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Dish Dogs

Dish Dogs

List Price: $24.98
Your Price: $22.48
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I'm the original screenwriter of this movie
Review: Although the movie being sold here today hardly resembles the original screenplay that me and Nathan wrote, it does offer some really good lessons about how scripts go from paper to celluloid. In the spring of 1997 me and Nathan optioned our script to the producers. They were determined to make our movie and told us that very little re-writing was needed. But by the time the script was filmed they had done massive re-writing and brought in a director with a completely different artistic sensibility. We were of course upset with all the changes that we felt detracted from the script, but ultimately were happy to accept the money they paid us for it. You want a review of this movie? well that's it: "we were happy to accept the money that they paid us for it."

The film is very loosely based on our script. It's all the same characters and basically the same story but a lot of the situations, dialogue and locations have been condensed. I never really heard from the producers and what they thought of the movie-- it's not terrible, but it's not really good either. It's just okay. Ultimately they have to take responsibility for that. In their defense, our original script did have problems, they just weren't able to fix them. And perhaps we didn't write the most shootable script for the budget either, which caused a lot of the cutting. They did have one lucky break, which was just blind luck-- they cast Shannon Elizabeth. I think this is about the first thing she ever did, and I'm pretty sure it's the only reason this movie ever got picked up for distribution.

If anyone has any interest in reading the original script just e-mail me and I'll send it to you. Then, you can judge for yourself which version is better. I think it would be a great lesson for anyone who thinks they want to write a screenplay or anyone who ever watches a movie and says, "how the hell did this get made." I think it's a great example of how the best intentions can end up a diluted mess. Ashleyscottmeyers@hotmail.com

AMAZON editors: I hope this is useful to your readers. I think it will be. Feel free to edit it in any way.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: I'm the original screenwriter of this movie
Review: Although the movie being sold here today hardly resembles the original screenplay that me and Nathan wrote, it does offer some really good lessons about how scripts go from paper to celluloid. In the spring of 1997 me and Nathan optioned our script to the producers. They were determined to make our movie and told us that very little re-writing was needed. But by the time the script was filmed they had done massive re-writing and brought in a director with a completely different artistic sensibility. We were of course upset with all the changes that we felt detracted from the script, but ultimately were happy to accept the money they paid us for it. You want a review of this movie? well that's it: "we were happy to accept the money that they paid us for it."

The film is very loosely based on our script. It's all the same characters and basically the same story but a lot of the situations, dialogue and locations have been condensed. I never really heard from the producers and what they thought of the movie-- it's not terrible, but it's not really good either. It's just okay. Ultimately they have to take responsibility for that. In their defense, our original script did have problems, they just weren't able to fix them. And perhaps we didn't write the most shootable script for the budget either, which caused a lot of the cutting. They did have one lucky break, which was just blind luck-- they cast Shannon Elizabeth. I think this is about the first thing she ever did, and I'm pretty sure it's the only reason this movie ever got picked up for distribution.

If anyone has any interest in reading the original script just e-mail me and I'll send it to you. Then, you can judge for yourself which version is better. I think it would be a great lesson for anyone who thinks they want to write a screenplay or anyone who ever watches a movie and says, "how the hell did this get made." I think it's a great example of how the best intentions can end up a diluted mess. Ashleyscottmeyers@hotmail.com

AMAZON editors: I hope this is useful to your readers. I think it will be. Feel free to edit it in any way.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good vehicle for a bright new comic actress.
Review: American Pie's Shannon Elizabeth finally gets the substantial role she deserves -- and though Dish Dogs does take advantage of her marvellous physical beauty and figure, it also gives Elizabeth the opportunity to show the comic timing and screen presence previously only hinted at. Elizabeth gives the film its best moments, easily: When Antoinette throws Morgan (Sean Astin) out of her house after they'd just slept together, and the final parking-lot confrontation. Her rapid-fire delivery and slapstick instincts (and good writing in the scene) make this the gem of the movie.

Astin's character isn't that much different from what he's been playing for the past half decade or so, and the male characters' endless philosophical banter gets tiring. But the sight gags and jokes (the dishwasher gag, the aforementioned "heads or tails" scene, the cut from the strip bar to the wedding) work very well, and Dish Dogs also benefits from the same attribute that made American Pie good, an old-fashioned sweetness. Underneath the stripbar setting and the strange yet intriguing shadowy cinematography lies a basic boy-meets-girl movie whose only real fault is occasional corniness, and thanks to some unusually smart and self-assertive love interests for our heroes (Antoinette carries a gun and isn't afraid to use it), Dish Dogs is an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good vehicle for a bright new comic actress.
Review: American Pie's Shannon Elizabeth finally gets the substantial role she deserves -- and though Dish Dogs does take advantage of her marvellous physical beauty and figure, it also gives Elizabeth the opportunity to show the comic timing and screen presence previously only hinted at. Elizabeth gives the film its best moments, easily: When Antoinette throws Morgan (Sean Astin) out of her house after they'd just slept together, and the final parking-lot confrontation. Her rapid-fire delivery and slapstick instincts (and good writing in the scene) make this the gem of the movie.

