As many of you know, we almost never got to see this movie. Warner Brothers didn't release it originally instead using it as a tax write off. Luckily for us, Ketchup Entertainment picked it up and gave it the theatrical release we were all hoping for. When this movie started to get such great reviews, I was initially skeptical. I was wondering if it was actually as great as us Looney Tunes fans wanted it to be or if people were just so happy to actually see it that they exaggerated how good it was. I am happy to report that this is a wonderful movie.
I have rarely heard an audience laugh so much in a movie theater at a modern comedy than I did here. And I went to a late-night showing, so this was not an audience of kids but of adults who grew up with and love these characters. Simply put this is just a darn funny movie. In the style of classic Looney Tunes cartoons, this film offers one gag after another. What is even more amazing is that nearly every gag hits here perfectly. There are times when the space between very funny gags is only enough to take a breath between laughing. Also like the classic Looney Tunes shorts, every type of humor is employed. There is simple silly slapstick, brilliantly clever satire and everything in-between. What most impressed me is the slapstick gags. It is rare to find a modern comedy that captures the perfect sense of timing that was so evident in the classic Looney Tunes shorts. Yet the timing of these slapstick gags is absolutely perfect.
What is more surprising though is that the storyline is also great as well. We actually truly care about and relate to the characters' plights. This is not only true of the classic cartoon characters but the live action humans as well. Will Forte as the live action lead is fantastic and brings some real heart to what is still a silly movie. There are scenes where we want to stand up and cheer for what happened.
If I had to fault this movie it would be on the basis of the combination of live action and animation. Sometimes these two don't always blend together extremely well. There are times when the animated characters and the live action characters, don't seem to fully occupy the same space the way they did in Space Jam or Back in Action. However, this flaw is completely overcome but how great everything else is.
If you are a Looney Tunes fan (like me) this is a must watch.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some animated treasures.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Midnight Frolics (1938). This Columbia Color Rhapsody cartoon was directed by none other than Ub Iwerks, co-creator of Mickey Mouse and at one time Walt Disney's right-hand man.
Now for more singing and dancing ghosts here is the Terry Toons cartoons, Seeing Ghosts (1948).
Though Chuck Jones would be one of the main contributors into Daffy Duck changing from his early wild, unhinged and well Daffy personality into the later self-absorbed and greedy duck, Chuck's earliest cartoons with Daffy featured the duck as completely crazy. In my opinion one of the best of these films is To Duck or Not To Duck (1943). This is a wild and crazy and very funny cartoon that is instantly quotable. This short has fallen in the public domain and therefore those who collect VHS and DVDs of classic cartoons will instantly recognize it. A review in The Film Daily stated, "Leon Schlesinger has turned out another ace Technicolor cartoon featuring the characters of Daffy Duck and the Goofy hunter."
When Ub Iwerks had his own cartoon studio, it unfortunately had the same problem that many forgotten studios did. Ub's studio struggled to find a character that would fully win over movie audiences, the way the Warner Brothers and Disney characters did. One of the forgotten characters from the studio was Willie Whopper, a young boy who told great tall tales and tried to pass them off as stories from his life. Here is one of the Willie Whopper cartoons, Rasslin' Around (1934). While his cartoons have a certain charm to them, it is easy to see why the character never took off like Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now we join Dingbat in The Hard-Boiled Egg (1948). This is the first of five theatrical cartoons starring this crazy yellow bird.
Today's cartoon selection concludes with one of Walt Disney's great Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons, The Ocean Hop (1927). Like the early Mickey Mouse cartoon, Plane Crazy (1928), in this film Oswald takes to the skies in his self-made plane. Here though Oswald is in a race against a variety of competitors including an early version of the later Mickey Mouse nemesis Peg Leg Pete. When it comes to the early Disney cartoons, the animator most cartoon buffs think of is Ub Iwerks. However, Iwerks animates surprisingly little footage in this movie. Still, what he does animate shows his skill to its finest level. For instance, there is an incredible scene (animated by Iwerks) in which Oswald's "plane" is spinning wildly out of control and rotating around the sky. Rollin "Ham" Hamilton's animation looks crude in comparison with other Disney animators, but there is some great acting in his scenes that come across perfectly. This is something that is well seen when Oswald tells a couple of mice to blow up a balloon. Hugh Harman animates the majority of action in this cartoon including a great scene in which Pete uses a stick of gum to prevent Oswald from winning. There is unfortunately a missing scene from this film. That scene involves the dog falling into a taxi's engine and coming out as a series of sausages. While that joke sounds mean spirited today, it was a common joke during this time period and Walt Disney himself had previously used a similar gag in the Alice Comedy, Alice’s Mysterious Mystery (1926). These Oswald cartoons were later released in the 1930's with new soundtracks and unfortunately scenes shuffled around and left out.
