Dog’s Movie House: “The Sea Beast” & “Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank” Ambitious Animation With Mixed Results!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at some animated films that have hit the big and small screen in the last couple weeks. Animation has become more and more sophisticated over the years, with Disney/Pixar and Universal leading the way, often telling stories that are as emotionally complex and visually inventive as their live action counterparts. However, ambition only gets you so far as the execution has to be there to make it a compelling film. Last week we received a prime example of how the animation craft can create something truly marketable. “The Sea Beast” is a Netflix original that should have been on the big screen. It’s that good! This week we have a Nickelodeon film called “Paws Of Fury: The Legend Of Hank” a comedy-adventure involving a dog (Michael Cera) attempting to become a samurai in an ancient land filled with cats. It’s also an animated homage to “Blazing Saddles.” but more on that later. “Paws Of Fury” aims high to be a kiddie version of a Mel Brooks film, but uneven execution and multiple (unfunny) references to a classic film its target audience has no idea exists make this one a bit of a misfire.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “The Protege” A Hard Hitting Action Flick With A Couple Of Fun Variations!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog here with a look at a decent action flick that’s probably going to fly under the radar. I know it’s tough to go to the movies nowadays, but “The Protege” is a film that is really entertaining and has enough quirks and unusual details to elevate it over the standard revenge-thriller plot. The film also benefits from the star-level talents of its trio of leads in Maggie Q, Samuel L. Jackson, and the wonderful Michael Keaton.
Continue readingDog’s Movie House: “Glass” A Little More Than Half Full!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog with a look at M. Night Shyamalan’s “Glass”, the final film in a trilogy that began with “Unbreakable” way back in 2000.
Samuel L. Jackson Returns As Mr. Glass In The Thriller “Glass”
Shyamalan is a talented filmmaker who is a bit hit or miss with me. I enjoyed “Split,” the second film in the series but was a little cool on the pacing and sudden ending of “Unbreakable.” For me “Glass” falls somewhere in the middle.
Dog’s Movie House: “Kong” Is King!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog!
“Kong” is back and bigger than ever in “Kong: Skull Island!”
I must confess to having an ongoing love affair with giant monster movies. From “King Kong” to “Jurassic Park” to “Godzilla” and every film in-between, I just can’t get enough of gigantic creatures rampaging through cities or breaking out of their poorly constructed enclosures to terrorize an unsuspecting populace. That said, some are better than others and I’m happy to inform you that “Kong: Skull Island” is definitely one of the better ones, with its own unique take on the big ape that keeps the adventure squarely in the geography is Kong’s home turf. Continue reading
Dog’s Movie House: “The Hateful Eight” Very Good Tarantino!
Howdy Folks! It’s The Kendog!
Samuel L. Jackson In “The Hateful Eight”
I love Quentin Tarantino as a filmmaker, but I’m most enamored of him as a writer. The dialogue he writes for his films is profanity-laced poetry that rolls off the tongues of his actors like water over Niagra Falls. It’s the wonderful originality in his scripts that allows me to overlook the fact the most of his films are homages of the classic films he watched in his youth. Tarantino’s latest, “The Hateful Eight” is a nearly three-hour potboiler of a film that doesn’t really pick up from the action standpoint until about two-thirds of the way through, but the wonderfully written characters and terrific performances will keep you riveted the entire way through. Continue reading
