpanzee in Caesar’s tribe, Blue Eyes’s mate and later Cornelius’s caretaker.
• Blue Eyes (Max Lloyd-Jones) – Caesar and Cornelia’s oldest son.
• Cornelius (Devyn Dalton) – Caesar and Cornelia’s youngest son and Blue Eyes’ younger brother. Dalton previously played Cornelia in Rise.
• Luca (Michael Adamthwaite) – a Western lowland gorilla in Caesar’s tribe.
• Winter (Aleks Paunovic) – an albino Western lowland gorilla in Caesar’s tribe who defected to the Colonel’s side.
• Koba (Toby Kebbell) – reprises his role as  from Dawn, appearing in Caesar’s hallucinations.

CAST OF Humans

• The Colonel (Woody Harrelson) – an iron-fisted soldier and the leader of the paramilitary organization Alpha-Omega who is obsessed with wiping out Caesar and his tribe to preserve his people’s role as the dominant species.
• Nova (Amiah Miller) – a bold and kind mute orphan whom Maurice adopts as his daughter.
• Preacher (Gabriel Chavarria) – a human soldier working under the Colonel in Alpha-Omega