She Sees the WHITEBIRD

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Marc Forster based on the book White Bird: A Wonder Story by R.J. Palacio and Lionsgate is the remarkable story with the help of WHITE BIRD.

Sara (Helen Mirren) is visiting her grandson Julian (Bryce Gheisar) to discover he is in trouble at school. She is an artist in town for a Retrospective about her work but feels it is time to talk to her grandson about something important in her life in order to help him.

It is 1942 and Sara (Ariella Glaser) lives in a quaint town in France with her father Max (Ishai Golan) and mother Rose (Olivia Ross). Attending school with her friends, life seems idyllic and happy for the young girl. Also in school is the young boy Julian (Orlando Schwerdt) who has a disability and longs to be friends with Sara. Both of their worlds are about to change when the Nazi’s arrive in their village. As the Jewish children try to escape, they are rounded up quickly, all except Sara.

Trying to evade the soldiers, she is found by Julian who leads her through tunnels under the school and to a barn near his home. Helping her settle in he warns her to stay out of sight so that others do not know she is there. Worried about her parents, Sara keeps quiet and tries to pass the days hoping it will all be over quickly. To help her think of something else, Julian visits her every evening to keep her up with school work and play games.

But the Nazi’s are relentless and Sara realizes that she must stay hidden for a long time. That doesn’t stop the two from creating their own world where life is good and wonderful. Even Julian’s parents Jean Paul (Jo Stone-Fewings) and Vivienne (Gillian Anderson) make her life inside the barn something to remember fondly. Outside the barn is a totally different world as Julian deals with his own difficulties. Sara discovers the results of war and what comes after.

Glaser as Sara is a young girl who is about to have a life changing experience. When it happens, everything she has known is gone and the future is uncertain. Glaser portrays Sara seamlessly and with an insight of emotion that could be hard for a young actress dealing with this period of time. Instead, she gives such a range of mixed emotion of fear and love.

Schwerdt as Julian is absolutely stunning as a young man always feeling on the outside of things. Helping Sara is not something he needed to think twice about and while she is trapped on the inside, he is trapped on the outside with those who want to hurt him. Schwedt is lovely, beautiful and gives his character all of that as well.

Anderson as Vivienne and Julians mother comes to love Sara. She spends all the time she can in the barn with Sara helping to be the mother she is away from. Vivienne is just as protective of Sara as she is her own son. Anderson gives her character everything we’d hope a mother would and then some. Stone-Fewings as Jean Paul keeps up the home front and is aware of his surroundings and what can happen if anyone knows the family secret.

Shout out to Mirren as Grandmother Sara is splendid as the story unfolds. She has always been a formidable actress and, in this film, she proves that even a smaller role can have a big impact. Gheisar as teen Julian

Other cast include Stuart McQuarrie as Pastor Luc, Jem Matthews as Vincent and Patsy Ferran as Mille Petitjean, Priya Ghotane as Rahmiya, Teagan Booth as Dillon, Laura Hudeckova as young Sara, Mia Kadlecova as Sophie, Selma Kaymakci as Mariann, Jordan Cramond as Jerome, Yelisey Kazakevich as Henri and Vladimir Javorsky as George.

Lionsgate is a global leader in motion picture production and distribution for theatres, television, home entertainment and more. Theatre franchises include THE HUNGER GAMES, and DIVERGENT along with JOHN WICK. Now, adding this film to its 16,000-motion picture and television titles you can see everything coming soon as well as available now at http://www.lionsgate.com.

WHITE BIRD is a stunning film about love, loyalty and the will to fight against evil. The cast is so amazing taking on the roles of those who do the right thing against the wrong. The story is so filled with every emotion imaginable because, especially in this time, there is so much hate against people when there is no reason for it.

Sara and Julian are put in positions where they not only have to see the world as it has become for them, but also to create a world where they can find respite from the horrors happening in their town to family and friends. The story offers both worlds with so much emotion and reaction that it is very hard not to become emotionally invested just watching it all. Inside the barn, director Forster brings both worlds into Sara and Julian’s lives and we, as outsiders, are privy to see it all.

This is a beautiful film for all to see and embrace the lesson that Mirren’s character tries to imbue to us all and that is not to let history repeat itself.

In the end – kindness lives forever!

 

Hanks is A MAN CALLED OTTO

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and Digital from director Marc Forster and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the complicated history and life of A MAN CALLED OTTO.

