Enjoying “Tales from the Far Side” is based on whether or not you enjoy Gary Larsen’s original comic strip. I’d go so far as to say that the original comic strip was never this dark or surreal. I definitely wouldn’t call the animated special from Gary Larson funny, but it definitely succeeds in irony and some very morbid animated pieces. Rather than a fluid narrative, “Tales from the Far Side” shifts from scenario to scenario, all of which are interconnected by some circumstance.
I fondly remember renting “Meet Rockula and Frankenstone” quite often from our local videos store when I was a kid, and thankfully the movie genuinely holds up. Like all great comedy series, the Flintstones have had their share of crossovers, and this time they have the misfortune of meeting Dracula and Frankenstone. Or their stone age counterparts, as it were. While it’s not raucously funny as when Abbot and Costello met them, it’s a darn good short movie with the Flintstones doing what they do best.
If there was ever a testament to the magic of Robin Williams, it’s in his portrayal of Genie from “Aladdin.” The friendly Genie has been something of a pop culture facet for decades before “Aladdin,” and what could have been a stock character is transformed in to one of the most inadvertent heroes of all time. That’s mainly because Williams instills a humanity and charm in the magical being that’s impossible to recapture. Even a brilliant voice actor like Dan Castellaneta never reached that pitch that Williams did with his turn as the Genie. Though Aladdin is often depicted as the hero of the “Aladdin,” it’s the genie that’s mainly the hero, because he doesn’t just help Aladdin, but he also keeps him on the straight and narrow, devising ways to prevent the magic of the lamp from corrupting the character.
I guess there’s not much you can do when you cross a children’s cartoon series with a monster traditionally known for mauling people to death. That said, “Meet the Wolfman” is probably the weaker pairing in the Chipmunks animated movies, mainly because the writers don’t do much with Laurence Talbot and his ability to transform in to the wolfman. It only makes sense the Chipmunks would eventually come across Laurence Talbot, but I think there could have been a much more entertaining result to come from his meeting them. Talbot is played more as a menacing presence that moves in next door from the Chipmunks.
I’m still waiting for someone to deliver on an epic fantasy horror movie where teddy bears defend their masters against monsters under the bed, or from the closet. Tyler Novo’s two minute short comes painfully close to the premise and I’d love to see more of it down the road.
“Look I don’t want to be rude, but you sad losers should go suck somewhere else.”
Like every other hardcore Simpsons fan, I was a bit surprised that the series decided to not go with “Treehouse of Horror” this year. But FOX publicists assured fans that the following week would bring a new “Treehouse of Horror.” Even the characters address it in the first few minutes, as Homer has to appease Flanders, who asks why Halloween isn’t being celebrated in a treehouse this year. Thankfully “Halloween of Horror” is an experiment, and a damn good one. In all of the twenty seven seasons of “The Simpsons,” there were Christmas and Thanksgiving episodes, but Halloween was a special event with standalone non-canon horror stories meant to pay tribute to everything from Stephen King to Edgar Allen Poe. This year, the series treats us to two Halloween based episodes! Thankfully, “Halloween of Horror” is quite great and reminded me of a time where “The Simpsons were hilarious.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been spoiled by Will Vinton’s Christmas special, but “Comedy of Horrors” just wasn’t my favorite from the man. It’s likely because the narrative he gives audiences just doesn’t fit thirty minutes as a whole. I think this special should have had various segments rather than just one solid story. The story at the center is just never as engaging as I would have loved it to be, and in the end I was kind of disappointed. “Claymation Comedy of Horrors” is filled with a ton of horror references both obscure and mainstream, and I dug the Easter Eggs he included.