Project Silence, Starring Lee Sun-kyun

If you want to make something sound scary and evil, call it a project, like the Blair Witch Project, Colossus: the Forbin Project, or the 1619 Project. This project is also similarly sinister. It should have been called the “Cujo Project.” Any genre fan could have warned these government researchers that mutating dogs into assassins was a really bad idea, but they did it anyway. Unfortunately for Cha Jung-won, the dogs of war slip loose on the airport bridge he and his daughter find themselves trapped on in Kim Tae-gon’s Project Silence, which opens today in theaters.

Even though he is the deputy intelligence director in the current administration, Cha had no knowledge of Project Silence, until he gets stuck in the middle of it. Due to several Rube Goldberg-esque pile-ups, traffic on the bridge is blocked in both directions. Inconveniently, the super-secret military transport carrying the killer canines is part of the wreckage, which you know, lets the dogs out.

Initially, Cha believes he can coordinate a rescue operation from the ground, with the help of his boss, Jung Hyun-baek, the intelligence director, who happens to be their party’s presidential nominee. However, he eventually figures out what the rest of us knew from the start. Jung knew about Project Silence and he wants to bury the truth on the bridge.

Obviously, Project Silence cannibalizes elements from many other films. In some ways, it is Universal Soldier for dogs. It is also very a frustratingly dark film, not in terms of tone, but with respects to the actual lighting.

However, it is cool, in a decidedly bittersweet way, to see the late Lee Sun-kyun playing a morally complex action hero. He is rock-solid as Cha, but any fan of action movies or thrillers should catch out his brilliantly funny work in A Hard Day.

Robot Dreams, the Animated Oscar Nominee

This alternate 1980s New York is populated by animals and a few robots. It must be during the animal-Koch years rather than the animal-Dinkins years, because “Dog V.” is relatively unconcerned about crime. He is just lonely. That is why he orders a mechanical companion in Pablo Berger’s Oscar-nominated animated feature Robot Dreams, adapted from Sara Varon’s graphic novel, which opens today in New York.

Instead of Ginsu knives, Dog orders a robot from a late-night TV commercial. Once he struggles through the assembly, they get on famously. They are in-synch roller-skating in Central Park like kids from Fame. It is the same at the beach, at least until Robot starts malfunctioning. It is late in the day, so scrawny Dog is forced to leave him on the beach. The next day, the city has chained off the beach for the off-season. Repeatedly, the City Parks Department refuses his access requests, leaving Robot marooned with his increasingly fanciful thoughts.

It is rather ambiguous whether Dog and Robot’s relationship is one of friendship or animal-robotic love, but whatever it is, it was cruelly severed by the New York municipal government. New York’s bureaucratic incompetence and indifference is an eternal constant, but the early 1980s vibe is surprisingly wistful. Berger shows viewers the Twin Towers early and often. The attention to detail is impressive, including real life local landmarks like the El Quijote in Chelsea.

Admittedly, this is an animated fable, but Dog’s passivity is excruciatingly annoying. Would you let a chain-link fence stand between you and the special someone you love (or whatever), especially when New York has plenty of piers, where boats are kept?

Muzzle: K-9 Officers Fighting Fentanyl

Chinese exports have fallen drastically recently, except their illicit fentanyl trade. One brave LAPD officer will be killed trying to fight a gang of Mainland-connected fentanyl traffickers. He happened to have four legs, but as a K-9 officer, he is due the same honors as his two-legged colleagues. Naturally, his partner-handler is keen to avenge him in John Stalberg Jr.’s Muzzle, which opens tomorrow in New York.

Of course, Officer Jake Rosser has PTSD, because every veteran character must have PTSD. Hollywood simply refuses to consider any other aspect of the military service experience. Fortunately, partnering with Ace has been therapeutic for Rosser. Consequently, when Ace is murdered in the line of duty, Rosser starts spiraling downward again.

According to the autopsy, Ace was really killed by fentanyl poisoning, not the injuries he sustained from the fugitive drug dealer. Even though Rosser is suspended pending a clean psych evaluation, he starts following the leads back to a new fentanyl gang, with convenient connections to a Chinese pharmaceutical company. He also starts training a new partner.

Rosser can relate to Socks. She was badly mistreated by her last handler, whose identity is shrouded by an Internal Affairs investigation. Socks will be more of a project than Leland, the department’s senior trainer, recommends for Rosser, but they quickly form a bond. Rosser also deduces Socks’ murky past involves the same fentanyl gang that killed Ace.

Clearly, Muzzle is considerably darker than Turner & Hooch, since there is an Old Yeller moment within the first ten minutes. Yet, we get to know Ace sufficiently well for his funeral, with full departmental honors, to be darned emotionally crushing. Screenwriter Carlyle Eubank never cops out or opts for easy sentimentalism. This is a tough, gritty police story that features K-9 cops on nearly equal footing with their human counterparts. It also has the honesty and guts to call out China for its role in the fentanyl trade.

Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog

This will not be The Incredible Journey, but rather a sad and terrible one. Nor will it be Homeward Bound, because Kaleb’s young Jewish owner is no longer welcome in his own homeland. However, it very definitely explores the human-animal bound. In fact, the four-legged star often displays more humanity than the two-legged characters in Lynn Roth’s English-language production Shepherd: The Story of a Jewish Dog, which opens this Friday in New York.

