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Reviews
The Last Pig (2017)
A Great Little Documentary
A surprisingly tender and thought provoking film. The main subject of the documentary (besides the pigs) Bob Comis is incredibly well spoken. His words make you really understand the moral conundrum that he finds himself in throughout the movie. Comis' humanity and the compassion he feels for the pigs he works with come across extremely well throughout the film. The setting of the film is almost as awe-inspiring as Comis himself and the filmmakers do an incredible job of capturing that. Speaking of cinematography, the movie is full of shots that get you right up close and personal with the pigs and help you really see some of the intelligence behind their eyes. Another great aspect of The Last Pig is how it deals with such a divisive subject without really taking a side or being preachy. It seems that The Last Pig's purpose is not to advance any specific agenda, but simply to tell a compelling story about one man's life-changing decision to stop farming pigs.
The Sounding (2017)
Doesn't Fulfill Lofty Goals
The Sounding starts off strong with a very interesting concept that draws you into the film and gets you wondering what's going on. The movie has some wonderful touching moments in the first half while also serving to build up more intrigue. We also see some spectacularly beautiful shots of Monhegan Island in Maine. However, as the story progresses it falters. The second half of the movie seems built to get the two main characters in a room together for the movie's climatic revelation. To do this the movie sacrifices much of its believability (as believable as a woman who only speaks in snippets of Shakespeare can be). Which would perhaps be OK if that revelation was at all deserving of the buildup it had been given. The Sounding does a pretty good job of building up the audience's desire to know WHY, but its payoff leaves the audience unsatisfied and the ending seems like an afterthought meant only to create a "happy" resolution.
I respect the movie for what it attempted and it certainly has some good parts, but it ultimately falls short of the very high bar it sets for itself.