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media reviews
News: Guest Posts
An ever moving screen, action packed perfect for our video gaming generation, but also very familiar (if you have or have ever had a pet), and completely heart embracing film. This colorful cartoon, laced with a whimsical score, and wonderfully designed backdrops, stars a little brown and white dog named Max (Louis C.K.) who becomes a lost dog along with his new brother/roommate, Duke (Eric Stonestreet), after they accidentally escape from the sight of their NYC dog walker. On their adventure to find home, Max and Duke come across a dark and comical band of abandoned pets of the underground with Snowball the bunny (Kevin Hart) leading the pack. The cast is exceptional including the likes of Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Albert Brooks, and Dana Carvey.
Max and Duke bring forth our pets’ psyche with such delightful humor and adorable innocence. The directing duo, Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud of Despicable Me, and the actors have brilliantly captured and depicted our very own beloved pets, you can’t help but think of them throughout the film.
Secret Life of Pets is a burst of color and flashy imagery in every moment, if you have a headache skip the movie until it subsides. It’ll be an easy score with the kids and adults will have a lot to appreciate too.
Driving home, I couldn’t wait to reunite with my pets. My chocolate Lab, Caleb, was right behind my door as I opened it and my Betta fish, Koufax, swimming around in his tank to greet me. As Max says, “It’s the best part of the day.”
News: Guest Posts
Quick access to list of foods our pups should avoid.
Although we're inundated with apps these days some information is worth carrying around with us for quick access. The newly released Dog: Food Hazards app (android, free) is a very simple app dedicated to one topic, as you might have guessed, hazardous foods dogs should avoid.
Featuring a simplified layout for quick navigation, one can refresh their knowledge of dangerous foods for dogs and get information on symptoms caused by each featured food type. As a bonus they’ve prominently placed access to ASPCA’s pet poison hotline so it is quickly accessible too.
Unfortunately, the list of food hazards is limited, so it may not be helpful for people looking to delve deeply into the topic. While Dog: Food Hazards is a fairly barebones app, we enjoy the peace of mind that comes with its ease of access to information that every dog owner should know.
Culture: DogPatch
The comic book of the year is a dog story for the ages.
Great comic books are pretty common these days. Saga, a family drama set in space, is winning raves and readers. Batman 66 has picked up where the Adam West series left off, bringing back campy Batman for a new generation. Afterlife with Archie is a genuinely terrifying mashup of Archie Andrews and the gang with zombies. There’s a wealth of exciting work in comics, from self-published web comics to Marvel, DC and Image.
But when the time came to name the best single issue of a comic book published in 2013, both the Eisner Awards and the Harvey Awards (named for comics legends Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman) selected the same one: Hawkeye 11, otherwise known as the Pizza Dog issue. This incredible piece of art—written by Matt Fraction, illustrated and lettered by David Aja, and colored by Matt Hollingsworth—wowed the comic book world. It’s also an issue every dog lover would enjoy, offering a remarkable level of insight into our best pals.
Hawkeye has been raved about since its first issue, which also introduced Pizza Dog. “Pizza Dog” is the nickname for the pooch who was named Arrow when he was owned by the “Tracksuit Draculas,” a group of gangsters who menace the residents of Hawkeye’s building. Hawkeye saved Arrow—literally, taking the poor dog to the vet after he was hit by a car—and renamed him Lucky after adoption. Just like other superheroes and adopted dogs, Pizza Dog has several names.
Unlike comic book pets of the past—such as Krypto the Super-Dog and Ace the Bat-Hound—Lucky isn’t a superpet, and Hawkeye isn’t really a superhero comic. Hawkeye (Clint Barton) is a member of the Avengers, but he’s just a regular guy who shoots arrows really well. He’s no god like Thor or super soldier like Captain America. Hawkeye takes advantage of Barton’s status as a regular guy by following his life during his off-hours, when he’s not being an Avenger fighting for the fate of the world. The result is the superhero equivalent of an indie comic, both in terms of the everyday, relatable content and the art influenced by independent comics legend Chris Ware.
