Movie Review: The Secret Life of Pets, or It's a Pity Kids Don't Know Who Louis C.K. Is

Screenrant

This probably looked good in 3D.

Like most computer-animated films being released nowadays, The Secret Life of Pets is also released with a preceding animated short film. Unlike other computer-animated films, however, this film's short sucks. The plot is about the Minions (those cute/annoying yellow turds from Despicable Me) trying to purchase a blender, then hilarity ensues. For adults, that hilarity is ho-hum. But the kids will probably have a good laugh over it.

The premise of The Secret Life of Pets is basically like Toy Story for animals. It's pretty straightforward in the title: when the owners are away, pets have a secret life, like this classic poodle that plays death metal music while banging its head. The timeline for this movie occurs in one of those periods between the owner's departure and arrival. So that's maybe twelve hours? I wonder how long that is in dog time.

Slash Film

Duke is so cute. Like a walking chocolate carpet.

This film isn't bad. It's just not Pixar-level good. For adults, it doesn't have that "Aww" factor we associate with animated films that tug at the heartstrings, except maybe for those who are hardcore pet lovers. I wouldn't know, because I'm not hardcore, but there might be a pet reference or two in this film that could be considered as nuggets of wisdom. Again, I wouldn't know, as I mostly just sat back and laughed at the jokes.

Seeing that this film is mainly for children, the casting of voice actors was most likely the studio's attempt to appeal to the grown-up crowd. There's Louis C.K. as Max, Eric Stonestreet as Duke, Kevin Hart as Snowball the bunny, Albert Brooks as Tiberius, Dana Carvey as Pops, among other stars–these are just some of the biggest names in comedy right now, in case you didn't notice (except for Carvey, who was big in the '90s and is making more of a comeback here). These comics are supposed to draw the parents into sharing a two-hour family-friendly movie with their children, although the little kids couldn't really care less about who voices the characters they're seeing onscreen.

That said, The Secret Life of Pets succeeds as a traditional animated film, and I mean traditional in the "cartoons are for children" sense. Adults may not share the same sentiment, especially those who've been exposed to a lot of Pixar and Studio Ghibli.

comingsoon.net

You just gotta love the texture on that dog's nose.

The Secret Life of Pets. USA. 2016.



Original rating: 6/10
Dana Carvey: +0.1
Taylor Swift's "Welcome to New York" as the opening song: +0.1
Final rating: 6.2/10

Review: Finding Dory, o Iba Pang mga Pwedeng Title ng Pelikulang Ito

Variety

"Ako naman bida ngayon, ha."

Noong nakaraang taon, dalawang pelikula ang nilabas ng Pixar (Inside Out at The Good Dinosaur). Next year, dalawa rin ang ilalabas nila. Ngayong 2016, isa lang ang pelikula nila, at ito ang Finding Dory.

Ang Finding Dory ay sequel ng pelikulang Finding Nemo na nilabas ng Pixar noong 2003. Actually, maaring title sana ng pelikulang 'to ay Finding Nemo 2, dahil obviously, part 2 ito ng Finding Nemo. At saka sa pelikulang ito, hindi lang naman si Dory (Ellen DeGeneres) ang nawawala; narito muli ang cute na si Nemo at ang kanyang worrywart na tatay na si Marlin (Albert Brooks). Sa simula, magkakasama silang tatlo. Tapos maya-maya, nahiwalay sa mag-ama si Dory, so nagsimula silang hanapin siya. Pero 'di nila alam, hinahanap din pala sila ni Dory. So basically, naghahanapan silang lahat.