Living in a suburb of Pittsburgh and begrudgingly retired, widower Otto (Tom Hanks) is a rigid man with a routine that gets him up daily. He decides that he has had enough of life and had planned to make an end of it. Out the window he sees a boisterous family moving in. A very pregnant Marisol (Mariana Trevino), Tommy (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), Abby (Alessandra Perez) and Luna (Christiana Montoya) are not exactly what Otto expected.

Marisol makes it clear that she is going to be his friend and tries to learn about him. Otto is not forthcoming with his memories of meeting wife Sonya, their life together or how she passed. His life is changing moment by moment as the neighborhood comes out of hiding to begin to embrace Otto.

From teaching Marisol how to drive out of pure frustration and helping young Malcolm (Mack Bayda) how to care for his bike, Otto is busy again. He even tries to repair a friendship with life-long neighbors Anita (Juanita Jennings) and Reuben (Peter Lawson Jones) and caregiver Jimmy (Cameron Britton). The life he once thought he wanted to end, is a life he now sees with possibilities without having to change his grumpiness.

But what really gets Otto in high gear is when he learns that real estate builders Dye & Merika are forcing his friends out of their home. Now, Otto knows what must be done and how to make his days more than he could have imagined.

He does it all in his own Otto way!

Hanks as Otto has managed to bring a little of every character he has played into this man who’s sadness and inability to budge is charming and endearing. The frightening part is that I have the same fixation with parking spots! When Otto finds Sonya, he finds a woman who accepts him for exactly who he is and Hanks runs with that in his character. I do love that although curt, Otto’s thought process can bring on giggles.

Trevino as Marison is fast talking, a bit loud and will not stop until she knows what Otto is up to. Once she does, she, like Sonya, embraces Otto for who he is and does what she can to help him see the joys he has been missing since his wife’s death. Trevino also gives us the mom who loves her family and embraces everything around her. Trevino gives us such a wonderful character.

Rulfo as Tommy just goes along with his wife and Otto but in such a loving way it is heartwarming. Perez and Montoya as their young daughters are not afraid of Otto but find him rather entertaining. Britton as Jimmy is a caregiver that truly does care about not only Anita and Ruben but all the neighbors.

Bayda as young Malcom remembers Sonya and the times Otto came to class so as everyone else is a bit standoffish. He also sees something more in the man and knows where to turn for help.

Other cast include Mike Birbiglia as Real Estate Agent, Kelly Lamor Wilson as Shari Kenzie, Dave Magee as Dye & Merika Rep, Rachel Keller as Sonya, Emonie Ellison as young Anita, Laval Schley as young Reuben, and Truman Hanks as young Otto.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.

Bonus Materials include Breaking the Rules: Making A MAN CALLED OTTO, ‘Til You’re Home’ Music Video, In the Studio with Rita Wilson & Sebastian Yatra and Deleted Scenes.

A MAN CALLED OTTO is heartwarming story of when a man who has wrapped himself in a cocoon of memories and sadness. Hanks gives us heart, soul and laughter in watching Otto become ‘alive’ once again. The cast starting with Trevino as Marisol has me cheering from start to finish with each character bringing level upon level of compassion.

The film is based on the New York Times Bestseller A Man Called Ove. Gather the family because this story is the definition of a movie night!

In the end – fall in love with the grumpiest man in America!

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN Brings us all a Lesson in What is Important

Jeri Jacquin

Coming this week to theatres from director Marc Forster and Walt Disney Studios is the return to the One Hundred Acre Woods and the boy once known as CHRISTOPHER ROBIN.

Christopher Robin was a young boy who spent all his time in the woods with his friends Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eyeore, Owl, Rabbit, Tigger, Kanga and Roo. Their days were filled with exploration and friendship until Christopher Robin is sent off to boarding school.

As the years pass, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) meets and marries Evelyn (Hayley Atwell), becomes the father of Madeline (Bronte Carmichael), is a soldier fighting years of war and returns home to work at a company called Winslow that makes luggage. He is focused on work which leaves little time for family.

When he is told by Giles Winslow (Mark Gatiss) that the company needs to make cuts, Robin must give up a weekend with his family to work. Evelyn and Madeline are not happy but go off for the weekend on their own.

Back in the one hundred acre woods, Pooh wakes up to discover that all his friends are gone. As he starts to search, Pooh finds his way to London and Christopher Robin knowing he is the only person that can help. Imagine the surprise when they meet and Pooh explains that the rest of their friends are lost.