Initially, life is comfortable for Joshua Gottlieb with his prosperous family in Berlin, but he is quite upset when his parents only allow him to keep one German Shepherd puppy from the litter his father delivers. However, viewers will soon assume it was partly due to their concern over the looming Nuremberg Laws. Soon, Joshua sees “No Jews Allowed” signs side-by-side with “No Dogs Allowed” signs. Before long, the Gottliebs are forced to give up their Aryan servants and the loyal Kaleb.

Kaleb is a good dog, but his new owner’s abusive anti-Semitic wife drives him away. Living on the streets, Kaleb makes friends with a pack of strays, until he is finally captured by animal control. Fortunately for Kaleb, his German Shepherd lineage is attractive to the SS vet choosing animals to train for service at concentration camps. Again, Kaleb (now known as “Blitz”) has affection for his new owner, but he has not forgotten young Gottlieb, who eventually arrives in the camp.

The way Shepherd depicts the inhumanity of the era through a dog’s eyes is often provocative. Roth’s comparison of the dog kennel with the concentration camp, in which both dogs and people are fatefully separated into left and right lines, is not subtle, but it leaves a deep impression. However, the film muddles the vibe by trying to counter-balance the tough stuff with family-friendly boy-and-his-dog drama. As a result, it is hard to figure just who exactly is the film’s target audience.

Into the Dark: Good Boy

Maggie is rather mousy and under-assertive, but she is still probably pushing credulity claiming her newly adopted dog is a legit “emotional support animal.” Reuben looks like a cute little guy, but there is an awful lot of fight in this dog—too much. Ally Sheedy’s character in Man’s Best Friend could definitely relate to what Maggie will go through, but the characterization and dialogue is much sharper in Tyler MacIntyre’s Good Boy, which premieres today, to commemorate National Dog Day or Pet Appreciation Week or whatever, as part of the current season of Hulu’s Blumhouse-produced Into the Dark.

Maggie’s neighborhood newspaper employer just switched over to an online-freelance model and her landlord effectively raised the rent with new fees. These developments come at an especially bad time, since she is just started preparing for an egg harvesting procedure. She adopted Reuben hoping he would alleviate her stress. It is a responsibility he takes deadly seriously.

Although we never see the entire transformation, it seems furry Reuben is a bit like the Incredible Hulk. You do not want to make him angry. Several people who have been bugging Maggie will lean that the hard way—permanently. Unfortunately, Reuben might also be getting a little jealous of her new boyfriend Nate, who also happens to be a cop.

Surprisingly for a Blumhouse joint, MacIntye keeps most of the gore off-screen. Instead, he keeps us focused on the characters and the sly humor. The Into the Dark franchise is definitely better when it does not take itself too seriously, as was the case with Pooka Lives, Crawlers, and School Spirit. Good Boy is another fine example, especially since it proves Steve “Mahoney” Guttenberg can still be funny, garnering big laughs as Maggie’s aging pot-head editor.

Animation First ’20: Marona’s Fantastic Tale

Your dogs better understand life than you do, so just scratch them behind the ears and toss them a ball. That is definitely the message of recent films like A Dog’s Purpose and Art of Racing in the Rain and this animated feature definitely concurs. According to the puppy who comes into the world as “Nine,” it is a dog’s life when you are dog, but hers will be even doggier. Yet, there will be grace notes too in Anca Damian’s Marona’s Fantastic Tale, which screens today as part of this year’s Animation First.

As is often the case for strays, “Nine” was the product of an unplanned pregnancy. Her mother is warm and sheltering, but she will not remain in her care long. Instead, she is given to the owners of the pure bread who was tomcatting with her mother, but they abandon her shortly thereafter. She will subsequently live with three owners, who call her Ana, Sara, and finally Marona (or Miruna, in the case of the family’s grouchy grandpa).

It is a sad tale, but Marona still loves the owners who showed her love in return. Burly Itzvan, the well-meaning construction worker is probably the best of the lot, but his shallow wife is another story. Isn’t that always the way for a dog? It certainly is for Nine/Sara/Marona.

Marona’s Tale is definitely a dog story for adults. There is absolutely no mature subject matter, but the new agey fable-like story will be too sad and Damian’s style of animation will be too abstract for younger children. In fact, most viewers will need a little time to acclimate to the wavy collage-like swirl Damian’s visuals, rendered in collaboration with artist Brecht Evens. Utilizing 2D, 3D, and old school Reiniger-esque cut-out, Damian creates an immersive and disorienting world, convincingly approximating a dog’s eye view on life.

Of course, it is all necessarily a bit of a downer, since the story unfolds in media res, after Marona/Nine is hit by a car, prompting her life to flashback before her eyes. You really have to look for those grace notes, but that is the whole point of Anghel Damian’s screenplay. Somehow, the film makes its point without belaboring it. Of course, the charm of the titular dog helps a lot.

NYAFF ’18: Looking for Lucky

Capitalism is an inherently fair and moral system. Good and services are exchanged at prices set in a free and open market. That is not how it works in China, where crony socialism has given rise to a favor economy. With no transparency, favor exchanges are constantly renegotiated mid-transaction by the more connected party—typically government officials or CP members. Poor grad student Zhang Guangsheng (poor is indeed the word) is at the mercy of his faculty advisor, particularly with respects to his future employment hopes. That is why his life is thrown into crisis when his father loses his professor’s dog in Jiang Jiachen’s Looking for Lucky (trailer here), which screens during the 2018 New York Asian Film Festival.

