A Dog of Flanders

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

A Dog of Flanders is a novel about a boy Nello and his dog Patrasche, written by Marie Louise de la Ramée under the pseudonym Ouida in 1872. It is widely read in Japan, and has been adapted into several films and anime.

The story is little known in Belgium, and then primarily because of the tourists it attracts to Antwerp. There is a small statue of Nello and Patrache at the Kapelstraat (Chapel Street) in the Antwerp suburb of Hoboken, and a commemorative plaque in front of the Antwerp Cathedral donated by Toyota. This novel was very popular in the Philippines and it was dubbed and localized by ABS-CBN.

Plot

In the 19th century, a boy named Nello becomes an orphan at the age of two when his mother dies in the Ardennes. His grandfather, Jehan Daas, who lives in a small village, Hoboken, near the city of Antwerp, takes him in.

One day, Nello finds a dog who was almost beaten to death and names him Patrasche. Due to the good care of Jehan, the dog recovers, and from then on, Nello and Patrasche are inseparable. Since they are very poor, Nello has to help his grandfather by selling milk. Patrasche helps him pull the milk cart that Nello uses to sell milk in the town.

Nello has a friend, Aloise, the daughter of a well-off man in the village. The father doesn’t want his daughter to have a poor sweetheart. Although Nello is illiterate, he is very talented in drawing. He enters a junior drawing contest in Antwerp, hoping to win the first prize, 200 francs per year. However, the jury selects somebody else.

Afterwards, his grandfather dies and he is accused of causing a fire. His life becomes even more desperate. Having no place to stay, Nello goes to the cathedral of Antwerp to see Rubens’ The Elevation of the Cross, but he doesn’t have enough money to enter. On the night of Christmas Eve, he and Patrasche go to Antwerp and, by chance, find the door to the church open. The next morning, the boy and his dog are found frozen to death in front of the triptych.

Trivia

  • This was referencened in the anime Lucky Star segment Lucky Channel, In episode 6 they were talking about otakus. Minoru says they cry at the end of A Dog of Flanders (the movie version), Akira then asks how old his view of Otaku is, in an annoyed fashion, presumably because the movie was made in the 1990′s.
  • In “Kimi Kiss – Pure Rouge” anime series the book “A Dog of Flanders” plays an essential role as a symbol of long-lasting relationship between the two main protagonists.
  • Comic book Het Dreigende Dinges in the Suske and Wiske series by Willie Vandersteen tells the story of a dog of Flanders. It is considered one of the best comic books ever to be written by fans all over the world, touched by the story.
  • In Disgaea 3 a fallen character’s last lines are “I’m sleepy, Grand…ma” before being taken away by two angels, referencing A Dog of Flanders.
  • In Hayate The Combat Butler, A Dog of Flanders is referenced by Hayate in episode one. He is having an inner quarrel, and thinks of Nello and decides to ‘avenge his death’ by kidnapping the female lead, Nagi Sanzenin.
  • In Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, A Dog of Flanders is referenced after the ending credits of episode 7 in which a summary of the ending is read by Abiru Kobushi.

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Animal Farm

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Animal Farm is a made for TV film version of the 1945 George Orwell novel of the same name.

Differences from the novel

The plot basically follows that of the novel, except for a few differences:

