ZooScope

Tag: HAR: Training

  • White Fang. Dir. Randal Kleiser. Buena Vista Studios. 1991.

    Baring his teeth to a Grizzly Bear on its hind legs, White Fang- a hybridised wolf-dog, forsakes his life to defend a young boy, Jack Conroy. Jack’s endures a perilous journey across Alaskan terrain to discover his Father’s claim during the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush, and an orphaned wolf-dog puppy whose trust renders him a…

  • Stalker. Dir. Andrei Tarkovsky. Mosfilm. 1979.

    Andrei Tarkovsky’s science-fiction film, Stalker (1979), is marked by depression, desolation and barren wastelands.[1] The film’s loose narrative follows three men into The Zone, a disturbingly conscious and supernatural area of nuclear disaster. Whilst there, the eponymous Stalker encounters a black dog at various points on the journey. As the Stalker waits for his wife in the bar,…

  • The Artist. Dir. Michel Hazanavicius. Warner Brothers. 2011.

    Jean Dujardin as George Valentin, Bérénice Bejo as Peppy Miller and Uggie the dog in The Artist The Artist (2011) is a remarkable modern day silent film that explores the transformation of silent movies into talking pictures in 1920s Hollywood. This change in cinema style affects the lives of both the famous silent movie actor George Valentin…

  • Planet of the Apes. Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner. 20th Century Fox. 1968.

    The portrayal of animals in Planet of the Apes [1] is interesting as the roles of humans and animals are essentially reversed from what we are used to in everyday life. The apes are anthropomorphised – they walk and talk like humans, they ride horses, they are intelligent and literate, they have a justice system and…

  • Chicken Run. Dir. Peter Lord and Nick Park. Pathe Distribution Ltd.. 2000.

    I must have first seen Aardman Animation’s Chicken Run (2000) around the age of seven, not long after its initial release, and I remember frequently quoting it after that. But the film’s self-consciousness about its family audience, manifested in the wonderful attention to detail, has meant that I have kept enjoying, noticing and learning new…

  • Max. Dir. Boaz Yakin. Warner Bros. 2015.

    Max follows the journey of a fallen Marine, Kyle, and his dog, Max, who is brought to his hometown in Lufkin, Texas following his death. Military dog relationships are usually inseparable; Kyle’s death devastated Max resulting in being unresponsive to any new Marine handler and was forced to either be put down, or taken in…

  • Marley and Me. Dir. David Frankel. 20th Century Fox. 2008.

    Is this love, is this love, is this love, is this love that I’m feelin? This is the one question undoubtedly playing on John Grogan’s mind when looking at his cushion shredding, underwear stealing, jewellery eating, chaos causing canine; an ebullient bundle of joy whom he later asserts is “the world’s worst dog.” It goes…

  • The Drop. Dir. Michaël R. Roskam. Fox Searchlight Pictures. 2014.

    Synopsis The Drop is a tense and dark crime drama set in Brooklyn and centers on the character Bob, portrayed by Tom Hardy in a incredible understated performance, who tends the bar of his cousin Marv, James Gandolfini’s final fantastic performance. This bar is a ‘drop bar’, which means it collects money for the local Chechen mob. The…

  • How to Train Your Dragon. Dir. Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders. Paramount Pictures. 2010.

    Dreamworks’s 2010 film How to Train Your Dragon tells the story of Hiccup, a Viking whose village is regularly attacked by dragons. Due to his physical weakness and lack of fighting skills Hiccup is an outsider in his village, the others not recognizing his high intellect and inventiveness as useful. Yearning for recognition and acceptance, Hiccup joins…