The story of Pizza Dog fits right into this already off-kilter Marvel Comic. Hawkeye 11—titled “Pizza Is My Life”—is told entirely from the point of view of Lucky, as Fraction and Aja make readers experience what Lucky sees, hears and (especially) smells. As we all know, dogs live in a world of smells that puts our puny noses to shame. Aja’s art depicts Lucky’s smell-based world through pictograms. For example, when Hawkeye meets with a police officer who is investigating the murder of neighbor Grills, we see Lucky’s mental flow charts for both characters. Little images of a cop car, a gun and the crime scene are linked to the cop. For Hawkeye, there are pictures of beer bottles and a figure getting out of bed—a very subtle way of suggesting that Hawkeye had a few beers last night, just got out of bed, hasn’t showered and smells like it. Similar smell maps exist for other characters (such as Kate Bishop, who is also called Hawkeye) and the whole building, showing Lucky’s internal map of his world.
Like a lot of great ideas, this issue started as a joke. As Aja recounts in Comic Book Resources, he was talking to Fraction and editor Steve Wacker and said “[M]aybe we should draw one issue from the dog’s point of view and I can draw it like how a dog sees. It was a joke. Suddenly, Steve and Matt said yes, let’s do it.” Aja planned to use the dog issue to catch up on deadlines, thinking it would be an easy issue for him: heavy on text, light on illustrations. As it evolved, it became the exact opposite, and Aja ended up doing even more work than usual, including the lettering. Remember the Far Side comic where Gary Larson showed how dogs hear English as a bunch of gibberish plus a few select words, like their names? That’s the same approach taken by Aja. He wrote in the dialogue, then erased the words that would be Greek to a dog, figuring it would be easier to do that himself than to explain it to Hawkeye letterer Chris Eliopoulos.
Lettering tricks and pictograms aside, Aja’s skill in drawing the body language of dogs is astounding. Every issue of Hawkeye is impressive, as Aja brings a far more humorous, human feel than can be found in most superhero comics. You can tell he obviously has a dog or has been around dogs. Aja captures Lucky’s curiosity, anger, happiness, sleepiness, sadness and shock perfectly as our hero dog investigates Grills’ murder, falls in love with a neighbor dog, barks at his abusive former owners and lives up to his nickname of Pizza Dog by rummaging through the trash for a blessed slice.
The commitment to portraying Lucky’s world also extends to the colors. Via email, colorist Hollingsworth told me, “The issue was approached entirely differently from any other comic. It was colored using only the color range that dogs see. So, I always had a reference image open that showed that range and stuck to that, which is basically yellow and blue to blue violet—so, sort of a two-color palette. That was Matt Fraction’s idea.”
Hollingsworth also took the opportunity to have a little extra fun with this unusual issue: “At the time that I was coloring it, I perpetuated a hoax on Facebook and Twitter. I faked up an image of some goggles and posted that picture. I live in Croatia, and I wrote that these had been made for me by Nikola Tesla’s great-great grandson. Tesla lived in Croatia at certain points of his life, and I said that his descendent had made these goggles for me which replicated dog-vision colors, and that I was wearing them the entire time I was coloring the issue. Everybody was taken in by this for about one day, and they were retweeting it. Funny.” Even without magic goggles, Hollingsworth’s colors are impressive.
So if you’re looking for the perfect gift for one of the dog people in your life, hunt down Hawkeye 11—or, even better, the collection Hawkeye, Vol. 2: Little Hits, which includes the Pizza Dog issue.
They say you don’t need a cape to be hero. Pizza Dog proves that statement applies to hero dogs too.
Culture: Reviews
From celluloid reels and family classics to foreign cinema and indie flicks, The Bark presents its list of 12 favorite dog “father” movies showcasing a father (or a paternal figure) and a leading canine character. These movies explore familial bonds, rights of passage and, of course, love. Invite your dad, son or daughter for a night at the movies—all the films on our list are guaranteed to tug at your heart. Most can be seen on Netflix, hulu or youtube. If you have a favorite that didn’t make this list, let us know! (Be sure to click on the titles for trailers and videos.)
