Shaun the Sheep Movie

2015  PG  ANIMATED  1h 25min

CAST— Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Omid Djalili

MUSIC— Ilan Eshkeri  DIRECTORS— Mark Burton, Richard Starzak  BASED ON— Characters appearing on Shaun the Sheep (television)

     A super silly, though humorless attempt at comedy. Shaun is a sheep, living a life of dull routine, day after day, year after year. What he needs is a vacation, to get away from it all, to forsake the monotony, if only temporarily. Shaun hatches a plan to get his farmer to unwittingly lend the farmhouse to the sheep. But when do plans ever work out, right? The farmer ends up in The Big City with amnesia and the sheep, aided by the farmer’s loyal canine companion, begin a quest to rescue the farmer. But they’d best beware; a maniacal animal control officer is on the lookout for anything unusual, and that scrap of wool looks mighty suspicious. While the farmer (still memory-impaired) makes a name for himself in a chic salon (shearing human hair as he would a shaggy sheep) the barnyard brethren must evade animal control in their attempts to rescue the farmer and return to their tedious life. The film tries to give its all but becomes as boring as Shaun’s farmyard existence. Some snappy dialogue may have livened things up. But alas, there is no dialogue, snappy or otherwise; the characters mumble gibberish throughout, as if they’ve received speech therapy from Rowan Atkinson. At least Mr. Bean was funny.

OUR RATING— * ½

     Shane

1953  NR  WESTERN  1h 58min

CAST— Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, (Walter) Jack Palance, Brandon de Wilde, Ben Johnson, Edgar Buchanan, Emile Meyer, Elisha Cook, Jr.

MUSIC— Victor Young  DIRECTOR— George Stevens  BASED ON— Shane (novel), by Jack Schaefer

     Another dramatic Western that hits the bull’s eye. Van Heflin is a rancher with a small homestead outside of town. It seems as though numerous settlers (including Heflin) have been persecuted by a cattle baron and his crew. Enter Alan Ladd as Shane, a somewhat mysterious loner just drifting along. He sees the plight that Heflin is in and decides to peacefully intervene. Heflin hires him on as a farmhand; but Ladd becomes more than just hired help; he becomes a friend to Heflin and his wife, whose son idolizes Ladd. Soon the cattle baron ups the ante by hiring a notorious gunslinger to join his gang of ruffians. How will Ladd and Heflin cope with this new wrinkle? Fine performances and panoramic vistas highlight this classic of the genre. Oscar-winner for Best Cinematography, Color. Later developed into a television series. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.

OUR RATING— ***

Trailer Unavailable

     Shalako

1968  PG  WESTERN  1h 53min

CAST— Sean Connery, Brigitte Bardot, Stephen Boyd, Jack Hawkins, Peter Van Eyck, Honor Blackman, Woody Strode, Alexander Knox, Valerie French

MUSIC— Robert Farnon  DIRECTOR— Edward Dmytryk  BASED ON—Shalako (novel), by Louis L’Amour

     Here’s a curio. A Western starring 007 himself, Sean Connery. He plays an ex-Army colonel in the old West who runs into a group of European adventurers out for a hunt. The problem is that they’re breaking a treaty made with the Apaches to stay off of their land and the Natives are none too happy. Connery sets out to protect this group of pompous lay-abouts from a fierce assault, if only they would take these “savages” seriously. Okay actioner with a moderate level of suspense; just don’t expect any award-winning performances.

OUR RATING— ** ½

Trailer Unavailable

     The Shaggy Dog

1959  NR  COMEDY  1h 44min

CAST— Fred MacMurray, Jean Hagen, Tommy Kirk, Annette Funicello, Tim Considine, Kevin Corcoran, Cecil Kellaway, Alexander Scourby

MUSIC— Paul J. Smith  DIRECTOR— Charles Barton  BASED ON— The Hound of Florence (novel), by Felix Salten

     “… one ring to rule them all; and in the darkness bind them.” Oh, wait; that’s the wrong ring. The ring in this story has the power to turn the owner into a dog, of all things. After reading the inscription on an ancient ring young Tommy Kirk finds himself in the doghouse as he shape-shifts between being a boy and being a shaggy sheepdog, all at the most inopportune times. A useless subplot involving spies is dumped into the last half hour, seemingly a last minute addition. Younger kids may not care for the film as much as nostalgic parents on a yesteryear bender. Final note: this was a big hit for Disney, their first foray into live action comedy.

OUR RATING— ** ½

FOLLOWED BY— The Shaggy D.A. (1976), The Return of the Shaggy Dog (1987)

REMADE AS— The Shaggy Dog (1994/2006)

Trailer Unavailable

     The Shaggy D.A.

1976  NR  COMEDY  1h 31min

CAST— Dean Jones, Suzanne Pleshette, Tim Conway, Keenan Wynn, Jo Anne Worley, Dick Van Patton

MUSIC— Buddy Baker  DIRECTOR— Robert Stevenson

     More shape-shifting shenanigans, shaggy dog style. Dean Jones takes up the role of Wilby Daniels in this Disney sequel, and he has more on his mind than Annette Funicello. This time around he has an agenda: clean up the streets of his hometown by campaigning for the office of District Attorney, thereby casting out the current D.A., the corrupt Keenan Wynn. But the fur begins to fly when small time crooks pilfer the Borgia ring, the original ring that started it all; when the inscription is read Jones transforms into said shaggy sheepdog, with embarrassing results. Some amusing gags are scattered among the standard dog-on-the-loose fodder, but you can’t help but feel the padding, especially when the filmmakers result to a pie fight for laughs. Woof.

OUR RATING— **

PRECEDED BY— The Shaggy Dog (1959)

FOLLOWED BY— The Return of the Shaggy Dog (1994)