Anger Management (2003)

IMDB rating: 6.00

Plot: After a misunderstanding aboard an airplane that escalates out of control, the mild-mannered Dave Buznik is ordered by Judge Daniels to attend anger management sessions run by Doctor Buddy Rydell, which are filled with highly eccentric and volatile men and women. Buddy’s unorthodox approach to therapy is confrontational and abrasive and Dave is bewildered by it. Then, after yet another mishap, Judge Daniels orders Dave to step up his therapy or wind up in jail. So, Buddy moves in with Dave to help him battle his inner demons. Buddy himself has no inner demons since he acts out at every opportunity and that includes making lewd comments about Dave’s girlfriend Linda and goading Dave into confronting every slight, past or present, head-on. But Buddy finally goes too far and Dave must decide whether to crawl back into his shell or stand up for himself. Could it be that Buddy’s confounding and contradictory treatment is just what the doctor ordered?

Good Boy! (2003)

IMDB rating: 4.80

Plot: Owen Baker is a 12-year-old loner who has been working as a neighborhood dog-walker so he can earn the privilege of getting a dog of his own. His hard work pays off when his parents let him adopt a scruffy mutt he names Hubble. Both boy and dog get more than they bargained for when Owen wakes up one morning to discover he can understand every word Hubble says, including the ominous phrase: “Take me to your leaders.” Owen learns that dogs came to Earth thousands of years ago to colonize and dominate the planet. Hubble (who is really named Canid 3942) has been sent by the powerful Greater Dane on a mission from the Dog Star Sirius to make sure dogs have fulfilled this destiny. Despite the best efforts of Owen’s rag-tag group of neighborhood dogs to convince him otherwise, Hubble soon discovers the awful truth about Earth dogs: “You’re all pets!” Now Owen (a boy who never had a friend) and Hubble (a dog who never needed one) must work together to prepare the neighborhood dogs for a visit from The Greater Dane—or all dogs will be removed from the planet! The fate of Earth dogs hangs in the balance, and it’s up to Owen, Hubble, and their canine companions to save man’s best friend.