Wiener-Dog (2016)

I guess I had forgotten who Todd Solondz was when I decided to watch this movie. I remember now how much I hated "Happiness" and it seems the psychopathic film maker hasn't really changed and continues to exploit his trademark of depressive characters and deadpan so-called humor. If people are buying why would he stop?In this, the dog is supposed to be an excuse to link different stories but practically the only time you will notice the dog is in the intermission, a lame trick to stop even trying to connect any story of any kind. After that, he feels finally free to do what he likes the most: showing disconnected, half-assed stories that don't go anywhere. If you can't get good, get bleak, he most probably believes that. Every single character in this is the saddest ****. There aren't nuances of any kind, everything is ****, no redemption, no nothing, everyone is either a loser or a moron. The worst part is that vision doesn't even feel honest, or convinced, but more like a trademark he maintains cause he can't think of anything else.This guy hates his characters and his audience almost as much as Haneke. Both are up there as my most hated directors. The difference is I respect Haneke.

Wiener-Dog (2016): Dachshund will be anyone's least interest in dogs.Its odd short legged long body may not be liked by all.But Todd Solondz gave it a central role in this anthology drama with four stories that are linked by this Wiener-Dog.Plot: We have 4 stories in this.1) Julie Delpy (Dina) and Tracy Letts (Danny) , an uptight, unhappy couple whose young son Remi (Keaton Nigel Cooke) is recovering from cancer is gifted Wiener-Dog.But Dina hates having a dog and even has a feeling that all female dogs will die during their pregnancy.But due to some mishaps,Wiener is sent to vet for euthanasia.2)Dawn (Greta Gerwig), a veterinarian's assistant,saves Wiener and names it Doo dee.She hopes the dachshund is the means by which she might be able to melt the heart of Brandon (Kieran Culkin), whom she knew in grade school as a notorious bully.3) Dave Schmerz (Danny Devito) , a pathetic has-been screenwriter teaching at a film school where the students despise him and his only friend is his dachshund.He uses Wiener for his revenge but his plan backfires.4)Nana, an aging, blind, embittered woman visited by her granddaughter Zoe (Zosia Mamet), a would-be actor and her outrageous conceptual artist boyfriend, Fantasy (Michael Shaw) for money to help for his art collection.Plus Points:1)Plot: Four different dysfunctional stories united by a Wiener dog is a striking subject.2)Story 3: Story of Dave Schmerz is brilliant and I loved it.It is the best part of the movie with brilliant performances and pace.3)Direction: Todd Solondz's direction is unique and odd.But its remarkable.4)Duration: Just 1hr 28 min.Minus Points:1)Story 2: It could have been better but weird performances made it look bad.2)Climax: The extended shot of the dead body of Wiener is so violent and hurting.It could have been avoided.SO,Wiener-Dog is a good one time watch anthology where 3rd Story is best of all.My rating 6.25/10

Spoiler. But I wish I had seen a spoiler for this movie. I wish I had known that the wiener dog runs into traffic and gets RUN OVER BY A TRUCK ON SCREEN and then run over again and again on screen before wasting 2 hours of my life watching this. I cannot un-see this now and it will play over and over in my mind for days to come now. Very upsetting. I should have had a clue when one of the characters straps a ticking bomb on the wiener dog in the previous vignette; I had a feeling... if I saw this film in a theater I would have walked out. I cannot believe it has even 5 stars--the characters are absolutely horrible. There's nothing redeeming whatsoever about this movie which is disappointing considering how much I loved Welcome To The Doll House. WTF? AWFUL and I will have nightmares for weeks now.

Only good part of this film was first part.Remainder was very poor plus I lost communication of how this same dog was transferred from second to third to fourth owner. .At one stage I assumed it was different dog. Deleted from my library and time I will never regain watching something better.It was good to see Danny Devito on screen again and his scene where the dog was strapped with explosives may have been clearer as I assumed the dog was blown up. It's difficult to write more as it was not to my taste. The boy at the beginning could become a good actor as he was believable.A forgetful movie with very little in terms of substance for me to enjoy.perhaps the dog eating the bar of muesli.