Are they covered by the Screen Actors Guild?

You ever see that movie Old Yeller ? Well, I never did because when I was five I was traumatized by a clip from the movie of the boy shooting the dog.

Me: Why did he shoot Old Yeller?

Dad: Because it was sick. It had rabies.

Me: How did it get rabies?

Dad: It got rabies because it was bitten by a wolf who had rabies.

Me: Why was it bitten by a wolf?

Dad: The dog was trying to protect the family from the wolf and got bit.

Me: So Old Yeller protected the boy and his family and then the boy shot Old Yeller?

Dad: Yes.

Me: Bu ... bu ... but that's not fair.

Dad: No it's not.

Me: That's not faaaair! Waaaaaaaugh!

No way I was going to watch that movie. Too much drama for a five year old.

Anyway, here are a couple of upcoming movies which caught my eye not because I think they'll be Oscar contenders (when was the last time a dog movie won an Oscar?) but because of their subject matter.

Red is about an old guy (Brian Cox) who goes after a bunch of young guys after they kill his dog for no reason. It's kind of like "Death Wish" but with better actors and a dog. This sounds like the ultimate fed up animal welfare activist's wet dream. All I can say is that two wrongs don't make a right but you know it'll be fun to see a bunch of smirking dog killers get the crap beat out of them. Revenge is best served by an old man with big hairy fists.

For a kid friendlier movie (but really, do you know what you're kids are watching?) there's Hotel For Dogs. It's a Disney movie about a group of kids who create a dog shelter from an abandoned hotel. Happens all the time just like Mary Poppins, I'm sure, and there'll be lots of anthropomorphisized dogs who behave more human than human and lots of big tear moments but here's two thumbs up anyway for subject matter.