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.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Buccaneer Bunny (1948)
Buccaneer Bunny (1948)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Manuel Perez
Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of–Ma’s old fa-shioned ci-der! Ma’s old fa-shioned ci-der!
I have great sentimental value for “Buccaneer Bunny” as it’s one of the array of Bugs Bunny shorts that were often played during the Bugs and Daffy Show every Saturday morning when I was a kid. “Buccaneer Bunny” is edgy enough to still be hilarious but never crosses any lines. And we also get Yosemite Sam once again! That’s always a plus. Watching this short takes me back to when I was a child winding down from Saturday morning cartoons and greeting the early afternoon with the hour block on ABC Network. “Buccaneer Bunny” is still utterly hilarious and stands as one of the shorts from Bugs that hasn’t aged a bit.
Even with its stripped-down premise, the short is a masterclass in the excellent dynamic that Bugs and Yosemite Sam have together.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rabbit Punch (1948)
Rabbit Punch (1948)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Ted Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Phil Monroe
The bad new is that Chuck Jones re-uses a lot of the material from “Baseball Bugs” for “Rabbit Punch.” The good news is that “Rabbit Punch” ends up being very funny and memorable just the same. If you watch this and “Baseball Bugs” back to back you’ll see the obvious cut and paste, but this short is helped by the hysterical animation which really helps punctuate the hilarious physical gags and sight gags. There are some subtle bits of comedy that I still chuckle over. The frame as Bugs is hit by The Champ’s brick fist is absolutely priceless, and the POV of The Champ getting hit with a boulder by Bugs’ slingshot is just genius.
Darkman (1990): Collector’s Edition [4K UHD/Blu-ray]
The one thing about Sam Raimi’s movies is that good or bad, very few of them age poorly. Even for a movie made in the early nineties at an age where every studio were seeking to duplicate the success of “Batman,” Raimi makes “Darkman” his own movie. It’s a superhero movie in the horror vein where our masked dark avenger is also a deformed an unhinged Frankenstein monster. Something in the vein of Brundlefly, Liam Neeson really does offer up a wildly unique and off the rails performance.
No Way Up (2024)
It seems like not many remember what a good survival film is, anymore, and while so many present prime opportunities for knuckle biting tension, often times they tend to fall so flat. Claudio Fäh’s “No Way Up” is a great idea for a survival thriller where the odds are deliriously stacked against a group of people. It’s just shocking that so much of this opportunity is wasted in favor of what is mostly a flat, redundant, and dull thriller. I don’t know how you take a great idea like “No Way Up” and leave it feeling like nothing is ever really fleshed out or fully developed.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: A Feather in His Hare (1948)
A Feather in His Hare (1948)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris
We’re so late in the game and we’re still doling out these hideous racial stereotypes for these Looney Tunes shorts. “A Feather in his Hare” reminded me a lot of “All This and Rabbit Stew” except this short elicits a ton of hideous Native American stereotypes without ever actually building an interesting villain. By now we’ve had Elmer, Yosemite Sam, and many more foils, and we’re still being fed this kind of muck. And it’s not just that “A Feather in His Hare” is awfully racist, but it’s awfully unfunny as well. It’s just a lot of exploring how many Native American stereotypes can be squeezed in to eight minutes, and none of it ever amounts to even a mild chuckle.
Turning Red (2022)
Will be in Limited Re-Release on February 9th; will be preceded by the Sparkshort Kitbull. Check Local Listings.
You gotta give it to Pixar, when they decide to do something new, they approach it head on and go all the way. Although subtlety was never their strong suit, here “Turning Red’s” one big noticeable element is that it’s about as subtle as a brick on the head. With Domee Shi directing, “Turning Red” is a decidedly very Asian flavored coming of age film that’s drawn in the style of anime and Manga.