Fasten your seat belts … I think this is the fastest talking I’ve done in any of these reviews! In fact, it’s so fast I think I’ll include the words this time, in case anyone wants to double-check a word. Let me know if you like this!
P.S. I like to have at least one rhyme in each review I’m especially proud of. In Soul Surfer it was “island” and “Thailand.” Here it’s “umbrellas” and “favelas.”
From the Guanabara beaches with their rainbow umbrellas
To the iron-roofed shacks of ramshackle favelas
From the carnival floats and their paraphernalia
To the samba schools with their dancers’ regalia
There’s plenty to see-o in Rio.
Director Carlos Saldanha’s a native Brazilian
And his palette is full of greens, blues, vermilion
Dancing and music all add local feeling
But the carnival costumes are pretty revealing…
That’s how it be-o in Rio.
A pair of rare birds, Jewel and Blu
Flee from smugglers and a scene-stealing bad cockatoo.
Blu just wants his owner, and he may learn to fly
And Christ the Redeemer looks down from on high.
Good enough for me-o—that’s Rio.
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Steven Greydanus,
a Big HELLO from…...... BRASIL!!
I just loved your Post and your rhymes! Congratulations.
RIO is simply a marvellous film, which I hope everyone around the globe is able to see it.
Beyond the colors and the images that you have mentioned, a thing that was so special to me in RIO was the message of friendship between the birds and also the dog - some of the characters of the movie.
It was incredible the way the director Carlos Saldanha showed that Good Fellows don’t measure efforts to save each other from any danger.
Stay in the Love and Peace of God!
You and All Your Readers!!
~~~
Ana Paula, thanks so much for your comment! It’s about the best response to my 30-second review I could have hoped for!
Well done! :-)
My one question is, do you get it in one take? Pretty good there, Mr. Greydanus!! BTW, my children (and my husband) know that if they want to ask me to see a movie, they better be able to tell me what Steven Greydanus thinks first. I only wish you had a children’s literature book review column too…
@ Mama Toad: Ha ha! I think we usually do at least four or five takes before we get one I’m happy with. We have to balance a lot of things—aside from the sheer mechanics of getting all the words right, I try to get the inflection and the timing right, and my producer wants me to stick as close to 30 seconds as possible (though he lets me get away with stretching a bit).
And there are little presentational things that I try to do too … like here, where I wince as I say “see-O” so the viewer knows I know it’s a bad rhyme, and so I make a joke of it. :) No, I never get it quite right on the first take!
P.S. While I don’t do children’s literature, you might want to check out my friend Tim Golden’s site Good to Read.
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