Strays (2023)

 

Streaming Service: Peacock

Movie Name/Year: Strays (2023) 

Genre: Adventure, Comedy 

Length:  1h 33min 

Rating: R 

Director: Josh Greenbaum 

Writer: Dan Perrault 

Actors: Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Will Forte, Brett Gelman, Rob Riggle, Josh Gad, Sofía Vergara, Jamie Demetriou, Greta Lee, Jimmy Tatro, Harvey Guillén, Jack De Sanz, Phil Morris, Charity Cervantes, Jade Fernandez, Mikayla Rousseau, Aven Lotz, Dan Perrault, Dennis Quaid, Keith Brooks, Hedy Nasser, Dexter Masland, AJ Bernard 

 

IMDb Blurb: An abandoned dog teams up with other strays to get revenge on his former owner. 

 

 

Cat’s Point of View: 

I have struggled to put my thoughts together in order to review Strays.

 

My daughter and I saw this in the theater with friends, and we had a collective consensus as we left post-credits. Never again. (Much to my husband’s dismay, we’ve told him he’s on his own if he wants to watch it, and we mean it.)

 

To be fair to Strays, the movie was funny – hilarious adjacent - and even touching occasionally. Unfortunately, there was an over-abundance of toilet humor… and that is in the most literal sense. I’ve seen other reviews give it the fancy term of ‘scatalogical humor’ but I’ll cut to the chase – poop jokes. The movie was full of dog poop.

 

 

Sure, it’s about dogs…and they poop. Every living being poops in some form or fashion. It doesn’t stop there, though; and explaining what had our stomachs churning would be giving spoilers so just take my word on it. If the thought of feces has you wanting to run to worship porcelain fast and in a hurry, then Strays may not be the film experience you’re looking for. The upside to that, I guess, is that now Strays is available on streaming, you can always pause it to run and ralph in the privacy of your own home. I did not enjoy holding down my popcorn in the very public theater. (I’m not squeamish, either. There are just some lines my internal fortitude has drawn.)

 

I’m never about tearing a movie down. There were some positives to Strays. This canine adventure was well executed and I was impressed that they clearly used real dogs for the majority of the scenes. The CGI to enable them to “talk” was also very well executed. The story was endearing, if a little sad, as the clueless, disillusioned, and yet still hopeless romantic pup takes his new friends on an adventure to wreak revenge on his former human. The concept, itself, was hilarious. There was even a dog-movie Easter egg worked in.

 

 

When we saw the trailer for the first time, my daughter and I were immediately on board wanting to watch. This is one of those instances that the trailer wasn’t exactly misleading, but it didn’t give us an accurate representation of what we were in store for.

 

I was also excited to see a film with Jamie Foxx (Day Shift, They Cloned Tyrone, The Burial). I’m always eager to see what Foxx has been working on whether it’s big or small screen productions – and especially while he’s been on medical hiatus from the latter.

 

 

Excellent cast and all its best efforts to provide a fun Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey (1993) – like adventure focused on revenge simply couldn’t overcome its own potty jokes to become a film I’d be willing to recommend to others or even ever watch again. This doesn’t make it a bad movie, so to speak, but it definitely goes into my personal One-and-Done category in which very few films reside.

 

There’s just one more thing to remember: even though Strays is about cute dogs on an adventure, this is not a movie for kids – at all. The R – Rating is absolutely appropriate for the content of this film… and not just because of the poop.

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 53%

 Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 69% 

Metascore – 54% 

Metacritic User Score – 5.2/10 

IMDB Score – 6.3/10 

 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating –  2.5/5 

 

Movie Trailer:

Strange World (2022)

Streaming Service: Disney+

Movie Name/Year: Strange World (2022)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Animation

Length: 1h 42min

Rating: PG

Production/Distribution: Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures, Disney+

Directors: Don Hall, Qui Nguyen

Writer: Qui Nguyen

Actors: Alan Tudyk, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union, Jaboukie Young-White, Jake Gyllenhaal, Lucy Liu

 

IMDb Blurb: The legendary Clades are a family of explorers whose differences threaten to topple their latest and most crucial mission.

