RALPH BAKSHI BEGNNING WITH ROBERT CRUMB'S 'FRITZ THE CAT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYoE170NZNfTV-Tsj0etrr7nG-SWcJ3pfoX3NL1pfKpKYh3VC5ivQkRTlLVHijjd5LWcb4y4Evjs_hyXH4L_U4qkkBN2R72XhzAsRMvjQpllg5uq6PsFqrp2BPLSmARwJfPU_2LPfMkTXnL8e3_TYwDtKByH-xX9fC2iR4lI-NrTcDFDfIsKJfjmZHm5n/s2570/1%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1198" data-original-width="2570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYoE170NZNfTV-Tsj0etrr7nG-SWcJ3pfoX3NL1pfKpKYh3VC5ivQkRTlLVHijjd5LWcb4y4Evjs_hyXH4L_U4qkkBN2R72XhzAsRMvjQpllg5uq6PsFqrp2BPLSmARwJfPU_2LPfMkTXnL8e3_TYwDtKByH-xX9fC2iR4lI-NrTcDFDfIsKJfjmZHm5n/s16000/1%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: FRITZ THE CAT Year: 1971 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Ralph Bakshi progressed from children's cartoons in the 1960's into adapting underground comic-book artist Robert Crumb's underground anti-hero feline FRITZ THE CAT in 1971... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Thus turning on stoned teenagers (who had once been kids watching SPIDER-MAN and ROCKET ROBIN HOOD) with lots of naked animal characters, ranging from a group of pretentious liberal co-eds to black revolutionary crows to a rugged road trip involving a Nazi rabbit biker and...</p><p><span></span></p>

animation, college, counter-culture, cult, exploitation, ralph bakshi, road movie, robert crumb, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI BEGNNING WITH ROBERT CRUMB'S 'FRITZ THE CAT'

Title: FRITZ THE CAT Year: 1971 Rating: ** Ralph Bakshi progressed from children's cartoons in the 1960's into adapting underground ...

RALPH BAKSHI'S ANIMATED APOCALYPTIC-FANTASY 'WIZARDS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-zlJcBxjusZhRmr3BAZ5_ecn4bz4-cfZnRmwRenLAB8f5E0ILbOa4nkTcF_urrnnoTA4cpbip7Lc6A1jmi_Fzq89T5AEgPzISChJSrq7wr_QXFODKLQXQJTd5eHRclmPinXmI4UDpziXakdzqtzMp7Ki3r4s0JV5e-WgLIhv4smgKkyu3aBKDGc0UfCu/s2134/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-20%20at%201.02.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1124" data-original-width="2134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-zlJcBxjusZhRmr3BAZ5_ecn4bz4-cfZnRmwRenLAB8f5E0ILbOa4nkTcF_urrnnoTA4cpbip7Lc6A1jmi_Fzq89T5AEgPzISChJSrq7wr_QXFODKLQXQJTd5eHRclmPinXmI4UDpziXakdzqtzMp7Ki3r4s0JV5e-WgLIhv4smgKkyu3aBKDGc0UfCu/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-20%20at%201.02.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: WIZARDS Year: 1977 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Animation director <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/search/label/ralph%20bakshi">Ralph Bakshi's</a> infamously rushed/ill-conceived <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/LOTR78.html">LORD OF THE RINGS</a>, combining the then-new Rotoscoping process of animating actual people/objects without seeming entirely animated, began with WIZARDS where that bizarre, half-baked process eventually makes sense...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Not centered on an already famous source like J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle Earth trilogy, WIZARDS (liken to Terry Brooks's SWORD OF SHANNARA) is set in the post-apocalyptic future where, instead of the usual barren scorched landscape, everything's gone back to the dreamy world of wizards, elves, fairies...</p><p><span></span></p>

animation, david proval, fantasy, jesse welles, mark hamill, nazi, ralph bakshi, richard romanus, science-fiction, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI'S ANIMATED APOCALYPTIC-FANTASY 'WIZARDS'

Title: WIZARDS Year: 1977 Rating: **** Animation director Ralph Bakshi's infamously rushed/ill-conceived LORD OF THE RINGS , combining ...

