Murdercise (2023)

“All those girls out there are perverts, strippers and communists!”

It’s amazing that Kansas Bowling isn’t a bigger star. She’s become one of the most recurring faces in indie and horror film, only really appearing every so often to deliver some of the most hilarious characters put to screen. Working with Paul Ragsdale again, Bowling delivers a fun take on a character that’s not so much a villain and not so much a hero, but is just someone dealing with their own insanity. Director Ragsdale delivers a silly nonsensical horror comedy that’s centered on the Reagan-era aesthetic to where even Bowling’s main character is an uptight Reagan fan.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bowery Bugs (1949)

Bowery Bugs (1949)
Directed by Arthur Davis
Written by Lloyd Turner
Animation by Emery Hawkins
Music by Peter Burness

Steve Brody is one of the more forgettable of Bugs Bunny’s foils as he feels a lot like a carry over from Tex Avery and his MGM stint. In fact, the majority of “Bowery Bugs” feels a lot like it brings the formula over, relying on a short that is so much less about the chase, and more about various skits involving Steve Brody in search of good luck. He’s constantly set off his path by the prankster Bugs, who makes it his mission to drive him crazy. The set up is pretty bizarre, as Bugs seeks to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to a potential buyer, and tells the story of Steve Brody and why he jumped off the bridge in 1886.

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Ocean’s Trilogy [4K Ultra HD/Digital]

Since it’s been about a year since we’ve seen the “Ocean’s Trilogy” released on physical format, Warner unleashes the trilogy of crime thrillers once again for physical media collectors. Yes, this time the individual movies from the “Ocean’s series was released in individual Steelbooks and a pair of specially packaged movies for the hardcore base of these trilogy of crime drama comedies. Oddly missing from the whole shebang is the original Frank Sinatra “Ocean’s Eleven,” as well as the abysmal female led “Ocean’s 8.” Maybe someday the fans will get a complete, ultimate edition with the whole series for their library, but for now this covers the basic trio of movies that gave us back the ensemble vanity project.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: High Diving Hare (1949)

High Diving Hare (1949)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniqiuy
Music by Peter Burness

You wouldn’t think you could do much with a short that centered on almost nothing but gags of Yosemite Sam falling off a high dive, but you’d be wrong. While short on variety, “High Diving Hare” is a blast because it feels like a return to form. Like previous shorts, there’s a three act structure, a perfectly funny set up, and a lot of really funny gags between Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny. I remember watching this short a lot during the “Bugs Bunny and Tweey Show” back on Saturday mornings but with a lot of the opening set up cut out to fit commercials. While the opening set up to the ensuing mayhem isn’t detrimental to enjoying the entire short, it does give the whole concept a lot of context,

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rebel Rabbit (1949)

Rebel Rabbit (1949)
Directed by Chuck Jones
Written by Michael Maltese
Animation by Ben Washam
Music by Carl W. Stalling

This is probably the most unhinged I’ve ever seen Bugs Bunny and probably the closest that he’s ever come to transforming in to a super villain of a sorts.

Like previous exploits Bugs Bunny tends to be a victim of his own ego, which is something that’s often overlooked in future shorts. In “Rebel Rabbit,” he’s not so much battling a predator as he is, well, having a virtual mental breakdown on screen. Sadly none of it is really all that funny. Save for some sharp animation, “Rebel Rabbit” has no structure or much of a three act narrative to begin with. It’s basically just a string of skits with Bugs Bunny wreaking untold havoc on various states and ecolosystems all for the simple fact that he’s not deemed too worthy by the US Government.

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Abigail (2024)

In a year filled with a ton of very serious horror, it feels good to see Radio Silence offer up a quick, breezy bit of survival horror that I could get behind. In fact the compactness can even tend to work toward the film’s detriment as it feels like an extended version of an anthology horror show, right down to the fact that it’s all one big chamber piece. “Abigail” watches a lot like the classic EC Comics, where our ensemble of ne’er do wells get what’s coming to them in a remarkable twist.

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