Year of the Dog

I have a friend who would enjoy this movie very much.

Not because this is a very good movie, or very funny, or very entertaining. But because she's a vegetarian (wannabe vegan, but can't quite cut it). She loves animals. And this movie was made for those kinds of people.

In fact, I don't know if it was made for anyone else. Not that others aren't allowed to see it or enjoy it. But it wasn't made with the intention of entertaining people who weren't animal-loving vegetarians specifically. Unless it was far more pretentious than I gathered and it really thought it was going to convert a lot of the audience, which I want to believe it wasn't. Nah. I have faith.

This is a sad sack movie. The characters are never happy. Sure, at times they are. But not really. When it comes down to it, everyone is sad. And that's not a bad thing. That's one view of the world, and it's not one that I find to be all that difficult to relate to. It doesn't drag the movie down. Well, in and of itself it doesn't. But the characters start to become boring and unmotivated, and then they drag the movie down.

Once Molly Shannon's character starts to become very passionate about saving animals, the movie kind of loses me. Well, my bond with the movie was lost. Because that was a point when the movie took a side on the issue of animals. Not that I want to hurt animals, but I don't want to get spoonfed about saving animals. I was just sad that Molly Shannon was never happy, even though she did all of the stuff to make herself happy.

The ending was probably the right thing for the character. But sometimes the right things for the characters aren't the best endings for movies. In other words, maybe this character shouldn't have been in a movie. The fact that she was in a movie made it end the way it did, which made the movie just feel like a bowl of cereal with milk that just expired: it's okay, but somehow... not. And then you just let it leave your mind and dump it down the drain.

I didn't dislike the movie. It was a sort of indifference a lot. I was entertained by a lot of parts. I enjoyed certain techniques it used to portray certain aspects of life, like the first person angle always used when she'd talk to her friend. I liked the unconventional aspects of the movie. But it didn't take me anywhere further. A few times I laughed, and in those cases it did. But I forgot about them by the time I left the theater.

The film was written and directed by Mike White, whose similar film The Good Girl gave me an almost identical feeling. So any other movies he make that feel this way when they're through... I won't say I'm surprised next time.

C+

IMDB information on YEAR OF THE DOG

Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a real movie-lovers movie. It caters right to us; it's funny, it pokes fun at cliches in film, it's full of action and fun, and it's British. The British part doesn't really matter, but it's a good ending to a list.

The creators of Shaun of the Dead (being writer/director Edgar Wright and writer/star Simon Pegg) have done it again. They've created a comedy based on a genre they know very well and create a funny version of it. Many would call them parodies, but this isn't really so. Unlike Mel Brooks-like spoofs, they create movies that are not too over-the-top or in your face about what they're poking fun at. In fact, the subtleness (or "British-ness") is often miscontrued and many ignorant American audiences end up hating the films that they make. But alas, those of us who understand and appreciate it have much to appreciate.

And Hot Fuzz delivers.

That's just about all I can say with what I want to say. There's no need to go into specifics because those are the things that are better watched than described. But I nod my head with a smirk on my face in approval. Thumb up.

But the film isn't perfect. I have to give some semblance of a legitimate review, and so I'll go into the few problems I have with both of the films that this "team" has created. There is a lot of brilliance here. But, at the same time, a few moments of slowdown. There are points where not a lot is accomplished in any way (be it comedy, plot, anything). This is definitely more true with Shaun of the Dead. Hot Fuzz shows much improvement and a lot more to love. And it hardly matters, for the good overshadows the not-as-good. But it is there, so these films aren't perfect. But some of the best fun in theaters these days (save Grindhouse), and a much appreciated step forward as far as movies these days go. If Wright and Pegg (and Nick Frost, Simon Pegg's buddy in the pictures, as well) continue like this, there is still hope for decent consistent comedy films.

A future is almost guaranteed with the group involved in these films, and I, for one, cannot wait.

A-

IMDB information on HOT FUZZ