RALPH BAKSHI BLAXPLOITATION-ANIMATION OF 'COONSKIN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNboiGSYBo9CItym2nA3XC4Zjmq90WfY9PCPSMDZHfqX7UwyEHmwoX1RA1DoUPXwisNrnQOXR3MLgDyF0fL2ipalo4Ct3yqxF93kSPpJEweOl5IMBQiZ1OY56pvHPyw_hrytfaORAnB2xcLxwFC-Mg39CcXuGr9jYpcjBIIspSJSq9-KSrkusYmfdVNCOW/s2134/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%208.30.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1086" data-original-width="2134" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNboiGSYBo9CItym2nA3XC4Zjmq90WfY9PCPSMDZHfqX7UwyEHmwoX1RA1DoUPXwisNrnQOXR3MLgDyF0fL2ipalo4Ct3yqxF93kSPpJEweOl5IMBQiZ1OY56pvHPyw_hrytfaORAnB2xcLxwFC-Mg39CcXuGr9jYpcjBIIspSJSq9-KSrkusYmfdVNCOW/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%208.30.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: COONSKIN aka STREET FIGHT Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>After <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/htraffic.html">HEAVY TRAFFIC</a> where cult director Ralph Bakshi inserted cartoon characters with actual urban backdrops, he went to the next level, combining character-driven live-action in what begins a super-low-budget blaxploitation prison-break that just might've been something on its own... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As hidden escapees Philip Michael Thomas and the narrating Scatman Crothers await friends Barry White and Charles Gordone to pick them up, Crothers tells a story based on SONG OF THE SOUTH: transforming into a symbolic cartoon with Thomas as a skinny/slinky Rabbit; Barry White a gigantic Bear; and Gordone a preaching Fox...</p><p><span></span></p>

animation, barry white, blaxploitation, cult, philip michael thomas, scatman crothers, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI BLAXPLOITATION-ANIMATION OF 'COONSKIN'

Title: COONSKIN aka STREET FIGHT Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1975 Rating: **1/2 After HEAVY TRAFFIC where cult director Ralph Bakshi inser...

RALPH BAKSHI COUNTER-CULTURE ANIMATION 'HEAVY TRAFFIC'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeNZJxi6vzm7B3a6f7nqLy_XyfnWH2nJy-zHJzps95dLmExCT3LryqZ4v4RaGAzC67k9zCFfneUqBB2h3nghp-0lU5TQ8o6cDvQaIcSXOFDtwiFThBve_OFvw9RbrRPZt5bBIn1YcasE1JOM2gPg4I6XceBZFnXDPVrC5XJcYfvA7mpDNx2xek7YCQY50/s2141/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%202.15.59%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="2141" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVeNZJxi6vzm7B3a6f7nqLy_XyfnWH2nJy-zHJzps95dLmExCT3LryqZ4v4RaGAzC67k9zCFfneUqBB2h3nghp-0lU5TQ8o6cDvQaIcSXOFDtwiFThBve_OFvw9RbrRPZt5bBIn1YcasE1JOM2gPg4I6XceBZFnXDPVrC5XJcYfvA7mpDNx2xek7YCQY50/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-13%20at%202.15.59%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HEAVY TRAFFIC Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1973 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Double-irony of Ralph Bashki's urban-animated HEAVY TRAFFIC in that he turned down making the sequel to his previous years' surprise blockbuster FRITZ THE CAT, based on Robert Crumb's underground comic, and chose to do a story that actually involves a young underground comic, who's not even known enough to be unknown, or even underground... and both the style of this very feature and the fictional artist's work is also very similar to Crumb's...<br><br>That aside, HEAVY solely belongs to Bakshi, who began his process of combining live-action footage along with animation... framed by a sporadic pinball game in process, representing the downtown world where characters bounce around spontaneously...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

animation, counter-culture, cult, ralph bakshi, seventies

RALPH BAKSHI COUNTER-CULTURE ANIMATION 'HEAVY TRAFFIC'

Title: HEAVY TRAFFIC Director: Ralph Bakshi Year: 1973 Rating: **** Double-irony of Ralph Bashki's urban-animated HEAVY TRAFFIC in that ...

NAKEDLY INGITING THE ANIMATED CULT CLASSIC 'HEAVY METAL'

