The Secret Life of Pets

First Hit:  Made me think about what our dog might be doing while I was watching this film.  

Pi in hat

There are moments in this film where the animators and voice artists get dogs and cats perfectly right:  Watch the dogs circle to lie down. Other times they were represented as we might want them to be or the way we think they are.

The voice acting in this film is very strong; among them are:  Jenny Slate as Gidget. Louis C.K. as Max. Lake Bell as Chloe. Albert Brooks as Tiberius and the fully engaging Kevin Hart as Snowball the bunny.

Pi Smile Carpet edit

The overall story is that Max and Duke get lost and their friends come to help them find their way home. The animation was very strong and did an excellent job of catching their behaviors. Listening to the children in the theater react to this animated film was the signal telling me the writers and directors were spot on. They captured the young demographic perfectly.

The film did feel a little long and I would have cut the entire sequence in the sausage factory, thought it was unnecessary and didn't move the real story along.

Slate, C. K., Bell, Brooks and Hart’s voices were fully engaging and wonderful. Cino Paul and Ken Daurio wrote a very strong and fun screenplay. Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud did a great job of directing this animated feature and getting the most out of the voice actors.

Overall:  This film was fun and I left the theater happy.

Despicable Me - 3D

First Hit: A surprisingly good film with a thoughtful story.

3D films are here to stay. Although this one used the “in your face” dramatization of 3-D more than some of the others of recent time, it wasn’t over kill.

I was reluctant to see this film because of the previews; meaning why would I want to see an animation film about someone of despicable character? However I did see this film and felt the whole story was told in a wonderful, funny, and kind hearted way.

The basic story is this: Gru, (Who came up with that name?) wants to "out steal" his archrival Vector who has recently stolen the Pyramids of Giza. Gru’s plot is to steal Vector’s shrinking machine, then shrink and steal the moon. But to get into Vector’s house he befriends three orphans selling cookies to help him out. The orphans grow on him and teach him about love.

Not much of a plot, but the way it is pieced together with caring dialogue, funny lines and scenes, and great animation made this film work really well.

Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud did a great job of directing this and also selecting the actors for the character’s voices. Ken Daurio did an excellent screen play of Sergio Pablos’ story.

Overall: A wonderfully executed film with an endearing story which had the child in me and the children in the theater totally involved.