Cindy Prascik's Review of The Secret Life of Pets

Dearest Blog: yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas, with a dear friend and approximately eight million kids, to see the weekend's blockbuster animated release, The Secret Life of Pets. Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers. 

 

The adventures of domesticated and non-domesticated animals in New York City. Well, dear reader(s), first stating the obvious: If you have pets, you're gonna enjoy this movie a LOT more than if you don't. 

 

The main storyline, about a pair of pups who have to find their way home after mistakenly being collared by animal control, is solid enough for the film's quick runtime, but the most fun bits by far are the devoted doggy sitting at the door awaiting his owner's return, or the disdaining cat knocking a lovingly-offered bowl of food across the room. 

 

Kevin Hart, as a psychotic rabbit, completely steals the show from a uniformly great voice cast. Pets' art and animation are bright, colorful, and thorougly pedestrian, nothing state of the art here. The movie is pretty funny throughout and only occasionally so crass as to appeal exclusively to ten-year-old boys. The Secret Life of Pets clocks in at 90 minutes, which includes a laugh-out-loud Minions short, and is rated PG for "action and some rude humor." It won't give Dory a run for her money come Oscar time, but The Secret Life of Pets is a cute, fun story with all-ages appeal. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Secret Life of Pets gets six and a half. 

 

Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: NO ESCAPE

An intense international thriller, NO ESCAPE centers on an American businessman (Wilson) as he and his family settle into their new home in Southeast Asia. Suddenly finding themselves in the middle of a violent political uprising, they must frantically look for a safe escape as rebels mercilessly attack the city. Directed by John Erick Dowdle and written together with his brother Drew, NO ESCAPE stars Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan and Lake Bell.

Director: John E. Dowdle 

Cast: Owen Wilson, Pierce Brosnan, Lake Bell, Sterling Jerins.

Release Date: Aug 26, 2015

Rated: R for strong Violence Throughout, and For Language

Runtime: 1 hr. 41 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

John E. Dowdle’s No Escape feels like a mash up of The Purge: Anarchy, The Warrior and Hostel.  It’s a tense mess of a film that really hits all the worse clichés of the dangers abroad genre.  Dowdle’s direction is fairly strong as he ratchets up the tension to insane levels particularly during the first half of the film.  Sadly, there’s little to no characterization of any of the characters and only the thinnest and cheapest of explanation about the coup that sets off the action.  Pierce Brosnan appears disappears, reappears and disappears for good from the movie remaining the most interesting character in the whole production.   Owen Wilson and Lake Bell deliver solid work hitting all the panicked notes you can think of.  They’re continually frazzled and on edge but seemingly have time for some family discussions regardless of whatever is going on.  There’s logical plot holes left and right even as the film beats its message over your head with it literally spelled out for you.  And then, just like that, it’s over since the escape route was conveniently close and far enough to keep the film rolling.  

C+

TV SHOW REVIEW: CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS DVD

TV SHOW REVIEW: CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL: THE COMPLETE FIRST AND SECOND SEASONS DVD



Synopsis: Short parodies of medical dramas.

Cast: Rob Corddry, Rob Huebel, Megan Mullally, Erinn Hayes, Ken Marino, Michael Cera, Lake Bell, Henry Winkler, Malin Akerman, Zandy Hartig, Nick Offerman

Review:

Children’s Hospital is an incredibly funny rapid fire show. First season is comprised of the 4-5 minute “episodes” which shoot medical drama parody jokes at you at an amazing rate. It’s hilarious for the most part, when it doesn’t quite hit the mark it helped by its format because nothing ever lingers too much on screen. The 2nd season offers up longer 11 minute “episodes” which still have the same effect but occasionally linger a tad to long when a joke isn’t working. The cast is a collection of wonderful comedians who are all in throughout. Nothing is off-limits and they aren’t afraid to go for the cheapest laughs while setting higher concept laughs either (such as mocking every type of behinds the scenes, live shows, TV show deaths, etc..). There’s a very loosely connected overall plot but its sparse and fairly unnecessary since it’s not really the point. Satire and parody are the name of the game here and its down quite well.

B-

Movie Reviews: IT’S COMPLICATED

Friday, January 01, 2010
Movie Reviews: IT’S COMPLICATED
IN THEATERS

IT’S COMPLICATED

Jane (Streep) is the mother of three grown kids, owns a thriving Santa Barbara bakery/restaurant and has—after a decade of divorce—an amicable relationship with her ex-husband, attorney Jake (Baldwin). But when Jane and Jake find themselves out of town for their son’s college graduation, things start to get complicated. An innocent meal together turns into the unimaginable—an affair. With Jake remarried to the much younger Agness (Lake Bell), Jane is now, of all things, the other woman. Caught in the middle of their renewed romance is Adam (Martin), an architect hired to remodel Jane’s kitchen. Healing from a divorce of his own, Adam starts to fall for Jane, but soon realizes he’s become part of a love triangle. Should Jane and Jake move on with their lives, or is love truly lovelier the second time around? It’s…complicated.

Cast: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin, Lake Bell, John Krasinski

Director: Nancy Meyers

Opened December 25, 2009

Runtime: 1 hr. 54 min.

Rated R for sexuality and some drug content

Genres: Romantic Comedy, Comedy

Review:

Remove Streep and Baldwin from It’s Complicated and you have a barely passable sitcom plot and writing. Thankfully writer director Nancy Meyers, who’s got a monopoly on the middle age rom-com market, has these two wonderful talents to prop up what is a surprisingly pedestrian script. Meyer’s direction here is typical of her usual style; everything looks wonderfully affluent and polished so much so that even the messes look clean. The plot and situations are fairly standard fare and there’s nothing is terribly surprising or fresh about it. Handing this script to lesser lead actors and you have a certifiable sleeping pill of a film that would fit nicely in a Lifetime marathon between the marital abuse films. Talents like Streep and Baldwin are held in such high regard because they are able to pull up the ordinary and make it engaging and fun when it has no business being so. Streep is a truly a rare talent and continuing her recent hot streak she shines emitting zany comic energy only occasionally crossing into over the top territory. Matching her move by move is Alec Baldwin. Baldwin’s wonderful comedic timing is in full display here, something he does regularly on TV’s 30 Rock. Baldwin isn’t afraid to go the extra mile for a laugh. He and Streep share some wonderful onscreen chemistry together and they keep the audience engaged through some of the more clichéd portions of the film. Steve Martin is there as a potential love interest but he’s so under utilized, outside of an inspired party scene late in the film, that a smiling cardboard cutout would have been just as effective. John Krasinski supporting role is the only one that has any heft to it and he show’s that his comedic talents aren’t limited to TV. The remainder of the cast is mostly forgettable but they aren’t given anything to work with in the first place. Meyer’s has had much stronger showing as a director and writer, luckily she’s blessed with 2 incredibly strong leads who make this film far more fun than it ever deserved to be.

C