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV5gkvmm7SKxgTNhsioZ_Em5Lb5YruyixUkWho-peYe6hcMbmYDFf_cTPianjNUYuR19Pr1X6dCiDrs1AcPCd7-6clEDce3st3tOT7ejzJmnyr9KklVwsx4Dn1TBBsEigSVNjsSwtVOoDnHxkhg7ZdZkQgfgz-toJgB9kjwJY1n0CYix-VU8zrtMWlZTr/s1664/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-07%20at%2011.43.15%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="898" data-original-width="1664" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheV5gkvmm7SKxgTNhsioZ_Em5Lb5YruyixUkWho-peYe6hcMbmYDFf_cTPianjNUYuR19Pr1X6dCiDrs1AcPCd7-6clEDce3st3tOT7ejzJmnyr9KklVwsx4Dn1TBBsEigSVNjsSwtVOoDnHxkhg7ZdZkQgfgz-toJgB9kjwJY1n0CYix-VU8zrtMWlZTr/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-10-07%20at%2011.43.15%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: HEAVY METAL Year: 1981 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The best two stories from HEAVY METAL... producer Ivan Reitman's animated/cartoon anthology with a continuously-pulsating soundtrack of acts ranging from Devo to Sammy Hagar to Don Felder to Donald Fagan to Black Sabbath... have a beginning, middle and end, and either could have stretched into full-length features: starting with a futuristic film-noir homage with modernly-grungy cab-driver HARRY CANYON (voiced by <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2019/08/goodstreets.html">MEAN STREETS</a> actor Richard Romanus) that includes the usual pulp-signature glib narration, chain-smoked cigarettes, crooked cops, flying cars above grounded savage hoodlums and a luscious backstabbing dame...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p>And the last a fantasy... in the mesmerizing otherworld style of Roger Dean's progressive-rock album covers combined with Ralph Bakshi's animated-fantasy-flicks <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/LOTR78.html">THE LORD OF THE RINGS</a> and WIZARDS (while the urban-noir resembles Bakshi's <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/10/htraffic.html">HEAVY TRAFFIC</a>)... that gave this 1981 cult classic its gorgeous flying-avian-riding poster-girl TAARNA who, sword in hand, violently protects a village like an antihero from a Spaghetti Western...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, animation, cult, eighties, exploitation, fantasy, future, harold ramis, ivan reitman, john candy, music, neo noir, richard romanus, science-fiction

NAKEDLY INGITING THE ANIMATED CULT CLASSIC 'HEAVY METAL'

Title: HEAVY METAL Year: 1981 Rating: **** The best two stories from HEAVY METAL... producer Ivan Reitman's animated/cartoon anthology w...

ANIMATED POTBOILER OF 'RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFChmkTk5j7XJdQWOE1KhM-lPyCr9TQdQBTADOldr0ZocQFc-NBWYvdEQqkpwRkoETBoVLJCmNBtlERr36EFMFxUx9qsVLhaZRkJoEsgCuHU7vyJzVzsvjwkM2OahllOlzCuw5qXneO5Qskrj8xJUce-NWD-FD8tDxRHazGgFRRpcgeXejXVKXOV4lgERJ/s926/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-01%20at%203.16.21%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="580" data-original-width="926" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFChmkTk5j7XJdQWOE1KhM-lPyCr9TQdQBTADOldr0ZocQFc-NBWYvdEQqkpwRkoETBoVLJCmNBtlERr36EFMFxUx9qsVLhaZRkJoEsgCuHU7vyJzVzsvjwkM2OahllOlzCuw5qXneO5Qskrj8xJUce-NWD-FD8tDxRHazGgFRRpcgeXejXVKXOV4lgERJ/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-05-01%20at%203.16.21%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harry Corden in RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES Year: 1975 Rates: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES, they finally faithfully covered the titular planet created by source novel author Pierre Boulle, whose evolved apes had everything modern-day humans enjoy (that couldn't be afforded on the big screen): from airplanes to full-fledged military weapons/transports to cities that don't look out of the stone age... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The animation is of the 1970'x cost-cutting low-budget Hanna-Barbara-type, but is also coolly stylized and visually intriguing, including establishing still-shots of the sun or lightning or various character expressions, seeming more like frequently moving matte-paintings than an animated cartoon catered to Saturday morning children... </p><span></span>

action, adventure, animation, austin stoker, cartoon, harry corden, planet apes, post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, seventies, TV

ANIMATED POTBOILER OF 'RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES'

Harry Corden in RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES Year: 1975 Rates: **** With RETURN TO THE PLANET OF THE APES, they finally faithfully cover...

AWESOMELY RADICAL ANIMATION OF 'PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw7p3k9KIFDfCrTtw73ZsvyFfbtRcv73xDb5JE8KV2SCxIkmne1hy9t7Jmm_5sxaK9aBo55btSqPf4eKHSc6V7jpv2huPtcOxM7W-19-4tlOYBvgMfxxfNRJ0XvyT5ZS8Dc-auA5QvJ_DLTHzaEJuybGlK6Ol6SBSxs1FdauJs3cO5ZOhQwbefatGBX2B/s640/Picture%202.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="455" data-original-width="640" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIw7p3k9KIFDfCrTtw73ZsvyFfbtRcv73xDb5JE8KV2SCxIkmne1hy9t7Jmm_5sxaK9aBo55btSqPf4eKHSc6V7jpv2huPtcOxM7W-19-4tlOYBvgMfxxfNRJ0XvyT5ZS8Dc-auA5QvJ_DLTHzaEJuybGlK6Ol6SBSxs1FdauJs3cO5ZOhQwbefatGBX2B/w400-h285/Picture%202.png" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year of Arrival: 1965 Pinocchio in Outer Space Scores: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Take away a dingy song during the first half-hour dealing with our main character at home, who's a puppet again after a naughty montage of ditching school, bullying a dog and getting bad grades, and you have relatively frightening scenes that are, or seem, surprisingly aimed at adult audiences: including a shadow appearing over our famously phony boy's head, and chasing him around a field with a fitfully suspenseful, formidable score...<br> <br> Turns out to be a spaceship manned by a friendly turtle-creature (voiced by Arnold <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Stang</span> in the expository <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Jiminy</span> Cricket mantle) who takes Pinicchio up to outer space to seek a flying, planet-destroying whale. They land on Mars and are attacked by mysteriously derived giant sand crabs that resemble cartoon versions of something Ray <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Harryhausen</span> would devise. Followed by the best scenes where the duo investigate the Red Planet's desolate domed city, holding many secrets and more aggressive foes. And then, back in outer space: the discovery of, capture from, battle with, and eventual taming of Orbit the Whale is quite intense. All making for a bizarre cartoon experience <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">definitely</span> worth the watch. Again and again and again some more. <br> </p><p></p>

