Top Ten Dove-Approved movies for 2000

 1. Remember the Titans (Walt Disney)  MPAA: PG – DOVE: 12+    

Synopsis: Based on a true story, "Remember the Titans” is set in Virginia where in 1971 high school football was everything to the people of Alexandra. But when the local school board was forced to integrate an all-black school with an all-white school, the very foundation of football’s great tradition was put to the test.

Review: Well. Hurray for Hollywood! At last - here’s a story about overcoming bigotry told without profanity, exploitive sex or excessive violence. What’s more, it’s downright entertaining. Movie-goers have become jaded by the ever-present coarsities including rude language, gestures and gross bodily functions that are found in many of today's sports flicks.

 2. Rear Window (Universal re-release)  MPAA: PG – DOVE: 12+    

Synopsis: The Alfred Hitchcock thriller masterpiece has now been restored and re-released. A macabre tale of voyeurism and murder as a wheelchair-bound photographer is convinced that a neighbor killed his own wife. Caution: Contains adult subject matter.

Review: A new 35mm negative has painstakingly been reconstructed. Now, the chromatic brilliance of Hitchcock’s original vision for the film, from the great artificial sunsets over the “Greenwich Village” sets to the purity of the blacks and whites of Kelly’s wardrobe to the luminous quality of her close ups, has been preserved. Hitchcock, the Master of Suspense, is a very visual director. Much is being said without dialogue in all his works. His films are best appreciated on the big screen.

 3. Chicken Run (Dream Works SKG)  MPAA: G – DOVE: any age    

Synopsis: From the people who gave us the “Wallace and Gromit” shorts comes a claymation comedy set at a chicken farm where a flock of hens are determined to fly the coop before meeting a fowl fate. When a rooster, shot from a circus cannon, sails over the fence of a Stalag 17-like egg hatchery, the hens believe he can fly. Not wanting to go back to the circus, the rooster makes a deal. If they hide him, he will teach the chicks to fly. Of course, as we all know, don’t we, chickens can’t fly. But something better happen quickly, for the owner is determined to turn the egg farm into a death camp.

Review: Chicken Run is a crate-load of fun. (Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.) With enough visually going on to keep little ones enthralled, it also contains sly, pun-riddled humor to keep the most anti-animated adult amused. And let’s not forget the sight gags. Picture a rooster in solitary, ala Steve McQueen’s Cooler Joe in “The Great Escape.” The expressive faces (chickens with teeth – is that great?), the pacing, adventure and witty dialogue make for a fun family movie outing. “Chicken Run” is finger-lickin’ good.

 4. Mercy Streets (Providence Ent.)  MPAA: PG-13 – DOVE: 12+    

Synopsis: This is an urban drama pitting brother against brother, one an ex-con, recently released from prison, running from his past; the other, a sincere yet uninspired young minister struggling with his faith. Brothers connected by blood, separated by hate, reunited by crime, and forever bonded by love. Estranged twin brothers, John (David White), a con man and Jeremiah (David White), a preacher, who are forced to switch lives. Out of a simple switch emerges repressed feelings of guilt and hate that leaves their lives and the people they love changed forever.

Review: “Mercy Streets” has all the suspense and hard-hitting action you would expect from any urban flick - with a couple of significant exceptions...no profanity...no adultery or fornication...no gratuitous violence...and a strong message of redemption, forgiveness and reconciliation. How did this happen you may ask? A group of talented, dedicated Christian filmmakers got together and produced a top notch movie in the genre of Alfred Hitchcock, Frank Capra or Horton Foote.

5. Fantasia (Walt Disney) MPAA: G – DOVE: any age    

Synopsis: The classic update of “Fantasia,” contains the original segment, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” from the 1940 film, with seven new sequences, each introduced by diverse celebrities such as Steve Martin, Bette Midler, Itzhak Perlman, James Earl Jones, Penn & Teller, Quincy Jones, Angela Lansbury, and, of course, Mickey Mouse.

Review: "2000" simply dazzles the senses. My favorite piece combines the sophisticated music of George Gershwin and the unmistakable linear style of Al Hirschfeld. “Rhapsody in Blue” is without question the quintessential sophisticated jazz piece of its time. Maybe of all time. And Hirschfeld’s whimsical view of people’s foibles is delightfully revealing. Together, with the narrative of diverse characters weaving in and out of each other’s lives during the course of their daily routines, these two masters of their perspective fields return the word erudite to storytelling.

 6. My Dog Skip (Warner Bros.)   MPAA: PG – DOVE: any age    

 7. East-West (Sony Pictures Classics)   MPAA: PG-13 – DOVE: 12+    

 8. Tigger Movie (Walt Disney)   MPAA: G – DOVE: any age    

 9. The Kid  (Walt Disney)   MPAA: PG – DOVE: any age    

 10. The Emperors New Groove (Walt Disney)  MPAA: G – DOVE: any age    

[Top 10 year 2001]      [Top 10 year 2002]      [Top 10 year 2003]    [Top 10 year 2004]