Next is the Mickey Mouse cartoon, Orphan’s Picnic (1936). The original story outline for this film had the orphan mice playing various practical jokes on Mickey. However in the finished film, these jokes are aimed at Donald instead.
Now let us close with a song.
Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons by Leonard Maltin
Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History by J.B. Kaufman and David Gerstein
This is very much your typical Jason Statham movie, this time on a boat. The basic plot doesn't matter much; there are some horrible monstrous people, and Jason Statham kills them.
At first there is a bit of story to set up the action that is about to come. However, once the story gets fully set up, the story becomes almost an afterthought. With such the movie lives and dies on the action scenes. Luckily the action scenes are pretty good. There may not be the creativity or spectacle of the John Wick movies, but we are given the bare basics of what we want from an action movie. The villains are easy to hate and there is a certain cathartic joy seeing Statham kill them. Statham has that old school action hero charisma that makes him a joy to watch. The pacing gives us action scene after action scene, without ever feeling tiring or overwhelming.
The problem with this movie, however, is that it is so by the numbers that is one you will forget about a few weeks after watching. While the film is fun, there is nothing here that will make it stand out among the many similar films. Even as fun as the action is, it is not spetacular enough to stay in your memory either.
This makes for an enjoy trip to the movies but nothing more than that.
A horror comedy that is just as hilarious as it is unsettling.
If you were to describe this movie to me, I would think that I would hate it. The idea of a Barney-like kids show mascot (an orange unicorn in this case) that snaps and tries to kill the kids sounds like a one joke premise that would get old very quickly. Amazingly that is not the case here at all.
As this film starts it is a pure absurdist comedy. As an absurdist comedy, it is actually hilarious. The reason for this is simple. While lesser hands would simply use having a lot of gore in what should be a child friendly setting as the only joke, the filmmakers don't use gore as a comedic crutch. To be sure, this film can get very gory, but this is far from the only tool at the filmmakers' disposal. Before the first kill, this movie is still an excellent parody of these types of children's shows. It points out the absurdity of these shows in a hilarious way. Making these early scenes all the funnier is that, especially for any of us who grew up with such shows, it is not far from what these shows were actually like. Most great R-rated comedies are just as successful with their clean humor as with their R-rated humor and that is certainly the case here. This also makes the gore all the more entertaining as well. When there are plenty of scenes without this type of gore, it makes the scenes that utilize it all the more effective.
After these early absurdly funny scenes, the movie did something that took me completely by surprise. It morphed into a quite disturbing horror flick. The backstory of how the kids got here, is quite disturbing. This is an example of the best type of horror, the type that gets creepier the more you think about it.
For the rest of the movie, the film goes back and forth between dark comedy and straight horror. What is quite outstanding is how well these two elements are mixed. The filmmakers know just when to play the story for laughs and when to play it for horror. The creepy and the comedy mesh together perfectly naturally. Neither gets in the way of the other and there is never too much of either.
Hello my friends and welcome back for another service of Cowboy Church.
Today's musical selection begins with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans with Jesus Loves the Little Children. Jesus would state, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me." There is no doubt that Jesus did love the little children and he loves us big children too. If we will humble ourselves and become like little children, the blessings he has for us are immeasurable.
This is followed by Ricky Skaggs with Gone Home. This recording comes from his 1999 gospel album, Soldier of the Cross.
