Tag Archives: Adventure

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Haredevil Hare (1948)

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Haredevil Hare (1948)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ben Washam

I freely admit that I have never been a fan of Marvin the Martian.

Yes, Yes, I know He’s one of the few ancillary characters from the Looney Tunes stable who’s managed to carve out his own niche. Back in the nineties he had his merchandise, and kitschy clothes and managed to set himself apart from Bugs to become his own character and he’s only appeared in five shorts, total! Just five. The thing I remember most about Marvin was that my cousin had this obnoxious alarm clock that he played over and over, first for our amusement and then just to get on our nerves. All in good fun, though. In either case, Marvin had his own corner of the universe with others like Michigan J. Frog and Tazmanian Devil, even appearing in many of the movies.

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Dune (2021)

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Frank Herbert’s lengthy scifi trilogy are a series of books that Hollywood has tried again and again to conquer since their initial release. From Alejandro Jodorowsky’s mythical attempts, to David Lynch’s less than stellar effort, and so on, “Dune” is that one series of books Hollywood has been aching to grab some money off of. For Denis Villeneuve, he’s the perfect director to film such an elaborate, complex, and exhaustive science fiction story. “Dune” never quite turns out as great as it has every bit of potential to, but it’s saved primarily thanks to the stellar performances from an all star case and Villeneuve’s remarkable direction.

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Bad Movie Monday: Dune (1984)

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I’m going to teach everyone on the internet how to properly say Denis Villeneuve’s name because most of you in English speaking countries are butchering it so goddamn bad that I feel the need to personally step in and address this incredibly unimportant issue. Probably the worst attempt I’ve heard so far was someone on YouTube calling him Dunneees Villaynueve, which is this weird thing Americans do. If they can’t say a French word or name they’ll just pronounce it with a cartoonishly Spanish accent and hope for the best. Take it from me, someone who is French, you sound ridiculous doing that. Okay, ready for your lesson kids? Take notes. There may be a test. “Denis” is pronounced as if you’re almost saying “The Knee” only with more of a D sound at the beginning. Relatively simple. As for “Villeneuve”, repeat after me: “Ville”, like the word Evil without the E. Pretend you’re Donald Pleasance in Halloween. “Neu”, like the word Nerve without the R. And finally a hard V sound at the end.

The Knee Ville-Neu-V. NOW SAY IT RIGHT! Good job. Now, what the hell was I doing? Oh, yeah… I was going to review David Lynch’s DUNE.

Cue music by Toto.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948)

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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.

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Demon in a Bottle (1996)

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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.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Buccaneer Bunny (1948)

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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.

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