Director Milo Neuman’s approach to “Blue Beetle” for this DC Showcase is pretty fin as it watches like an incarnation of the old Hanna Barbera cartoons. Think “Blue Falcon” meets “Johnny Quest” and you’re there. “Blue Beetle” takes the often under used costumed hero known as Ted Kord and runs with his concept, turning him in to something of a quipping avenger who works off of the overly serious The Question, and it’s a fun preview in to what DC isn’t but should be doing with these overlooked characters.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Blue Beetle (2023)
After a year that’s been filled with nothing but losses from Warner and the now finished DCEU franchise, “Blue Beetle” is the win that they sorely needed. Thankfully, I’m very elated to say that Angel Manuel Soto’s adaptation of the acclaimed DC Comic is a great film. It manages to pull off a lot of what “The Flash” and “Fury of the Gods” didn’t by offering a fantastic narrative and some wonderful action, packed with great themes about family, culture, and unity. “Blue Beetle” is teeming with positivity, even when it’s at its darkest, as it promotes a lot of universal ideas of leaning on family, figuring out how to endure through pain, and figuring out your inner power.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Old Grey Hare (1944)
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.
The Old Grey Hare (1944)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Michael Sasanoff
Music by Lou Lilly
Animation by Bob McKimson
I’m surprisingly not a fan of “The Old Grey Hare” as it always came off as so random and bizarre. I’m so used to the Looney Tunes shorts setting up everything so expertly with three act structures in spite of the short run time. So it’s disappointing to see “The Old Grey Hare” which garners a lackluster first act, and a pretty abrupt third act. Plus the whole idea behind the return of skinny Elmer Fudd is kind of depressing, all things considered. The whole back and forth between Elmer and Bugs was always so much fun and hilarious, that for the writers to paint this dynamic as something of a inescapable circle of insanity kind of defeats the purpose of being labeled a comedy.
Sharknado (2013): 10th Anniversary Edition
The Pop Culture Phenomenon That Took The World By Storm Comes Back to 500+ Cinemas Nationwide, fully Remastered, for Two Nights Only On August 15th & 16th. Tickets are available for purchase.
Back in 2013 a lot of people gave The Asylum guff, and could not predict the kind of pop culture sensation they would eventually produce. “Sharknado” is that classic bit of pop culture camp lightning in a bottle like “Snakes on a Plane” or “Birdemic” where the public is just infatuated with the sheer absurdity of it all. “Sharknado” took a lot of the media by storm back in 2013, leaning heavily in to its ridiculous premise to produce what is—well, still just an okay bit of cult cinema. The Asylum with Anthony C. Ferrante knew what they were giving us, and it shows in every scene of their movie.
Five Underappreciated Comic Book Style Movies
There was a weird period in the aughts where movie studios were becoming more and more open to adapting superhero and comic book movies, but weren’t quite committed just yet. Meanwhile they did release some movies that were comic book like in nature and concept, and while they kind of bombed critically and or financially, I enjoyed them quite a bit. A few of them were even ahead of their time in many respects. Here are five that I think are woefully under appreciated, and deserve more notice, even if they aren’t what I’d call flawless or masterpieces.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Buckaroo Bugs (1944)
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.
Buckaroo Bugs (1944)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Lou Lilly
Animation by Manny Gould
It would be a while before we would ever see Yosemite Sam on the big screen battling Bugs Bunny. We already saw the proto-granny in “Hare Force,” so “Buckaroo Bugs” has the proto-Yosemite Sam otherwise known as the Red Hot Ryder. This character would appear first and obviously be the character that would morph in to the aforementioned gun slinging bandit. This is also one of the very few times that we’ve seen Bugs Bunny playing the super villain in his own short. While yes there was the Tortoise and Hare but shorts, with “Buckaroo Bugs,” Bugs comes right out and says it to the audience that he is a bandit known s the notorious Masked Marauder.
Van Helsing: The London Assignment (2004)
DRACULA WEEK
When we first see Gabriel Van Helsing in “Van Helsing,” he’s on the pursuit of Mr. Hyde, a hulk-ified version of Dr. Jekyll. While the Stephen Sommers movie was a bust, “The London Assignment” at least takes its best shot at filling in the gaps. “The London Assignment” is an okay attempt a prologue for Gabriel Van Helsing, where we follow him in his efforts to stop the vicious murder spree of Dr. Jekyll and his monstrous alter ego Mr. Hyde.