Although Charles Band and his studios are mainly known for horror, Band also dabbled heavily in to action, comedy, porn, and yes, especially fantasy films. “The Primevals” in spite of its limited budget is perhaps the most complete and richly developed Charles Band backed film I’ve ever seen in the studio’s entire history. David Allen has a clear vision of what kind of adventure film and he fully realizes it in what is such a fun, inventive and vintage action adventure. With obvious influences from Harryhausen, RKO Pictures, movie serials, and the Fleischers, “The Primevals” is a damn good bit of matinee fare that I could easily myself re-watching and re-watching on VHS when I was a kid.
Tag Archives: Adventure
Barbie (2023)
The idea of turning “Barbie” in to a feature film has been something Mattel has been grappling with for a very long time, and there was no other way to bring her to the big screen without turning her in to something of a meta comedy. Barbie is revered but also reviled for being beautiful, because with a lot of reasonable vitriol, Barbie has been considered a vapid unrealistic representation of beauty. “Barbie” seeks to confront a world that not only holds women to unrealistic standards, but also presents us with a Barbie whose own unrealistic standards are finally dawning on her. This forces her in to something of an existential crisis where she’s forced to look for the origin of her existence and how she can obtain that sense of perfection.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (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.
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
The best way to approach “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” is by examining it within the context upon which it was released. This was during World War II where anti-Asian sentiment was high. So, typical of movie studios at the time, the animators at Warner brought their iconic Bugs Bunny in to the war to fight a spiritual battle on screen against Japanese enemies. “Enemies” is putting it lightly. They’re horrendous Japanese stereotypes and clichés, and the animated short never misses a beat. There’s the Japanese that sounds like gibberish. There’s the big buck teeth, the bug eyes, the fractured English, the big glasses, there’s the appearance of a Sumo Wrestler for some reason, and yes, Bugs Bunny dresses as a Geisha girl to woo the sumo wrestler.
There’s also Bugs referring to them as “Japs” for most of the picture.
National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983): 40th Anniversary Edition [4K UHD/Digital]
I think one of the reasons why Clark Griswold is so famous is that he’s basically the every man. He’s the man who is tasked with giving his family a good vacation even though he’d rather be home. He’s obligated, and the further he goes forward the harder it becomes to give up and go back. “Vacation” is the prime National Lampoon’s road trip movie where it’s anything but the norm from this sub-genre. Harold Ramis depicts not just a middle lower class family’s attempts to go on vacation, but for Clark Griswold to use it as a moment to savor his family.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)
It’s exciting that after seven films, “Mission Impossible” still gives audiences the good old fashioned action movies that were prominent in movie theaters. Christopher McQuarrie’s treatment of the “Mission: Impossible” has never been over stylish which amplifies the old fashioned feeling of his take on Tom Cruise’s epic movie series, and I love it. There are spies, and mysteries, and chases through streets, car chases, femme fatales, a classic macguffin, and even a massive fight staged on, in, and on top of a moving train across Europe. It’s vintage adventure movie serial cinema amplified with a huge budget and some wonderful performances all around.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (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.
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (1944)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Robert Cannon
“Once Upon a Time There were Three Bears–” is what sets of the chaos of what happens when Bugs Bunny meets the iconic three bears. The three bears is the iconic bedside story written by Robert Southey from the nineteenth century, and it’s been twisted, and retold, and adapted dozens of times since its introduction. While Warner and the Looney Tunes aren’t the first to offer animated versions of the Three Bears, they are surely the best. Here, rather than three inadvertent characters of a story that come across Goldilocks, they’re instead a dysfunctional family on the verge of starvation. This take on the three bears is not only prime material for pure comedy but it’s one of the few times in this era where there’s not a traditional nuclear family.
The Flood (2023)
So basically, Brandon Slagle’s “The Flood” is “Assault on Precinct 13” but with killer alligators. That’s it. That’s the whole of the concept and premise. You can fill in the rest, if you’ve been watching movies for a while; which is not to say that “The Flood” is a bad film, it’s just not something that I haven’t seen before. Truth be told, there are nuggets of a great film embedded within “The Flood” but if you’re expecting a full on alligator siege movie in the vein of “Crawl,” then your best bet is looking elsewhere.