Astin's character isn't that much different from what he's been playing for the past half decade or so, and the male characters' endless philosophical banter gets tiring. But the sight gags and jokes (the dishwasher gag, the aforementioned "heads or tails" scene, the cut from the strip bar to the wedding) work very well, and Dish Dogs also benefits from the same attribute that made American Pie good, an old-fashioned sweetness. Underneath the stripbar setting and the strange yet intriguing shadowy cinematography lies a basic boy-meets-girl movie whose only real fault is occasional corniness, and thanks to some unusually smart and self-assertive love interests for our heroes (Antoinette carries a gun and isn't afraid to use it), Dish Dogs is an enjoyable movie.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The greatest unfunny comedy I've seen in years
Review: First off, this is a Brian Dennehy surf movie - yes, you read that correctly. A Brian "barrel of a man" Dennehy surf movie. I ended up sticking with the whole film simply to see the unreal sight of Dennehy actually surfing. Sadly, it never materialized. However, Sean "Rudy" Astin, also a surfer(oh sure), is the apparently irresistable(?!) love object of Shannon Elizabeth. We all know friends who drink too much at parties, and suddenly become really deep and believe themselves to be roughly fifty percent smarter than they actually are. This is Astin's character through the whole movie. Astin quotes the great philosophers and thinkers of the world, yet clearly has no understanding or familiarity with the concepts - look for odd word emphasis, and amusingly innappropriate emoting. Ulimately, the best scene of all is in a dishwashing scene that recalls a homoerotic cross between those cheesy I-am-so-sexy-washing-this-car-while-getting-wet-and-sudsy moments in films and the montage orgy scenes in European porno. The scene is even complete with mood music. No wait, maybe the best scene is where Elizabeth's character, a stripper (with a heart of gold, natch), busts out of her club with a gun for no explicit reason. For some reason she proceeds to threaten both her boss who was trying to help her and her supposed love object. I'm guessing that this was intended to show that type of deep-seated inner conflict that involves weapon brandishing. Sean Astin begs for her love while trying to project his idea of intense longing, longing apparently being very similar to chronic constipation. Honestly, the movie succeeds best when it's trying to be both deep and funny, simply because it fails at both so winningly.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A pretty good movie!
Review: I rented this movie primarily to see Sean Astin. I thought it was a pretty good movie. It was kinda boring in the beginning but it gets better further into the movie. I wasn't sure if I wanted to buy this until after I finished watching it and my sister said she loved it. Sean Astin & Matthew Lillard are great together in this movie. Shannon Elizabeth did a pretty good job and I think her and Sean are cute together. I would give this movie 4 stars. It's a pretty good movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Good Rental Movie
Review: I saw this movie with a bunch of my friends and we all thought that it was a good movie to watch with friends or your mate.It had good actors with ok preformances and direction, and a pretty good story line.The two things that we all thought made this a good movie,were the places where they filmed and the music.Over all I do recomend this movie for rental.My hat off to the producers of this movie or the people in charge of the music and the filming locations.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Good Rental Movie
Review: I saw this movie with a bunch of my friends and we all thought that it was a good movie to watch with friends or your mate.It had good actors with ok preformances and direction, and a pretty good story line.The two things that we all thought made this a good movie,were the places where they filmed and the music.Over all I do recomend this movie for rental.My hat off to the producers of this movie or the people in charge of the music and the filming locations.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Shannon Elizabeth looks different!
Review: I've only seen clips of this movie so I can't say whether I like it or not. But I CAN say this: I think Shannon Elizabeth got implants! Watch this movie then watch American Pie. She may have had a growth spurt, but...

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: 1-1/2 stars -- Movies don't get much wacker than this
Review: Morgan (Sean Astin) is a dish washer. Anne (Shannon Elizabeth) is a stripper. They both cross paths and eventually fall in love, and Morgan decides he has to leave because love and commitment scares him that much. Does this even sound remotely interesting to you?

If it doesn't, you're right. This movie was made for video and it isn't even worth that. I advise everyone to watch something else. (By the way, has anyone else noticed that Shannon Elizabeth has put a "no-nudity" clause in recent contracts - and she hasn't worked since?)


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