 

Cat’s Point of View:

I would have to admit that Strange World was, indeed, a bit strange. At the same time, it was a lot of fun. 

Before I go further, I feel that I really should give Disney a round of applause for the inclusion of the Clade family’s tripod dog, Legend. That slightly dim, yet heartwarming three-legged ragamuffin was low-key the glue that kept everyone together. I have to tip my proverbial hat to productions that underscore the fact that just because some pets have challenges or look different, it doesn’t make them less deserving of a loving home. 

 

Seriously, though, a lot of my giggles throughout Strange World came from something silly that Legend did. 

So much of Strange World felt relatable. Even though this family found themselves in a fairly alien landscape, they still had their own issues to work through - and on a generational level, at that. In addition to that, the not-so-subtle undertones of encouraging environmental stewardship were cleverly presented. I thought the trading card game was a nice touch. 

 

While the visuals were a bit odd, they made so much more sense on a second watch-through. My family and I had watched Strange World as soon as it was available on Disney+, so I was glad to give myself a refresher today. I found myself having quite a few lightbulb moments. I also giggled a little when I realized Dennis Quaid (The Pretenders, American Underdog, Blue Miracle) was playing the patriarch of the Clade family. He has a bit of a meta-connection to the plot that likely unintentionally occurred. Unfortunately, it would be giving extreme spoilers to explain. 

Strange World presents itself as a fairly diverse and inclusive tale of family, adventure, and environmentalism but doesn’t lose sight of the fact that it is, after all, an animated movie. I do feel the need to mention that some of the creatures depicted in Strange World might be a bit alarming for very small children. Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind giving this movie a recommendation for a fun family activity.

 

 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 66%

Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score –72%

Metascore – 65%

Metacritic User Score – 3.2/10

IMDB Score – 5.6/10

 

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 4/5

 

Movie Trailer:

12 Pups of Christmas (2019) - 'Tis the Season

Streaming Services: Hulu
Movie Name/Year: 12 Pups of Christmas (2019)
Genre: Romance
Length: 85 minutes
Rating: NR
Production/Distribution: Feifer Worldwide, MarVista Entertainment
Director: Michael Feifer
Writer: Michael Feifer
Actors: Charlotte Sullivan, Donny Boaz, Elizabeth Small, Philip Boyd, Jen Nikolaisen, Jeremy Ray Valdez, Kat Marie, April Hobson, Caia Coley, Thomas Bell, Kiana Tavasti
 
Blurb from IMDb: Recently single and starting a new job in a different city, Erin, a canine therapist, is getting a fresh start. But just when she thought her new life would be the reset she needed, her self-centered boss, Martin, tasks Erin with finding homes for 12 puppies who were left behind after a photo shoot for his struggling GPS locator company - and all before Christmas. As they work together, Erin realizes Martin may not be so bad after all, and her take-charge attitude not only helps Martin save his company, but also reveals a calmer, better self that opens them both up to the idea of love.
 

Selina’s Point of View:
I firmly believe that this may be the worst movie we’ve seen in the history of our ‘Tis the Season series.
 
I’ll grant you that most Hallmark and Lifetime films can wind up being repetitive and boring. A lot of them can become guilty pleasures, though. The characters are usually relatable and they make you feel good. None of them re-invent the wheel, but that’s not what you expect from them anyway.
 
We’ve covered a lot of that type of film during our holiday season, and we know what to expect from them. The worst of them are usually still watchable, even if they’re not winning any awards.
 
That’s all I expected from 12 Pups of Christmas. It’s not like this was a case of seeming worse because it didn’t fit my expectations.
 
I have seen movies that are trying to be bad that have better acting, and a better script, than this one did.
 

It was difficult to watch. It was cringy, overdone, badly directed, and I’m pretty sure the writer learned how to craft a script from watching only the worst B-movies out there.

 

There were only two good things about 12 Pups of Christmas.
 
First of all, dogs. The dogs were adorable. I’m a dog person. That’s always a bonus. They were used less than you would expect, though. They took a backseat to the unbelievable human connections that the writer/director tried to force down our throats.
 
