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Gone Doggy Gone is an ambitious, low-budget comedy with something for everyone. In spite of its juvenile-sounding name, however, it's not a family film. The dog-napped canine star of the film is adorable, and each of the main characters are distinctly engaging, especially Shaina Vorspan as a troubled dog sitter, Kasi Brown (who is also the film's co-director) as a doting pet owner and Kate Connor as Brown's wacky, pot-smoking best friend. Jeff Sloniker as a bumbling, slovenly private investigator hired to find the missing dog is also a standout. The film is actually like a zany road picture with everyone in hot pursuit getting nowhere fast. Though the film lags a bit in the middle, there's a freshness to it and enough laughs to make it worthwhile. For its budget, production values are also quite good.

Fort McCoy is one of those smaller films that pretty much slipped through the cracks of audience exposure but was deserving of more attention. Stars Eric Stoltz and Kate Connor give very decent performances along with the entire cast. And because the film is based on a true story related to Connor, its significance is amplified. It's probably a safe bet that few people know much about WWII POW camps that operated in the U.S., and that in itself is enlightening. It's also beautifully filmed and well produced for its relatively modest budget. Even the score is well done. Connor proves to be a very competent actress we should hope to see more of. It's also nice to see Cameron Manheim in a modest role.

Actor Eddie Redmayne portrays renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking in this biopic showing his transition from physically normal to a state of devastating debilitation. Redmayne's performance is nothing less than Oscar-worthy, and he is well supported by the entire cast, especially Felicity Jones as his dedicated, but ultimately troubled wife. Some may feel the film is too sentimental or cloying, even though sentimentality has its place in films and our lives; but the bottom line in The Theory of Everything is that it's so incredibly inspirational. And who would argue the point that all of us have odds to overcome (odds likely to be much less severe than Hawking faced), and to face those odds, we need inspiration.