All of the errands Zhang has performed for Prof. Niu are on the brink of paying off, when the senior faculty member starts making vague promises regarding a full-time teaching position. Of course, the brown-nosing Zhang agrees to look after Niu’s white bulldog Lucky while he is out of town. However, he also has a thesis defense to prepare so he asks his father to walk Lucky. In retrospect, this was a catastrophic error.

For whatever reason, the elder Zhang is a magnet for quarrels, so true to form, he loses Lucky in the part after a run-in with an opportunistic granny. After bailing his father out of jail, Zhang starts pounding the pavement, but the chances of finding Lucky start out slim and become grimmer with each passing day.

Dog lovers can sort of relax, because the missing Lucky is found safe and sound about halfway through picture, but in a way that is no help to Zhang. Alas, not every dog in the film will be so lucky. Needless to say, Zhang’s supposedly secure future is now very much in doubt. Reluctantly, he falls back on plan B—offering Niu cash for the position, which Zhang’s father and his cronies believed was necessary all along. Thusly begins a mad scramble to raise money, complete his degree, and keep the old man out of jail.

Lucky is billed as a comedy, but it is hard to laugh at Zhang’s plight. Basically, it is like the dog-sitting analog of De Sica’s Bicycle Thief. Everything is stacked against Zhang, from petty scammers to snobby passive-aggressive fellow grad students. Actually, old Lucky is one of the few characters who we can’t really blame, given the circumstances of his disappearance.

It is also somewhat notable to see a father-and-son relationship in socially-conscious independent cinema (usually it is a sainted mother sacrificing for her family). Their home life is often contentious, but it is still mostly workable. As Zhang and his father, Ding Xinhe and Yu Hai are absolutely terrific. They bicker like they have years of difficult shared history together and practically already know what the other will say.

This is what happens when economic power is centralized—those who hold it, abuse it. The film’s setting in northeastern Shenyang (Jiang’s hometown) raises the stakes even further. Unlike big cities such as Shanghai, there are even less opportunities and fewer grey sectors. The film definitely has a docu-hybrid feel, because it is clearly based in truth and produced on the streets. Highly recommended as both a character study and as a humanistic critique of China’s political economy, Looking for Lucky screens tomorrow afternoon (7/8) at the Walter Reade, as part of this year’s NYAFF.

Sundance ’18: White Fang

Jack London’s bestselling animal adventure novel has been adapted as Japanese anime, a 1970s Italian franchise starring Franco Nero, a Disney live-action movie, a 1926 Hollywood silent featuring Strongheart the Dog, and a 1946 Soviet version Red Jack probably would have liked best. Clearly, the story’s popularity has never flagged, but the most visually accomplished take now happens to be a Francophone production (subsequently dubbed into English). The Yukon Territory is still a savage environment for London’s titular wolf-dog, but he will adapt and survive in Academy Award-winning animator Alexandre Espigares’ White Fang, which screens during this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

White Fang grew up under the watchful eye of his mother Kiche, a former sled dog gone wild. The winter has already been hard on the dogs, when an encounter with a lynx leaves Kiche badly injured. Nevertheless, White Fang will nurse her back to sufficient health for her to seek out and rejoin the pack dogs driven by Native trapper Grey Beaver. Although the other dogs resent White Fang’s strength and spirit, he will eventually claim his place as top dog. Unfortunately, he will also attract the unwanted attention of Beauty Smith, a nefarious dog-fighter intent on swindling him away from Grey Beaver.

Smith’s brutal training will mold White Fang into a ferocious fighter, but as we see in the in media res opening, the wolf-dog never develops a taste for fighting. Eventually, he will cross paths again with Weedon Scott, an honest lawman, with whom he had a brief encounter years ago, while he was still just a pup.

In a way, White Fang was like the Dog’s Purpose of 1906, following the wolf-dog as he changes hands and passes through metaphorical lives, except it features animal savagery in place of New Age spirituality. Espigares’ animated feature debut (he won the Oscar for his short, Mr. Hublot) is a manageable ninety minutes, but it feels pretty epic and remains relatively faithful to the source novel. However, the trio of screenwriters, Serge Frydman, Philippe Lioret, and Monique Monfrey water-down the abuse Grey Beaver metes out in the novel. While that might sound like a politically correct decision, it is wise to give younger viewers a respite from London’s harshness.

Espigares’ animation is indeed superb, merging a lush, painterly style with motion-capture technology. His wolves and dogs look scrupulously realistic, but exhibit distinctive personalities. The vibrant landscapes and vistas also evoke N.C. Wyeth’s great James Fenimore Cooper illustrations.

For the English dub, the voice of Paul Giamatti is perfectly cast as the scheming Smith. Nick Offerman and Rashida Jones are fine as Weedon and Maggie Scott, but probably the most distinctive vocal turn comes from Eddie Spears as Grey Beaver.

Espigares and his team have produced a White Fang that is lovely to look at, but is still quite tough minded. They have simplified London’s narrative to a minor extent (sorry One-Eye, maybe next film), but they definitely retained its essence. Enthusiastically recommended for adults and older kids, White Fang screens again this Saturday (1/27) in Park City, as part of the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Bullet Head: Dogs and Robbers

This dog definitely has a purpose—to bite your face off. He was trained to be a killer, but he exceeded his handler’s expectations. Now he is roaming the decrepit warehouse where a trio of hard luck thieves hope to regroup and lay low after pulling their latest job. Good luck with that. The killer dog movie gets a gangster twist in Paul Solet’s Bullet Head (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

We can have confidence in a jaded old crook played by John Malkovich. That is less true for his younger but nearly as jaded associate portrayed by Adrien Brody, but we can give him the benefit of the doubt. However, we assume the worst about their junky accomplice, with good reason—he is played by Rory Culkin. They have holed up in a squalid former warehouse, waiting for their getaway ride, but they are not alone. Cujo is also roaming the halls, but he was known as DeNiro during his dog-fighting days. His trained assumed those days were over after a particularly nasty battle royale, but he assumed wrong—fatally wrong.

