BLU-RAY
REVIEW: HOTEL FOR DOGS
04/26/09
SYNOPSIS: Hotel For
Dogs is a funny, heartwarming and inspiring animal adventure
that shows how far love and imagination can take you. When
16-year old, Andi (Roberts), and her younger brother Bruce
(Austin) find themselves in a foster home with a strict “no
pets” policy, they must use their quick wit to find a new
home for their dog, Friday. When they stumble into an
abandoned hotel, they realize they can transform it into the
perfect place for Friday- as well as all the strays in the
city. What began as a crusade to save one dog becomes a high
stakes adventure as everyone around them starts to wonder-
who let the dogs in?
REVIEW:
Remember that movie with Diane Lane and John Cusack, what
was it? Oh yeah, Must Love Dogs. Well, it’s not a
requirement but it does help if you really want to enjoy
this movie. One of Priscilla’s favorite dogs is the French
bulldog. She would already have one if she could afford to
get one. They are not cheap at all. If any of you know of
any French bulldogs out there that are available at a decent
price, please, please, send me an email. Or if you would
like to contribute to the “Let’s Get Priscilla a French
Bulldog Fund”, let me know as well. I’m going on and on
about this and yet I’m not even sure if one of the canine
stars in this movie is a French bulldog. I love dogs but I’m
not a professional classifier. I still can’t tell a French
bulldog from a Boston terrier. They look the same to me.
Georgia, be it French or Boston, is one of the many adorable
dogs used in this fun, light-hearted picture. If Priscilla
would have gone with me to the screening, she would have
been able to tell me what kind of dog Georgia is as well as
what kind of dog Friday is too. I think he looks like a
long-haired Jack Russell, but what do I know. Friday is the
main canine star and he and his buddies steal every scene
they are in. Friday is an ingenious dog that has the talent
of finding and eating food and what a healthy appetite he
has. Each of the other four legged stars has its own talent
as well. We have chewers, fetchers, howlers, and even
lovers. All of them have found the home they needed at this
abandoned hotel thanks to Bruce (Jake T. Austin) and Andi
(Emma Roberts), orphan siblings that have an affinity for
dogs. Oh yeah, there are humans in this movie too. They all
did as good as you would expect for this kind of movie.
Bruce and Andi are trouble makers but they are ingenious
trouble makers. Their hearts lie on the desire to be part of
a loving family and so they created one for themselves and
will defend it at any cost.
This film is geared more toward kids and based on the
feedback I noticed during the screening, they will enjoy it.
From the very beginning, there was audience participation
with the movie as they clapped along with the opening music.
There were kids galore in the audience and they were pumped
and excited to watch this film. There were plenty of aw’s
and oh’s throughout and it concluded with a nice round of
applause. The story is predictable and cliché at times, down
to the mean and nasty dog catchers, so you grown-ups might
enjoy the movie more if accompanied by children, unless
you’re a major fan of dogs. But regardless, the message that
this movie delivers is for everyone. It sheds light on the
fact that so many really good dogs are in need of a loving
family and home. In the movie they get a hotel but in our
world it might not be that simple. Director Thor Freudenthal
did a good job of tugging at our heart strings by showing us
the importance of being part of a loving family, both human
and pet alike.
Film
Review By Cine Marcos
cinemarcos@smartcine.com
BLU-RAY: The film is
presented in 1080P widescreen in a 1.85:1 aspect ration
preserving its theatrical format. The picture is just
flawless, giving the film vast array of vivid colors. Not
only the picture looks excellent in this release, also the
sound it is good, a English 5.1-TrueHD Master Audio as well
as a 5.1 Dolby Digital in French and Spanish. It also
includes subtitles in English, French , Spanish and
Portuguese. The audio capture in detail the sounds of man's
best friend.
In terms of special
features the blu-ray includes, the usual making of
featurette and about the more short featurettes that focus
more on the canines. It also includes about eight deleted
scenes and
Commentary by Thor Freudenthal,
Ewan "Jack" Leslie, Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin. All of
the special features in thu=is release are in HD, which is a
good thing.
Overall
Hotel for Dogs is a nice surprise, even if you are force to
watch this film, you will find that it wasn't bad. You
actually may end up recommend it.
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1 aspect ratio) 1080P
AUDIO:
English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio and French, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Commentary: Commentary by Thor Freudenthal, Ewan "Jack"
Leslie, Emma Roberts and Jake T. Austin
A
Home For Everyone: The Making Of Hotel For Dogs
This featurette
takes viewers behind the scenes of the making of the film.
In this case the featurette focus more in the process of
working with the animals. (19:10)
That’s The Coolest Thing I’ve Ever Seen! In this
short featurette we learn a little about the production
design of the hotel (5:55)
K-9
Casting You guess it, this featurette is about the
dog selection for the film. (6:05)
Bark
On Cue! This section talk about the dog's training
process for the film. (4:52)
Deleted Scenes
A total of eight deleted scenes that in reality don't add
anything interesting to the film.
Photo Gallery: Photo Galleries
The
Pedigree® Adoption Drive
Theatrical Trailer
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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