  • The film portrays the end of Napoleon’s rule, mentioning the collapse of a wall (analogous to the fall of communism and the opening of the Berlin Wall in 1989), the return of dissident animals who had hidden themselves, and the ultimate replacement of the farm’s owners by a new family.
  • Snowball is a different colour in the film than the book
  • One of the biggest differences from the novel is the heightened role of Jessie, the dog.
  • Clover, one of the main animals in the book, is only seen at brief moments in the film and never speaks.
  • In the novel, Old Major died of old age three days after giving his speech, but in the film he is accidentally shot by Jones minutes after finishing his speech.
  • Instead of being buried in the orchard, Old Major’s body is butchered by one of Mr. Jones’ workmen. When the animals explore the farmhouse, Old Major’s head is discovered wrapped in plastic in a cupboard.
  • All the animal executions were cut.
  • The songs have been replaced; “Beasts of England” is changed to “Beasts of the World”.
  • The film adds a storyline about television and film being used as a distraction from what the pigs are really doing. This could be a reference to pro-Lenin propaganda and is similar to the novel’s use of Moses the Raven as a parallel to religion being a distraction. As a result, Moses the Raven is a minor character.
  • Old Major’s skull being mounted on display is only briefly mentioned twice in the novel, but is seen throughout the film after the pig’s death.
  • The ending where Jessie escapes with many of the animals and returns to a post-Napoleon Animal Farm was not in the novel, but serves as a reference to post-Soviet Russia. In the novel, she, like many of the other animals, dies of old age and overwork.
  • The novel’s infamous twist ending is portrayed, but earlier in the film and without the pigs dressed as humans and on two legs (which does appear, only in the “Napoleon: Mighty Leader” propaganda film portraying Napoleon dressed in a suit and standing upright). Additionally, the pigs begin wearing hats and monocles much earlier in the film.
  • In the novel, the windmill is damaged in construction and Napoleon blames this on Snowball. Later, there is a second battle where the windmill is destroyed with dynamite. In the film, the windmill is never damaged in construction. Mr. and Mrs. Jones sneak into the camp in their truck and blow up the windmill, accidentally destroying their vehicle in the process. When Napoleon discovers the destroyed windmill and the wrecked truck, he declares Snowball stole the vehicle and destroyed the windmill.
  • Mr. Frederick’s role is reduced and he even expresses sympathy for the animals.
  • In the film, the humans sneak a microphone into the barn in an attempt to understand how the animals are running the farm. Using this, they later learn that the animals can speak English and Pilkington decides to start trading with them.
  • In the novel, Mr. Whymper begins trading with Napoleon, in the film it is Mr. Pilkington trading with him.
  • The card game at the end of the novel never takes place.
  • A new character is introduced in the film. He is an unnamed, fat rat who served as comic relief. He is not present in the novel, though the novel states that there are rats on the farm.
  • Boxer and many of the other animals could not read in the novel, in the movie they can.

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Paulie

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Paulie is a 1998 film starring Tony Shalhoub, Gena Rowlands, Hallie Kate Eisenberg and Jay Mohr. It is about the adventures of a smart-talking bird who frequently finds himself in trouble. Jay Mohr performs the voice of Paulie, and also plays a minor on-screen character.

This film was rated PG by the MPAA for “Brief Mild Language”.

Plot

The film is a picaresque tale about an intelligent talking blue crown conure called Paulie and his long quest to return to his owner.

Misha Belenkoff (Tony Shalhoub), a Russian emigrant living in America, works as a janitor at an animal testing lab. There he encounters a blue-crowned conure which he hears at first singing in the basement, and is astonished when in perfect English it berates him for interrupting it. When he rushes to tell the scientists at the lab, the bird will not talk and he is scolded for wasting their time.

Misha is interested in the bird’s history, and later persuades him to share his experiences with pieces of mango after reading that Paulie’s species loves mango. Misha and Paulie both realize that they both share the same desire to have someone to talk to, thus Paulie tells his story. His first owner, as Paulie tells Misha, was a little girl named Marie (Hallie Kate Eisenberg, who was a stutterer. Paulie was given when just a baby bird, as a birthday present. As she learns to speak, so does he, and he learns well, understanding the meaning of words and learning to construct complex sentences.Marie’s father does not like the bird, particularly when Marie tells her parents that the bird can talk. After a dramatic event in which Marie falls off the roof of her house in attempts to teach Paulie to fly, he is sold by her parents.

A major part of the plot is Paulie being passed from one owner to another, spending time as a window display at Bloomingdales, as a model for a brochure, as an assistant to a magician when finally, Paulie ends up in a pawn shop. Paulie is purchased there by an aging artist, Ivy (Gena Rowlands). She teaches him manners, and takes Paulie back to Marie’s house, but discovers that they have moved to Los Angeles. She befriends him and agrees to take him to find Marie, but loses her sight and passes away. Paulie departs, having finally learned to fly, and continues his journey.