The larcenous trio mostly concentrate on eluding the homicidal pooch, which does indeed require their full efforts. However, they eventually come to realize he is part of a particularly evil criminal enterprise, whose mastermind will most likely be returning sometime soon, to look for his now dead accomplice and the bag full of money from the last fight.

Solet’s feature debut Grace was weirdly over-hyped, but his follow-up release Dark Summer and his contribution to the anthology film Tales of Halloween were quite sly and pleasingly sinister. He shows even greater range this time around, mashing up horror and Elmore Leonard-esque crime elements into a hybrid that defies all expectations.

Of course, Solet has Malkovich doing Malkovich, which is a rock-solid foundation to build on. This is a weirdly discursive film, featuring several stories within the main narrative, but that definitely plays to Malkovich’s let-me-tell-you-a-thing-or-two strengths. Brody’s hound dog face also works well in the context of the film. In contrast, we just want to give Culkin a good slapping, but that is how we are supposed to feel about him. Plus, Antonio Banderas is absolutely not fooling around as the all-business, seriously malevolent dog-fighting gangster. He is hardcore, for real.

At this point, the combination of Banderas and Brody might suggest straight-to-DVD retro cash-ins, but Bullet Head is a straight-up good movie. It also suggests Banderas is a dog who can learn new tricks, while Malkovich’s old tricks are still just as entertaining as they have always been. Highly recommended for fans of heart-warming dog movies, like The Pack and White Dog, Bullet Head opens this Friday (12/8) in New York, at the Village East.

CAFF ’17: The Blood Hound

China could use more forest rangers like Lao Zhu. So could the tragically despoiled Tibet, but we have to settle for stationing one of the few ecologically minded rangers in the Tianshan mountains. He believes in protecting wildlife, but dogs are his true love, perhaps even more than his family. A disgraced former ranger out for revenge will target both in Liu Jianhua’s The Blood Hound (trailer here), which screens during the 2017 Chinese American Film Festival in the LA area.

People still eat dog in China’s provinces, but not Lao Zhu. Zhang Biao is a different story. There is already bad blood between them, so when Zhang moonlights poaching rare white wolves, Zhu does not hesitate to call in the constabulary. Unfortunately, Zhang’s arrest hastens a series of misfortunes for his family, all of which he blames on his honest rival. When he is released from prison, he starts killing Zhu’s dogs. However, a scheme out of Titus Andronicus to trick Lao into eating his mutt Rambo falls apart when the wonder dog escapes Zhang’s cronies. Zhang then turns his attention on Zhu’s popular older daughter, but his intentions get more complicated when he ends up falling for her.

Frankly, it is probably good just to have a Chinese film that suggests a little wildlife preservation is not a bad thing. In many ways, Blood Hound looks like an attempt to reverse-engineer a more politically palatable analog of Jean-Jacques Annaud’s Wolf Totem. Just updating the setting from the Cultural Revolution to modern day probably goes a long way. Xia Liu’s screenplay also clearly suggests the People’s Police diligently enforces wildlife protection regulations, which is highly debatable in real life. Regardless, even though cinematographer Ma Deling feasts on the Tianshan vistas, Wolf Totem a much more artistically accomplished film.

In fact, Blood Hound is rather prone to door-slamming family melodrama. It seems like old Zhu is constantly yelling at a family member, up until the ridiculous third act, wherein Rambo basically turns into Lassie. Still, Huang Hong and Liu Xiang-jing are appropriately grizzled and hardnosed as Zhu and Zhang. They promise score-settling a la Charles Bronson and Lee Marvin in Death Hunt, but the film delivers something more like a Hallmark TV movie, with the old grouch and rash poacher learning important life lessons from dogs. As a welcome bonus, the up-and-coming Zhu Lin is also quite engaging as Zhu’s dog-loving younger daughter.

It would be a mistake to dismiss outright a film with as many good intentions as The Blood Hound. There are some impressive performances and you have to appreciate a dog named Rambo. However, it also has more than its share of awkward moments. If you want to see a film that illustrates the man’s predatory encroachment on wolves’ habitat, Wolf Totem is your best choice. Notable more as a curiosity than as significant cinema, The Blood Hound screens tomorrow (11/7) and Wednesday (11/8) as part of this year’s Chinese American Film Festival in Alhambra, CA.

FCS ’17: Dogs

How do you keep 550 hectacres of strategically located land undeveloped for years, even during Romania’s Communist era? You have to be one bad cat, like Roman’s late grandfather, whom he hardly knew. Perhaps not surprisingly, the town’s terminally ill police chief and various low life thugs are less than welcoming when Roman takes possession of his property (with the intent to sell) in Bogdan Mirică’s Dogs (trailer here), which screens as part of this year’s Film Comment Selects.

“Uncle Alecu’s” property comes with a cranky caretaker, a snarling guard dog ironically named “Police” and a drafty old farmhouse with a shotgun prominently displayed. Soon after his arrival Police the dog alerts him to two strange cars secretly meeting in the middle of Old Alecu’s barren scrub grass. A few days later, Roman and his sales agent Sebi Voicu interrupt another such nocturnal rendezvous. Rather ominously, Voicu’s car was discovered abandoned shortly thereafter.