There was, however, the soundtrack.
 
Due to the fact that this wasn’t a big-budget production, they didn’t have access to the most popularly used, and mostly overdone, Christmas songs. That means they inserted much less used holiday songs that felt fresh. Unfortunately, the movie itself didn’t live up to any of it.
 
I cannot recommend 12 Pups of Christmas.
 

Cat’s Point of View:
Tis the season for Christmas movies again! It’s one of my very favorite holidays, and I usually go all-out with decorations and the like during this time of year. (Have I mentioned before I have two entire closets full of Christmas décor, and then some?)
 
I say usually because, well… it’s 2020 and it hasn’t FELT like December. My husband and I were just discussing our holiday budget earlier today and it didn’t really hit home how close the date is approaching until right then. So many plans have changed or been placed on hold due to various challenges this past year has brought – both COVID related and not.
 
Since everything’s been crazy, I’ve found it harder to get in the mood. I’m hoping that our usual round of holiday movies this month will be able to help turn that around.
 
That being said, let’s get into 12 Pups of Christmas, shall we?
 
I’m conflicted about this movie, and I’m not sure if it’s my general mood that’s made me Grinchy or if it’s the film, itself, that’s causing the issue.
 

It was hard to get into. Things felt so strained and awkward. Part of it felt like the acting, but then the situation was a bit on the wonky side, too. I was holding out hope that everything would smooth out. One has to expect a few bumps in the road in a made-for-TV holiday rom-com, right? Unfortunately, things didn’t start picking up for me until closer to the end.
 
Don’t get me wrong – I don’t want to throw rotten tomatoes at anyone over this movie… but I can tell you I wouldn’t go out of my way to watch it again.
 
I do always try to find some positive in everything we watch, however. In the case of 12 Pups of Christmas, I’d have to say that it’s absolutely the set department and cinematography that wins the kudos from me. Some of the shots of New York City lit up for the holidays, and the obligatory skyline scenes were breathtaking. All of the staged set pieces that had Christmas decorations were straight out of my wildest decorating hopes and dreams. I loved it – and it was over the top in a very tasteful way. Nothing felt tacky or too contrived. The puppies were also pretty adorable.
 
All told, this wasn’t a bad start to get our feet wet while jumping into the festive season – it just wasn’t the best. So many of the movies we’ve watched in the past have set the bar rather high so this one fell a bit short.
 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – None
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – None
Metascore – None
Metacritic User Score – None
IMDB Score – 4.3/10
 
Trust the Dice: Selina’s Rating – 1.5/5
Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 1.5/5
 
Trust the Dice Parental Advisory Rating: PG
 
Movie Trailer:

Beyond the Myth (2011)

Number Rolled: 50

Movie Name/Year: Beyond the Myth (2011)

Genre: Documentary

Length: 94 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Libby Sherrill

Writer: Libby Sherrill

Actors: N/A

As a movie, this documentary was spectacular. It was a powerful look at breed bias against Pit Bulls. The movie took a significant stance on one side of the argument, and showed the audience why that side was superior to the alternate. To back up their argument they used a significant amount of verified facts and first person interviews.

It was spectacular.

As for the topic, I have something to say.

In this documentary, people who were interviewed told their tales about what it was like for their dog to be confiscated after the passing of breed-banning laws. I don’t like to leave my dog, Honeybear, at the groomers for an hour, let alone a shelter for days or weeks, only to be euthanized at the end of her stay. If someone tried to take her from me, there would be hell to pay. No one’s coming for her though. She’s a Pomeranian/Sheltie mix. Those are not the breeds people are after.

I remember the day I met Honeybear. I’d lost my first dog a little while before, to health issues, and was miserable. I missed having my fuzz therapy roaming around the house. I found that I sink into a deep depression without having a dog by my side. A friend of mine who worked at a shelter knew this. He called me up and said, “We have this dog here that no one wants. She’s been here for months, she’s easily aggressive and she plays rough. We’re not going to be able to adopt her out. Why don’t you come by and take a look.”

