Academy Award trivia buffs will know the 1954 production “A Time Out of War” was the first student film to win the Oscar – in the Short Subject (Two-Reel) category, beating out competition from the Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Disney studios. And when you experience the film, you’ll understand how a small no-budget student project could one-up the major Hollywood players.
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Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
This is the second, count ‘em, second short in a row where we get Yosemite Sam crossing our friendly neighborhood rabbit! There was a long period there where we didn’t see Sam at all and now he’s back after a failed stint as a pirate. Yosemite Sam is so hilarious because of his clear cut lack of self awareness. He is about as deadpan serious as it can get, and he’s so much funnier than a lot of the one and done Bugs Bunny villains. Heck, in his introduction to the short as the other cowboys shudder in fear announcing him, Sam appears at the Saloon doors and because he’s so short he walks under them, rather than smashes them open.
It is highly unusual to watch one movie while searching for evidence of another, but that is the main reason why most people today would bother to subject themselves to the painfully unfunny 1913 one-reeler “Cohen Saves the Flag.”
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The big draw for “Drive-Away Dolls” will be the director Ethan Coen for film buffs, and I say that because Ethan Coen spends an inordinate amount of time directing a movie that feels very Coen brothers lite. It has this flavor of a misplaced dark comedy from 2000 that might have paired on basic cable with “Nurse Betty.” It has all the hallmarks of a Coen Brothers movie after all. There are the quirky dysfunctional heroes, the quirky albeit vicious villains, some kind of spiritual journey or awakening, and a premise that devolves into immense chaos.
Coming on Blu-ray and DVD from Well Go USA on February 27th, 2024
Following an accident, an astronaut is left alone in space without knowledge of how or if he will get home. On Earth, a man is scrambling to find a solution to bring him home.
A new attraction is set up on an old campsite where a young girl disappeared years ago. To test their luck, they make their new attraction a horror camp where people pay to be scared under the theme of a slasher killer coming after them.
Full Moon and Charles Band always had a knack for delivering entertainment on the cheap side, allowing them to cover a lot of markets. Their family movies, despite being low budget, had a kind of novelty and charm that is still pretty fun. One of the lesser among the library from Full Moon’s sub label Moonbeam was “Demon in a Bottle.” Despite its sinister title, the movie is very much a take on “The Goonies” except with only about ten percent of the budget, I’d assume. It has a small cast, very limited scenery, and only has villains that animated—you know, to spare the whole cost of live actors.