Watched “My Life as a Dog” last night

Also known as Mitt liv som hund in the original Swedish, it was filmed in 1985, but takes place in 1959. It’s about a young boy named Ingemar who goes to live with his uncle in some strange little Swedish village when his mother gets ill. Ingemar can’t take his dog with him but the neighbour (or doctor?) arranging his trip tells him they’ll “kennel” it. Yeah right.

Ingemar loves his dog at least as much as he loves his mother but feels the lack of the dog’s company a lot more than he misses his mum. We aren’t treated to many scenes where the two of them are happy together. We do see one beach scene about seven or eight times though, as it’s the only real happy memory he has of her laughing. His attempts to connect with her at other times in the picture are pretty sad because she’s frail, off her rocker, and more likely to be reading or screaming than paying attention to what he has to say.

I think it’s fair to say the story is not about a boy’s life, but life through a boy’s eyes. We see Ingemar’s cute forays into sexuality without anything becoming awkward or trite. There are some hilarious scenes of him reading lingerie descriptions to an elderly house renter, among other things. We see him making friends and coming to grips with a strange situation and even stranger neighbours. He learns to box, bonds with his uncle (while endlessly listening to a Swedish version of “I’ve got a lovely bunch of coconuts” — had I been Uncle’s wife, I would have snapped it by day three) and becomes a young tomboy’s confidant and probably her first serious attraction.

As to what the title means, I think I figured it out. There are a few instances where Ingemar pretends to be a dog, but I think the title has more to do with Ingemar’s feelings of abandonment and fears of being unwanted, like his own dog turns out to be. In his flashback narrations he mentions Laika a lot, often wondering how she felt about being wired up and launched into space, and how the scientists might have felt about the one way trip.

Documents were released in 2002 that finally revealed the results of the Sputnik 2 experiment. Turns out that Laika only survived a few hours up there due to stress and intense heat. They figure an equipment malfunction had something to do with it but the whole thing burned up during reentry some months later, thus rendering the debate moot.

Laika was an abandoned mutt that gained a family, albeit briefly. No doubt Ingemar realizes by the end of the film that he has gained one, too.

It’s a sweet little movie. I was actually sad to see it end. That doesn’t happen with movies very often. The only others I can think of where that’s happened to me would be Return of the King and High Fidelity.

Super Scary Saturday (One Minion’s Frankenstein fix)

I was hoping to invite some strange creature to join my movie-watching exploits tonight but how could I have known I’d find the perfect way to round out this Cheezy Drive-In Movie series? I overheard this monster head mumbling to itself on a store shelf. Intrigued, I purchased it immediately. But what is it saying?

Drrrrurr*
Durrrrurrrr.**
Drrrurrrrrer. Durrurrereerrr…***

Friday Night Frights (One Minion gets a Shark bite)

“Dah duh….Dah duh…Dah duh”
“Da dumb is more like it. What are you doing with a rock on your back, Lloyd?”
“I’m a shark, Floyd.”
“Worst looking shark I’ve ever seen. Minion has tonight’s movie all set up. Are you going to watch it or not?”
“I have my shark costume on, don’t I?”
“Whatever.”

After “much prayer, creative brainstorming and wise counsel”

those responsible for the Kirk Cameron “hit” called Fireproof are almost ready to announce their new project.

During the National Religious Broadcasters Convention earlier this year, Fireproof Director Alex Kendrick said the yet-unnamed Sherwood Pictures film would have an expected budget of $2.5 million–five times larger than with the pro-marriage drama. Kendrick and his Fireproof movie-making brother, Stephen, recently told Christian Retailing that scriptwriting of the new project was to start soon, with production due next year and a theatrical release planned for early 2011.

“The leaders of Sherwood Pictures–Michael Catt, Jim McBride, Alex and Stephen Kendrick–have been praying about the story for the next movie,” Sherwood officials said. “Their prayer hasn’t been for a good movie; it’s been for a God movie. As was the case first with Flywheel, then with Facing the Giants and most recently with Fireproof , they believe God has answered their prayers.”

I bold that which explains everything. Great budget with no intention on making it good? Must be the Christian version of Transformers 2, but with less boobs and explosions and no cool robots. Ah well, they can make it. They can beat their flocks over the head with the God message until they’re too dazed to notice how shitty the film actually is, and they can pray they’ll still break even.

And I can thank my lucky stars I’ll never be forced to see it.

Super Scary Saturday (One Minion seeks a She Freak)

“I’m not a freak. Shinigami cannot be judged by human standards of attractiveness. Still, Minion thought this photo of me was very dark and freakish looking, and a perfect start to the next movie. I don’t really care. I’ve already lost the map to my new box of chocolates and have no idea which ones hide the coconut. It turns out I really hate coconut and without the map, I have to bite each and every piece…”

Friday Night Frights (One Minion meets a Star Knight)

“There’s no silliness preceding tonight’s picture, Star Knight. There is only me, Sidoh. Minion felt it best if I see this movie because I, too, am a stranger in this world. I am shinigami, a soul reaper, from another dimension and often watch this world and all the strange things humans do. I am also immortal (for the most part), and easily bored, hence the reason I actually agreed to stop in and do this (and because she promised chocolate). Minion assures me that as an alien element in this world, I will relate to the film in ways ordinary humans might not. But enough from me. Minion is about to press play and I haven’t even studied my chocolate box map yet…”

Super Scary Saturday (One Minion meets Lisa and the Devil)

I’m the Devil! I’m the Devil! Just kidding!

