Richard Elfman’s “Aliens Clowns & Geeks” is the type of indie zaniness you’ll only find in back room of modern cinema. It’s a fearless, and bizarre mish mash of comedy, satire, science fiction, music, and just about everything else you can find. There are transgender individuals, and evil clowns, and a hero who can fire lasers out of his anus. And that’s really the tip of the iceberg when you manage to soak it all in. And you’ll need a hell of a lot of booze and weed to soak it all in.
Tag Archives: Musical
Top 5 Tex Avery Animated Shorts
I’ve been a huge fan of Tex Avery since I was a small child. I spent most of my childhood cutting my teeth on animation from masters like Bob McKimson, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and the Fleischer Brothers, and Avery always had his own unusual style. For years he worked at Warner producing the Looney Tunes shorts, and produced some of his best work at MGM Studios. Avery’s work is bizarre, innovative, and so absolutely funny that they still manage to produce laughter just as much as the classic Looney Tunes.
This year, Warner released two whole (long overdue) volumes of uncut, unedited Tex Avery shorts on Blu-Ray for animation fans and collectors alike. In celebration of that release, I thought I’d list five of my all time favorite Tex Avery shorts, most of which were produced with MGM Studios.
Are there any shorts from Tex Avery that you love that I didn’t list? Let us know in the comments!
TV on DVD: Warner Archive’s Complete Series
I’m a big fan of “Josie and the Pussycats.” I think the theme song one of the most raucously entertaining themes ever made, while the cartoon is one of the better byproducts of the “Scooby Doo” influence. Hoping to continue the series, Hanna Barbera took their franchise to the more obvious setting: Space! And they branched out in to orbit with Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space: The Complete Series, now on Blu-Ray.
Röckët Stähr’s Death of a Rockstar (2020) [Fantaspoa Fest 2021]
It’s not too often I’m privileged enough to watch an animated rock opera, but Röckët Stähr’s one man production about world fighting for peace through rock and roll is quite the spectacle. One thing you can’t accuse it of is being unambitious, as Röckët Stähr’s does everything in the movie possible. He literally does everything as when the movie comes to a close you can see the impressive list of tasks he undertook to bring his movie to life.
Nuevo Rico (2020) [SXSW 2021]
Director Kristian Mercado Figueroa’s short musical is a brilliant and excellent look at the end of the potential creeping end of the American territory known as Puerto Rico. Though fiction, Mercado brings to light the very troubling developments that could change how Puerto Ricans connect to their homeland. In the near future, the raw land of Puerto Rico has been destroyed in favor of a futuristic dystopia now known as Nuevo Rico.
Tom and Jerry (2021)
Warner Animation props up the long rotted corpse of “Tom and Jerry” long enough to produce what I’m sure they hoped would be a blockbuster big screen adaptation. For a series that’s been languishing on video store shelves with cheaply made, watered down animated movies for years, it’s not a surprise that “Tom and Jerry” is about as bland as ever. It’s also not at all surprising that Tim Story is the man called on to deliver such an inoffensive, forgettable, mishmash of weird ideas and concepts.
Will Reading (2020)
Director Jamie Insalaco’s movie has a lot going for it as a comedy about adults relying on one big score to adjust their lives once again. But once everything came to a close, “Will Reading” ends up being a cinematic experience that’s hindered by so many of its flaws, in spite of so much it brings to the table. I wouldn’t say that I’d recommend it, but if you’re in the market for a movie that feels like a zany send up of “The Big Chill.”