All Robin can think of is how to get this talking bear back to where he belongs without anyone, including his family, seeing him. Battling Heffalumps and the need to get back for an important meeting, Robin loses track of time and races back to London. The problem is that Tigger’s good intentions are about to change everything.

Madeline, Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore show Christopher Robin what it means to slow down, remember the people that mean the most and – to do absolutely nothing.

McGregor as the adult Christopher Robin has his nose the grindstone doing what he thinks he should be doing, providing for his family. Forgetting his friends in the forest, Robin feels the pressures of responsibility and is now forgetting his own family. McGregor as an actor still manages to have the ability to look child-like when the role calls for it and make it look effortless. His interactions with Pooh are filled with tension until he begins to embrace the simplicity he once knew.

Atwell as Evelyn sees the change in her husband and reminds him that who he is now is not the man she met all those years ago. She wants him to laugh, smile and be a father once again to their daughter who clearly misses him. Carmichael as Madeline would gladly accept moments, fractions of moments with her father but doesn’t know how to tell him. Feeling as if everything else means more than she does, it takes the friends in the woods to explain that her father wasn’t always this way. Carmichael is very sweet and even missing time with her father; she still wants to help him succeed!

Jim Cummings voices Winnie the Pooh (also Tigger) had me the moment he began to speak as Pooh. There is such innocence in Pooh and Cummings brings that so very clear through his voice. Brad Garrett as Eeyore has the perfect voice filled with sadness and humor at the same time. Nick Mohammed as Piglet is perfectly cute, Peter Capaldi as Rabbit is very funny, Sophie Okonedo as Kanga is the Mom who watches over everyone, Sara Sheen as Roo loves her woodland family and Toby Jones as Owl is sweet.

Other cast include Oliver Ford Davies as Old Man Winslow, Ronke Adekoluejo as Katherine Dane, Adrian Scarborough as Hal Gallsworthy, Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Ralph Butterworth, Ken Nwosu as Paul Hastings, John Dagleish as Matthew Leadbetter, Amanda Lawrence as Joan MacMillan, Katy Carmichael as Christopher’s Mother, Tristan Surrock as Christopher’s Father and Orton O’Brien as Young Christopher Robin.

Winnie-the-Pooh was created by A.A. Milne with the first collection of stories finding its way to the hands of children in 1926. Basing the character named after his own son Christopher Robin Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh was a teddy bear that belonged to his son. His son named the toy bear after a black bear he saw at the London Zoo. The rest is history and what a grand and iconic history it is.

It should be no surprise that Marc Forster directed the film since he also directed the 2004 film FINDING NEVERLAND. That is another story about the creation of the iconic story of Peter Pan. The feel created by Forster is compelling, tugs at the heart and is giggly delightful.

CHRISTOPHER ROBIN is a story about what happens once childhood fades into a place we chose to forget. In this case, Christopher Robin is sent to boarding school taking him away from his friends and then adulting through marriage, a war and a job which changes his focus on life.

What makes this film so relatable is that we are all the adult Christopher Robin’s in some shape or form. We are all so busy ‘working’ that sometimes the good childhood memories, our family and life suffers in the juggling. That is the truth of it and its right there in front of us daily wiping out all else sometimes.

This film brings the simplicity right there in front of us as well with phrases that will be repeated on the regular and all coming from a talking bear. Winnie-the-Pooh sees Christopher Robin exactly as he is – even if he is now an adult. Looking into his eyes, the lovely bear embraces the boy who has become a man, even if the man doesn’t like it.

The characters of Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger, Kanga, Roo and Owl are reminders of friendship and the charm that they bring to ones life. These woodland creatures are loyal, supportive and want Christopher Robin to remember what is important because it is clear that they deeply love their friend.

McGregor’s portrayal of the iconic little boy who becomes a forgetful man is what I would expect and yet his performance still moved me. I will also admit that Pooh and his friends had my heart all tied up neatly in a bow and might have even brought a tear to my eye. Who wouldn’t want friends like that to lovingly remind me to embrace every moment, occasionally smile and remember to do nothing because it will become the best of something.

I absolutely love this film with it’s nostalgia that gives us a heartfelt look into an iconic boy becoming a man – leaving behind the best group of friends ANYONE could ever have. Pooh and the gang reminds us that doing nothing can turn into…like this film…something wonderful.

In the end – sooner or later the past will catch up to you!