Best in Show

Best Watch Dog: Beatrice the Weimaraner in "Best in Show" (2000)

Dogs are voyeurs. They like to watch. They like to sleep and eat and poop and pee and play, but when they're not doing one of those things they're probably watching something, or watching for something. Beatrice's ... moremommy and daddy, Meg and Hamilton Swan (Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock), are in family therapy with Beatrice because they are traumatized because they think she is traumatized because she has seen them having sex ... in a style familiar to dogs. This is called "projection."

Likewise, "Best in Show," despite its competitive kennel-club setting, isn't really a movie about dogs, it's about dog people -- and specifically about the infantilization of dogs by people and people's infantilization of themselves through their dogs. When Meg and Hamilton freak out over the loss of Beatrice's squeaky Bizzy Bee, you quickly realize that they're the ones who should have a small plush toy shoved into their mouths. Fortunately, most of the other dogs and owners (the legal term is "guardian" in West Hollywood) are more well-adjusted. (Everett Collection)