Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)

We are in desperate need of a fantasy movie renaissance, and I truly hope “Honor Among Thieves” is the one to lead the charge. It takes a true D&D fan to really know how to bring this universe to life and director John Francis Daly rises to the challenge brilliantly. “Honor Among Thieves” is one of the more refreshing genre pictures of 2023; it’s a movie that is filled with so much appeal for any audience. I dare say that it might even open the door to a new generation of players.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Wacky Wabbit (1942)

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 Wacky Wabbit (1942)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Warren Foster
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Sid Sutherland

I have a great sentimental attachment to “The Wacky Wabbit” as it’s one of the many shorts I used to watch with my neighbor when I was nine. I remember the first time ever watching it on VHS, I was in hysterics, and watching it again today it’s still one of the funniest openers to a Bugs Bunny short I’ve ever seen. Let me tell you, it’s tough to impress a girl you like while you’re cackling over Bugs Bunny singing along with Elmer Fudd. This short really pops from the starting line with Bugs Bunny acting as both a foil to “Fat Elmer” Fudd, and a bit of a tormentor as well. Normally I’m not a fan of that set up, but here the comedy is just so good I can’t help but love it.

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John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Often times when a movie series has gone on as long as “John Wick” has, it offers diminishing returns. Thankfully, though the saga of “John Wick” has only amped up its game the further along it gets in the storyline of the “Baba Yaga” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” really is a massive step up. While the previous three films in the series have been monstrous, “John Wick Chapter 4” is thankfully something completely different while also it embraces what made the aforementioned movies so dazzling and engrossing. The narrative furthers Wick’s transformation in this world from an ex-assassin trying to live his life, as someone who is trying to re-claim his life.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Any Bonds Today? (1942)

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.

Any Bonds Today? (1942)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Bob Clampett
Music by Irving Berlin, Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Virgil Ross, Bob McKimson, etc.

The tall man with the high hat and the whiskers on his chin, Will soon be knocking at your door and you ought to be in, The tall man with the high hat will be coming down your way, Get your savings out when you hear him shout “Any bonds today?”

In 1942, the war effort was strong and America did whatever they could to promote patriotism and support for the armed forces during World War II. Among one of their tactics was to use one of the most popular cartoon characters of the time, Bugs Bunny, to promote the purchase of war bonds. In what is one of the most blatant uses of propaganda for the war, Warner implements the use of Bugs Bunny (a real testament to his popularity during this era) who appears in the ninety second musical short to encourage theater audiences to buy war bonds.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (1942)

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 Wabbit Who Came to Supper (1942)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Michael Maltese
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Richard Bickenbach

I have a big sentimental value attachment to “The Wabbit Who Came to Supper.” When I was a kid we didn’t have cable television, but VHS tapes were readily available and often cheap. Back then stores would sell cartoon compilation tapes filled with hours of animated shorts for dirt cheap (often times they were a dollar, two dollars tops). So my mom and dad would buy at least four of them and give them to me and my brother and sister, and we’d watch them for hours. I spent so many days watching random shorts from MGM and Warner.

Basically, it consisted of whatever was public domain at the time, as the “unofficial” compilation tapes were filled with public domain animated shorts. That’s basically how I familiarized myself with Popeye, and Felix the Cat, and how I fell in love with the Fleischer Brothers Superman series.

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Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023)

Hey, it’s better than “Black Adam.”

That’s about the biggest glowing opinion I can give “Fury of the Gods” when all is said and done. The follow up to the 2019 crowd pleaser is a perfectly fine film. It’s a solid adaptation of a unique comic book series, and it’s a good chance this is the last time we’ll see “Shazam!” with this cast. That being said, I liked “Fury of the Gods” even if I wasn’t a big fan of how much they toned down the content to make it so much more appealing to the younger audience. “Shazam!” had demons, and “Fury of the Gods” has unicorns.

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“Super Mario Bros: The Movie” 30 Years Later: The Baffling Feature Film Adaptation

Kids today will soon know their Mario Brothers as CGI animated sprites in the upcoming “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” I, for one, am psyched. But back in 1993, my Mario Bros. (beyond the video games) were found on television and in the movies. After Captain Lou Albano and Danny Wells ended their run as Mario and Luigi in “The Super Mario Brothers Super Show!” in 1989, the studios decided to finally bring the Super Mario world to the big screen in 1993. Said movie was called “Super Mario Bros: The Movie.”

You’d probably think: “How they could possibly get such an easy concept so wrong?”

But they did. They really did.

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