Voicu’s disappearance is one of two cases Chief Hogas is trying to clear. The other involves a severed foot discovered floating in a nearby pond. Unfortunately, two serious complications have imposed artificial time constraints on Hogas. His precinct is imminently due to be replaced by a roving mobile unit and his body is fatally riddled with cancer. Before he goes, Hogas desperately hopes to take down his nemesis, Samir, the local drug trafficking kingpin.

Dogs could indeed be considered the Romanian No Country for Old Men or Hell or High Water. It definitely has a contemporary western vibe, but it is still a Romanian film, so it should come as no surprise Dogs is a bit of a slow-starting slow-builder. Yet, Mirică organically develops the tension out of the moody, frontier-like setting. While the title is somewhat metaphorical, Police the junkyard dog still gets plenty of screen time. If you liked A Dog’s Purpose, you would probably be utterly horrified by Mirică’s Dogs, but it is still features some impressive canine screen work.

Dragos Bucur is actually a rather big fellow, but he manages to make Roman convincingly gawky and passive. Gheorghe Visu is quite salty and wry, playing Hogas much like a Romanian Jeff Bridges, except more emaciated. Constantin Cojocaru adds plenty of sinister local color as the caretaker, Epure, but Police’s constantly barking presence really makes the film.

Dogs steadily works towards some legit genre mayhem, while still staying true to its Romanian New Wave heritage. Mirică shows tremendous patience and a careful command of mise-en-scene, but it is still one of the more easily watchable Romanian films you are likely to see on the festival circuit. It really is a thriller and not just a film that inherits the category label, because it includes cops and guns. Recommended with enthusiasm for discriminating viewers, Dogs screens this Thursday night (2/23), as the conclusion of the 2017 edition of Film Comment Selects.

KAFFNY ’16: Retriever (short)

This year, the Federal government nearly reinstituted funding for horse beef inspections, but opponents prevailed in the eleventh hour. As a result, the lucrative Canadian and Mexican horse slaughtering concerns will carry on without American competition. Everyone likes Mr. Ed, but the horse beef for human consumption does not hit most Americans on the same visceral level as dog meat. Many Koreans feel the same way, but there is still a tradition of dog cuisine that some in the older generation still cling to. Obviously, opinion is mixed, but nobody is more conflicted on the issue than Lee Kwang, the homeless protagonist of Kim Joo-hwan’s short film Retriever, which screens during the 2016 Third Culture Korean American Film Festival New York (Brooklyn).

Lee is a despised and marginalized Chosonjok immigrant, an ethnic Korean from China. You could say he eats thanks to dog meat cuisine, but he does not partake himself. Every few months, Lee snatch-and-grabs a rescued stray from a provincial pound to sell to a back-alley dog butcher. He assumes a big golden retriever like Bori will fetch a nice price, but when his regular buyer lowballs him, Lee keeps him out of spite. Much to his surprise, Leee quickly bonds with Bori. He even works off the cost of vet bills when the dog gets sick through his own negligence. However, parents and dog lovers should be strongly cautioned—viewers should absolutely not get too attached to Bori.

Let’s just say Retriever is not The Lady and the Tramp or Lassie—think more along the lines of Old Yeller, but even darker. We will see how dodgy-borderline legal dog butchers go about their business and it is even more brutal than halal slaughter. This is definitely a film that stakes out a clear position in Korea’s ongoing dog meat debate. Yet, it has just as much or more to say about man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.

Moon Sun-yong is pretty darn devastating as the desperate and degraded Lee, forcing the empathy out of even the most guarded viewers. Of course, it is really and truly Max and Joon, appearing in tandem as Bori, who lower the emotional boom, just like W.C. Fields could have told you. The melancholy vibe is even further enhanced by the classically moody cinematography of Nils Clauss and Jung Jin-ho’s pensive light-chamber music score.

Retriever wears its heart conspicuously on its sleeve without shame or reservations. However, it is also an undeniably accomplished film. The quality on-screen is plainly evident to see, but it is still apt to ruin a lot of viewers’ days. If you like your films bittersweet with an emphasis on bitter than you will love Retriever when it screens this afternoon (10/22) with the feature Empty Space, at the Wythe Hotel in Brooklyn—and remember you can get 15% off tickets with the “jbpins” promo code.

Rescue Dogs: Write a Check, Skip the Movie

When you reach the stage in life when you start to receive frequent invitations to fundraisers, you eventually realize you are often better off sending a check and skipping the soiree. Essentially, this film is a case in point. It features real life rescued cats and canines and it has a number of screenings this weekend to benefit cause of animal rescue. Unfortunately, the shticky execution cannot match the good intentions. Goofy humans have healthy relationships with their pets, but they are completely lost when it comes to every other aspect of life in M.J. Anderson & Haik Katsikian’s Rescue Dogs (trailer here), which opens today in select markets.

Essentially, Rescue follows the formula developed by the Look Who’s Talking franchise, but with none of its subtlety. Throughout the film, the various critters and varmints will contribute their running commentary through voice-over narration and sometimes talk amongst themselves, apparently through some form of animal telepathy.

Every morning, Charger helps his socially inept owner Tracy cook up eggs and chorizo at his surfside breakfast shack, because even if you are a beach bum, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Actually, his business plan is not working out so well. If he does not make this month’s rent, the bank will take possession of the beachfront shack.

