“Barbie” REVIEW
Sesame Street: A Revolutionary Fifty Years Strong
LA County Salutes Recreation
The festival also contained various musical performances including an all girl sister act from Palmdale, Sledge Grits.
And in the Hawaiian village various themed acts attracted crowds over the weekend.
Show Dogs Review
“So what you’re a cop?” –Daisy
“I am undercover as a show dog.” –Max
Max, the Rottweiler must learn what it means to truly be a show dog if he is to discover what happened to the baby panda, Ling Ling, even if it means learning to trust the bozo FBI agent who is helping him.
In a somewhat twist of Mission Impossible meets Hotel for Dogs, Show Dogs has something for everyone. Kids will enjoy the talking dogs who essentially poke fun at the humans that they are with, while there is a deeper message for the adults. The message centers around what it truly takes to be a show dog as well as the trust that comes with it. It’s something that everyone has to deal with and at an hour and a half, the movie does somewhat succeed.
Show Dogs stars a long list of celebrities as the voices of the dogs as well as the companions and the interesting thing, though the dogs are talking, is not whether the characters can understand them word for word. Let’s get to our main character Max, voiced by Ludacris along with his FBI partner, Frank (Will Arnett). This relationship is interesting because when we first see Max, he is all alone, tracking down the culprits who kidnapped the baby panda. At the same time, he encounters Frank, in a somewhat hilarious manner, chasing him down when he thinks he is in on the whole case. Right away, there is an uneasy feeling between the two of them that gets even more interesting in the NYPD police station when the chief pairs them together to go undercover at a dog show.
Funny from the start, the pairing of Ludacris with Arnett is ideal as the two, though Arnett is dealing with a voice-overed dog, it meshes well in the finished package and credit thus also goes to the dog handler offset as they were able to perfectly match the dog’s movements with that of the voiceover. I’m always a fan of voiceovers done the right way with live action animals as I know animals’ mannerisms are not easy to control.
Subsequently, the film also stars voices including Alan Cumming as Dante, Stanley Tucci as Phillipi, Shaquille O’Neal as Karma and Jordan Sparks as Daisy. All of these voices ring out of the dogs they are portraying. The director, Raja Gosnell, did a great job working with the stars to match each breeds’ temperament. For example, O’Neal’s peace and love rings out of Karma as being a big dog with a soft heart, and Tucci’s spunky temperament as a Papillion did justice as well.
As a whole, the film flowed quite nicely as it opened with a kind of spyish quality, mirroring that of Mission Impossible or a 007 parody. The camera angles paid off as they perfectly captured both animal and humans, blurring reality and CGI. The wise cracking pigeons were one element that did leave me short, as the editors could’ve very easily used CGI on real pigeons for an extra level of authenticity.
Shot on location in Las Vegas, it was refreshing to see various elements of the Las Vegas strip superimposed with dog like qualities, such as the runway for the dog show smack dab in the middle of Caesar’s palace. Though Show Dogs may not be for everyone, especially if one doesn’t like dogs, it is a quite enjoyable ride. It’s refreshing to see the difference in dialogue between the dogs as opposed to their human counterparts and yet in the end, the dialogue mirror each other as the heart of the situation is to rescue the baby panda. The writers did an adequate job of developing the storyline and appealing to all ages as a whole.
At an hour and thirty minute run time, Show Dogs will take you on an adventure with Max and Frank, as the matter of trust is put to the ultimate test. Recommended for kids and dog lovers at heart, it is truly an enjoyable film for all who wish to let the dogs take control.
Show Dogs came out in theaters May 18 and is currently playing near you.
20 Years of Farm Fun in Ventura County
Running now through October 31, 2017, the Underwood Family Farms offers a little something for everyone to spice up their harvest season with the 20th Annual Harvest Festival located on their farm in Moorpark California. For only 20 dollars on weekends, visitors can come explore the land by way of a tractor ride that takes one to the self-serve fruit and vegetable picking where anyone can pick their own produce to take home at the end of the day.
There is also tons of children’s activities including a bean box, Pumpkin ring toss, petting zoo and pony rides for the smallest visitors to enjoy.
In addition, there are two shows that on can enjoy including the ever popular pig races and a unique animal show introducing ones to the animals that live on the farm including Billy the Alpaca and Zazu the Rooster.
There is also live entertainment weekends by local musicians playing a series of bluegrass and country selections.
The festival is open daily from 10 to 6 and is only six dollars on weekdays.
“Children” Reach 55 Million
After it’s second weekend at the box office, Tim Burton’s Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is still bringing a fair amount to theaters worldwide as the fantasy film has topped the box office with over 55 million for its second weekend though it has dropped to second for its second weekend.
The fantasy adventure based on the book by Ransom Riggs, stars Asa Butterfield as Jake, a young boy who discovers a magical world from the stories of his beloved grandfather (Terence Stamp) and releases for the first time that he isn’t just “ordinary” as he embraces is “peculiar” trait in order to save Miss Peregrine (Eva Green) and her mysterious school from the Hollows including Barron (Samuel L. Jackson) who only seeks one thing to become fully human again by using the children’s gifts.
At 2 hours and 7 minutes Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is truly a unique tale about using one’s gifts to save everyone and discover where home really is. It’s a film that full of adventure, mystery and even a little foretold romance in the most innocent way imaginable.
It’s a film that is definitely worth seeing in a theater near you.
“Dory” On Top
In the latest adventure of Marlin, Nemo and Dory, audiences receive a glance into Dory’s childhood in Disney Pixar’s Finding Dory. Voiced again by comedian/talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, the forgetful blue fish, Dory suddenly remembers her parents and comes to the realization that she misses them as she goes on an all new adventure to rediscover where she came from.
But she’s not alone. Marlin the clown fish, voiced by Albert Brooks along with his son, Nemo (Hayden Rolence) team up to help her remember her task as they travel to California to find her family. Along the way they encounter possessive sea otters as well as a scheming Octopus (Ed O’Neill) whose only mission is to be transferred to an aquarium where he’ll be safe from the ocean, the movie will have audiences of all ages laughing and routing for the little blue tang fish to finally find her mom and dad.
With a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, Finding Dory is a heart warming sequel about what it truly means to be a family especially when one can’t always remember. The film definitely has Disney on top bringing in over 136-million and making it the 11th Disney movie to claim the number one spot at the box office.
In addition, the added short, Piper, about a little seagull learning to feed for itself on the tough sandy beaches had kids and adults fully engaged in the little bird’s struggle and proves once again, pictures are just as important as verbal words to get the point across on the big screen.
Finding Dory opened in theaters Father’s Day Weekend June 17 and is currently playing in one near you. See it, it’s just as good as the original Finding Nemo, which came out in Summer of 2003.
RETC- An After School Version Similar To JROTC
Starting in 2005, the Reserve Enlisted Training Corp (RETC) allows children from ages 10 to 18 to learn the army regiments without fear of peer pressure in school. The after school program enforces skills such as marching and drills in a fun environment. Lt. Col. Jack Thomas works with these young children and says he’s amazed at how interested the children are when they come into the program, especially the young girls. In the following video Lt. Col. Thomas and the children explain the best part of the RETC program and what they are preparing to do in the future.