Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

PodBill Just what I expected

HeadlinesExotic Boring

Plustown A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

Martin Bradley Of course, performance artist Laurie Anderson's film "Heart of a Dog" isn't really about a dog or dogs in general, at least that's not solely what it's about. Anderson narrates the picture, (and hers is the only voice we hear), which is a post 9/11 essay on New York, on America, on language and on loss, all of which is par for the course for Anderson who lulls you into a sense of false security with what, superficially, is the story of her beloved rat terrier, Lolabelle.Even the slightest knowledge of Anderson's work will tell you what you're letting yourself in for, so this isn't a conventional 'film' as such but something akin to performance art on film. Indeed seeing this in a cinema almost defeats the purpose; best to see this in a gallery, sunk deep in an armchair, sipping on something cool and try to forget about 9/11 and Anderson's paranoia and fears and keep telling yourself...it's all about a dog.

petrelet Well, I am pretty sure that Laurie Anderson created the movie she intended to.That may sound like faint praise, but if you appreciate Anderson's work (as I do) it will make you want to see it. I will let you know up front, though, that despite the blurb not a very high percentage of the movie is really about her dog, so if you are looking for a dog movie per se this isn't really it.It will not surprise anyone who knows Anderson's musical work that this work can't really be described as some kind of narrative or clearly spelled out philosophical message. It is more like a collage, if you will, including some stories or descriptive language about the dog, about episodes in Anderson's life, about deaths and instances of the danger of death, about New York after 9/11, about Tibetan Buddhism and its view of death. This all sounds rather grim, but it isn't. After death (in the Tibetan Buddhist view) there is a 49-day period or process called the "bardo" in which the soul prepares to enter a new form. It seems to involve a reprocessing and re-recognition of experiences somehow, and in fact the movie itself may be sort of a picture of the bardo. The collage is displayed on a background of images and sounds including Anderson's own creative work.I really don't think I can say much else that would enable you to better predict whether you would like the film or not. I didn't watch it and have epiphanies and come away feeling that I understood my place in the universe much better, but I don't feel as if I wasted my time; Anderson is a brilliant and interesting person, and spending an hour and a half with her thoughts is well worth it - to me anyway.

runamokprods Tremendously moving and beautiful, and the best capturing of Laurie Anderson's unique combination of off-beat humor, heartbreak, poetry music, images, animation, stories, Buddhist philosophy and artistic experimentation yet on film. In theory it's the story of Anderson's relationship with Lolabelle, her beloved terrier, as the dog moves through life towards aging and death. But it is also clearly thematically about her love for, and loss of her husband Lou Reed, and her pondering of her own mortality and the meaning of life. Yet as dour and daunting as that sounds, Anderson never loses sight of the joy that abides with sorrow, knowing that there is no love without pain, and no pain without the seeds of joy. And while it's a heady mix, and resolutely refuses to act anything like a 'normal' movie, Anderson is also the most accessible of experimentalists. She has no interest in torturing or confounding her audience, just catching them off guard and getting them to think new ways - - but always with a smile, a wink and a chuckle at it all. She's a tremendously important artist, and this film is great for fans and newcomers alike.

Paul Allaer "Heart of a Dog" (2015 release; 75 min.) is a non-fiction movie by musician/performance artist Laurie Anderson. As the movie opens, we see a cartoon-animated Laurie Anderson inform us that "this is my dream body" and that in her dream she gives birth to an adult dog whom she calls Lolabelle. It's not long before Laurie starts reflecting on her dying mother, 9/11, SIDS, and a bunch of other things.Couple of comments: Laurie Anderson, best known for her minimalist music such as "O Superman" from the early 80s, is no stranger to movie making. Here she takes two particular tough periods in her life, the decline and death of her rat terrier Lolabelle and the decline and death of her mother, to weave a collage of images and montage of sound, supplemented by Laurie's spoken words in which she explores "the connection between love and death" (Laurie's words) and everything in between. One might call it a stream of consciousness, except that Laurie is not rambling in the least. Let me tell you. it makes for one amazing movie experience. It's like being in a dream. if not a trance, where things somehow become a lot clearer. Let me also mention that I was vaguely aware of the movie, along the lines of: "that's the documentary about Laurie's dog", and I almost did not watch the movie for that reason. As it turns out, the movie devotes only about 10-15 min. to the dog, and the movie is not even a documentary. So it was a complete misconception on my part what this movie was about (and to be honest, the movie's title only reinforced that misconception). Last but not least, Laurie's husband Lou Reed (who passed away in 2013) isn't mentioned a single time, but an excellent song of his, "Turning Time Around", does play over the movie's end titles. Please note: you don't have to be a fan of Laurie Anderson to appreciate this movie (but it certainly doesn't hurt if you are)."Heart of a Dog" showed up out of the blue and without any pre-release buzz or advertising at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati last weekend. The early evening screening when I saw it a few days ago was not attended well (three people, including myself), and I noticed that it will drop out of the theater after today. That's a shame, as this is a remarkable movie in many respects, and by all means deserves a wider audience. If you are in the mood for something very different, all the while realizing that is a deeply personal essay and film from Laurie Anderson, I encourage you to check it out, be it in the theater, on VOD or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray. "Heart of a Dog" is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!