A bank manager and new father with a dark secret sees his baby daughter kidnapped when a mystery man calls him to get him to jump through hoops to get his child back safely.
You Are Here (2023) [Dances with Films 2024]
Michael Friberg’s “You Are Here” doesn’t feel so much like a movie as it does a three part sketch or some kind of extended commercial. Friberg insists in staging a movie that has no huge stakes or interesting character depth. For that I have to respect it, but I also didn’t care much for it.
Dexter’s Laboratory: The Complete Series (DVD)
Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment
In 1996 the cable channel Cartoon Network had solidified itself as a competitor with fellow kids channels like Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. After spending many years playing reruns from their massive Hanna Barbera back catalog, the channel began to dabble in airing their own original series. They recruited a slew of brilliant creators to offer up their own unique animated series, and among them was “Dexter’s Laboratory.” Created and animated by Genndy Tartakovsky, “Dexter’s Laboratory” was an entertaining and often hysterical animated show that dove head first in to the over the top realm with an extraordinary premise packed to the brim with comedic potential.
Consumer (2023) [Chattanooga Film Festival 2024]
So Long and Thanks for All the Dangerous Visions Shorts Block
I wish we could have gotten a longer format version of “Consumer,” as Matthew Fisher’s horror tale is ripe for feature film potential. “Consumer” watches like a segment from “Creepshow” even packing in a wonderful synthesized score by Bethany Farnsworth, respectively. I loved the low tech, mid-eighties revenge tale that director Fisher creates, as it’s old fashioned enough, but never feels dated, or dull.
It works well within its short run time and offers some scary ambiguity in the end.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbit Hood (1949)
Rabbit Hood (1949)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ken Harris
Music by Carl Stalling
After the nastiness that was last week’s “Which is Witch” it’s nice to see Bugs Bunny return to the basics again. “Rabbit Hood” is one of my top ten Bugs Bunny shorts of all time. It’s a hilarious spoof of the Robin Hood tale that ranks up there with 1958’s “Robin Hood Daffy” in terms of hilarity and clever jokes. Oddly Bugs isn’t Robin Hood but he is falling prey to the fascism of the king who is desperate to snag Robin Hood at every turn. Now with the king’s property guarded, Bugs comes under attack by the Sheriff of Nottingham. When Bugs seeks a few carrots from the king’s garden, the two go at it, prompting a hysterical war between the pair.
Sympathy for the Underdog (Bakuto gaijin butai) (1971) [Radiance Films]
Out on Blu-ray and 4K UHD June 25, 2024
When a big gang from Tokyo moves into Yokohama, the local gang needs to relocate and start over, leading to violence and confrontations.
Like Me (2024) [Chattanooga Film Festival 2024]
Watch These Films (WTF) Shorts Block
There are a growing number of short films surrounding the concept of social media and Ashley Thomas runs wild with the concept. “Like Me” doesn’t have a narrative or much of a whole structure behind it, but it at least makes up for it with a punch of a final scene emphasized with some excellent make up.