I stayed up the whole night and went to the shelter first thing in the morning, before it even opened. When my friend finally got there, he paraded out this medium-sized dog that had most of its weight in hair. All of that hair was matted around her so that she almost looked like a smaller, darker, English sheepdog. She was skittish and when I went to pet her, she bit me. I knew pretty quickly that he was right. No one was going to adopt that dog. So I did.

She was terrified of scissors, so I spent the next three days taking eight hour shifts with a nail clipper, slowly, carefully, cutting off all those uncomfortable mats. I taught her how to trust and feel safe and, low-and-behold, she doesn’t bite anymore.

What does this have to do with Pit Bulls?

First, she was an “unadoptable” dog. A biter. It turned out all she needed was a dedicated and loving caretaker who could teach her that she didn’t need to bite.

Second, she’s not a Pit Bull but, look at that, she was a biter. All dogs can be mistreated in to biting.

Dogs are like children. There are all kinds of different breeds. Just like we come in all different flavors (Caucasian, African American, Mandarin, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.) so do dogs (Pit Bulls, Shelties, Rottweilers, German Shephards, Pugs, English Bulldogs, etc.). Saying that one specific breed is “bad” is like saying one specific human race is.

I was once punched in the face by a Chinese man. Should I now hate all Chinese men? Will they all punch me in the face? My first dog was attacked by a Rottweiler. Are all Rottweiler’s bad now? Will they all attack? No, of course not. Those ideas, the ones that say all are something because one is, are stereotypical and racist.

A domesticated dog is only as good as it has been trained to be. I’ve met roughly twenty Pit Bulls in my life. Do you know how many I’ve been bit by? None. I’ve been nearly licked to death or killed by bad breath, but I’ve never been bitten by a Pit Bull. In fact, of all my friends that have owned Pit Bulls or been close to those that do? None of them have been bitten either. I’m not saying that there are no Pit Bulls that bite. That’s about as stupid a thought as saying all of them do. I’m saying that no race can be judged in that general of a manner. Every person, every dog, every living being, needs to be judged on themselves. Nothing else.

I’ve always maintained this belief. What this movie did was remind me that there is a war going on. People are making heavy sacrifices of creatures they love, creatures that are part of their family, in order to try and get the law to understand basic rights. A war vet with a Pit Bull service dog, should not be forced to give up that dog. A good family with a well trained Pit Bull, should not have that dog torn from their home and put to death.

Think about it; creatures being taken from their home, completely on the basis of their race, and killed. Does it sound familiar? I’ve got to tell you, I’m Jewish and that sounds REALLY familiar. That sounds like something we can and have all agreed is wrong. So, why is it happening?

Fear is a very powerful motivator and Pit Bulls are strong-looking dogs. They’re easy to be afraid of if you have a closed mind and a small heart. They’re easy to be afraid of if you’re not willing to look past their appearance and their race.

Not all Hispanics steal. Not all Jewish people are cheap. Not all Caucasian people are racists. Not all Pit Bulls are vicious.

There is a war out there. One where innocent people – families of the innocent dogs affected – are suffering. The only person who can decide where you stand, is you. And while you’re thinking about it, I hope you’ll remember the words of Martin Niemoller:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out--

Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out--

Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--

Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me--and there was no one left to speak for me.

Who will be left when someone takes the creature you love?

Overall Opinion – 5/5

Alpha and Omega (2010)

Number Rolled: 1

Movie Name/Year: Alpha and Omega (2010)

Genre: Children and Family Movie

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: PG

Director: Anthony Bell, Ben Gluck

Writer: Chris Denk, Ben Gluck, Steve Moore

Actors: Justin Long, Hayden Panettiere, Dennis Hopper, Danny Glover, Larry Miller, Eric Price, Vicki Lewis, Christina Ricci, Chris Carmack, Brian Donovan, Kevin Sussman, Maya Kay, Christine Lakin

This animated children’s movie is about an Omega wolf named Humphrey and his long developed crush on an Alpha wolf named Kate. It’s a basic Romeo and Juliet recipe made PG by the target audience being children.