Beginners Probably the only film that garnered an Academy Award for an actor, Christopher Plummer, who plays both a devoted dog “father” but also a father to a human son. This charming, true-to-life movie also costars Ewan McGregor, as the son, and a remarkable performance from Cosmo, a Jack Russell Terrier, who steals each scene. An understated story of self-discovery, life and love. See our interview with McGregor and Cosmo’s trainer too. - Rent or Buy Beginners on Amazon The Cave of the Yellow Dog This is a quasi-documentary that concentrates on a nomadic family in Mongolia—father, mother, three small children—and the impact made upon them by a stray puppy. The acting from six-year-old Nansalmaa Batchuluun is remarkable. As Bark’s reviewer noted, “this is one of the great joys of the movie-lover: to see a soul revealed, to witness a blending of part and actor so complete that we can’t distinguish where one emerges and the other disappears.” This is revelatory story about a culture in transition and the universality of the strength of the human-dog bond. See Bark’s interview with the director. - Buy The Cave of the Yellow Dog on AmazonSounder Let’s not mince words, this is a tearjerker, but one that is devoid of mawkish sentiment. A story of a black’s sharecropper family in the 1930s and their trusted dog, Sounder, a great hunter and loyal companion. He’s affectionate and joyful, and the pride of the family. With amazing performances from Paul Winfield, Cicely Tyson and the young, Kevin Hooks, this four-time Oscar-nominated film is a powerful story about racism and injustice, but also about how a family overcomes insurmountable obstacles and about the hope that is represented by their dog, Sounder. - Rent or Buy Sounder on Amazon
Babe While everyone knows this is the one of the two seminal movies about a smart pig so one might wonder what it is doing on this list. Babe, the piglet, not only has aspirations for sheepdogdom, but is coached along by a real Border Collie, Fly. So it has a well-deserved spot here—besides it is also one of the best movies ever made about animals. All the animals are beautifully crafted and fully realized characters, and James Cromwell as Farmer Hoggett puts in a memorable performance especially in the scene when he takes Babe to the herding trial and the pair go on to prove to one and all that you can do just about anything if you put your mind, and snout, to it. As he gently intones to Babe at the film’s end, “That’ll do, pig. That’ll do.” - Rent or Buy Babe on Amazon
Old Yeller This 1957 Disney classic is a coming-of-age tale set in the post-Civil War frontier. His father away on a cattle drive, young Travis must act as the man of the house, watching over his mother and younger brother. He’s initially mistrusting of a yellow stray dog who wreaks havoc and steals food, but the dog wins his affections and proves his loyalty by battling bears and boars to protect his new family. The tragic conclusion has overwhelmed generations of viewers, and the themes of love and loss resonate as clearly today as they did on the film’s first release. - Rent or Buy Old Yeller on Amazon
My Dog Skip Based upon a memoir by Willie Morris, one time editor of Harper’s magazine, My Dog Skip takes place in 1942. Young Willie has few friends and the prospect of a lonely summer, until his mother decides her son needs a dog. Skip changes Willie’s life forever. Best friend, talented performer, endearing dog-about-town … Skip introduces Willie to new worlds, new friends, seemingly the whole town. Moose (Eddie from Fraser) steals the film with his lively portrayal of Skip. - Rent or Buy My Dog Skip on Amazon
Where North Begins (Rin Tin Tin) Considered to be the first film starring Rin Tin Tin, this 1923 silent black and white reel has a the young German Shepherd puppy adopted by a wolf pack after being lost in transport across Alaska. As a grown “wolf-dog,” Rin Tin Tin comes to the rescue of a young trapper, Gabriel Dupré, who is attacked while transporting furs and left for dead. The young man and dog become fast friends, and Rin Tin Tin again proves his bravery by saving Dupré’s sweetheart when her life is threatened. Surprisingly realistic given the early age of cinema and the demanding feats asked of its canine star. - Buy Where the North Begins on Amazon
Because of Winn-Dixie One of the few “dog” movies featuring a little girl (the other is our pick, “Cave of the Yellow Dog”), in this case, a lonely 10-year-old named Opal. Having been abandoned by her mother when she was only three, finding a large scruffy dog at the supermarket, gives Opal another way to explore the world and her community and come out of her shell. Also because of Winn-Dixie, her father, played by Jeff Daniels, agrees to tell her ten things about her missing mother. Inspired by her attachment to her dog, Opal learns many things that summer. - Rent or Buy Because of Winn-Dixie on Amazon