In eastern Los Angeles, Paulie joins a group of performing parrots owned by Ignacio (Cheech Marin). Paulie is then kidnapped by Benny (Jay Mohr, who also voices Paulie), a thief who engineers a police raid on Ignacio’s property. Benny teaches Paulie how to steal money from ATMs using other people’s credit cards. In a botched jewel theft, Paulie flies down through the chimney of a house, but is trapped inside, and abandoned by Benny.

Paulie is then brought to the institute, where employees and scientists there are stunned by his intelligence. They put Paulie through several tests to test his knowledge and showcase him to mass groups of people. He is persuaded to endure more and more of this, and is promised that he will be reunited with Marie. Paulie discovers that the institute has lied to him, and refuses to cooperate with anymore tests, and embarasses the institute’s personnel, thus Paulie is imprisoned in the basement. Angered at the research institute for taking advantage of Paulie, Misha quits his job and helps Paulie and various other animals escape from the research institute. Misha finds Marie’s new address and takes Paulie there. Marie is now a beautiful woman, about 30 years old (Trini Alvarado). Paulie joyfully flies around for the first time in years, and lands on Marie’s shoulder.

The film ends with Misha and Marie entering inside her house with Paulie to catch up.

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Mighty Joe Young

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Mighty Joe Young is a 1998 Disney family film starring Bill Paxton and Charlize Theron and directed by Ron Underwood. It is a remake of the 1949 film of the same name. In this version, the ape is much larger than in the original.

Plot

Charlize Theron plays Jill Young who as a child has witnessed the death of her mother and the mother of Joe, a baby ape, at the hands of poachers led by Andrei Strasser, (Rade Šerbedžija). The poacher loses his thumb and trigger finger to the baby gorilla. Twelve years later, Jill has raised Joe (because of his size, the other gorillas won’t accept him) and both are living in relative peace until a wildlife refuge director, Gregg O’Hara (Bill Paxton), convinces Jill that they would be safer from poachers if they relocated to the United States.

The pair go to Hollywood, California (as in the original film) and win the hearts of the refuge staff. There, Jill is approached by Strasser, who has seen a news report about Joe and wants revenge because of the damage done to his hand 12 years ago. Jill fails to recognize Strasser as the poacher who killed both her mother and Joe’s. Strasser tries to persuade Jill that Joe would be better off in his wildlife refuge back in Africa. Later, during a gala, Strasser’s henchman uses a poacher’s noisemaker to scare Joe into a frenzy. Joe trashes the gala, recognizes Strasser and tries to attack him. Joe is tranquilized and placed in a concrete bunker. When Jill learns that Joe may be euthanized she decides to take Strasser’s offer. She and the refuge staff smuggle Joe out in a truck but on the way to the airport, Jill notices Strasser’s missing fingers. He makes a remark that makes her realize he is the poacher who killed her mother. She crashes the truck and Joe escapes. Meanwhile Greg has also realized the identity of the poacher and goes after Jill and Joe. He finds Jill and they locate Joe at a carnival. Strasser arrives and in attempting to shoot Jill starts a fire which causes the Ferris wheel to break down. Joe catches Strasser and tosses him onto some electrical wires. In a poignant scene at the Santa Monica Pier, while saving a child Joe falls from the collapsing Ferris wheel. The scene is reminiscent of King Kong falling from the Empire State Building. Joe survives the fall and is shipped back to Africa to run free on his own refuge funded by donations from his fans.

Reception

Mighty Joe Young had a better critical reception than the other big monster remake of the year, Godzilla; however it was ultimately judged a disaster by some critics as being typically ‘Disney’ in plot and outcome. In May 2008, it had a freshness rating of 54 percent from Rotten Tomatoes.The movie grossed $50,632,037 with a production budget of $90,000,000, thus a box office bomb.

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The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride (later retitled The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride) is an American direct-to-video movie released by the Walt Disney Company on October 27, 1998, as a sequel to the 1994 film The Lion King. It was later re-released as a special edition DVD (which altered the original title’s “II” into “2″) on August 31, 2004.

In 1998, Disney believed that Simba’s Pride would be so popular that it shipped 15 million copies to stores for the October 27 release date. Disney sold 3.5 million copies in three days. Thirteen million copies were sold while it was still in print in the late 90s.

This film was “not rated” until the two-disc Special Edition was released. It was then given a G rating by the MPAA.