A greedy golf course developer will do everything he can to hinder Tracy, including sending round a government health inspector. Needless to say, the doggie in the kitchen does not go over so well. Things look bad on the restaurant front, but Tracy’s romantic outlook is even worse. Despite the brewing crisis, he still finds time to pursue the red-headed Bridgette, who thinks he is a dance instructor named Fabiolo. You have no idea how awkward that subplot gets.

As true blue Tracy, Paul Haapaniemi tries so hard in the jokey dance sequences, it is truly painful to watch him crash and burn. To be fair, he develops some okay chemistry with Courtenay Daniels’ Bridgette, but sitting through the dumb, slapsticky humor surrounding them gets to be a chore. However, screenwriter Jordan Rawlins has nobody to blame but himself for his wince-inducing scenes playing Tracy’s drugless stoner brother Harper, who fancies himself a treasure hunter (thereby telegraphing the third act surprise way in advance). His annoying persona could be described as a poor man’s Jamie Kennedy, which is quite impoverished indeed.

Charger is a good boy, yes he is. Unfortunately, the motor-mouth voice-overs do not match those soulful brown eyes. Better luck next movie Charger. At least he fares better than Bridgette’s meathead gym rat hamster, Hambone. Those sequences will tax the patience of even the most zoologically-enamored young children.

It should be clear what we are dealing with here. If you are a mentally competent adult that wishes to support animal rescue, just cut a check to the cause and skip the benefit screenings. For those who insist on doing things the hard way, Rescue Dogs opens today (4/1) at the Marcus Addison Cinema in Chicagoland has special benefit screenings this Saturday and Sunday mornings (4/2, 4/3) at the Malverne Cinema on Long Island.

The Pack: When Dogs Run Free

Remember Meryl Streep uttering the famous line: “a dingo ate my baby?” Maybe she got off easy. A pack of wild dogs is out to gnaw on the entire Wilson family, as well as anyone who might visit them in Nick Robertson’s The Pack (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York at the IFC Center.

The Wilsons are facing foreclosure, but it really isn’t their fault. They have suffered unusually heavy livestock losses over the last few months. Unfortunately, their slimy mortgage banker came out to float a lowball offer on their Outback sheep ranch, but he will not make it back to the office. He’s about to become rabid puppy chow.

Look, this is what happens when leash laws are not properly enforced. It leads to anarchy and crimes against nature. Weather-beaten Adam Wilson and his veterinary-trained wife Carla will have to corral their moody teenager Sophie and her bratty little brother Henry if they plan to make any sort of run for it. There is a good chance the dogs have them out-classed.

The Pack is not a terrible animals-attack movie, but it pales in comparison to Kornél Mundruczó’s White God, which wasn’t even a genre film, per se. Most of the Wilsons are relatively likable, down-to-earth, and proactive, but young Henry’s penchant for hoarding bullets is an annoyingly ill-conceived subplot. Presumably, most Outback kids grow up learning how to safely handle firearms and ammunition at an early age. His fascination really does not make sense.

Frankly, the stars of The Pack are the German Shepherds trained by the Guard Dog Training Center and the animatronic dog puppets designed by Steve Boyle. They definitely look snarly and cunning. Apparently, the act of “sneaking up” on actors is tough to train, but they nailed it cold. Amongst the people, Anna Lise Phillips creates the strongest discrete personality as the resourceful Carla Wilson.

The Wilson house sure looks like a classic Outback hacienda, giving the film a decent sense of place. Cinematographer Benjamin Shirley also captures some terrific close-ups of his canine cast. Nevertheless, the film never gets much beyond just okay. In fact, by horror standards, it feels frustratingly restrained. Only recommended for super-keen fans of the rampaging beast sub-genre, The Pack opens this Friday (2/5) in New York.

Love on the Cloud: Angelababy and Mo Chou the Shar Pei

Screenwriter Sha Guo will write treatments for just about every sort of contemporary Chinese film a doofus character such as himself might appear in. There will be romantic comedy, tragedy, compulsive social networking, and a surprisingly credible haunting. Still, the big question will be whether he gets the girl or the dog, or both, or neither in director-screenwriter Gu Chang-wei’s Love on the Cloud (trailer here) which is now playing in New York.

Sha Guo and his buddies, aspiring cinematographer Ma Dai and would be matinee idol-producer Huang Xaigang, the so-called “Three Dreamers” have just reeled in an investor for their first film, Living with the Werewolf. Ms. Ma the beef magnate just wants a couple script revisions: product placement for her Little Bull company. No problem, they can do that. In this case, “they” means Sha Guo. After a hard session of rewriting, he hits the social media apps looking for a hook-up. Instead, up-and-coming auto-show model Chen Xi exploits his “Sad Shar Pei” handle, suckering him into dog-sitting her furrowed browed Mo Chou. Of course, he agrees, hoping it will lead to bigger and hotter things. However, both Chen Xi’s dog-sitting and Ms. Ma’s rewrites will become a constant in his increasingly frustrated life.

Given its title and genre, HK film fans might assume Love on the Cloud is the next installment in Pang Ho-cheung’s Love in a Puff-Love in the Buff series, but Cherie Yu and Jimmy Cheung will not be breaking up and getting back together again, at least not right now. Cloud is actually Beijing-set and Mainland produced, featuring a star turn from Angelababy. About a billion people already knew the model-turned-actress was a star, but with Cloud she successfully transitions from perky teen roles (Love in Space, All’s Well Ends Well 2010 and 2011) to a legit romantic lead. She smokes up the screen and leaves poor Michael Chen and his hapless Sha Guo looking small and deflated on-screen.