Maari ring pamagat ng pelikulang ito ay Finding Dory's Parents, kasi ang dahilan naman kung bakit sila nagkahiwa-hiwalay ay dahil hinahanap ni Dory ang kanyang magulang, at hindi sila nagkasundo sa method ng paghahanap. Teka, baka iniisip niyo siguro, bakit naaalala ni Dory ang kanyang magulang? Akala ko ba may short-term memory loss siya? Well, si Dory na kasi ang bida rito. Hindi na siya background character lang. At dahil bida na siya, mas fleshed out ang kanyang kuwento. At siyempre, ang magulang natin ay bahagi ng ating childhood memories, na malamang ay nag-seep in na sa kanyang long-term memory bank. And of course, kailangan ng protagonist ng isang magandang conflict, at ang character na wala nang ibang naalala sa buhay niya ay walang conflict na maibibigay na hindi boring panoorin nang dalawang oras.

YouTube

"Tilapia ba ako?"

Tulad ng unang pelikula, ang Finding Dory ay mayroon ding paglalakbay, at sa tulong ng cool surfer na pagong, napunta sila sa California sa Marine Life Institute, kung saan ang boses sa PA system ay si Sigourney Weaver (as herself). On the way, may mga na-meet silang mga bagong kaibigan, tulad ng mga petiks na sea lions na sina Fluke at Rudder (Idris Elba at Dominic West, a.k.a. Stringer Bell at Jimmy McNulty ng The Wire), ang baliw na ibon na si Becky, ang near-sighted na whale shark na si Destiny (Kaitlin Olson) na pipe-pal pala dati ni Dory noong bata (ang pipe-pal ay parang phone pal para sa mga fish in captivity), ang beluga whale na si Bailey (Ty Burrell), at ang adorable octopus (septopus?) na si Hank (Ed O'Neill), na hindi ko alam kung saan natuto mag-drive ng truck.

Slash Film

"Alis! Hindi ka naman lumabas sa The Wire!"

May dahilan kung bakit ang pamagat nito ay Finding Dory at hindi ang mga pamagat na binanggit ko kanina. Hindi lang ito tumutukoy sa physical search sa nawawalang Dory. Tumutukoy din ito sa paghahanap ni Dory sa kanyang sarili. Sa paghahanap ni Dory sa kanyang magulang, hinahanap din niya ang kanyang katauhan, ang kanyang pinanggalingan, at ang kanyang identity. In English, the movie is about Dory finding herself. At sa bandang huli, tagumpay naman ang kanyang paghahanap. Siya si Dory, anak nina Charlie at Jenny, best friend nina Nemo at Marlin, at isang isdang may short-term memory loss.



Finding Dory. USA. 2016.



Original rating: 7.5/10
Sonar powers ni Bailey: +0.1
Mas maraming man-made backdrops kaysa sa ocean vistas: -0.1
Camouflage powers ni Hank: +0.1
Final rating: 7.6/10

Drive

This movie is a bit heavy. And they killed Christina Hendricks with a shotgun to the head. No sex scene, and early death. Brilliant.

Anyone this pretty should have a sex scene.

You'd think that this movie is all about driving cars. You know, like Fast and Furious, or something like that. And it doesn't help that the font used in the opening credits looks like it was taken from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Even the color is like Vice City: pink.

Yes, Ryan Gosling plays a driver, who is so good at what he does (aren't they all?). And yes, there are some car chase sequences that are adrenaline-pumping without being too stylized. But the car scenes are just a small fraction of what the film is about. This is more of a gangster flick. And who better to play gangsters than Ron Perlman and Albert Brooks? Wait, that's Albert Brooks the comedian, right? As a gangster? Well, it was pretty effective, anyway.

"Do I look like a comedian to you?"

Congratulations, Carey Mulligan. You've made it to Hollywood. And that's because you can do a decent American accent.

I think I like her better as a brunette.

They said this was an Oscar-buzz flick. Although I'm not sure if it's for Best Picture, Best Actress for Carey Mulligan (unlikely), Best Actor for Ryan Gosling (possible), or Best Supporting Actor for Albert Brooks (most likely). Although I'm betting it's on Best Sound Design. Great use of sound, which added to the already-suspenseful plot. The soundtrack was a bit retro, but I'm pretty sure this wasn't set in the eighties.


Drive. USA. 2011.


Rating: Eight out of ten.



*some info from IMDb
pics from VLC