Lassie Come Home This is the first film in the Lassie series, made in ’43 and starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor, Pal, in a story about the profound bond between the boy and his dog. When a poor Yorkshire family is forced to sell their beloved Rough Collie to a rich duke, the dog does everything to escape and make her way back to her “boy.” A lovely young Elizabeth Taylor plays the duke’s granddaughter who, sensing how much the dog loves her family helps Lassie escape. A movie classic that launched an industry, but its poignant and uplifting story is well worth your viewing. - Rent or Buy Lassie Come Home on Amazon
Umberto D This is one of the greatest films of all time and a classic masterpiece by Vittorio De Sica. This is a story about a retiree, played by a 70-year-old non-actor Carlo Battisti, who finds that the bond he has with his dog, Flike keeps him tethered to his own fading life. In fact, the dog shows him why he must continue to live. As Roger Ebert summarized it: “Umberto loves the dog and the dog loves him because that is the nature of the bond between dogs and men, and both try to live up to their side of the contract.” (This film was recently remade starring Jean Paul Belmondo, in a French version, “Mon Chien Un Homme et Son Chien.”) - Rent or Buy Umberto D. on Amazon
The Thin Man (any or all of this six-part series) Although it starred the sophisticates William Powell and Myrna Loy (as Nick and Nora Charles) it’s the performance of Asta that made this series from the ’30s all the more enjoyable. Adapted from the last novel written by Dashiell Hammett, Asta, the Charles’ dog/child was a female Schnauzer in the book, but in the movies the role went to male Wirehaired Fox Terrier(s). As a Bark reviewer noted, Skippy who played Asta in the first two movies, was “a consummate canine comedian who was the perfect counterpart to the socialites lushes the Charles.” - Rent or Buy The Thin Man on Amazon
My Dog Tulip This animated full-length feature film was adapted from J.R. Ackerley’s startling 1956 memoir that then, and even now, has a way of evoking either readers’ displeasure or intense admiration. Award winning-filmmakers Paul and Sandra Fierlinger codirected this film, and have done an artful job at bringing this eloquent study in love and adaptation to the screen. With the voices of Christopher Plummer, Isabella Rossellini and Lynn Redgrave this inimitable story of a man’s love for his dog showcases Ackerley’s determined efforts to ensure an existence of perfect happiness for his Alsatian, Tulip. See our review and interview with the filmmakers. - Buy My Dog Tulip on Amazon
News: Guest Posts
Jill Breitner is a dog trainer with a mission: to make us aware of how dogs communicate by showing us how to “read” them. She developed her Dog Decoder app to do just that.
A helpful and handy primer on canine body language, it demonstrates the ways dogs let us know they’re scared, excited, cautious, willing and so forth. As Breitner explains, “If we understood what dogs try so hard to tell us, there would be fewer people bitten and fewer dogs ending up in shelters.” The app highlights 60 different poses/situations; each one (“butt sniff,” for example) comes with a helpful description that points out some common misconceptions, or the circumstances in which a dog will exhibit it.
A great tool for newbie dog people and those of us who need to brush up on dog talk. dogdecoder.com
News: Editors
Worth tuning in
A friend of The Bark’s just told me about BBC Radio 4’s marvelous series called Dog Days. You have only a few days left to listen to them. Each runs around 15 minutes, and discusses various aspects of dogs behavior and dog culture. Interviews with researcher, John Bradshaw, and other British dog aficionados. From My Dog Tulip and Flush to current research on dog love. As the programs’ presenter, Robert Hanks (along with his Whippet Timmy), describes it, “When we tell stories about our dogs, we are also telling stories about ourselves.” Give a listen.
Culture: DogPatch
TV’s baddest dog gets philosophical
The dog days of summer officially begin June 20 with the third season premier of Wilfred, television's cult hit on FX. Aussie Jason Gann is the show’s originator/writer/lead actor who embodies Wilfred, a cantankerous lug in a dog suit who drinks beer, smokes pot and humps a giant teddy bear. The show ran for 16 episodes in Australia before jumping stateside. We spoke to Wilfred’s alter ego between takes recently.
How are you?
I’m good thanks. We’re three days into shooting the new season. I can’t say much plot-wise but we’re trying to get just the right mix of psychological and strange darkness.
Have a dog?
I don’t currently have a dog, I felt that it would be disloyal to Wilfred, but it might be time. I’ve always enjoyed their … humanness.
Is it tough getting into character?
I think it’s the power of suggestion … simply putting on the dog suit and nose does the trick.
Where’d the idea for Wilfred come from?