Still, when he is satirizing the Chinese film business with the other two Dreamers, Chen is a good sport, keeping the material remarkably grounded, all things considered, by minimizing the shtick and the mugging. In fact, the entire cast earns props because Gu throws the kitchen sink at them, but never wastes much time on dry, boring transitions. Frankly, it is hard to believe how much of the film works. Even the horror movie segments, necessitated by another batch of rewrites for Ms. Ma, are actually sort of creepy and very true to genre conventions.

Angelababy is radiant throughout Cloud and Chen keeps plugging away, but good old Mo Chou just sort of steals the picture rather effortlessly. The camera loves the Shar Pei, but he never resorts to cheap tricks to look cute. So yes, give the dog credit for subtlety of his performance (would it be going too far to compare him favorably with Meryl Streep’s excessive theatrics in Ossage County? It’d be true.) Regardless, there are enough laughs mixed with Angelababy’s glamour and Mo Chou’s furry charm to keep Cloud chugging along at a good clip. Recommended for those who like a good doggie rom-com with a little bit of an edge, Love on the Cloud is now playing in New York at the AMC Empire.

BFF ’12: Old Dog

In news of yet more outrageous but hardly surprising interference in Tibetan affairs, China has just announced an open-ended ban on foreign tourism to the occupied country.  However, friends and admirers of the Himalayan nation can still get a glimpse into the on-the-ground realities there through Pema Tseden’s narrative feature Old Dog (trailer here), which screens tonight at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema, as part of the 2012 BrooklynFilm Festival.

Not content with Tibet’s sovereignty, China also covets its dogs.  For the Chinese nouveau riche, nomad mastiffs are the newest status symbol.  It is a seller’s market, assuming unscrupulous dog merchants do not steal the traditional family canines first.  Dog-nappings are so pervasive, Gonpo figures he might as well sell his father-in-law Akku’s beloved pet and at least get some money for him.  Akku does not see it that way, enlisting the help of his a local copper kinsman to retrieve the shaggy pooch.  Unfortunately, the dog brokers are not about to forget about so prized a pooch.

If Jia Zhangke remade Old Yeller, it might look something like Old Dog.  Helmed by Tibetan auteur Pema Tseden (a.k.a. Wanma Caidan when he is in China), it is a slight departure for distributor dGenerate Films, the independent Chinese cinema specialists.  However, Tseden’s naturalistic documentary-like approach is quite in line with the Digital Generation style for which they are named.  He and cinematographer Sonthar Gyal capture the sweeping grandeur of the landscape, as well as the hardscrabble nature of life for Tibetans, both in cities and in the countryside.  It is also clear the last fifty-three years have been devastating for contemporary Tibetan architecture.

Amongst a cast clearly at home on the Tibetan Steppe, Lochey gives a remarkably assured performance as Akku.  Deeply human and humane, his character bears witness to the steady corrosion of traditional Tibetan values, but he does not necessarily do so silently.  Drolma Kyab’s performance as the hash-up son-in-law Gonpo is also quite honest and engaging.  Indeed, the small ensemble is so completely unaffected and natural on-screen, Old Dog could easily pass for a documentary.  Yet, it has a very real dramatic arc.

Already the focus of a career retrospective at the Asia Society (amounting to two films at the time), Tseden is a filmmaker of international stature.  Taking some subtly implied but recognizable jabs at Chinese hegemony over Tibet, Old Dog is his boldest film yet.  Cineastes will earnestly hope there will be more to follow.  Quietly powerful, Old Dog is highly recommended during this year’s BFF.  It screens tonight (6/8) at the Brooklyn Heights Cinema, with Tseden appearing for Q&A afterward, as well as this Saturday (6/9) at IndieScreen in Williamsburg.

Quill: The Life of a Guide Dog

As cute as he is, Quill is a dog with a role in life.  By virtue of his intelligence and empathetic intuition, the golden retriever will become a guide dog for the blind.  His eventful dog’s life is lovingly depicted in Yoichi Sai’s Quill: the Life of a Guide Dog (trailer here), which opens this Friday in New York.

Out of a litter of five pups, Quill is the shrewdest.  His owner wanted them all to become guide dogs, but only Quill makes the grade.  As a result, he will experience his first parting, leaving his puppy home to live with the Isamu and Mitsuko Nii, a couple who care for prospective guide dogs until they reach the age training commences.  Considering how the Niis dote on him, Satoru Tawada’s training kennel requires quite an adjustment, but again Quill adapts.

Tawada has Quill in mind for Watanabe, the irascible chairman of a local nonprofit support organization, but the middle-aged man is resistant.  Of course, Quill wins him over, but Watanabe’s health problems will complicate their time together.

Sai once served as an assistant director to Nagisa Ôshima on In the Realm of the Senses, a film about as dissimilar to Quill as one can possibly imagine.   Not afraid of a little manipulative sentiment, Shoichi Maruyama and Yoshihiro Nakamura’s screenplay hits all the dog-lover bases good and hard.  However, Quill’s adorableness at all ages is an undeniable ace in the hole.  By the time the aged Quill comes full circle back to the Niis, even the brawniest of men will find themselves getting choked up.

No question, the canine cast is truly endearing, with the film’s trainer Tadami Miya maximizing their cinematic charm.  The human ensemble is also rather pleasing, including Teruyuki Kagawa (recognizable from far darker Japanese imports, like Tokyo Sonata and the 20th Century Boys trilogy) and Shinobu Terajima (unforgettable in Wakamatsu’s disturbing Caterpillar), who are genuinely touching as the Niis.

