Tag Archives: Comedy

Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Rebel Rabbit (1949)

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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)

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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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BOB (2022)

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Inspired by a true story, Drew Bierut’s romance comedy is one of the most charming tales of fate and random scenarios I’ve seen in a long time. Although the movie posits itself as this bizarre concept, it amounts to a surprisingly funny, engaging and warm romance comedy that explores how sometimes we can end up meeting our perfect person in the most unlikely places. Everything about “Bob” is so well conducted from the direction, top notch performances, and ace comic timing, I just loved it.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Mississippi Hare (1949)

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

“Mississippi Hare” is so problematic in the first twenty seconds that you have to constantly remind yourself of the context upon which this short was produced. There’s so much cringe inducing material that sets up the general premise for “Mississippi Hare” that it actively destroys any momentum it tries to pick up. And it’s not that the whole set up is extreme, it’s just that it’s so of its time, that I can imagine this short only ever appearing on Beta and VHS compilations in the eighties and nineties. Those VHS compilations often included shorts like this without editing anything out.

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Sorceress of Suburbia (2011)

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Director Fred Olen Ray has had one of the weirdest movie careers I’ve ever seen from any director. It’s not many filmmakers that can ride the tides of various trends creating softcore porn for basic cable, erotic thriller, cheapy horror movies, and then goofy Hallmark Channel Christmas movies in one career. Fred Olen Ray gets shit done, I guess, and “Sorceress of Suburbia” is one of his many forays in to the porn sub-genre.

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Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia (Ernest et Célestine: Le voyage en Charabie) (2022) [Blu-Ray]

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Now Available from Shout! Factory and GKIDS.

I’ll be the first to admit that I had no idea what “Ernest & Célestine” was or that it had its own series, as well as a feature film. The good thing about “Ernest & Célestine: A Trip to Gibberitia” is that you don’t really have to go back and see the previous material to understand what’s happening. Basically, it’s all so beautifully animated like a moving storybook and is the tale of the love between a big bear and a small female mouse. Named Ernest & Célestine, there is a story of friendship but there’s also an unspoken true love that’s very punctuated in the final scene of the film.

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Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare Do (1949)

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Hare Do (1949)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
Music by Carl W. Stalling

In my head canon, since Bugs, the Coyote and Road Runner are in the same universe, and they all shop from ACME. Their prices depend on whether their devices will work, so while Coyote is buying junk, Elmer Fudd ends up buying high priced machinery to hunt for potential prey. Hence the machine that he’s seen carrying in the opening of the short which can best be explained as some kind of radar for prey that also includes a screen for them. The machine does work, but Bugs ends up catching on way too early for Elmer’s liking. I know, I know, Elmer points to it as “Awmy Surpwuss!” but who’s to say ACME doesn’t have that kind of department for hunters and predators?

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