Movie Review - The Secret Life of Pets

Looking for a break from finals week? Check out The Secret Life of Pets for a cute break from all that studying.  Especially if you are an animal lover this movie is and entertaining little piece with an interesting take on what pets do when we aren't around.

The movie centers around a small dog, Max, and how his life changes when his owner adopts a new dog, Duke.  Sibling rivalry is not just a issue for humans! Max is upset and jealous which causes some tension between the dogs which causes them to get lost in the city and get caught up with a gang of animals.  The movie follows their tumultuous journey through the city and getting to know one another.

I would rate this movie as a 9/10.  The character development for the movie is terrific, all of the dogs fit the breed of dog that they are.  The animation and take on animals when humans aren't around was super cute and creative,

The Secret Life of Pets  1 hr 27 mins

Movie Review - Koi... Mil Gaya

I just reviewed a movie yesterday and the post started with "Let me start by saying this movie is not what you think it is." I think I could say the same thing for Koi... Mil Gaya, but then again, I watched this movie with no clue of what to expect.

So let me start (again) by saying this movie is SOMETHING ELSE. I watched it with some friends because Netflix insisted it was a movie I needed to watch. It showed up in several lists, including the "Top Picks for Cody" list. This is surprising for me because I've never watched a Bollywood movie before, but there's a first for everything!

Because I've never seen this genre of movie, I have a hard time giving a fair review of Koi... Mil Gaya, but I will say that throughout this movie, my friends and I were thoroughly entertained, though perhaps sometimes it was for the wrong reasons. As a friend puts it, this film was filled with singing, dancing, and Scooby-Doo themed clothes." Though I doubt the Scooby-Doo clothes were intentional.

I will say this: Koi... Mil Gaya gave me a look into another culture's film with one of the most unique movie plot's that I have ever seen. If you have the time and can tolerate watching a movie in another language, give this one a shot! At the very least, you'll be entertained, and who knows, maybe you'll love it!

Koi...Mil Gaya (2003) 2 hrs 44 mins

Movie Review - Casting JonBenet

Let me start by saying this movie is not what you think it is. While this is technically a documentary about the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, this is not your typical documentary by any means. In fact, unlike many other documentaries, Casting JonBenet does not linearly tell us the story of a tragic murder, nor does it try to offer conclusions.

Like many others, I've been fascinated by the JonBenet Ramsey murder for a long time. While the crime happened in 1996, long before I ever could have remembered it, once I discovered it, I've never really been able to let it go. So I've been patiently awaiting this Netflix documentary for quite a long time. I always had my own thoughts on who committed the murder, what's happened to allow this to go unsolved to this day, and I was hoping that Casting JonBenet would offer some answers, or at least some confirmation one way or another to my theories.

It didn't give me that. Instead, Casting JonBenet gives possibly the most unique perspective on the murder that I have ever seen. It gave us a look at the lives of many actors from Colorado who have somehow been personally affected by the murder or who relate to it somehow while they auditioned for the role and acted out the many different possible schemes of the tragic night. To some extent, this definitely took some of the focus off of the victim, however, it also gave such a different view to the entire case. This allows viewers to see how a high profile murder such as this one can be relatable to so many people and how it can affect people you would never expect in a community. At times, it also forces you to think about what goes on behind closed doors when you are not looking, and reminds viewers that in reality, everything is not always as it seems.

While Casting JonBenet was not AT ALL what I was expecting, I was still captured by the creativity of it all, the stories and theories posited by the actors were raw and relatable, and the film keeps me interested in and guessing on the JonBenet murder until something else comes along. It may not give answers, but this film was absolutely entertaining.

Casting JonBenet (2017) 1 hr 20 mins