One of the things about “Fury of the Gods” that made me laugh is that people gave “Man of Steel” so much crap for its blatant product placement. And yet, with “Fury of the Gods” there is literally an entire plot point centered on the candy Skittles. At one point one of the characters even proclaims “Taste the rainbow!” as they ride unicorns in to battle with the film’s villainesses. It’s really not a hindrance on the movie as a whole, but I was kind of laughing to myself at those that made such an issue about big product placements playing key roles in major films.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Super-Rabbit (1943)
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.
Super-Rabbit (1943)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris
“Look up there in the sky! It’s a boid…!”
“Naw, it ain’t no boid, it’s a dive bommah!”
“No… it’s Super Rabbit!”
This is my wheelhouse, baby. This is my niche. This is my milieu. This is my territory. They took Bugs Bunny, my favorite cartoon character of all time. They took Superman: My favorite fictional character and superhero of all time. Then they mixed them together to form this wonderful amalgam, satire, and homage that I loved as a kid and adore even more now. As a Superman fanatic going in to his forties, “Super-Rabbit” makes me happy. It makes me smile. And it’s also very funny, which is a plus. Superman was once upon a time the most popular character in America. He was a huge star of the radio, a big star on TV, and one of the highest selling comic book characters ever. Superman was a superstar of the early 1900’s, and continued to be, well in to the 1950’s.
So it only made sense for Merrie Melodies to not only satirize Superman, but satirize Superman by using one of the most popular cartoon characters of the time, Mr. Bugs Bunny.
30 for 30: “The American Gladiators” Documentary is a Surprising Look Inside One of the Biggest Series of the 1990’s
If you grew up in the 1990’s as I did, the mere mention of two words: “American Gladiators,” is bound to evoke a lot of smiles and rabid discussion. For those of us that spent our younger years in the decade of the 90’s, “American Gladiators” was a pop culture phenomenon. After the immense success of professional wrestling, many people sought out to build on that by introducing their own form of sports entertainment. The closest we ever got was “American Gladiators.”
For those unaware, the series was a sports entertainment series revolving around a group of normal contestants. They’d have to go up against a group of muscular, athletic and vicious male and female athletes, all of whom had one mission to keep the competitors from winning.
The Wrath of Becky (2023)
With the original 2020 “Becky,” we were introduced to the titular psychotic teenager on a rampage. The small scale but giddily violent movie was a great bit of revenge exploitation with Lulu Wilson bringing to life the conniving anti-heroine. With “The Wrath of Becky,” directors Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote re-introduce us to a new version of Becky. The Becky we meet now has been through a lot, but there are a few things that remain the same with her. One: She is as conniving and cunning as ever. And Two: It’s a good idea not to mess with her dog.
Moon Garden (2023)
It truly is remarkable what Ryan Stevens Harris has brought to the film world with “Moon Garden.” In a year packed with big films, “Moon Garden” will definitely sneak up on audiences. It deserves a massive crowd of film goers as it’s one of the finest fantasy films I’ve seen in years. A surefire mix of Neil Gaiman, Guillermo Del Toro, and Mike Mignola, “Moon Garden” is an absolute masterpiece about the loss of innocence and a little girl’s quest to make it back home. I knew “Moon Garden” was something special going in, but I never thought it’d end up being such an emotional, heart wrenching, and inventive fantasy gem from beginning to end.
You Have to See This! Selena (1997)
Streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and Redbox
If you’re a tik tok addict as yours truly is, then you’ll have noticed the more entertaining memes of adult Latina women introducing their daughters (or younger female friends or family) to “Selena.” It’s a bittersweet series of memes that inspire big laughs and big frowns all around. Like everyone in the nineties, the young women quickly fall head over heels in love with Selena Quintanilla. And like every person in the nineties, the rug is pulled right under them when shockingly she dies a pointless, tragic death. The series is interesting as it serves only to illustrate how much of a spell Selena put on people around the world.
White Men Can’t Jump (2023)
After the horrendous “House Party” remake, it’s pretty clear that director Calmatic is a nineties kid who loves the decade. The problem is that like “House Party,” his modern remake of “White Men Can’t Jump” can’t quite catch the lightning in a bottle energy and flavor that the originals held. He packs his soundtrack with nineties hip hop, nineties references, and even revives nineties-esque fashion for his characters. But when it comes down to it, “House Party” and “White Men…” had a real spontaneous energy about them that Calmatic can’t grasp, yet.