Afterwards is Porter Wagoner and The Blackwood Brothers with If We Never Meet Again. The hymn was written by Albert E. Brumley, who wrote over 800 gospel songs. Some of his most famous I’ll Fly Away, Turn Your Radio On, I’ll Meet You In The Morning and He Set Me Free. This recording comes from their 1966 gospel album, The Grand Old Gospel.
Then comes Stringbean with Sinner Man, Where You Gonna Hide.
Next is The Sons of the Pioneers with their 1937 recording of Lord You Made the Cowboy Happy. This song should remind us of how blessed we truly are. It is the things we take for granted each day that are our greatest blessings. Sometimes we need to stop and simply thank God for these blessings. The narrator of this song is not thankful for any big event in his life, but rather for all the little blessing he receives every day.
Now comes Johnny Cash with his cover of the Sheryl Crow song, Redemption Day. John recorded this song during the last few months of his life. It would be released posthumously on the 2o10 album, Ain't No Grave.
Today's musical selection ends with Rex Allen with his 1970 recording of He's Got the Whole World in His Hand.
Now for the 24th episode of The Lone Ranger TV series.
Now for a message from Billy Graham.
Book of Titus
1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ to further the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth that leads to godliness— 2 in the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time, 3 and which now at his appointed season he has brought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior,
4 To Titus, my true son in our common faith:
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Appointing Elders Who Love What Is Good
5 The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished and appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 6 An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
2 You, however, must teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.
9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.
11 For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.
3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.
Final Remarks
12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.
15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with you all.
Thanks for joining me. Come back next week for another service of Cowboy Church. Happy trails to you until we meet again.
Hello my friends and happy Saturday morning. Once again, it is time for some classic cartoons.
Today's cartoon selection begins with Bugs Bunny in Bugsy and Mugsy (1957). This film was a semi-remake of the Slyvester cartoon, Stooge for a Mouse (1950). Bugsy and Mugsy would later be remade as the Dogfather cartoon, Heist and Seek (1974).
Next comes the silent Out of the Inkwell film, Koko Plays Pool (1927).
Now for the Aesop's Sound Fables cartoon, Farm Foolery (1930). While this may seem crude compared to what Disney was doing at the same time, there is a certain charm to that. The music is fun and some of the gags are quite creative. The final gag is bizarrely surreal in the best way.
Next comes Donald Duck in Contrary Condor (1944). This short film was directed by Jack King, who directed most of the Donald Duck cartoons at this time. For a while in the community of cartoon and Disney lovers, the Jack King Donald Duck cartoons were rarely given the accolades they deserve because more attention was paid to the later Donald shorts that Jack Hannah directed. However luckily today many Disney fans are reevaluating this and realizes what wonderful films, the Jack King Donald cartoons are. Contrary Condor is just one of the many examples of how great of a cartoon director Jack King was. However, this film also works because of a wonderful team of animators. John McManus animates the opening moments as well as Donald tossing the dummy and the mom diving after it. Judge Whitaker animates Donald yodeling while climbing the mountain, Donald's first meeting with the mother, Duck applauding the small bird's flight, the small bird gliding and landing, Donald's landing and Donald contemplating a new plan. Nick Nichols animates Donald discovering the nest and hiding in the egg, the hatching sequence, the small bird being jealous, the little bird snaping Donald off the limb, Donald's "flight," the mother applauding, the mother missing the dummy as it falls into the water and the closing sequence. Paul Allen animates the mother pushing the small bird off the limb, the mother encouraging Donald to fly and Donald trying to escape with the egg until the small bird intercepts it. George Nicholas animates the small bird falling and trying to fly. Don Townsley animates the small bird lowering its legs like landing gear and the mother's card trick. Hal King animates the mother attempting to push Donald off the limb and Donald faking a bad wing, Marvin Woodward animates the mother trying to trick Donald with the berry. The working titles for this film were Contrary Condors, Egg Collector and The Colombian Condor. The following is a review from The Film Daily, "Donald Duck provides plenty of laughs in his attempt to swipe an egg from a condor's nest. When Donald emerges from his hiding place in an empty egg shell which a mother condor mistakes for an unhatched egg she accepts our fine feathered hero as one of her own. Her attempts to get Donald to fly are extremely humorous. The Technicolor cartoon is aces."
