Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Tonic (1945)

Posted on by

2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.

Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.

Hare Tonic (1945)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris

Let’s be honest, “Hare Tonic” is basically a remix of “Elmer’s Pet Rabbit.” It even features Elmer with a bowler hat and high collar shirt for the duration of the short much like the aforementioned. Except the Bugs Bunny we see in this virtual redo is the Bugs Bunny that has already been refined, and streamlined to be the character we know. The Bugs in “Elmer’s Pet Rabbit” was still transitioning from Happy Rabbit to Bugs Bunny and wasn’t officially named as Bugs. Not that it means that “Hare Tonic” is a bad short. Animation studios are notorious for re-using gags and scenes for shorts and features.

There’s even a popular meme showing how many times Disney has re-used scenes and character models during the early days of their animated production.

Continue reading →

V/H/S/85 (2023) [Fantastic Fest 2023]

Posted on by

I’ve been an avid fan of the “V/H/S/” movie series since its initial release, and it’s been fun watching it evolve and run through the aughts over time. With Lo-Fi horror still a big deal in the modern internet stratosphere, “V/H/S/” has a surefire shelf life of at least two or three more entries. However, I do hope we get a much better installment than what “V/H/S/85” ends up becoming. It’s not to say that this newest entry in the series is terrible, it just feels so confused and lacking in the chaos and scares that make the original first two films so exciting.

Continue reading →

Expend4bles (2023)

Posted on by

Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” was a fun novelty. In 2010. It took all of the big action stars from the eighties, striking the pleasure spots of Gen Xers and got by on its gimmick–for a while. It began life as “The giants of action cinema! All here! All kicking ass!” right down to “Well, here are people that have been in a few action movies.” With the series only four movies in, “The Expendables” has cashed in all of its nostalgia points. It’s now ironically transformed from a loving eighties homage to the one of the numerous clumsy, stale, action vehicles that many eighties action stars resorted to headlining in the late nineties and early aughts. 

Continue reading →

Bad Movie Monday: The Gauntlet (1977)

Posted on by

I was debating which movie to review this week. Normally, I always have a few titles floating merrily in the back of my mind. However, more often than not, I don’t write anything about them because they just don’t speak to me. They don’t stand out. A movie really needs to go that extra mile, and either be a lot better or a lot worse than I expected, in order to elicit a passionate need to discuss it in me. So I was in a bit of a pickle. I just couldn’t think of anything really worthwhile to review. Then, last week, my friend brought Clint Eastwood’s 1977 Cop Thriller THE GAUNTLET to Bad Movie Monday and I knew as soon as the end credits started rolling that this was the movie I was going to write about. Good God Almighty.

Continue reading →

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines (2023) [Fantastic Fest 2023]

Posted on by

This is the third adaptation of Stephen Kng’s “Pet Sematary” and we’re still not in that area where King’s story is remotely interesting or comprehensible. Never really confirming if “Bloodlines” is a prequel to the book or to the movie, Lindsey Anderson Beer’s is a confusing, lethargic and often grotesque horror drama that never has any idea what kind of movie it wants to be. It has eighty five minutes to unfold the narrative of Jud Crandall and despite the implications that Jud had seen a lot of horrifying disturbing imagery in his lifetime, we’re given a dull glorified remake of “Deathdream.”

Continue reading →

Spooktacular! (2023) [Fantastic Fest 2023]

Posted on by

Director Quinn Monahan’s history of “SpookyWorld” is perhaps one of the most wholesome horror documentaries that I’ve ever seen. That’s by no means a slight, but it’s a wonderful testament to the often pure and unbridled passion that the horror community is capable of. I regret to admit that in all my time I never actually heard of “SpookyWorld” but it’s one of the forefathers of the horror attraction. It set the template and the bar for other haunts and horror attractions in America and would manage to become one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Halloween theme park in the world.

Continue reading →

So Unreal (2023) [Fantastic Fest 2023]

Posted on by

One of the most common adages in the modern age is that once upon a time we used to log on to the internet to escape reality. These days we now retreat in to reality to escape the internet. The internet and technology have become such an integral part of our everyday lives that most of us aren’t truly aware of how far tech and computers have been able to reach in to the very core of our everyday existence. What began as science fiction and cheesy fodder for movies became a prophetic over arching theme in pop culture and cinema. Artists and creators predicted not only our consumption of technology but the gradual control technology has had on our lives.

Continue reading →