When I think about it, it’s pretty shocking that no one has made a movie about “The Star Wars Holiday Special” yet. It’s an untapped corner of the “Star Wars” fandom that has remained mainly a running joke and mythical hurdle a fan must endure as a rite of passage. Director Jeremy Coon and Steve Cozak team up to deliver what is one of the breeziest, interesting and most entertaining “Star Wars” documentaries of all time. Likely to be regard as a classic fandom documentary, “A Disturbance in the Force” chronicles the making of “Star Wars” and how the pop culture climate took a fairly straight faced science fiction adventure movie and transformed it in to a disco variety show.
Tag Archives: Comedy
The Slumber Party (2023)
I imagine the board meeting at Disney Channel went “What if we did “The Hangover”–but G rated?” And what we got was “The Slumber Party.” Director Veronica Rodriguez lays all of her influences out for the audience from minute one, even involving a small group of friends that make a pact that results in a night that neither of them can recall. It’s almost verbatim sans any and all adult content. Not that that’s a bad thing in particular, as thankfully “The Slumber Party” is quite good. The fact it’s blatantly derivative of the aforementioned movie is outweighed by the charisma of its cast, and its lively energy.
Haunted Mansion (2023)
I never had the pleasure of riding the famous Disney attraction but I know enough about it to understand the particulars of the story and its appeal. After the somewhat awful 2003 attempt with Eddie Murphy, Disney takes another crack at adapting one of their most iconic attractions. In the end it amounts to a very entertaining and heartfelt horror comedy that I imagine will allow for a good gateway for budding horror fans. I won’t proclaim it as a masterpiece, but when all was said and done, I was so much more satisfied than I was with the 2003 first attempt.
Five Great Haunted House Movies
With “The Haunted Mansion” reboot coming to theaters Friday it’s a great time to recommend some great haunted house movies you could watch before or after. Or if you’re not planning to see “The Haunted Mansion,” you could watch these movies instead. In either case, here are five great haunted house movies I highly recommend if you want some good chills, thrills, and scares.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Hare-Ribbin’ (1944)
2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.
Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.
Hare-Ribbin’ (1944)
Directed by Bob Clampett
Written by Lou Lilly
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Bob McKimson
It’s pretty surprising how many of Bugs Bunny’s shorts were trimmed down or censored over the years once they made it to cable television. The syndicated airings always opted to take out certain scenes, which is indicative of where Warner’s head space was when approaching these characters. Bugs Bunny’s original appeal was to a general, wider audience, so he was able to realty wreak havoc most of the time. I’m not referencing the black face or horrible racial stereotypes, none of that is even remotely funny. I talk about more in the terms of death and how these shorts handle it. Although I can appreciate the rule of not having Bugs Bunny perceived as either murdering another character, or being murdered, sometimes the joke is necessary for a pay off.
Barbie (2023)
The idea of turning “Barbie” in to a feature film has been something Mattel has been grappling with for a very long time, and there was no other way to bring her to the big screen without turning her in to something of a meta comedy. Barbie is revered but also reviled for being beautiful, because with a lot of reasonable vitriol, Barbie has been considered a vapid unrealistic representation of beauty. “Barbie” seeks to confront a world that not only holds women to unrealistic standards, but also presents us with a Barbie whose own unrealistic standards are finally dawning on her. This forces her in to something of an existential crisis where she’s forced to look for the origin of her existence and how she can obtain that sense of perfection.
Every Bugs Bunny Ever: Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)
2023 marks the 85th Anniversary of Bug Bunny’s first animated appearance in 1938’s “Porky’s Hare Hunt.” Debuting originally as Happy Rabbit, Bugs eventually became one of the most iconic animated characters of all time. In honor of the landmark anniversary, we’re discussing every animated appearance by Bugs Bunny. We’re big fans of Bugsy and we hope that you are, too.
Follow us on this massive journey where we discover and re-discover Every Bugs Bunny Ever.
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (1944)
Directed by Friz Freleng
Written by Tedd Pierce
Music by Carl W. Stalling
Animation by Gerry Chiniquy
The best way to approach “Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips” is by examining it within the context upon which it was released. This was during World War II where anti-Asian sentiment was high. So, typical of movie studios at the time, the animators at Warner brought their iconic Bugs Bunny in to the war to fight a spiritual battle on screen against Japanese enemies. “Enemies” is putting it lightly. They’re horrendous Japanese stereotypes and clichés, and the animated short never misses a beat. There’s the Japanese that sounds like gibberish. There’s the big buck teeth, the bug eyes, the fractured English, the big glasses, there’s the appearance of a Sumo Wrestler for some reason, and yes, Bugs Bunny dresses as a Geisha girl to woo the sumo wrestler.
There’s also Bugs referring to them as “Japs” for most of the picture.