It’s only Minion and her markers making me look like the Devil!

Minion is a silly sort, isn’t she? I hope her strange sense of humour hasn’t put you off.

Anyway, Minion thought this would be a great way to introduce tonight’s movie, Lisa and the Devil.

Friday Night Frights (One Minion finds a Headless Ghost)

I’m a headless ghost! I’m a headless ghost!

No, no! I’m just teasing! You don’t have to run away! No! Come back! Minion was only playing with her photo program…

Oh dear, I feel so ashamed! What a silly idea this was! I’ve scared away every one of Minion’s readers! Oh dear! Now what are we going to do? This is terrible! So terrible! Oh, it’s a disaster!

What’s that you say? You’re still here? I don’t believe it! I didn’t scare you away? What a relief! You’re a bold one to check this blog tonight, though. Haven’t you noticed Minion is running a super scary weekend special this month to honour all that’s scary and fun? The past couple weekends were all about crazy killers and magic spells. I hope you like spooky movies because Minion is about to watch The Headless Ghost!

Sendak’s Wild Things hits theatres Friday

I can’t recall liking the book much as a kid, but I think it was the art that put me off more than the story. I don’t think I even remember the story, just the weird art. Anyway, the movie looks pretty damn sweet, so I expect I’ll wind up seeing it.

Newsweek has an interview with Sendak about his work and this movie, plus some input from the show’s screenwriter, Dave Eggers and Spike Jonze, too.

The monsters were based on adults, right?

Sendak: The monsters were based on relatives. They came from Europe, and they came on weekends to eat, and my mom had to cook. Three aunts and three uncles who spoke no English, practically. They grabbed you and twisted your face, and they thought that was an affectionate thing to do. And I knew that my mother’s cooking was pretty terrible, and it also took forever, and there was every possibility that they would eat me, or my sister or my brother. We really had a wicked fantasy that they were capable of that. We couldn’t taste any worse than what she was preparing. So that’s who the Wild Things are. They’re foreigners, lost in America, without a language. And children who are petrified of them, and don’t understand that these gestures, these twistings of flesh, are meant to be affectionate. So there you go.

There you go, indeed. Sendak, Eggers, and Jonze jointly worked on making a movie about childhood, rather than a movie specifically geared for children, and I have to say I admire them for that. Sendak remarks that he doesn’t like that “American” way of making movies. He’d rather see kids in film treated with some dignity, to let them be worried and scared, but still strong and willing to deal with the situations put in front of them.

Europeans have done films about children, like The 400 Blows or My Life as a Dog, which is one of the most wonderful movies ever. It’s tough to watch his suffering when his mother is dying and he scoots under the bed. That’s the kind of way they have of dealing with children and they always have. We are squeamish. We are Disneyfied. We don’t want children to suffer. But what do we do about the fact that they do? The trick is to turn that into art. Not scare children, that’s never our intention.

When asked what he’d say to parents thinking the movie’s too scary for their kids, he replied

I would tell them to go to hell. That’s a question I will not tolerate.

You can’t bubble wrap the world. You certainly can’t bubble wrap a kid. If parents don’t let their kids feel pain or fear out of a misplaced but understandable desire to “protect” them, it’s not doing them any favours in the long run. Pain and fear are part of what makes us human and we need to learn how to deal with those feelings. The sooner we understand how temporary the feeling often is, the better.

Super Scary Saturday (One Minion dares to open Doctor Blood’s Coffin)

“Oh, no,” Cow moaned, feeling a shiver of dread wiggle its way from horns to tail. “She brought home another one.”

“What?” asked Stegosaurus loudly, tilting his head towards her.

“Minion has another film in her hand,” Cow frantically repeated.

“My onion has a fly in the band?” Stegasaurus asked, perplexed. “Talk sense, Cow.”

“She has another mooooovie!” Cow squealed.

Stegosaurus rocked back on his haunches and his eyes grew wide. “Don’t bellow in my ear, Cow! They’re still ringing from that crazy scream fest yesterday!”

Cow murmured something resembling an apology while Stegosaurus knocked his head against the speaker a couple times. Then he looked toward their owner and drew in a sudden breath. “Holy crap! She’s got another cheezy movie!”

“It was a two for one special, that day at the store,” Cow muttered. “Why did you have to be the two?”

“Well, I would think it was obvious,” Stegosaurus answered, surprising Cow who had assumed he wouldn’t hear the snide remark. “It’s because I’m special!”

You don’t know how right you are, Cow thought to herself as Minion prepped the DVD player for Doctor Blood’s Coffin…