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Friday, July 8, 2016
Movie Reviews: Secret Life of Pets, Wiener-Dog, Mike and Dave, Music of Strangers
Posted By Scott Renshaw on July 8, 2016, 8:01 AM
One raunchy comedy, one earnest documentary and two very different dog stories hit Utah theaters this weekend.
The animated comedy The Secret Lives of Pets (pictured) loses its solid jokes and lively pacing in a story that's thoroughly ripped off from the Toy Story movies. The pitch-black sensibility of Todd Solondz adds just enough sweetness to the bleak vignettes of Wiener-Dog. Director Morgan Neville—like his subject, Yo-Yo Ma—attempts to blend many different voices into harmony in The Music of Strangers, and mostly succeeds in a story of cultures both shared and preserved.
In this week's feature review, Hollywood's predictable need to push the envelope in every R-rated comedy infects the terrific concept (and sporadic hilarity) of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.
The animated comedy The Secret Lives of Pets (pictured) loses its solid jokes and lively pacing in a story that's thoroughly ripped off from the Toy Story movies. The pitch-black sensibility of Todd Solondz adds just enough sweetness to the bleak vignettes of Wiener-Dog. Director Morgan Neville—like his subject, Yo-Yo Ma—attempts to blend many different voices into harmony in The Music of Strangers, and mostly succeeds in a story of cultures both shared and preserved.
In this week's feature review, Hollywood's predictable need to push the envelope in every R-rated comedy infects the terrific concept (and sporadic hilarity) of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.
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