Dog Movies

‘Marley & Me’ is a great adaptation of the novel by Josh Grogan. It kept all the emotional elements as well as the fun. Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson had amazing chemistry together in this heartfelt film. It is more than just a dog movie, surpassing hit dog films such as ‘Beethoven,’ ’101 Dalmations,’ and ‘Homeward Bound.’ This film concentrates on the family and how a dog affected the lives of this family for both good and bad. It’s a good representation of a young couple and how they evolve as they have children and move on in life. Along with it, is shows the life cycle of a dog, which is something that rarely gets shown honestly in films. It shows the good, the bad, and the painfully tragic elements of having a dog. The end of the film is very true to the book and I’m glad because it is probably the most important part of the story and it’s nice to see it portrayed honestly for fans of the book.
Overall, I think viewers will enjoy this film. Jennifer Aniston is sweet as the supportive wife and Owen Wilson shows how he’s much more than playing screwball characters and can be tender and emotional as well.

This is a wonderful story about friendship, loyalty and knowing where you come from. It is for everyone of different ages. Chloe is a spoiled chihuahua who gets accidently lost in Mexico and goes on a adventure to try and get back home to Beverly Hills. Through this journey she realizes that all she knew about her life goes beyond. Then there is Papi the romantic chihuahua that loves her and that will do anything for her. At the end Chloe realizes what is really important in her life. And is not the spoiled dog she used to be….. It’s a story that teaches a lesson which makes it even more special.

This film is perfect for family memebers of all age. Being 47 myself, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. What is great about it is that it takes itself seriously. Being a real person version of the famous Underdog cartoon could have been a silly endeavor and been just another B movie but everyone involved is of the highest caliber and truly takes the task upon them seriously.

The dog playing Underdog is truly adorable and Jason Lee does an excellent job of being the voice of the infamous dog. He is very funny while being very endearing. The dog, through many mishaps I will leave for you to discover, enters the life of retire policeman James Belushi and his teenage son who are dealing with the loss of their wife/mother. James Beluxshi can sometimes be over the top but here he downplays and is very credible as the troubled excop.

The relationship that develops between the boy and the dog – Shoeshine/Underdog is the heart of the film. The pure fact that the producers managed to make a film about a superhero dog that is funny, endearing and has a lot of heart shows the heart that was put into making it.

Hoghly recommend this film for kids of all ages. NEVER FEAR – UNDOG IS HERE !!!

Critics will undoubtedly have a bone to pick with `Firehouse Dog’. I can hear all sorts of comments coming to roost: “Lame and predictable ‘Dog’ ,…What a dog!…too doggone routine,…you can’t teach these screenwriters new tricks…let this one roll over and play dead.” I have to admit that this movie is often dumb (and I usually don’t like dumb movies), but it often contains some decent family entertainment. The jokes are nearly all dumb, but at least they are effective nearly half of the time. While there are enough “spots” to tarnish this film, it has some solid components and redeeming qualities.

The premise isn’t unusual. Prima donna canine movie star Rexxx has an implausible accident during a stunt in a scene for a recent movie. Stray from the cast and crew, he hits the road and comes into the company of “Rescue 26/Engine 55,” a neighborhood fire station whose existence is teetering on the contingency of budget cuts of all things. Following him is his ambitious and greedy agent who all but gives up the diva dog for good. Above the fire station is an administrator who has a plan of his own for the firehouse.

While the plot sometimes makes one want to howl, the acting is laudably in prime shape. Josh Halverson (of ‘Bridge to Terabithia’ fame) ably plays Shane Fahey, a hapless son of the fire chief, who is scarred by the deaths of his mother and his uncle, whom his father replaced. Coming across a self-willed stray is hardly compensation for the pre-adolescent who only has a girl love interest and a concerned, but stern father to help him commiserate his inner wounds. Bruce Greenwood gives us a laudably earnest performance as his father, Connor, who must wear his badge warily with all the problems set before them.

Whether campy or serious, the flashback scenes are particularly well done, and the dangers presented have enough direness without being a hazard to young psyches. At its meatier times, they get tongue-in-cheek as they bolster the formula even with Rex’s portfolio. Having starred in ‘The Fast and the Furriest’ and ‘Jurassic Bark,’ Rex’s fate lies whether he chooses the primrose path and the red carpet treatment or keeping it real where he’s needed at the fire station. There’s also a mock funeral scene that pokes fun of everyone involved. ‘Firehouse Dog’ is just ridiculous and real enough to work to keep the family satisfied, even if too many of the jokes remind one of the slick slapstick scenes when fire fighters slide down the firehouse pole.

Allen is a great performer and is fun to watch, the theme was a funny enough of a set up and there were enough situations to make good jokes and funny scenes.