Featuring a sensitive soundtrack by the Kuricorder Quartet, Quill has a gentle, humane vibe not unlike the work of Kore-eda.  Though Sai’s film has been kicking around the festival circuit since 2004, its belated American release coincides with the dramatic increase in the social and commercial organization of U.S. dog lovers.  Frankly, post-Marley and Me, it has enormous crossover potential.  Recommended for canine fanciers and Japanese cinephiles, Quill opens this Friday (5/18) in New York at the Cinema Village.

Frantisek Vlacil at FSLC: Sirius

The story of a boy and his dog is a classic motif of children’s films. However, Franstišek Vláčil transformed the well established convention into something sadly poetic, perfectly befitting the tenor of his time. As was the case with many artists, the post-Soviet Invasion years were not kind to Vláčil’s career, but by the mid 1970’s, he was eventually allowed to take the reins of a smattering of short documentaries and films for young audiences. Though ostensibly one such children’s film, the adult world tragically intrudes in Sirius, Vláčil’s elegiac WWII-era coming of age film, which screens this Saturday afternoon as part of the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Fantastic World of Franstišek Vláčil retrospective now underway at the Walter Reade Theater.

Sirius (or "Sir" as he is affectionately called) is not quite Lassie, but his ability to communicate and follow the instructions of his master is impressive none-the-less. Fascinated by the night sky, the director’s young namesake named the loyal canine after the Dog Star, the brightest star visible from Earth with the naked eye. Franstišek’s days appear to be filled with child-like wonder, as he and Sir commune with the nature. It seems their only cause for concern is the Bo Radley-esque forest-keeper who makes no secret of his ill will for the title animal. All that changes when a Nazi troop train blows up right before his eyes. Suddenly, the Germans are keenly aware of Franstišek’s station agent father as well as his spirited dog.

Though comparatively brief at a mere fifty minutes, Vláčil still takes his time establishing the rapport between boy and dog. Indeed, most of the film has a pastoral feel, though a sense of foreboding looms over the film. Clearly, there was a very competent dog trainer working behind the scenes, but Michal Vavrusa is also surprisingly understated and engaging as Franstišek.

Sirius could be considered an Old Yeller from behind the Iron Curtain. Yet, Vláčil slyly employs astronomical motifs to add a metaphysical-allegorical dimension unlike anything in Disney films. Though it burns brightly, we are told Sirius the star is due to temporarily disappear from the horizon. Likewise, the National Socialist occupiers may appear all powerful, but they too shall pass (as their Communist successors did as well).

Beautiful in its simplicity and directness, Sirus is a rewarding film for both smart kids and relatively smart adults. Not available on DVD here in America, it is highly recommended for all ages when it screens this Saturday (2/5) as part of the Vláčil series at the Walter Reade Theater.

Canine Valentine: My Dog Tulip

For the British, the immediate post-war years were a period of economic recession and national uncertainty. However, for one tweedy man of letters, they were happy times thanks to his ideal companion, a willful but affectionate German shepherd. Despite a relatively slim body of work, J.R. Ackerley’s literary reputation endures almost entirely thanks to his memoir of faithful dog ownership, My Dog Tulip, which has been adapted by Paul and Sandra Fierlinger as an animated feature intended for discerning adults. The first acquisition of the happily re-launched New Yorker Films, Dog (trailer here) opens this Wednesday in New York at Film Forum.

Though not deliberately abused, Tulip was too much dog for her original harried working class owners. However, a “confirmed bachelor” like Ackerley is perfectly willing to put up with a little barking and the occasional mess on the floor. In return, Tulip loved him with a possessive fervor. Caring for Tulip presents its challenges for the set-in-his-ways gent, the most pressing of which is finding a vet both he and Tulip feel comfortable with. Eventually, they are referred to Dr. Canvenini, who we know will be compassionate since she has the soothing voice of Isabella Rossellini.

With Tulip now receiving better care than most of the English suddenly navigating the National Health Service, Ackerley finds he enjoys her company far more than that of humankind, most definitely including his jealous sister Nancy. It is a love he explains with colorful details as he works on what will surely become his beloved memoir throughout the film.

Dog’s refined visual style has been likened to that of New Yorker magazine cartoons, which is a relatively apt comparison. While deliberately “sketchier” during flashback sequences and such, it conveys a spirit of wit and elegance throughout. Still, do not let the classy look and literary credentials mislead you. The film has a gleefully scatological disposition, displaying a Mehmet Oz-like fascination with the consistency of Tulip’s number two. All of which means Dog is a heck of a lot of fun.

Christopher Plummer’s voice is a perfect fit for Ackerley’s curmudgeonly urbanity, taking audible delight in his sly turns of phrase. John Avarese’s jazz and light classical soundtrack also further heightens the film’s air of sophistication. Yet, while Dog’s gentle pace and episodic structure might sound suitable for children, parents should be cognizant it really was produced with adult viewers in mind (featuring for instance a rather frank subplot involving Ackerley’s attempts to mate Tulip).

Forget about Marley and Me or any other saccharine pet movie. The Fierlingers’ animated take on Ackerley’s canine valentine is a smart and wistful pleasure for discriminating dog and film lovers. Warmly recommended, the droll Dog begins a two week run Wednesday (9/1) at Film Forum, with the filmmakers scheduled to attend the 8:00 screenings opening night and Thursday (9/2).