Tag Archives: Rated PG

Piece By Piece

Hey, gang, here’s a way to spice up a tired storytelling format: Go Lego!

The new film Piece By Piece has those familiar elements seen time after time in documentary biopics: archival footage plus soundbites from associates/family/observers, tied together with narration and/or onscreen text. But this story of musical polymath Pharrell Williams has that big difference. It is told… via Legos!

The movie is colorful, musical, kinetic and full of cool images that would not be seen had the story been told in the traditional way.

Does the Lego innovation/gimmick work? Yes, to an extent. But after a while, it gets a bit tedious. And it is a bit dishonest. Do the projects in Virginia Beach where Pharrell grew up look like they’re presented in this film? Is his high school where he met many of his first musical chums similar to its cartoon representation here? 

Among the people who contribute soundbites to Piece By Piece are Pharrell’s parents. After about their third appearance onscreen—as Legos—I wanted to see what his folks really look like, not just their cartoon images. Also, I wonder if all the musical folk who contributed comments are pleased with their Lego depictions? 

Interestingly, when Pharrell’s story gets to 2013, one of the three gigantic hit songs he was involved in that year gets just a brief mention. Blurred Lines, performed with Robin Thicke and rapper T.I., has since been cancelled in popular culture because of its lyrical content. To have ignored the song, a monster hit, would’ve left fans wondering WTF. But acknowledgement of the tune, set between more screen time for the two others, is appropriate.

Pharrell’s part in Daft Punk’s Get Lucky was his first 2013 mega hit. Then, in summer, as Blurred Lines was ruling the charts, his song Happy was heard as the closing theme of the film Despicable Me 2. Toward the end of the year, the song began ascending the charts and in early 2014 the song and its video were making people everywhere… happy! Positive responses from the song’s fans get good play in this new movie.

For those who know Pharrell Williams mainly for his time as a judge on The Voice or from his song Happy, Piece By Piece delivers a good opportunity to learn more about the man. His love of music from childhood when he was a Stevie Wonder fan. His involvement with many of music’s giants including Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z. His family life including not just his parents but also his wife and his grandmother. 

The Lego innovation/gimmick offers parents a reason to bring their kids along to the theater. Even if they don’t care for the story, the Lego images and the creative animation should keep them amused. Or even, as the song title says, happy.

Piece By Piece runs just over 90 minutes. Rated PG.

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Shaun The Sheep

What a cool movie! Shaun The Sheep is the perfect film for kids of all ages, for several reasons.

First, it’s done via stop motion animation, which, if done well, is hard to resist. This film IS done well and has a charming story.

The film has no dialogue; the tale is told visually. Oh, there are grunts, sighs, gasps, burps, farts, chuckles and, of course, baaas. But if your two-year-old wants to scream and cry, she won’t cause other audience members to miss what’s happening.

Also, Shaun The Sheep is short, clocking in right around 80 minutes. By the time your child has finished his gummy bears, it’s time to go home.

Shaun the Sheep reminds me of some of the clever 1930s animation. Those cartoons with dancing farm animals and goofy plots (if any) depended heavily on music and sound effects to help tell their stories.

In this new film, Shaun’s boring routine on the farm is interrupted when a bus passes by. A sign on the bus suggests: “take a day off.” Shaun decides to make it happen. His fellow sheep lure the farmer into his travel trailer and send him into a deep sleep so they can sneak away. When the trailer rolls downhill, it gains enough momentum to take the farmer all the way to the big city.

The farmer is hospitalized and diagnosed with memory loss. Meanwhile, the sheep stowaway on a bus and make it to the big city. There they adopt disguises to elude the animal control officer, Trumper.

The farmer leaves the hospital and passes a barbershop where the clippers trigger his vague memory of sheep shearing. He walks in and clips the hair of a showbiz type who loves the cut. Mr. X (as he is now known) becomes a star stylist.

The sheep devise a plot to take the farmer back to the farm. A confrontation at the farm with Trumper wraps up the adventure.

Shaun the Sheep is big family fun. It’s rated PG for some rude humor, but is more than okay for all, in my opinion.

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