The noble movie tradition celebrating that special bond between man and dog continues with Heart of the Beast, a captivating survival drama in which an ailing Special Forces veteran (Brad Pitt) and the canine he served with withstand a plane crash and battle their way across an unforgiving landscape.
The scenic Alaskan wilderness they once found so soothing turns hostile as the pair try walking their way back to civilisation, some 58 miles away.
With nature their new adversary, they have to contend with rugged terrain, wild animals, including a wolf pack, raging rivers, injury and traumatic battlefield flashbacks.
As a warrior with a wounded psyche searching for peace, Pitt is thoroughly convincing. So, too, is Odin, his loyal and protective comrade.
Though digital effects can now create creatures with astonishing photorealism, Odin is played by a real German Shepherd named Uber.
Frankly, he turns out to be more expressive and moving than a lot of human actors. Yet somehow there’s still no Oscar for him.
Shame on you, Hollywood.
Animals also rule the screen in the delightful family film Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom, the latest in the stop-motion animated franchise from the storied Aardman studio, which gave us Creature Comforts and Wallace & Gromit.
Telling its story without using spoken words — how brave is that! — we join science-loving Shaun and his band of woolly pals as a home-brewed potion designed to grow big pumpkins also turns out to be a hair restorer.
This is great news for their balding farmer, only his hair keeps growing until he is mistaken for a monster by the local townsfolk who go after him.
The film’s defiantly old-fashioned animation look is very pleasing to behold and, unlike a lot of films aimed at children, the purely visual storytelling focuses your attention.
A super school holiday film.
Easily one of the best horror comedies we’ve seen for yonks, Resident Evil delivers a terrific, crazed post-apocalyptic joyride as a hapless medical courier, nicely played by Austin Abrams, finds himself at the pointy end of society’s collapse.
A reboot of the zombie action franchise previously associated with Milla Jovovich, the film is a real hoot, full of cartoon violence, creepy multi-limbed monsters and slimy gore effects.
There are some marvellously tense sequences in the film’s excellent first half, though the film, already a big hit, goes for laughs rather than scares.
Enjoy.
Over on the arthouse circuit, the gritty period drama The Weight stars Ethan Hawke as a Depression-era single father who is separated from his daughter when he is unjustly jailed and forced to work on a road gang.
His kindly warden, Russell Crowe in a strong supporting role, empathises with his plight and cuts him a deal: in return for his freedom, he must transport a load of illegal gold through the woods with a group of fellow convicts.
With a brooding tone and menacing atmosphere, the film shapes up as a suspenseful trek driven by a strong central performance from Hawke, now doing his best work as he powers through his 50s.
Taking itself far more seriously than you are likely to, the Netflix documentary Untold: Raygun Breaking Badly offers an amusing account of how Sydney academic and breakdancer Dr Rachael Gunn, aka Raygun, rapidly rose from obscurity to global infamy after her notorious performance at the 2024 Olympics.
Bearing the usual high production values we’ve come to expect from Netflix, we are taken inside the saga where the brutal nature of instant fame in the era of social media is laid bare.
You can’t help but feel sorry for the torment Gunn suffered as she and many other interviewees, including her parents and coach-husband, walk us through the trainwreck in great detail.
We see videos of Gunn admitting before her “big” moment that she is out of her depth, while the real-time reprocessing of her routine into fodder for ridicule is especially harsh.
Still, the effort to paint Gunn as a victim is a little suss given how the tale has a redemptive third act, thanks largely to Virgin guru Richard Branson.
The big question, of course, is: When do we get the movie?
For more visit jimschembri.com with updates on X at @jimschembri
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