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This isn’t your typical dog movie. It’s not about a young kid learning responsibility by owning a pet. The dog of the title, Marley, was journalist John Grogan’s pet from early in his marriage to after his three kids were born. He wrote about his pet many times in his daily column and eventually wrote a best-selling book about “the worst dog ever.” But the film really isn’t about the dog. Marley is just a witness to Grogan’s life.

The film begins with Grogan, played by Owen Wilson (THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS), getting married to fellow reporter Jennifer (Jennifer Aniston, TV’s FRIENDS). He lands a reporter’s job at a Florida newspaper where he dreams of doing big international stories like his friend Sebastian (Eric Dane, TV’s GREY’S ANATOMY). When Jennifer starts discussing children, John buys her a puppy. Marley turns out to be a handful, destroying everything that he sees. Marley eats everything he can chew. He howls during thunderstorms. And letting him off his leash at the park or beach is always a mistake. After a few years, when John has settled into his new role as columnist, he feels ready for kids. As Jennifer eventually says, Marley is easy compared to raising children.
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Where the Wild Things Are is where I’ll be in October.

The buzz list this week is an eclectic mix of work from some great directors and actors. From the directors, their new films move them into new directions, tackling subject that are unexpected. There are two films that feature two of the breakout performers of last year. So get ready to get buzzed.
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MONSTERS VS. ALIENS could have been called “It Came from Outta Every Other ‘50 Sci-Fi Spoof.” Beamed down from the planet disappointment, this DreamWorks animated feature is like the cloned aliens that populate it. I’ve heard of companies going green these days, but recycling gags doesn’t lessen energy consumption, only viewer enthusiasm. Following the fun promising turn DreamWorks made with KUNG FU PANDA, this film kicks them back to Planet SHARK TALE where an original voice is replaced with a stale sitcom hum.

Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon, WALK THE LINE) is about to marry self-centered weatherman Derek Dietl (Paul Rudd, I LOVE YOU, MAN) when she is hit by a meteorite. The space rock transforms her into a 49-foot 11-inch giant that the U.S. government dubs Ginormica. She is rounded up and put in a secret facility with other monsters. The Missing Link (Will Arnett, BLADES OF GLORY) is the de-facto leader of the captured creatures. Dr. Cockroach (Hugh Laurie, TV’s HOUSE) is a mad scientist who can make anything out of spare parts. B.O.B. (Seth Rogen, KNOCKED UP) is a dimwitted gelatinous blob. Insectosaurus is a 350-foot mutated insect that was captured while devouring Tokyo. But when alien Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson, TV’s THE OFFICE) threatens to take over Earth, President Hathaway (Stephen Colbert, TV’s THE COLBERT REPORT) is advised by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland, TV’s 24) to set loose the monsters on the alien’s giant robots.
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With the second film in the rebooted Bond franchise now on DVD, This Weekend’s Film Festival celebrates the iconic British spy with a collection of his greatest screen adventures. Some critics have argued that QUANTUM OF SOLACE took the fun out of the Bond series, but its gritty realism and continuing emotional center are something that was present in past installments. In the lineup we have Connery, Lazenby, Moore and Craig. We have Bianchi, Rigg, Bouqet, Green, and Kurylenko. After this look at 007, your impression of the legendary hero will be shaken and stirred.
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For those who enjoyed WATCHMEN, Warner Bros. Home Ent. has new treats in store. One of the parallel stories in the comic WATCHMEN was a comic within the comic, titled TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER. The bloody pirate tale tells the story of a mariner who after being shipwrecked rides a raft of corpses to his homeport in an effort to save his family from the evil Black Freighter. In this animated version of the tale, Warner hasn’t skimped on the gruesome details.

In a graphic style that’s a cross between DC Direct animated titles like SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY and AEON FLUX, BLACK FREIGHTER captures the essence of the original. Animation seems to be the perfect medium to capture the extreme tale, because live-action would be excessive and hard to watch. The otherworldly nature of animation always us to accept a man floating out to sea on the dead bodies of his comrades and battling a giant shark who tries to eat them.

With his deep, raspy voice, Gerard Butler, who starred in WATCHMEN director Zack Snyder’s 300, is an inspired choice to serve as the narrator. He provides the mariner’s inner struggle and mental deterioration with the right level of world-weary existential angst. In conjunction with the film, the animated short works as a skewed view of the final plan in WATCHMEN. Revenge and violence, used even with good intentions, can be disastrous. It underlines the phrase, “Who’s watching the watchmen?” Another quote comes to mind as well, “He who chases monsters must see that he not become a monster himself.”

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For those whom felt WATCHMEN was too much a literal adaptation of the comic, they may want to watch the new short based on the UNDER THE HOOD material from the original graphic novel. In the original WATCHMEN story, the original Nite Owl, Hollis Mason, wrote an autobiography, which was excerpted for the comic. Instead of filming a “based upon” sequence, director Eric Matthies and writer Hans Rodionoff craft a 1970s news program called “The Culpepper Minute” to chronicle the origin of Nite Owl and the superhero team called the Minutemen.