That said, this movie could have lost about a half an hour.

I do recommend it as a decent family movie, my almost five year old got a kick out of it, but she did get a bit bored near the end too, it was just a little too long.

The bad guys and the evil done in the film was a bit over the top, although I did enjoy the cgi animals that were created to show the horrible results of animal “testing”. I felt there was too much propaganda, however I could live with it seeing as it was just a kids flick and being overly dramatic is sometimes part of the gig.

All in all it’s a good enough movie to take the kids out to the movies (probably best for the preteen set) and will definately be a decent rental.

Although the doggie picture Eight Below gets off to a bit of a slow start, the film is still a lovely evocation of survival against the odds and one man’s determination to save his dearly beloved four legged friends. Eight Below is also an easy film to watch, thanks to the eye candy of Paul Walker and also to the splendors of its frozen and frosty scenery.

The story is simple. The setting is a research base in Antarctica, where expedition guide Gerry Shepherd (Walker) learns he has to lead Dr. Davis McClaren (Bruce Greenwood) on a quest for a unique meteorite lodged somewhere in the rime along Mount Melbourne. But it’s late January, and the ice is thin, and there are giant low-pressure systems brewing.

Gerry determines that they’ll have to take a sled led by his group of dogs. There’s old guy Jack, “best girl” Maya, new boy Max, plus Dewey, Truman, Shadow, Shorty and Buck. They’re all adorable and cute and totally resilient and the intrepid eight pull Gerry and Davis to their destination, where Davis finds his rock. However, while on their way back, Davis falls through the ice and breaks his leg.

The group returns to base just as the entire population has the order to evacuate. Although Jerry wants to stay with the dogs, his boss won’t let him, telling him that his frostbite is just too bad. The dogs are eventually left on their own to fend for themselves in this frozen underworld, whilst Gerry returns to the United States unable to shake his guilt over leaving the dogs.

Obviously, the bulk of the film is showing us how these dogs survive for almost six months in the Antarctic winter. But the story also juxtaposes the dogs’ plight with that of Jerry as he tries frantically to raise money so that he can return to Antarctica to save them. Walker is nicely understated in this role – giving a gruff almost stern performance – and you really come to believe that he dearly loves his four-legged friends.

At times, the movie is frustrating to watch, especially when Jerry is faced with the blind nonchalance of the base commanders and even his friends to the dogs’ fate. No one is the slightest bit interested in taking a risk and returning to pick them up. The dogs are gorgeous and delightfully expressive and when director Frank Marshall focuses on this part of the story, the movie succeeds in bringing tears to one’s eyes.

Some of scenes centering on Jerry and his romance with a pilot (Moon Bloodgood), and his bantering with a co-worker (Jason Biggs) leaves a bit to be desired. The script is often trite and corny and somewhat clichéd but the gorgeous scenes with the dogs as they fight for survival and care for each other are marvelous, so expressively are they shot amidst the amazingly desolate and deathly environment.

I had low expectations for this film with all the poorly done animal movies, but this one is something else. It’s one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen! This Lassie is a remake of the original Lassie Come Home based on the book by Eric Knight. Well acted, well shot and well written, for me it is the best Lassie film ever. It tells the story of a dog who travels hundreds of miles to find her young master over some of the most inhospitable and visually stunning landscape in Great Britain. I highly recommend it whether you are a Lassie fan or not. It stands alone as a heart wrenching story about determination, loyalty, family, courage and love.

BEACUSE OF WINN-DIXIE succeeds as a credible view of the world through children’s eyes because it remains honest and straightforward. Credit director Wayne Wang and Joan Singleton’s screenplay adaptation of Kate DiCamillo’s fine novel for keeping this story simple, direct, terse, and most important, not allowing it to fold into a saccharine tearjerker. As it stands it is quiet, true, and a worthwhile statement about how children view adults and their progress toward becoming one.

Opal (AnnaSophia Robb) was deserted by her mother at age three and comes to live in a small Florida town with her brittle preacher father (Jeff Daniels). She finds it difficult to adjust to the odd folk of the village until she adopts a terrific dog Winn-Dixie. Life blossoms for her until her dog is lost during a storm and she faces tragedy in her life once again. But this potential tragedy opens the door for her to relate to her father (and vice versa) and appreciate the disparate people who have befriended her.

The film is shot in a very small scale in keeping with the story. There are no pretensions here: the people Opal meets include such fine character actors as Cicely Tyson, Eva Marie Saint, Dave Matthews and the remainder of the cast is to be respected for the understated manner in which they draw their characters. Jeff Daniels (The Hours, The Squid and the Whale, Goodnight and Good Luck, The Goodbye Girl, Gods and Generals, etc) continues to prove that he is one of our finer actors on the screen and stage: when an actor of his stature takes on a film like this, one is almost guaranteed it is a worthwhile film to see. Not a great movie, but a very good one that provides a healthy breath of fresh air to the current choices of downer movies.