I was staying with a friend of mine, and he was telling me about coming home with a girl on a date, to her place and her dog looked at him like … what are you going to do to my missus? I just started to improvise on a conversation. A week later we made a short film, it became a hit on the festival circuit, including Sundance. The Australian television series followed, and now our current U.S. show.
Surprised by the show’s success?
What surprises me is how much we’ve gotten away with—loads more than we thought possible! Wilfred is both angel and demon. His character has that dark edge where he can do doggy, base destructive things that a human character couldn’t get away with on TV.
Do you have many doggy encounters?
We were filming and I was outside on the steps in front of the house, and this guy goes past walking his dog, and I turned around and when his dog saw me, he literally pissed himself, couldn’t believe what he was seeing … dog-man-god, he’s still having flashbacks, and telling all his mates. Or, I’ll be at the counter at the store, and somebody’s dog will be going crazy, jumping on me and stuff … and people say to the dog “what are you doing? You’re never like this …” I go “No, it’s OK, I’m Wilfred …”
How would you sum up Wilfred’s philosophy on life?
Act first, think later. Basically, trust your instincts.
Look for the new season of Wilfred on FX June 20.
News: Editors
Is he up for it?
For the next three months John Oliver will be temp hosting “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” while Stewart is off making a movie. Last year when I had the good fortune to be invited to do a behind-the-scenes feature about The Daily Show’s dogs, I talked with Oliver about his Golden Retriever pup Hoagie, his first-ever dog. I asked him about imagining having her on the show with him, perhaps playing the “straight woman” to his more biting, take-down persona that he assumes as a “news correspondent” on the show. He replied that just wouldn’t work because “fundamentally” she would “humanize” him. And that Hoagie wouldn’t let him “do my job, it would bring up too much compassion whenever she is around.”
We were reminded of that seeing a recent interview with the New York Times when Oliver noted that “all of my interview training is built around trying to take someone down.” But he recognizes that has to change now that he is sitting in Stewart’s chair, and he goes on to say that “When you have, say, Seth Rogen in front of you, the point is not to destroy him and the construct of beliefs he’s built up over his lifetime. It’s going to be talking to him about his new movie. It will be nice just to have a broader conversation where jokes can occur, but the primary focus is to have an interesting interview. It’ll be nice to be nicer to people.”
So can we suggest to Oliver that if he finds it challenging making the leap into jocular “nice host” affability that he look dogward to his Hoagie who can “assist” him to play the part. Or as Jon Stewart told us “there is nothing better than dogs, and they bring on the best in us too, nothing better.” Being a Golden, she definitely would be a natural and have the guests eating out of her hand, or vice versa.
Either way, we’ll be rooting for Oliver. He really is a hilarious guy who kept us in stitches and howling throughout our chat.
News: Editors
The good people at the Search Dog Foundation sent us this notice about a PBS show that is not to be missed.
Starting April 1st, PBS affiliates nationwide will feature SDF Search Teams as part of a series that celebrates shelter animals and the people whose lives they touch. For the first time, a video crew has captured the story of our teams -- from recruitment, to training, to pairing with a first-responder. The show is hosted by Jane Lynch, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actress, singer, and comedian.
Click here to see the Dates/times in your area
Culture: Reviews
Nosework
What is it about Nordic people that makes them so lyrical to listen to? It’s more than the accent—they just emanate gentleness. Nosework Search Games, a new DVD by Turid Rugaas (author of the wonderful classic book Calming Signals) and one of her students, Anne Lill Kvam, feels like the ’60s version of competitive nosework, focusing on games to exercise a dog’s mind rather than on how to play by the rules. They often call dogs “harmonic,” and talk a lot about letting dogs be themselves. There are step-by-step instructions on how to train for “the lost retrieve,” “the square search” and “search for treats” (which needs no instruction in my household). The structure is a little hard to get used to; they talk about the different games way before they get around to telling you how to do them, and the instructional portions were fi lmed at actual seminars conducted by the two women throughout Europe. But about a quarter of the way through, it becomes a somewhat Zen-like experience to watch. Be sure to wait for the credits at the end, during which Ms. Rugaas talks about her dog following her car tracks all the way to town without her knowing … you can see and hear the absolute wonder she has for dogs, and truly appreciate her love of the canine brain.
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