Snow Dogs (2002)

 

Snow Dogs - 2002

Coming up next we have 2002's "Snow Dogs", a film that sees us follow a Miami dentist as he heads to Alaska to find out about his past and also about his future as the owner of a team of sled dogs.

The film's cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr., James Coburn, Sisqo, Nichelle Nichols, M. Emmet Walsh, Graham Greene, Brian Doyle-Murray, Joanna Bacalso, Michael Bolton, Jim Belushi, and Jane Sibbett.

Dentist Ted Brooks has a pretty good living in Miami.  His successful practice "Hot Smile" is helped by having his advertising on all the city busses.

So his world is completely upended when he finds out that he was adopted and his birth mother (who lived in Alaska) has died and left him an inheritance.

Ted heads to Tolketna, Alaska, where he is in for a complete culture shock.  The small town is very different from the bustling metropolis of Miami.

It turns out that besides a few bequests, his mother has left him all of her property and belongings.  This includes one loveable dog named Nana.

It also includes a pack of terrifying sled dogs led by the ferocious Demon.

While in Tolketna, Ted even becomes acquainted with his birth father, Thunder Jack, who wants nothing more to do with Ted than to buy his dogs from him.

When Ted's mother calls from Miami, she asks him how everything is in Alaska.  "Basically, everything's white...including my father!" he exclaims.

With the assistance of local gal Barb, and not wanting to sell the dogs to Jack, Ted decides to try this "mushing" thing out.

Naturally, things don't go as planned, and we find Ted sliding through town with his hand duct-taped to his sled.

Ted begins to spend more time with his father, who teaches him some of the basic calls and commands for the dogs.

And Ted and Barb begin to fall for one another.  They spend a romantic evening overlooking some of the beautiful Alaskan scenery.

Ted begins to get more comfortable out on the sled with the dogs.  Everything goes fine until the dogs start chasing after a fox.  Ted loses them and gets chased by a grizzly bear, and he finally ends up on a frozen river.  He's got to be rescued by Jack, who discovered something wrong when his dogs came running through town without him.

When Jack sleds into a storm during the Arctic Challenge (a big-deal dog sledding event), it's up to Ted to save him.  While taking shelter in a cave, Ted and Jack become close and finally understand each other.  After the storm has passed, Jack brings Ted across the finish line.

Ted ends up staying in Alaska.  He and Barb get married in front of their family, friends, and sled dogs.  Ted also opens an Alaskan branch of "Hot Smile", while his cousin Rupert runs the Miami office.

Cast rundown:

   Cuba Gooding Jr..............................Dr. Ted Brooks

   James Coburn.................................Thunder Jack

   Sisqo.............................................Dr. Rupert Brooks

   Nichelle Nichols...............................Amelia Brooks

   M. Emmet Walsh.............................George Murphy

   Graham Greene...............................Peter Yellowbear

   Brian Doyle-Murray..........................Ernie

   Joanna Bacalso...............................Barb

   Michael Bolton................................Himself

   Jim Belushi.....................................Demon

   Jane Sibbett...................................Nana

And that's it for Snow Dogs.  During the grizzly bear chase scene, a stuntman was used in Cuba Gooding Jr.'s place.  Two trainers stood off-camera and cued the bear to get it to achieve the motions they needed it to display.  Afterwards, the bear was rewarded with treats and hugs.

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Jingle All The Way (1996)

 

Jingle All The Way - 1996

Our next film is 1996's "Jingle All The Way", where we find a busy father who has forgotten to pick up a very important and rare Christmas present for his son.  The antics he gets into on Christmas Eve while he searches for the elusive gift bring him closer to his family than ever before.

The film's cast includes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sinbad, Phil Hartman, Rita Wilson, Robert Conrad, Martin Mull, Jake Lloyd, Jim Belushi, Harvey Korman, Chris Parnell, and Marcus Toji.

Children's TV action hero Turboman is all the rage this year.  His show is supremely popular with kids.  And he's looked up to by children of all ages, especially young Jamie Langston.

In fact, the Turboman action figure/doll is the hottest toy of the year and is sold out across the United States as the #1 Christmas toy of the year.  After missing out on Jamie's karate class, Jamie's father Howard agrees to make it up to Jamie by getting him a Turboman of his very own.

Howard's wife Liz assumes that he got the Turboman weeks ago.  Typical for Howard, he forgot.  And now he's got to rush to find a toy that his wife deems will be impossible to find.

On Christmas Eve, Howard leaves to go and get the Turboman doll he's got at his "office".  He promises Jamie that he will be back in time to take him to a special Christmas parade, where Turboman will be making a special appearance.

Howard finds out just how difficult finding this Turboman will be.  He teams up with a disgruntled postal worker named Myron, who is also searching for the action figure for his own son.  The crowd presses against the doors in hopes of finding the elusive doll.

Howard and Myron are laughed at by the toy story employees, who find it humorous that the two waited so long to acquire the toy.

Howard must now search all over town, and his escapades get him into some real scrapes.  He runs over a police motorcycle, gets into a pushing and shoving match at a mall, fights a large group of Santas who run an illegal toy operation, and inadvertently gives a police man a bomb (courtesy of Myron, who says, "I work for the post office, so you know I'm not stable!").

As a last resort, Howard tries to steal the Turboman that his neighbor intends on giving his own son.  Having second thoughts, Howard decides to return the package to its place under the Christmas tree.  However, a temperamental reindeer and a fire that Howard ignites in the neighbor's living room call attention to his breaking and entering.

Howard remembers his promise to Jamie about going with him to the Christmas parade.  While he runs from the police man whom he gave the bomb too, Howard is recruited to actually play Turboman in the parade.  He excitedly waves to the crowds who are wildly cheering.

He even makes a special connection with Jamie, who is also watching from the crowd and who also does not yet recognize his father.

Everything works out in the end.  Jamie is thrilled that his dad turned out to be Turboman, and Liz is suitably impressed as well.  "What do I need a doll for?  I got the real Turboman at home!" exclaims Jamie as the family embraces.

One of the most hilarious parts of the film is the attempted seduction of Liz by her neighbor Ted.  While she doesn't respond to his flirting throughout the film, Ted amps it up right before the parade.  Just before things get too tense, Liz smacks Ted in the head with a thermos full of eggnog.

Cast rundown:

   Arnold Schwarzenegger...........................Howard Langston

   Sinbad..................................................Myron Larabee

   Phil Hartman..........................................Ted Maltin

   Rita Wilson............................................Liz Langston

   Robert Conrad.......................................Officer Hummell

   Martin Mull............................................D.J.

   Jake Lloyd.............................................Jamie Langston

   Jim Belushi............................................Mall Santa

   Harvey Korman......................................President

   Chris Parnell...........................................Toy Store Sales Clerk

   Marcus Toji............................................Kid With Remote Control

And that's all for Jingle All The Way.  During the film, Sinbad improvised the majority of his lines.  Arnold Schwarzenegger improvised most of his responses to Sinbad's dialogue.  Before Arnold was contracted to play Howard Langston, Tim Allen was among those considered for the role.

A post-credits scene shows the Langston family gathered around the Christmas tree after the events of the day.  Liz tells Howard she's been thinking about all that he went through in order to get Jamie a present and it's got her wondering what he got for her.  Howard looks up in a panic!

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