Flickchart Daily: Matchup of the Day and the Week’s DVD/Blu-ray Releases
Matchup of the Day
Here’s a couple of movies that may upset those with a fondness for man’s best friend:
Dog Soldiers vs. Amores Perros
In the first few minutes of Dog Soldiers, a dog is shot at point-blank range for military training purposes. The actual shooting is off-screen, but I still felt bad for the canine. Later, an entire family of werewolves is shot, stabbed, dismembered, burned, impaled and blown up. Lycanthropes are monsters, of course, and not just innocent animals, so brutally knocking them off is a more defensible act.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_0Ej5N-hFQ[/youtube]
Amores Perros is more troublesome in regards to displaying violence toward dogs. I can’t think of any other movies off-hand with such a high canine body count. The film is made up of three segments that are connected by a car crash involving the main characters. The first segment is about dog fighting, which is depicted in a rather bloody fashion. Director Alejandro González Iñárritu said of the filming “I lost so much sleep over it. We used plastic muzzles on the dogs, and hand-held cameras to make it look more dramatic. The dogs were just playing.” Even the American Humane Society backed up his story, from what I’ve read. But the carnage definitely seems real enough.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RYT3FTkvrI[/youtube]
The primary dog in the movie is a Rottweiler, Cofi, who leaves a pile of canine corpses in its wake. This is due to being pushed into dog fighting by humans, so Cofi can’t really be blamed. Later, in the final segment, Cofi inspires a down-and-out hit man, and dog lover, to reevaluate his life. The two killers are then able to start anew. Dog Soldiers doesn’t have any scenes of comparable canine redemption, but a dog does help a guy fight a werewolf. I think the lesson to be taken from these movies is that dogs should be treated with love, and they will give love in return. (NOTE: I’m more of a cat person, but I try to be kind to dogs whenever possible.)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSmhVq1aFFU[/youtube]
New Blu-ray and DVD Releases
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kxrndgt7gIY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24cjqfVv1fs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=medyOOMfiUQ[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT6R1Mz9FdA[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdSBrkqErHA[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY2lTdwCLms[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgZLWwKj5Ow[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GLerscJRhs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHecUD6jkVM[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU2ayU7R4H8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POOolBjWJ2U[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oYz2Bo75ew[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbbwWFIBeHE[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYpCp1_abqY[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-L5Whotmeg[/youtube]
The Relation of Face, Mind and Love
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFRWH2Xkypg[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prHtmk7yfuc[/youtube]
The Nurses Collection – Roger Corman’s Cult Classics All-Night Marathon
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA_SxFK7meo[/youtube]
Alpha Video is releasing a slew of silent films and westerns this week: