I’m still not sure why DC commits to creating new branches of their animated universe with only a little under eighty minutes to spare. I think it wouldn’t hurt if something like “Justice League Dark” was given two hours to tell its story. Instead it rushes through just about everything possible, from prologue, set up, character introductions, villain introduction, villain back story, and the final showdown. And there’s no guarantee we’ll see a sequel any time soon, since DC and Warner are planning a live action version. So unless you’re a hardcore DC fan, you won’t get to learn a lot about folks like the Demon Etrigan or Zatanna, since we speed right through their characterizations.
Tag Archives: Animation
TV on DVD: Airwolf: Season 1 (DVD), C.O.P.S.: The Complete Series (DVD)
“Airwolf” came at that time where America was infatuated with big vehicles and Americans fighting crime and foreign bad guys. Shows like “A Team” and “Knight Rider” were pop culture sensations, so “Airwolf” tries to tap in to that same vein. It’s not the most amazing TV series, but it’s a damn solid action series about a young soldier and crusty old veteran fighting crime and stopping international terrorists with their high tech helicopter. Sadly, the helicopter doesn’t have a sentient voice like KITT did in “Knight Rider,” but there’s at least Jan Michael Vincent, and Ernest Borgnine, who has a good time playing the mentor who also has a tough time piloting such a high tech gizmo. “Airwolf” has a good premise and one that can definitely fit in to a movie or two down the line.
Think Pink: DePatie-Freleng Animation
This episode of “The Online Movie Show with Phil Hall” celebrates the Oscar-winning DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the animation studio responsible for such beloved characters as The Pink Panther, The Ant and the Aardvark, Tijuana Toads and The Dogfather. Mark Arnold, author of “Think Pink: The DePatie-Freleng Story,” discusses the little-known history of the innovative artists behind these beloved animated shorts.
This program is produced at Platinum Wolfe Studios.
Scavengers (2017)
Director Joseph Bennett and Charles Huettner’s short “Scavengers” originally premiered on cable television and is admittedly at home in the Adult Swim studio library. The studio that thrives on creating different entertainment, “Scavengers” is an ambitious and thought provoking animated film with no dialogue, but incredible sound design. The experience of “Scavengers” hinges on every sound we hear in this new environment, and we’re thrust in to a new world without having characters over explain and hold our hands through what we’re watching.
Sausage Party (2016)
Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg are two men who can be funny when they want to, and whenever they come up with a premise for something out of the box they almost offer up something great. For some reason they can never seem to completely unfold their unusual premises whole hog, and hinder their own efforts to be absurd time and time again. “This is the End” had moments of pure hilarity but fell apart by the second half, and “Sausage Party” is a movie where I get what they’re doing. Yes, I understand what they’re doing here. “Sausage Party” is an off the wall and absurd twist on “Toy Story” where anthropomorphic sentient inanimate objects are treated as such to the point where they feel everything humans can. They can be scared, they have their own communities, and yes, they even have their own sexualities and religions. I get it.
Princess Mononoke (Mononoke-hime) (1997)
Returns to theaters across the nation for a 20th Anniversary celebration, complete with a new 4K restoration. Premiered in theaters Thursday, January 5 in Japanese with English subtitles and will screen Monday, January 9 with an English dub at 7 p.m. local time. Tickets are available now. The event will also feature a screening of the never-before-released music video directed by Hayao Miyazaki, On Your Mark!
Back when “Princess Mononoke” hit the states in 1999, I literally had no idea who Hayao Miyazaki was. My teacher in high school kept a poster of the movie up on her bulletin board and I thought the movie looked amazing. Years after the Oscar buzz, I discovered “Princess Mononoke” and the brilliance of Studio Ghibli. The great thing about Studio Ghibli is there is no wrong way to enter in to their universe.
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Rock & Rule (1983)
“Rock & Rule” is a wonky, surreal, and entertaining animated musical that feels like Ralph Bakshi, Don Bluth, and “Heavy Metal” magazine were combined in to such a frantic cult gem. The 1983 movie has gone through years of being an underground classic, and has finally been embraced for such an ahead of its time science fiction tale. The animation for “Rock & Rule” is completely out of the box, resembling rotoscoping in many aspects, and opting for character models you don’t often find anywhere else. “Rock & Rule” is a science fiction, punk rock, steam punk tale set many years in the future after world war III wiped man off the face of the Earth. The only surviving species are cats, dogs, and rats. They have evolved in to anthropomorphic mutants, all capable of thought and speech.