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Sing
Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival September 11,2016
Plot (Spoiler Alert)A koala bear, Buster Moon has to find a way to save his theater from closing down because it’s everything to him so he puts together a singing competition. Animals with amazing singing voices audition to make something of themselves and prove there is more to them than what they do in their average lives. There’s Rosita, a housemother pig, Johnny, a teenaged gorilla who’s father wants him to be a criminal like him, Meena, a teenaged elephant who is shy to sing in front of an audience, Mike, a white mouse who plays the sax on the streets for cash, Gunter, a German pig who can both sing and dance and Ash, a teenaged porcupine and punk rocker who doesn’t want to be in her boyfriend’s shadow. 
Blaine: Chris Meledandri, the founder and CEO of Illumination studios had been thinking for a while about making a music driven film where music was part of the narrative. Casting for “Sing”, they would stare at the designs of the characters, listen to the voices and choose which ones went perfect. Matthew McConaughey was looking to provide his voice to an animated character for years, but he never got the job because he wasn't right for any of the parts he was auditioning for until both “Kubo and the Two Strings” and “Sing” came along. When Matthew read the script for “Sing”, he thought it was great and felt a movie like this would be fun. They liked the voice Matthew was coming up with. Buster Moon is a character with a lot of passion, excitement, never gives up, knows what he wants, will do what ever it takes to for fill his goal by trying to save the theater and even though he sleeps in the drawer o his desk he has a smile on his face. Matthew said something like they could have had the koala character have an Australian accent, but instead they had a Texan provide the voice. Sheri and I love all the characters in the film. We were amazed of how the pig, Rosita, voiced by Reese Witherspoon, was able to construct a machine all night that can take care of breakfast, get her twenty five piglets ready for school and make coffee for the husband and then have enough energy to practice without being tired. Her husband is so exhausted from work that he hardly has time to notice how talented his wife is and what makes her happy. But then when he sees her perform in that sexy outfit, dancing with an amazing singing voice, he realizes what a lucky guy he is to be married to a woman like that. Reese Witherspoon said it was nerve-racking singing Katy Perry and Tailor Swift songs and knowing how hard they are to sing. What Reese loves about Rosita is that she can identify with the idea that even though this woman is a mother, she still has dreams and desires of her own. Johnny the gorilla is another character in the movie who shows someone he loves (his dad) that he has a talent too. His father his a criminal and leader of a team the steals money and other valuables. He wants his son to be a criminal, but he doesn’t know that Johnny could be a soul singer. Taron Egerton has a voice of an angel and he brings that through his voice as Johnny. Taron had seen the movie five times in theaters and he never stops crying at the culmination of Johnny’s story and his moment of connection with his dad at the end. It is nice that his dad breaks out of jail to tell in son how proud he is of him. That means everything to Johnny. What Sheri likes about Ash the porcupine is that she has attitude and how she gave that cutie outfit Moon wanted her to wear more of a punk rock look. Sheri also felt bad for her after her boyfriend dumped her for someone else and she has to sing by herself now. I think she’s better off without that boyfriend she was with who doesn’t appreciate her talent and doesn’t want her to get in the way of his spotlight. Nick Kroll loves animated features and he’s really good at voice acting. Gunter, the European pig, felt like he could be a fun character for Nick to play. Gunter just has a lot of dance in him and he’s encourages Rosita that dancing should be fun. The films writer and co-director, Garth Jennings also provides the voice of the elderly female lizard, Miss Crawly. That was very unexpected when I found out that it was a male who provided the voice because the character’s voice sounds so much like a female did it. One of the scenes Sheri and I love the most is the carwash where Buster is washing cars with his body and his sheep friend, Eddie helps him by drying them off and they are wearing speedos. It’s a shame that Buster Moon couldn’t have done the opening key like he did in rehearsal with the colorful squids forming circles around him and the song “Flashlights” in the background. That was cool. Mike the mouse is a jerk and he has to give money to these three bears after cheating in a card game. Mike has Moon give the bears the prize money, something that doesn’t belong to him, plus he’s practically stealing which makes me mad. He ruined everything. But hope comes for after hearing Meena the elephant's singing voice, it encourages him to get back on his feet and do the show. Even though there’s no prize money, the contenders go with it because this is something they’ve dreamed more than money. They’ve become friends with each other. They get back up on their feet, show an audience what they are made of and this competition changes their lives. They pull off a hell of a show. Seeing the characters finally perform is my favorite part of the movie because it feels like you’re succeeding and showing everyone what your made of and draw in this big crowd. My rating on “Sing” is five out of five stars. Songs The cast of “Sing” at the Toronto Film Festival 
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