While the original film’s plot seems to have been based on the Shakespeare play Hamlet, this sequel’s plot is similar to another Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet.

Plot

The film’s story begins where the previous film ended: the presentation of Simba (Matthew Broderick) and Nala’s (Moira Kelly) new cub Kiara (Michelle Horn). When Kiara is older, she runs from her suffocating babysitters Timon and Pumbaa (Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella) and sneaks across the borders of her father’s kingdom to the ‘Outlands’, where she encounters an ‘Outsider’ cub named Kovu (Ryan O’Donohue). Kovu tells her that Outsiders don’t take orders, nor need anyone to take care of them, which impresses her greatly. However, the two soon get into trouble when they find themselves in a river surrounded by crocodiles. Luckily, Kovu bravely distracts them long enough for the two to escape. The cubs become friends, and Kiara attempts to initiate a game of tag, only to find Kovu has no idea how to play. In a bid to relax him, she playfully growls, but when Kovu retaliates, Simba appears. Kovu’s mother Zira (Suzanne Pleshette), who had been watching from the bushes, also emerges.

The two face off as Simba’s pride appears, and Zira reveals that the Outsiders were exiled by Simba for remaining loyal to Scar, and that Kovu was Scar’s heir to the throne – and therefore a threat to Simba. However, Simba is unwilling to hurt a cub and orders the duo to leave, much to Kiara and Kovu’s dismay. As they journey home, Simba scolds his daughter for breaking the rules and endangering herself, reminding her that one day she will be a queen. Kiara expresses her disinterest in the plan, but Simba says that it is a part of her, as she is a part of him. The two sing ‘We Are One’, but Kiara still does not understand the meaning of the phrase, though Simba says she will, in time.

Meanwhile in the Outlands, Zira’s ragged and termite infested adult cub Nuka (Andy Dick) complains to his younger sister Vitani (Jennifer Lien) about Kovu being ‘The Chosen One’, when as the eldest the honor should be his. At that moment, Zira returns and scolds her two sons. She mocks Kovu’s claim that he and Kiara are friends. She then realizes that, by using Kiara, Kovu can get close enough to Simba to murder him and take the throne. Thus, he can avenge Scar’s death. She lulls Kovu to sleep by singing him ‘Zira’s Lullaby’, expressing her desire for revenge. Alone in his tree, Rafiki communicates with Mufasa’s spirit, and voices his fear of Zira and mistrust of Kovu, brought up with hate in his heart. Mufasa however, has his own plan – Kovu and Kiara will be together, and unite the two prides.

Time passes and Kovu (Jason Marsden) grows into an adult. He is molded by Zira into the perfect assassin, with only one goal in mind: kill Simba. Kiara (Neve Campbell) has also grown, and, keen to go on her first solo hunt, makes Simba promise he will let her do it alone. However, Simba sends Timon and Pumbaa after her to ensure her safety. Kiara is unable to catch anything, but is furious at her father when she finds he has lied and sent the duo to track her. Nuka and Vitani watch the events before lighting a series of fires around Kiara, trapping her. She faints from the smoke as Kovu appears, as part of Zira’s plan, and carries her back to the Pride Lands. Though angry at first that he has interfered, Kiara soon recognizes her old friend. However Simba, drawn by the sight of smoke, appears. Kovu lies and claims that he has left the Outsiders to become a rogue, and asks to join Simba’s pride.

Simba is suspicious of Kovu’s story and motives. However, he is forced by law to acknowledge he owes Kovu a debt that must be paid. He allows Kovu to stay at Pride Rock, but makes him sleep outside, separate from the other lionesses. Despite this, Kiara thanks him for saving her and the two arrange for him to give her a hunting lesson the next morning. That night, Simba dreams of the night his father died. In it, Scar holds Simba back to prevent him from reaching Mufasa, telling him ‘trust me’. As Mufasa falls to his death, a laughing Scar morphs into Kovu, who throws Simba from the cliff.

The next morning, Kovu attempts to murder Simba as he walks alone, but is interrupted by Kiara. He attempts to teach her to hunt properly, but the two stumble on Timon and Pumbaa, whose favorite feeding ground has been taken over by birds. They enlist the help of the lions to scare the birds off, but it soon turns into a game. Kovu, who has never played or had any real fun in his life, is confused by this new ‘training’, but quickly starts to enjoy himself.