Humphrey sees no reason why he can’t be with Kate and continues to put himself in her line of sight. After a moment where he has particularly invaded her life a bit too far, they are sleep-darted by a random human and brought to another park where they are supposed to “repopulate.” Of course, even if that weren’t the issue, the fact that they were taken on the very night Kate learns of her fate to be in an arranged marriage with another Alpha, to unite the packs, heightens the importance of getting back. If she doesn’t return, the packs will go to war.

This film got trashed. I’ll tell you why. Number one, the animation wasn’t exactly perfect. The wolves looked a little odd, as did the background. That’s an issue I find to be valid. However, it was also trashed because it was a children’s movie being judged by adults and because it’s a recipe film. I’ve made this argument before, but I’ll say it again. Not all recipe movies are instantly bad. I use a recipe to make cheesecake and it still comes out good. However, there are thousands of recipes – different recipes – to make cheesecake. I’ll never outright say a movie sucked just because it was a recipe. I don’t think anyone should.

The components in this particular recipe movie weren’t bad. The wolven mother of Kate, I’ve decided, was placed in this movie specifically to make the parents of the children laugh. I know a few people that she reminded me of in real life, and they’re all very close friends.

Story-wise, Alpha and Omega had a slow start but it picked up. I had a big problem getting into the movie in the beginning. Especially after they did a time jump without any real notice about what they were doing. It was made more difficult to notice because the art, the animation, of the wolves didn’t change. So you had to rely on the script specifically to know that you were going from watching wolf-children to watching wolf-young-adults. It irked me a little bit.

My final issue isn’t really an issue, it’s more of a warning. Parents who watch this movie with their children should be prepared to answer the question, “Where do babies come from?” There’s nothing sexually graphic, but there are several references to mating and the creating “little wolves.” Also, there are some graphically mentioned ideas of violence which, even coming from an animated and slightly off wolf, made me stare at the screen in awe. Do with this information what you will.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Number Rolled: 59

Movie Name/Year: All Dogs Go to Heaven (1989)

Genre: Children & Family

Length: 84 minutes

Rating: G

Director: Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, Dan Kuenster

Writer: Don Bluth, Ken Cromar, Gary Goldman, Larry Leker, Linda Miller, Monica Parker, John Pomeroy, Guy Shulman, David J. Steinberg, David N. Weiss

Actors: Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise, Judith Barsi, Melba Moore, Daryl Gilley, Candy Devine, Charles Nelson Reilly, Vic Tayback, Rob Fuller, Earleen Carey

Charlie, a German Shepherd, is framed and sent to be euthanized in the pound. His friend, Itchy, a Dachshund, frees him and they attempt to get Charlie back to work. Early on in trying to get back into the swing of things Charlie’s ex-partner, Carface (a bulldog), kills him and Charlie ascends to heaven. Bored as all hell in the place where all dogs go, Charlie obtains the watch that represents his life, winds it, and finds himself back alive on Earth. He goes on an adventure with Itchy to kidnap a human girl that had already been kidnapped by Carface for her ability to talk to animals in order to fix horse/mouse/frog races.

This is one of those cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid, that looking back, isn’t really for kids that age. I was six years old when this movie came out, possibly five considering my birthday is at the end of the year; keeping that in mind, think about the characters and histories. Charlie is a gambling con-man, or con-dog as the case may be, and his ex-partner is quite obviously a spoof on Scarface. Several deaths and violent interactions occur, insinuations of a sex life for Charlie, etc.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think my mother should have kept me away from it. I don’t care. However, I do know that, if this movie came out now, some parent or uptight person would have made a huge stink over its rating.

Although I like musicals, I found the music in this movie to be undeveloped and forced. Personally, I think the movie would have benefited from less or no music. The themes and storylines of the characters were geared more toward young to mid-teens, where as the music seemed to be more geared toward the six to ten years olds that voluntarily opt to see rated G movies. I preferred the movie as a child, before I really understood all the ins and outs of the storyline, but I still enjoyed it now.

Regardless of how I feel about this movie at this point of my life, I will always remember it fondly from the past. I will also perpetually hug my dog for hours after the movie has ended.  

Overall Opinion – 3.5/5