Several Obscure and/or Underrated Movies/TV Shows that I think deserve more attention.
Mystery Lane is an animated series by Hari Studios, originally French. It's about hamster siblings, Clever and Bro, living in a pet shop in London and solving larger-than-life mystery cases that Scotland Yard tends to overlook.
Clever, the Sherlockian lead, is shockingly smart, with a photographic memory and deduction skills of almost superhuman power. Clever could do with a few flaws, as other Sherlocks before her have had. Her personality and power is a bit too perfect, and that can get old, but it's not a dealbreaker by any means. If the show gets a season 2 I hope it will push her character and give her at least a bit of an arc.
Bro, her brother is the goofy, enthusiastic, and creative side that keeps things grounded. He's also genuinely competent as a gadgeteer and gymnast, thinking on his feet and facing danger bravely despite his size. It would have been easy for Bro to slip into the annoying and clumsy assistant trope, but refreshingly he's as valuable as a lead as his sister.
The two's relationship is the core of the series, which runs a bit long in the tooth at 26 episodes, retreading a bit, but it's a genuine delight from start to finish. But it's the overarching aspects and the sense of a grand conspiracy cooking are what hook you, and the strong characters and charming writing that always feels on-the-level, respectful of the viewer, and never condescending make the show worth checking out- and getting obsessed with- like I did.
Pets on a Train/Falcon Express is a movie that came out this year to limited theaters, and was quickly swept under the rug, considered another filler title between the Pixars and Dreamworks tentpoles. I liked it more than most of Pixar's and Dreamworks's offering this year though. It's a great romp with some really intense action and peril that honestly gets a little too much at times. It features an ensemble cast of characters who all have a bit more depth than you'd expect.
The story goes: Falcon is a raccoon Robin Hood, feeding the street animals with a mix of cunning and acrobatics. On Christmas Eve, he teams up with a mysterious partner, Hans the badger, to try to pull a huge heist, and give the hungry strays a real Christmas feast. Little does he know that he's a pawn, and the fall guy, in Hans's scheme to hijack a high speed train for personal reasons. The action and the train don't stop as it's a race to the front to try to pull the brakes before an imminent crash kills everyone on board. And everyone on board happens to be- a bunch of pets, all the humans having been tricked into disembarking before the hijack.
As such, there's limited interest from the humans to actually stop the train, and a spectacle is brewing to see the big crash, while one little girl is trying her hardest to save her pet ocelot, Maggie.
It'd take a long time to go into each of the characters trapped on the train, but I will profess that they're all likable, and surprisingly well-rounded.
If you're a fan of animals and of action, Pets on a Train is one I really don't think you'll want to miss.
Gracie & Pedro: Pets To the Rescue is an odd one to try to pitch. They certainly tried to make it a thing last year- there was a decent attempt at advertising the movie as I recall. It didn't win anyone over though from what I gather, it's a low critical score for sure and I missed a chance to see it in theaters, which I regret now.
I very much enjoyed Gracie & Pedro, it isn't a masterwork, and the animation and character design isn't as glossy and perfect as something from the big name studios, but it has some great performances, some fabulous setpieces, and especially it has great characters to meet on this Homeward Bound Buddy Cop journey.
Stand-outs are Sherlock and Doyle, a detective pair, ferret and human (the ferret is the detective) played by Mike Nadajewski's and James Kee, and Bill Nighy's Conrad the condor who just ate the scenery in one gulp and stole the show.
The movie feels cozy to me, with enough cleverness to the script, a huge amount of talent in the voicework, and a charm to the characters that make it an enjoyable ride from start to finish.