That night, as Kovu and Kiara stargaze, he questions whether Scar is considered one of the ‘Great Kings’, and Kiara is visibly startled. He confesses that although Scar was not his real father, he was still a part of who Kovu is, but fears that part may be the darkness that made Scar evil. As Kiara and Kovu embrace, Simba watches unseen, and asks the skies for guidance. Nala tells him that although Simba wants to walk the path expected of him, Kovu may not, and should be given a chance. As Simba leaves to ponder this, Kovu tries to pull away from Kiara, almost confessing his part in the plot against her father. Despite Kiara’s pleas, he attempts to leave, but Rafiki stops him and sings ‘Upendi’. Kovu and Kiara fall in love, and after returning home that night, Simba invites Kovu to sleep inside with the rest of the pride. Vitani watches Kovu give up a prime opportunity to murder Simba and reports back to Zira.

Kovu eventually resolves to confess his true intentions to Kiara, but before he can do so Simba takes him aside for a private conversation. The two walk into the area that had been burned in the earlier bushfire, and Simba tells Kovu the true story of Scar. Kovu finally realizes he has been lied to, but Simba reassures him that, like the green roots springing through the ash, what is ‘left behind can grow better than the generation before – if given the chance’. However, Zira decides to take matters into her own hands and organizes an ambush. The Outlanders chase Simba into a gorge, where he begins to scale a wall of logs to escape. Nuka, in an attempt to prove himself, tries to follow, but slips and is crushed. Kovu, who had watched the scene from above, tries to dig him out, but is shoved roughly aside by his mother. Zira lifts up a log to see her eldest son barely alive. She tenderly cradles his face as he apologizes for failing her before dying. Zira blames Nuka’s death on Kovu and slashes him across the face, scarring Kovu in an identical manner to Scar. Kovu defies his mother for the first time and runs back to the Pride Lands. Zira tells the other Outlanders that Simba has turned Kovu against them and declares war.

Meanwhile, Simba has escaped but is badly injured. Luckily, Kiara, Timon, and Pumbaa find him and take him back to Pride Rock. Kiara refuses to believe that Kovu could be behind the attack, but she is the only one. The other animals in the Pride Lands gather as Kovu returns and begs forgiveness. Simba refuses and exiles him, and the other animals drive him out (‘Not One of Us’). Kiara, distraught, begs her father to be reasonable, but he coldly replies that she will require an escort in the future, and that Kovu only pretended to love her to get to him. Kiara, confined to Pride Rock, breaks out and goes searching for Kovu (‘Love Will Find A Way’), noticing that her reflection only shows half of her face. As she is about to give up, Kovu appears and the two are reunited. In the water, their reflections are combined and Kovu comments that they ‘are one’. Kiara realizes they have to go back and stop the fighting, telling a dismayed Kovu that if they run away, the two prides will be divided forever.

Meanwhile, the Outlanders march on the Pride Lands. Simba leads his lionesses to meet them, and the two clans fight. The Outlanders gain the upper hand, and Zira steps in to finish Simba off herself. However, before the two can strike, Kovu and Kiara leap in between them. Kiara pleads with her father to stop the feud and tells him that a wise king once told her ‘we are one’, and that there is no ‘they’ or ‘us’, but ‘they are us’. Looking around, Simba realizes there is no difference between the two prides. Zira orders Vitani to attack, but she refuses, to which Zira furiously replies that she will die along with the Pridelanders. In disgust, the other Outsiders change sides. While Simba is momentarily distracted by the sound of the river dam cracking, Zira tries to attack, but Kiara interferes, sending them both over the cliff. Kiara lands on a jutting rock but Zira continues to slide down towards the raging river. Kiara extends her paw to try and pull Zira up, but the bitter lioness, like Scar, is unable to let go of her hate, and falls to her death. Kiara and Simba climb back up the cliff, where she is cheered by both sides for her bravery. Simba announces he was wrong about Kovu and invites the Outsiders back ‘home’. All the animals in the kingdom gather as Simba, Nala, Kovu and Kiara roar proudly on top of Pride Rock.

