Phil Tippet’s animated love child has been a highly anticipated and much talked about project for years. Tippet is a man whose career is absolutely historic. He’s a two-time Oscar winner, and Ray Harryhausen disciple who’s been the special effects wizard behind films like Star Wars, Robocop, Jurassic Park, and Starship Troopers, respectively. And that’s just a fraction of his massive iconic career. So it is fascinating to see something so unique, bizarre, and yet absolutely engrossing as “Mad God” come from the man.
Tag Archives: Animation
There’s a Man in the Woods (2014)
I was only made aware of director Jacob Streilein’s short animated film a few weeks ago and I’m glad I sought it out and watched it. It’s a genuinely eerie and creepy exploration of folklore, and ]at what happens when false rumors are spread, and hysteria grips an entire community.
Batman: The Long Halloween – Part Two (2021) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
Suffice to say that I haven’t been this entertained by a Batman animated movie since “Gotham by Gaslight.” Chris Palmer’s animated production of the 13-issue limited comic series by writer Jeph Loeb and artist Tim Sale has been a masterful, absolutely mesmerizing amalgam of a murder mystery, mob thriller, relationship drama, and action thriller pairing Batman and his unlikely partner Catwoman against increasingly impossible odds.
5 Bugs Bunny Sports Films That Are Better Than ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’
I know, I know, you are a Bugs Bunny fanatic but you just cannot bring yourself to spend money at a theater or on a streaming service to watch “Space Jam: A New Legacy.” Trust me, I’ve been there – I only wound up watching the original “Space Jam” on a rainy afternoon in an Atlanta hotel room when I was absent of ideas on how to kill a few hours between a business meeting and a dinner with a friend. (Message to self: bring a book or write a book instead of spending money on bad movies.)
Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
It’s kind of ironic that the villain of the sequel to 1996’s “Space Jam” is named Al G. Rhythm, the physical manifestation of an algorithm who decides the fate of not just star Lebron James but of the Looney Tunes. “A New Legacy” (Or “Space Jam 2”) feels like it was directed not by a person, but a committee of people that followed algorithms about what was appealing to modern audiences, and what was “hip.” The film doubles as a two hour EPK for the HBO Max Streaming Service. “A New Legacy” premieres on the aforementioned streaming service (and theaters), so Warner takes full advantage of exploiting every single (repeat: every single) IP that they have at their disposal.
The Bootleg Files: Springtime for Clobber
BOOTLEG FILES 773: “Springtime for Clobber” (1957 animated short by the notorious Gene Deitch).
LAST SEEN: On YouTube.
AMERICAN HOME VIDEO: None.
REASON FOR BOOTLEG STATUS: It fell deep into the proverbial cracks.
CHANCES OF SEEING A COMMERCIAL DVD RELEASE: None, thank goodness.
Most film buffs may recall animator Gene Deitch as the inheritor of the Popeye and Tom and Jerry cartoon franchises – as well as being the man responsible for the worst additions to those respective, long-running series. He also created the egregious 1966 animated feature “Alice of Wonderland in Paris,” which I included in my book “The Greatest Bad Movies of All Time.”
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Batman: The Long Halloween, Part One (2021) [Blu-Ray/Digital]
I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve never actually read Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale’s “The Long Halloween” before, so I was very interested in seeing what the movie would bring fans. Even as a non-Batman fan, “The Long Halloween” is probably one of the best animated Batman movies I’ve seen in a long time. While most of the previous Batman animated movies have zeroed in on non stop action and little story, “The Long Halloween” is very much about Batman being a detective.