August big-screen, video releases nothing to bark about as doldrums hit Hollywood

DISNEY ENTERPRISES

“Underdog,” based on the TV show of the same name, is coming to the big screen Aug. 3. Golden Globe- nominated actor Jason Lee voices the canine superhero.

August in movieland is a real woofer, all bark and no bite.

Certainly, it must be canine coincidence that the dog days of summer, the movie studios' prime junkyard-pooch dumping ground, should be trotting out the appropriately named "Underdog" (Aug. 3).

Don't bet your Milkbones on it, but this film version of the old animated TV series, which was voiced by the late Wally Cox, might turn out to be one of the better offerings of a month that typically rivals January for dead-on-arrival bow-wows.

The horizon shows only two other mainstream movies that could spice things up, "The Bourne Ultimatum" (Aug. 3) and "The Nanny Diaries" (Aug. 24), followed at a considerable distance in interest by "Rush Hour 3" (Aug. 3), the latter falling into the category of Was This Sequel Really Necessary?

Even August's slate of home video releases holds nothing of rabid interest, unless one is elastic enough to count the last-minute July 31 debuts of "300" and "Hot Fuzz."

No, the stuff of August on VHS and DVD is your basic in-the-doghouse dross: varied seasons of some run-of-the-mill TV sitcoms and such less-than-stirring features as "Are We Done Yet?" and "Disturbia" (both Aug. 7). Other DVD (Dull, Vacuous & Dumb) releases due out include "Wild Hogs," "William Shakespeare's Hamlet" (as opposed to Jacqueline Susann's version?), "Blades of Glory" "The Charlie Chan Collection, Vol. 3" and "Kiss: Kissology Volume II 1978-1991."

It's enough to make you howl at the moon in frustration.

--"The Bourne Ultimatum" had better live up to its two predecessors drawn from the books by Robert Ludlum. They are logic-deprived but very entertaining action films with Matt Damon as a surprisingly convincing superspy/one man army. The great Joan Allen returns as the CIA section chief determined to bring wayward agent Bourne in from the cold, then turn up the heat on him. Julia Stiles also returns from the first two films, along with the excellent character actor David Strathairn, who takes over from predecessors Brian Cox and Chris Cooper in the good guy/bad guy role. Also featured are Albert Finney and Scott Glenn.

"Ultimatum" is based on the late author's third and final "Bourne" novel. But since author Eric Van Lustbader recently picked up the series, writing two more "Bourne" books, expect these profitable sequels to keep getting bred.

"The Bourne Identity" (2002), directed by Doug Liman, was superior to "The Bourne Supremacy" (2004), helmed by Paul Greengrass. But since that time, Greengrass' stock has soared, as have expectations. The English writer-director-documentarian blew audiences and critics away with the superb "United 93" last year and everyone wants to see what he'll do for an encore. With all the mutts about, "Ultimatum" should be this month's Best in Show.

--"The Nanny Diaries" has been moved up from its original September release date, apparently to beat fall's prestige competition to the punch. This adaptation of the book by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus stars Scarlett Johansson as a 21-year-old working-class woman, fresh from New York University, who decides to duck out of real life for a time to work as a nanny for an Upper East Side couple (the knockout duo of Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti). Bad move: They turn out to be her worst nightmare. But that's just the most immediate complication. She also falls for a handsome Park Avenue fellow who compels her to examine her suburban Jersey Girl self-image.

Co-directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, the movie co-stars Chris Evans and Tony Award-winning stage actress Donna Murphy ("World Trade Center," "Spider-Man 2").

--As for that flop-eared superhero, "Underdog" is the tale of a bumbling hound that gets exposed to a strange substance that has him growling with vast new powers, not the least of them flight (the ears make great flaps). After being adopted by a 12-year-old boy, the newly caped canine stands against the evil Simon Barsinister to save the good people of Capitol City.

Alex Neuberger, Jason Lee, Peter Dinklage and Patrick Warburton star for director Frederik Du Chau ("Racing Stripes"). Expect some crude humor along with the doggy derring-do.

--Standing at opposite fireplugs from the four-legged duds are the possible art-house films that might make it here in August. But local release dates are an unknown quantity at present. Some of the better independent movies out there include a rich immigrant drama in "The Golden Door"; "Talk to Me" with Don Cheadle and Chiwetel Ejiofor (enough said); Danny Boyle's visually impressive sci-fi flick "Sunshine," with Cillian Murphy ("Batman Begins") and Michelle Yeoh; a pair of polished French films in "Lady Chatterly" and "My Best Friend"; the Swiss drama "Vitus"; the comedy "Introducing the Dwights" with Brenda Blethyn; and Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismaki's "Lights in the Dusk."

Cross your fingers, but prepare for the worst. Most August 2007 films should have been kept in the kennel.

Reach Bill Thompson at bthompson@postandcourier.com or 937-5707.