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Dr. Dolittle

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Dr. Dolittle is an American family comedy, released in 1998 and starring Eddie Murphy as a doctor who discovers that he has the ability to talk to (and understand) animals. The film was loosely based on the series of children’s stories of the same name, but none of the material from any of the novels was used; in fact, it could be said that one of the few resemblances is a doctor who can speak to animals. Notably the pushmi-pullyu, a much loved feature of the books, only makes a very brief appearance in the first scene in which the tiger appears in his cage. The first novel had been originally filmed in 1967 as a musical under the same title, a closer adaptation to the book. However, the earlier film was a box office bomb, but still remains a cult classic. Although the film is rated PG-13 it is a family film.

The remake, however, was a success, and generated a theatrical sequel that was released in 2001, simply titled Dr. Dolittle 2. Both films also starred Raven-Symoné and Kyla Pratt as Dolittle’s daughters. A third movie, Dr. Dolittle 3, with Pratt playing the main character, was released direct-to-video in 2006, however, it did not star Eddie Murphy or Raven-Symoné. A fourth film, Dr. Dolittle: Tail To The Chief, was released straight to DVD in 2008. Another sequel entitled “Dr. Dolittle: A Tinsle Town Tail” or “Dr. Dolittle: Goin’ Hollywood” is currently in production.

Summary

The film starts out with Lucky the Dog (Norm Macdonald) explaining in narration how it is so easy to pretend to talk with your dog. He then adds, “but what if it was not pretend?”

The film now opens to John Dolittle as a kid talking to his Dog (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres). He asks his dog questions, one being “Why do dogs sniff each others butts”? Her response is that it’s their way of shaking hands. His father (Ossie Davis) hears the question and says that the dog doesn’t have any idea what he said. He was wrong. He finds this out when John meets his new principal, he sniffs his butt. The dog obviously knows something is going to happen. When his father hires a minister to remove the evil from him (and freaking him out), the dog saves him by biting the minister. The dog is then taken up for adoption. John is very upset now. He never talks to animals again (for now).

Thirty years later, we see John Dolittle (Eddie Murphy) shooing a puppy out of his apartment. He is a doctor, married with two kids. His oldest daughter Charisse (Raven-Symoné) wants to be named Paprika. His youngest daughter Maya (Kyla Pratt) is a nerdy girl who does experiments, such as raising a swan egg (or so she thinks) so it will bond with her. She also has a Guinea Pig named Rodney (Chris Rock). His wife Lisa (Kristen Wilson) just wants to spend time with him. Meanwhile at work, a big medical company owner Calloway (Peter Boyle) wants to buy the company. Everyone is very excited because this means much more money. John also takes his family out in the country for vacation. After taking the family to the country, he has to stay late at work to give Mrs. Parkus (Cherie Franklin), a woman who is addicted to shellfish even though she is really allergic to it, medication.

Driving home, he accidentily hits Lucky. Even though he feels terrible, Lucky, alive and well, walks away and shouts “Watch where you’re going next time, you bone-head!”. This is the first time an animal talks to him years later. While asleep, Rodney sneaks from under the covers to see John. The next day, he is driving Rodney to the country and Rodney starts talking to him. He than realizes that John can speak to animals but John says that the thing that made him talk to animals would not affect him but after those years, this starts happening to him. To stop the annoyance, John puts Rodney on the roof of the car.

Up in the country, an owl wants him to remove a twig in her wing. After this happens, she tells all the animals about this. Soon, animals start asking favors to John. Scared, he goes to see Dr. Litvak (Steven Gilborn) for a CAT scan, but nothing is wrong with him. He then meets two trash eating rats that obiously don’t like him. The next day he finds Lucky being taken to a kennel.