Now it is time for a commercial break.
Now we join our good friend Farmer Al Falfa in Flying Oil (1935). This is a delightfully silly, surreal and creative cartoon.
Now for an early Disney Silly Symphony, The China Plate (1931). This short film was directed by Wilfred Jackson, who would later co-direct such Disney features as Cinderella (1950), Alice in Wonderland (1951), Peter Pan (1953) and Lady and the Tramp (1955). Even at this stage, Disney cartoons had all star casts of animators and this short is no exception. Joe D'Igalo, who would work not only for Disney but also for Warner Brothers, MGM and Fleischer Studios (where he would work on both of their feature films (Gulliver's Travels (1939), Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1941)), animates the teacup and teapot as well as the cherries being delivered to the mandarin. Johnny Cannon animated the mandarin eating and sleeping, the geishas dancing, the boy fishing and dragon swallowing the rock. Jack Cutting does much less here only animating the orchestra. Frenchy de Tremaudan (who animated on many of the best Disney shorts of the 1930's animates the first scene with the girl, the dragon eating the mandarin, capturing the girl and fighting with the boy. Rudy Zamora, who would have a long career in animation and would direct episodes of the Hanna-Barbera TV cartoons of the 1980's, animates the scene with the boy and the girl with the butterfly. Future Woody Woodpecker and Barney Bear director Dick Lundy would animate the fight between the mandarin and the boy. Ben Sharpsteen, who would later be the supervising director for such Disney features as Pinocchio (1940), Fantasia (1940) and Dumbo (1941), animates the couple being chased by both the mandarin and the dragon. David Hand, who would later be the supervising director for such Disney features as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) and Bambi (1942), animates the scene involving the couple and the mandarin at the bridge. Future Donald Duck director (who directed the Donald cartoon earlier in this post) animates the couple dislodging the rock and in the boat. Walt Disney himself provides the laugh for the boy. Six years after this picture the Disney story department proposed a Japanese themed Silly Symphony that would be similar to this short, but that film was never made.
Next is probably the most famous Humphry the bear cartoon, In the Bag (1956). One reason this cartoon is so well remembered is because the very catchy song. As late as Cars 3 (2017), Disney movies would even include references to this delightful song. In the Bag marked the last Disney short made for CinemaScope and after this film the cartoons would go back to a regular aspect ratio. This theatrical cartoon made its TV debut in the Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color episode, A Square Peg in a Round Hole (1963).
Now to close with a song.
Thank you for joining me. Come back next week for more animated treasures. Until then may all your tunes be looney and your melodies merry.
Resources Used
South of the Border with Disney by J.B. Kaufman.
Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies: A Companion to the Classic Cartoon Series by Russell Merritt and J.B. Kaufman
Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald
I have been a fan of Polish director and writer Agnieszka Smoczynska since her brilliant first movie, The Lure (2015). This film doesn't live up to her best work, but it isn't terrible either.
In the future the whole world is connected to an AI system to survive. When a cyber witch threatens the system, a detective is assigned to stop her.
More than just your average AI storyline, this movie has a lot to say and says it all very well. This film delves into not just how much we rely on AI but how we sacrifice our humanity to it. The characters seem either robotic or animalistic, showing how their entire humanity is being controlled. It is when they disconnect that they are able to truly allow their emotions, yet they are so deeply controlled that they cannot function beyond primal instincts when disconnected.
With such a talented filmmaker as Agnieszka Smoczynska at the helm, naturally this movie is overflowing with atmosphere. The world building is quite well done and there are moments that are filled with creativity that remind you of the director's best work.
Unfortunately, this movie does have lots of flaws in it. The pacing is far from great as it somehow manages to move at a slow pace, while still making many plot points feel rushed. Though I love Agnieszka Smoczynska's creativity there are times when the quirkiness can feel more than a little forced. There is also a tonal unevenness that is quite jarring at times as the movie goes from silly and fun to deadly serious and artsy. However, the worst flaw is the sound mixing. I don't know what happened here but often times the sound mixing makes it hard to follow anything the characters are saying as there is too much happening that is distracting from the dialogue.
This is an intelligent and thought-provoking story that is brought down by a flawed execution.
