I liked “The Meg” enough to consider it a fun bit of James Cameron-lite entertainment, but I wasn’t exactly clamoring for a sequel. With “The Meg 2,” director Ben Wheatley leans heavily in to more unique elements allowing Jason Statham to be more physically active this time around, while also embracing the Asian influence. You just know Statham requested at least one action sequence of him fighting bad guys, hence the re-introduction of Jonas Taylor. Taylor is still a brainy scientist, but he’s also an ecological activist who skirts the law by breaking on to ships and stealing information from criminals. While “The Meg” was basically “The Abyss” meets “Deep Blue Sea,” this time around director Ben Wheatley opts more for “Jurassic World” meets “The Deep.”
Tag Archives: Adventure
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Remover (1946)
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 Remover (1946)
Directed by Frank Tashlin, Bob McKimson
Written by Warren Foster
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Richard Bickenbach
“Hare Remover” is one of the rare misses by the Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny team up. Usually their team ups and rivalries amount to some great laughs, but “Hare Remover” really hits the mark at all corners. It’s not to say that the short is bad, but in the long line of Bugs and Elmer shorts, this is not even top tier. If anything, “Hare Remoer” feels shockingly like a precursor to “Hair Raising Hare” where Bugs Bunny confronts an evil scientist and becomes the rival to a vicious monster. Here, much of the set up allows for a really raucous and funny short but everything really is just a complete misfire.
“Airborne” at 30: Still The Fantastic 90’s Bonanza
In the 1990’s everything was “Extreme” or “Mega.” Everything had to be what with the introduction of things like X Games, which gave way to a huge tidal wave of things that were more adrenaline fueled, faster, and often times advertised “This isn’t your daddy’s:” Insert product here. Along with the sports being more extreme, the movies were more extreme, and the 1990’s carried over the skateboard generation from the 1980’s. Where the massive influx of skateboard movies permeated cult cinema, the 1990’s were where there were even more efforts to integrate it in to mainstream cinema. While it didn’t quite succeed (we did get “Brink!”, I guess), we did manage to get great films like my childhood favorite “Airborne.”
Strays (2023): Unleashed Edition [Blu-Ray/DVD/Digital]
I think what ultimately hinders director Josh Greenbaum’s “Strays” is that it’s nothing that we’ve haven’t already seen before. While there is the more blunt explorations of the dog habits and a lot of gags involving humping on objects, and a ton of coarse language, “Strays” is basically just one of the many, many, many talking dog movies available to audiences. “Strays” is also hindered by the fact that there’s a deep sadness permeating under the surface of its story.
Violent Night (2022) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
It was only a matter of time before someone would take Santa Claus and mix him with “Die Hard,” it was only a case of how good it would end up being. Tommy Wirkola’s Christmas action flick is the perfect kind of antidote for the folks that don’t mind a bit of cynicism with their holidays. “Violent Night” is very much a “Die Hard” with an adrenaline shot of Christmas cheer. It’s also deep down a great splatter flick that doesn’t mind giving us a Santa Claus who is about brutally punishing those that tick him off.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Baseball Bugs (1946)
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.
Baseball Bugs (1946)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Ken Harris
We’re back, folks…
The Gas House Gorillas are a bunch of no neck bullies and probably one of best from Bugs bunny’s villain gallery. Before Michael Jordan turned them in to basketball players, for years the Looney Tunes were associated with baseball and the Gashouse Gorillas were typically their enemies. The Gas House Gorillas were basically the Monstars before the Monstars ever arrived, except they didn’t get by with goofy sports steroids, they were huge lugs with the tendency to cheat and use their size to bully others.
Skateboard: The Movie (1978)
Now in Limited Release in New York, and California; debuting November 10th in MN, November 15th at the Gateway Film Center in Columbus, OH, November 26th at the The Texas Theater in Oak Cliff, TX, and December 9th/10th at the Cleveland Cinematheque in Cleveland, OH. Check Local Theater Listings.
I guess if you fancy yourself a completist, or have to watch every sports movie ever made, “Skateboard: The Movie” is a fascinating relic of a pretty great bygone era. It’s not at all a good movie per se, but I liked director George Gage’s movie for the way it works as a time capsule for the late seventies. It was a precursor to a lot of interesting concepts, including turning skateboarding in to a bonafide tournament sport, the way the media would inevitably drift over to skateboarding, as well as the whole attitude of the decade. The entirety of “Skateboard: The Movie” is punctuated by a lot of moog/synthesizer music, as well as a ton of pretty good pop rock music that lends it a real energy.