So he takes Lucky out and then to the vet. Thinking he got rid of Lucky, Lisa calls and Lucky starts woofing to make it sound like John got a Dog. So John makes a deal with Maya. If she stays at camp, Lucky is all hers. That night, a large bunch of animals come to see the Doctor for treatment, such as a drunken circus monkey, two dysfunctional pigeons, a homosexual goat with a rash, an OCD dog , and some cloned sheep with rectal trauma. After treating a horse with near-sightedness, the drunk monkey tells the Doctor about a sick circus tiger (voiced by Albert Brooks). They find him on top of Coit Tower attempting to commit suicide, while the rats make fun of him. John and Lucky confront him saying that everyone loves tigers (using Tony the Tiger and “Eye of the Tiger” as examples) and that he can cure him. His work with animals distracts him from a meeting with Calloway and from spending time with his wife. Soon Lisa finds all the animals.

She and Mark catch him giving CPR to one of the rats, which was a false alarm (a.k.a Gas). They send him to an asylum, where he meets Blaine, one of his enemies from medical school. Meanwhile, the Tiger is getting sicker, so Lucky tries to save John. John is mad at all the animals for sending him to the asylum. But Lucky says that he is hiding from his past self. With the help of Blaine’s cat, John is released. Maya is home because she did not fit in, but she tells her Grandpa that she believes her dad has the gift of gab. Overhearing this, he realizes his mistake, so during the party where Calloway will buy the company, John and Lucky kidnap the tiger so they can cure him. Meanwhile, the police are after Dolittle, but Lucky gathers all the animals of San Francisco to help guard the building in which John is operating on the tiger.

But because they need to go through the party, and because Rodney is there, the tiger, whose name is Jake, comes out from under the hospital bed and scares everyone. Now everyone is watching the operation. Lisa is now upset that her husband thinks he can talk to animals. John’s father finally reveals that he, in fact, can. With that said, she comes in the operating room to comfort the tiger. John finds out that it is a blood clot, and with that, saves his life. Calloway is watching this and he is very amused. He wants to buy the company, but John refuses.

In the end, John is now a both human doctor and an animal doctor. Maya’s egg hatches, revealing to be an alligator. The rats are mad that the ending is happy, but the owl shows up and chases them away trying to eat them. John and Lucky are seen walking to the circus to visit the tiger and talking about their future as friends, while the song “Talk with the Animals” plays in the background.

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Babe: Pig in the City

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Babe: Pig in the city is the 1998 sequel to the film Babe. It occurs in the fictional city of Metropolis. Due to the unexpected darker and more mature subject matter (the film includes a scene in which a dog almost drowns while hanging from a bridge), the film was not received as well critically as the first Babe movie was, and reviews were generally mixed. However, the film has developed a cult following[1], and film critic Gene Siskel named it as his choice for the best movie of 1998 and claimed it to be better than its original. The film was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Music Song in 1998.

Plot

After the great victory in the shepherding contest, Farmer Arthur Hoggett and Babe return home to a warm welcome. While repairing the well, Farmer Hoggett is injured and cannot work anymore, and his wife attempts to take up the duties of the farm. Facing foreclosure, Esme Hoggett resolves to show Babe at a faraway fair for an appearance fee. On the way to the fair, Mrs. Hoggett and Babe are unexpectedly detained at an airport, and are forced to stay in an unfamiliar city. They find the only hotel in town that accepts pets, but soon become separated from each other. Babe encounters cats, dogs, and a family of apes, and is quick to earn the respect of all the animals after he rescues a malicious dog.

A neighbor’s complaint sends animal officials over to the hotel, and most of the animals are quickly caught and sent away. Babe, who manages to stay free, decides to help his new friends and gets unexpected help along the way.

Reception

Reviews of the film were mixed. Audience response was polarized, with viewers either finding it great, or disliking it strongly. Most of the negative reviews came from people who enjoyed the first Babe, as well as those who were expecting a more family-oriented film, like the first installment. Many people think it should have retained its original PG rating. Also, like its predecessor, it was banned in Malaysia.

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Air Bud: Golden Receiver

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Air Bud: Golden Receiver is the first of many sequels to the 1997 film Air Bud.

Plot

Teenager Josh Framm becomes angry when his mother, Jackie, begins dating Patrick Sullivan, the town’s new veterinarian. It all starts when Sullivan innocently tosses Josh’s basketball-savvy dog, Buddy, a football one day, and he discovers that Buddy also has an uncanny ability to play the sport of football. Soon enough, Buddy begins playing on Josh’s Junior High football team. Meanwhile, two Russian dognappers kidnap Buddy in hopes of having him perform in the Russian circus. It is up to Patrick Sullivan to help Josh get his dog back; and in doing so, they bond and Josh becomes comfortable with Sullivan’s intimate relationship with his mother.