There’s just something about these movies that attracts a certain kind of person, and I’m not one of those people. With Scooby Doo 3 in the pipeline, things can only get worse. Or Freddie Prinze Jnr & Sarah Michelle Gellar could split up. That could make things awkward.

I only agreed to watch this movie to stop a brewing argument, as there always is when you have 400+ DVDs to choose from, and you’ve both got different tastes. You’d rather resort to something you’ve seen before, than watch a movie where someone’s going on about Velma being hot. (Daphne should never have been allowed to get her hands on Velma, to make her ‘hot’. She was better looking before, the catsuit, heels, obvious extensions, did nothing for her. And she looked awkward the whole time, which I suppose was the point. Plus, I had a feeling they were ‘borrowing’ from She’s All That, with her entrance.) But once again, I enjoyed it, purely for Shaggy, played spectacularly by Matthew Lilliard. I think he’s even better than the animated version! He’s just perfect.

In the movie, armed with a few pointless ghosts or whatever you wanna call them, and a very catty Alicia Silverstone, three of the characters – Shaggy, Velma, and Daphne – have a crisis, where they think they’re useless as part of Mystery Inc. These storylines seem to be thrown away pretty quickly, and never mentioned of again.

The best part of the whole movie? The funky dance sequence, featuring UK group Big Brovaz, with Scooby wearing an afro wig, and looking very 70s. I loved it! It’s also repeated towards the end, with the rest of Mystery Inc.

If you’re a fan of Scooby, then you’re possibly going to enjoy this movie. If you’re a fan of Matthew Lilliard, he’s spot on as Shaggy – give this man an Oscar! I dread to think what’s going to happen in the third. If there’s any hint/mention of Scrappy Doo, I can see it being a disaster. And please make Freddy & Sarah look like they’re enjoying themselves, instead of just going through the motions.

‘Good Boy!’ is a family-oriented picture about the friendship between a lonely boy and a dog coming from outer space. Actually, all the dogs living on the Earth are originally from another planet. Am I boring you? But this is the basic story of ‘Good Boy!’ which, surprisingly, remained in the US Top 10 box-office hit chart for three weeks. Anyone who has a soft spot for dogs would love the film. And what if you don’t? You still may like it, or may be diappointed with it. It depends partly on whether or not you have seen ‘ET.’

I’m not saying ‘Good Boy!’ is a rip-off. It has some originality, and very clever dogs too. Well, here’s the original concept. American boy Owen (Liam Aiken) has one such dog named Hubble (perfectly voiced by Matthew Broderick). Hubble can do ‘sit’ ‘stay’ roll over’ and even ‘play dead’ even though it’s only yesterday that Owen adopted this terrier. And suddenly Owen realizes the reason. For Owen starts to understand what the dogs are talking after a very weird accident happened to him.

See? Don’t say ‘Doctor Dolittle’ now, for world-weary Hubble has actually a mission; he has to report how the Earth Dogs are ruling the planet. According to him, dogs are supposed to dominate the humans instead of being the best friend of them, and if they fail to do so, they are transported back to the home … it starts to sound like ‘ET’ again.

For all its stock characters and weak jokes, ‘Good Boy!’ is not a bad film, and it convincingly shows the bond between Owen and Hubble. All the dogs (voice cast including Brittany Murphy and Carl Reiner) are lovable, and the dog trainers did a great job to make them act like humans, without using too many CGIs. Compared to them, Molly Shannon and Kevin Nealon who play the parents of Liam Aiken’s boy do not fare well, for they are not required to do much in the film.

But the film fails to develop the original concepts about the origin of the dogs, and the 90 minutes of the film looks padded out with silly jokes including obligatory fart gags for children. The dog’s great leader ‘The Greater Dane’ (voiced by none other than Vanessa Redgrave) visits the Earth to inspect the Earth Dogs and … nothing remarkable happens in the story. The “henchman” of Her Majesty looks like a rat in a wig (voiced by Cheech Marin), and that’s all. First-time director John Roberts Hoffman completely misses this great opportunity to match these voice talents to make good laughs, and that’s only one of the many examples of his inept decisions.

‘Good Boy!’ is good when it focuses upon the universal theme — frienship, and on that score I think it is successful. But as to its interesting premises, they need more improvements or better ideas than disrupted radio contact, flying high in the air, and a big UFO. Steven Spielberg has already shown all of them.