by
Max (with Walt Oleksy)
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by
Max (with Walt Oleksy)
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New
Movies on DVD for Mature Dogs Like Me
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Click on small photos for larger views
"The Shipping News"
This
is a new treat from Lasse Hallstrom, director of "Chocolat" and
"The Cider House Rules," two of my favorite films in recent years.
Kevin Spacey (is he or isn’t he gay, and who cares?) plays a man whom
he and most others consider a failure. An aunt he has never met, played
by the incomparable Judi Dench, suggests they and his daughter sidestep
from their lives by moving back to their family roots in
Newfoundland. There they find new lives and Spacey a new love. It's a drama
but is also often funny, and thoroughly satisfying. The DVD is in widescreen
from Miramax. Max's rating: two paws up and a tail wag.
"Kate
and Leopold"
Meg
Ryan, who seems to forget her wholesome "All-American Girl" screen
image between movies, gets first-billing in this delightful romantic comedy
of time travel, but young Aussie actor Hugh Jackman steals the picture.
His polite, charming, sexy, and sincere hero from another century reminds
us that to be a gentleman means to be a gentle man, and yet it will not
endanger his masculinity. Critics are calling him "the new Cary Grant,"
but that is doing both Grant and Jackman a disservice. The Aussie is breaking
new ground in modern male movie acting, and we hope it is catching. The
DVD from Miramax includes both the movie theater version and the director's
cut, plus deleted scenes, a photo gallery, commentary from the director,
James Mangold, and a music video with Sting singing the song "Until"
from the picture. Max's rating: Two paws up and a tail wag.
"Nora"
The
romance of the great Irish novelist James Joyce (Ulysses and Finnegan's
Wake) and his beloved Nora is the subject of the movie of that name now
out on DVD from First Look Home Entertainment. Evan McGregor, whom my master
says deserved an Oscar for "Moulin Rouge" more than Nicole Kidman,
stars as Joyce, but Susan Lynch steals the picture playing Nora, winning
an Irish Oscar for best actress. I had to cover my ears a lot from the cursing
in the movie, but otherwise it's a very good movie taking us on a holiday
from the dark streets of Dublin to the sunny Italian coast as we enter the
life of one of the literary giants of the last century. Max's rating:
Two paws up.
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New
on DVD for Puppies and the Family
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"Monsters,
Inc."
The
new Disney animated comedy "Monsters, Inc." is great fun for kids
and the whole family. John Goodman and Billy Crystal are the voices of two
monsters that are more funny-looking than scary. They scare children, then
harness the energy of their screams into electricity to power their city,
Monstropolis. Then they get a scare themselves when a human child enters
their city and they're afraid it will contaminate them. Okay, so the plot
is pretty stupid, but go along with it for a wild ride with lots of laughs
and some super animation. There's even a timely subplot exposing industrial
crime brought on by greed. Maybe the writers are trying to tell corporate
cheats something.
Max's rating: two paws up, tail wags, and lots of "Woo Woo Woo's!"
"Cops and Robbers"
The
barf and bathroom supposed comics who make movies today could learn more
than a thing or two about movie comedy if they take a look at the new Three
Stooges collection on DVD from Columbia Pictures: "Cops and Robbers."
Moe Howard, Larry Fine, Curly Howard, and Shemp Howard yukk it up in six
of their best-loved short comedies involving the law and the lawless.
The films include the hilarious "Disorder in the Court", but my
favorite, as you might expect, is "Calling All Curs." Moe, Larry,
and Curly play veterinarians who try to replace a pedigree dog that is pooch-napped
while in their care. Max's rating: Two paws up and a tail wag.
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New
on DVD for Foreign-born Dogs
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"Amelie"
What
a feel-good movie. Like scratching an itch. In this exceptional romantic
comedy, French actress Audrey Tautou fits the title role perfectly and plays
it like a dog goes for liver treats. She's like a Parisian waif from an
old Charlie Chaplin movie, living in a dream world she tries to improve
upon. While helping others, she falls in love. The Miramax DVD is in French
with English or Spanish subtitles and has lots of extras including home
movies on making the film and a chat with the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Max's rating: two paws up, a tail wag, and a "Woo Woo Woo!"
"Place
Vendome"
I
love Catherine Deneuve movies, probably because my master and I think she's
beautiful and a class-act. She plays the alcoholic widow of a jeweler, forced
to confront her own demons and find a new life after he takes his own. A dark
subject but well-played, and Deneuve won the best actress award at the Venice
Film Festival. On DVD from Miramax in French with English subtitles. Max's
rating: two paws up.
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New
on DVD for Old Dogs (the Classics)
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When I first heard they were "remastering" movies, I ran and
hid under the bed. I loved my master. I didn't want a new one. Then I learned
the word means making old movies look and sound like new again.
That's a dog of a different breed, and okay with me.
"Lawrence
of Arabia"
A
terrific example of a classic movie remastered on DVD is "Lawrence of
Arabia," Columbia's digitally mastered audio and video widescreen edition
of the David Lean adventure that won seven Academy Awards including best picture
in 1962. Peter O'Toole, sensational as enigmatic T.E. Lawrence, led one of
the finest star casts ever assembled in a movie.
The two-disc set has tons of special features, while just the movie itself
is on the one-disc edition. Columbia's new Superbit technology further enhances
sharpness without needing a high-definition tv set. Movies don't come much
greater than this one, and it's a fantastic experience to watch on DVD.
Max's rating: two paws up, a tail wag, and several "Woo Woo Woos!"
"Mr.
Deeds Goes to Town"
Not
the new version that never leaves the dog house, but the 1936 Frank Capra
classic comedy with Gary Cooper as a small town boy who goes to New York City
to inherit a fortune and teaches greedy businessmen there is more to life
than money. Corrupt business executives today who would think he's barking
up the wrong tree with that idea ought to be sentenced to watch it from their
jail cells. The digitally remastered DVD from Columbia Pictures has vintage
advertising for the movie and Frank Capra Jr. remembering his father's career.
Max's rating: two paws up, a tail wag, and a long "Woo woo woo!"
"Angels
Over Broadway"
Ben
Hecht, the screenwriter-producer-director who gave us "Gunga Din,"
"Wuthering Heights," and was one of the major writers on "Gone
With the Wind," acted in all three capacities for "Angels Over Broadway,"
a 1940 drama now digitally mastered on DVD in fullscreen from Columbia Tri-Star.
Usually heroic Douglas Fairbanks Jr. stars against character to play a loser
among gangsters, and then-newcomer Rita Hayworth is an out-of-luck dancer.
It's an offbeat story of just one harrowing night in the underworld of New
York City in the late 1930s. A seldom-seen gem seeing new life because of
DVD. Max's rating: two paws up
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Bones
to Pick
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Growl
of the Month
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My
pick of worst subject and title for a movie: "How to Kill Your Neighbor's
Dog." It's supposed to be a comedy, but I see nothing funny in giving kids
or adults the idea that it's okay to even contemplate canine mayhem.
Kenneth Branagh, who should have stuck to Shakespeare, plays a writer driven
to thoughts of murdering a mutt by the barking of his neighbor's pet. Would
you believe supposed animal-lover Robert Redford helped finance this piece of
doggie doo?
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On
VHS (not yet on DVD)
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A
recent video release which deserves DVD treatment is Masterpiece Theater's
"The Song of the Lark" from Willa Cather's 1915 novel. Wonderful
story, beautiful music, and an exciting performance by Alison Elliott as a Midwestern
farm town girl who aspires to a career in music.
Max's rating: Two paws up, a tail wag, and a loud "Woo Woo Woo!"