Rating

Prior to the film’s theatrical release, it was originally rated PG by the MPAA (as seen in the original theatrical trailer). When the film was released in theaters, it was re-rated G by the MPAA. The same rating history happened with Babe: Pig in the City, another 1998 film about an animal and also featuring a dog.

Miscellaneous

-Six dogs were used to play Buddy in the making of this film.

-The family at the NFL game at the end shows the Seahawks playing at an outdoor stadium. When this movie was made, they still played at the Kingdome.

-In some of Air Bud: Golden Receiver foreign releases, the movie was titled Air Bud 2.

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Zeus and Roxanne

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

Zeus and Roxanne is a 1997 film directed by George T. Miller. The film was rated PG by the MPAA for mild thematic elements and ran for 98 minutes (1 hour and 38 minutes). It was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Rysher Entertainment.

Plot

This is a film about a boy, Jordan, and his dog Zeus. A marine biologist, Mary Beth, who is a single parent and leads a hectic life with her two impossible daughters, Judith and Nora. She, along with her partner Becky, are trying to study and save a beautiful dolphin named Roxanne. Unfortunately, Mary Beth’s greedy partner, Claude Carver, tries to capture the dolphin and sell her. Terry finds out that he has relationships with Mary Beth, and they start going out, under the watchful eyes of the kids. Zeus stows away one day on one of Mary Beth’s boat trips, which really annoys Mary Beth. However, when she finds out that the dog and the dolphin can do “interspecies communication,” she is intrigued and curious. In the end, it’s a race to save the dolphin and Zeus, who was kidnapped by Claude. At the end Claude gets caught by Becky, and gets peed on before he gets arrested. In the end Terry marries Mary Beth, and Roxanne finally finds a pod to live in, and has to say goodbye to Zeus.

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That Darn Cat

December 13th, 2008
Movies Online

That Darn Cat is a 1997 film starring Christina Ricci and Doug E. Doug. It is a remake of the 1965 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the book Undercover Cat by Gordon and Mildred Gordon.

Plot

The scene is Boston, “before the turn of the century”. A rich businessman is annoyed at his wife’s pestering, so he calls for the maid to prepare some warm milk. However, a pair of inept robbers kidnap a maid from a house, believing her to be the wife. The film switches to a small New England town called “Edgefield”, where 16-year-old Patti Randall (Ricci) is disgusted with how boring and old-fashioned the town is. She does love her cat, D.C. (“Darn Cat”) however. Her parents are unhappy at the way Patti acts and dresses. Every night D.C. leaves at 8 and harasses the neighborhood (such as tricking the dog and eating the dog food or playing with a bird cage while a geriatric and senile old lady orders travel packages). However, Patti’s big break comes when D.C. walks into a dilapidated building where the maid wraps a Timex watch around D.C.’s neck with “Hell” scratched on it (she meant to write “Help” but only came in some of the way). Patti (Ricci) discovers the watch around her cat’s neck and informs the FBI. The rest of the film revolves around the various humorous scrapes and struggles that Patti and the agent Zeke (Doug) face trying to get D.C. to lead them to the victim.

Production & Awards

Title sequences were produced by Pacific Titles & Optical. Animal Makers created the animatronic version of the cat. Buena Vista Home Entertainment distributed the video in most regions, while Abril Vídeo covered Brazil. It was filmed using a 35mm camera for both the coloured moving and black and white still pictures. The aspect ratio of the film was 1.85/1.

The film was shot in three main locations, 1) Aiken, South Carolina, 2) Augusta, Georgia and 3) Edgefield, South Carolina. It was given these certificates in various countries: Australia: PG, Iceland: L, UK: U, USA: PG, Canada: G, Singapore: PG.

The film earned Ricci two award nominations in 1998. The first was for a Kids Choice Awards for favourite movie actress and the second was for a Young Artist Award, Best Performance in a feature film – Leading actress.

The role of “D.C.” the cat was played by five cats, one of whom was called “Elvis.”

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