The TV news magazine style is reminiscent to 20/20 and even features vintage period commercials. Stephen McHattie gets a chance to shine as Mason, the first masked superhero to reveal his identity after previously keeping it secret. McHattie’s performance makes one wish he had been more prominent in the feature. The short serves as a fascinating prequel to the WATCHMEN feature, giving a deeper insight into his Hollis Mason character, as well as other key characters such as Sally Jupiter (Carla Gugino, SPY KIDS). Through seeing the story told prior to the events of the feature film, the short contains wonderful irony, especially for fans of the comic. I loved when Rorschach’s prison psychologist says he’d love to get into the mind of one of the masks.

While having seen the WATCHMEN feature will give this short a greater depth, it’s not a prerequisite. UNDER THE HOOD, like the animated TALES OF THE BLACK FREIGHTER in which it’s being release on DVD with, stands alone. Of course, FREIGHTER has its own characters and HOOD features those of the WATCHMEN story, no knowledge of the characters is really needed, because this documentary encapsulates the veteran crimefighters’ stories. This approach to the material allows us to get directly into the minds of the characters. The actors give subtlety and depth to the performances, allowing newbies to watch the short as is and those who’ve seen WATCHMEN to get a better understanding of the world and original Minutemen. Supplementary direct-to-DVD shorts based on new feature films are becoming popular. Most seem like afterthoughts or leftovers. This one provides the stories within the stories, enriching the feature, and stands out as what this kind of release should be like.

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This dramedy about a workaholic chef who is given her dead sister’s kid has no flavor. It’s like a microwave meal — parts of it smell good, but as is, it’s very bland and leaves you feeling hungry when you’re done. Some of the ingredients are good, especially the cast, but its script is canned.

Kate (Catherine Zeta-Jones, TRAFFIC) is the top chef at the restaurant of Paula (Patricia Clarkson, THE STATION AGENT). When Kate’s sister dies, the snooty cook is given custody of her niece Zoe (Abigail Breslin, LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE). This puts a crimp in her busy lifestyle, and Paula decides she needs to hire another chef. In comes Nick (Aaron Eckhart, ERIN BROCKOVICH), a free-spirited cook whose flashy style clashes with Kate’s anal-retentiveness. Of course, they will fall for each other, and Zoe will love Nick, but will they be able to get past Paula wanting Nick to be head chef?
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Is it time for Summer yet?

Five new trailers hit this week that got the buzz-o-meter buzzing. A hitman romance directed by an actor. A doc about an infamous boxer. A new vampire film from a Korean master. A new drama from a Spanish master. And a quirky-looking romance with two wonderful young stars. See what piqued my interest this week.
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Starring Judd Apatow regulars Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, John Hamburg’s comedy feels like an Apatow film, much like 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN and KNOCKED UP. But it’s even closer to Segel’s hit from last year, FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL. Like those films, I LOVE YOU, MAN combines original characters, raunchy humor and genuine heart.

Peter Klaven (Rudd) is about to get married to Zooey (Rashida Jones, TV’s THE OFFICE), but he doesn’t have anyone to be his best man. Unlike his fiancée who has to choose between her two best friends Hailey (Sarah Burns, TV’s DAMAGE CONTROL) and Denise (Jaime Pressly, TV’s MY NAME IS EARL), Peter has no close guy friends. His brother Robbie (Andy Samberg, TV’s SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) advises him that he has to go out on man-dates to find someone. In addition to this stress, Peter, a realtor, is trying to sell the million-dollar home of HULK star Lou Ferrigno, who you don’t want to get angry about selling his home. At an open house, Peter meets Sydney Fife (Segel), who trolls open houses for free food and hot divorcees. Peter likes Sydney’s openness. Could this be the guy?
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Director Mike Newell (FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL) attempts a screen adaptation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s magical realism classic and translates it into a marginal romance novel. In the transition, the story lost all its nuance, making the grand romance feel stiff instead of passionate. All the pieces are there and a good movie often breaks through, but it lacks the spark that would have given it life.

Florentino Ariza is smitten by Fermina Daza (Giovanna Mezzogiorno, 2001’s ONE LAST KISS) upon laying eyes on her for the first time. Florentino is played as a tortured teen by Unax Ugalde (GOYA’S GHOST) and as an adult by Oscar-winner Javier Bardem (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN). As a teen, Florentino’s every thought is consumed by Fermina, but her rich father Lorenzo (John Leguizamo, SUMMER OF SAM) can’t have a clerk marrying his daughter, so he sends her away to live with her cousin Hildebranda Sanchez (Catalina Sandino Moreno, MARIA FULL OF GRACE). Florentino saves himself for her, but when she returns, she rejects him and marries the doctor Juvenal Urbino (Benjamin Bratt, TV’s LAW & ORDER). Now Florentino, played by Bardem, becomes an unassuming ladies man, who keeps a journal of all his sexual conquests, but secretly longs for his soul mate Fermina. So when Juvenal dies, which we see at the start of the film, Florentino goes to Fermina on the day of the funeral to declare his love once again, and is rejected once again for his insensitivity.
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