action, adventure, animation, arnold stang, cartoon, cult, exploitation, fantasy, kids, science-fiction, sixties

AWESOMELY RADICAL ANIMATION OF 'PINOCCHIO IN OUTER SPACE'

Year of Arrival: 1965 Pinocchio in Outer Space Scores: **** Take away a dingy song during the first half-hour dealing with our main chara...

DOUBLE REVIEW OLD & NEW OF DISNEY'S SWORD IN THE STONE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLrd68v0fhR0CjJ8KZq-rrvnKYkOAkc5vc2HUEGsEBdcndS4tjsB1Ef4MnYkUEp11fvff7SBlJ5DbM1GnZlcS7gG5t47yX4NQT9cGGaPGcLaOcnpZywXdildNFDam8iF2EUmeyfeZQA9jCDhRzsSYmIbQiY4k-q4yWIS6zpEJr0Yd6S73ukATHWlbjrF7/s2350/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-26%20at%203.01.06%20AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1208" data-original-width="2350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWLrd68v0fhR0CjJ8KZq-rrvnKYkOAkc5vc2HUEGsEBdcndS4tjsB1Ef4MnYkUEp11fvff7SBlJ5DbM1GnZlcS7gG5t47yX4NQT9cGGaPGcLaOcnpZywXdildNFDam8iF2EUmeyfeZQA9jCDhRzsSYmIbQiY4k-q4yWIS6zpEJr0Yd6S73ukATHWlbjrF7/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-12-26%20at%203.01.06%20AM.png"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u style="font-size: 12.8px;">First Summary Short review of THE SWORD IN THE STONE from an old archived short version writeup: Disney Score: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table> This has as much to do with King Arthur as The Phantom Menace does with Darth Vader as a clumsy pre-teen squire named "Wart", working for a mean step-father and bullying brother, befriends the wizard Merlin, more goofy than wise, and his talking pet owl.<br> <br> Merlin turns the kid into several animals including a fish, squirrel and bird, teaching him more about Darwin's natural selection than anything that'd aid him in his future position as King of England, which is only shown for the last five minutes after "Wart" pulls the titular sword from the stone with inevitable ease. The songs aren't too annoying, the animation looks good, and it definitely won't bore the kiddies. Adults, however, might take a snooze.<br>

adventure, animation, cartoon, disney, fantasy, sebastian cabot

DOUBLE REVIEW OLD & NEW OF DISNEY'S SWORD IN THE STONE

First Summary Short review of THE SWORD IN THE STONE from an old archived short version writeup: Disney Score: *** This has as much to do w...

REVIEWS OF MAX & INSIDE OUT IN TWO PARAGRAPHS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRZQZ8Yq2TaD4amJ8zkVq75FYwFGDdj-BkFhLmgNSJGrYY_kljiHRggwjoG0Y0_zclJHoixy_yrgpWnF_BoQD2B9vCwk1_pkD1h3XCma4BI8WAWMZbFWPmamH17ms7XB6vNJ8nhUQkX4/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSRZQZ8Yq2TaD4amJ8zkVq75FYwFGDdj-BkFhLmgNSJGrYY_kljiHRggwjoG0Y0_zclJHoixy_yrgpWnF_BoQD2B9vCwk1_pkD1h3XCma4BI8WAWMZbFWPmamH17ms7XB6vNJ8nhUQkX4/s320/1.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 grade: D</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>MAX: </b>Like a dog buries a bone, the makers of MAX buries the titular lead, and instead of centering on a military Marine dog suffering shell shock, as promised, or an unlikely friendship between dog and boy, we follow a confusing melodrama about white trash bullies with some kind of military secret as Max the German Sheppard circles around this boring mainline also including a group of teenagers with less chemistry than a bad After School Special… So Max not only gets lost in the confusing political intrigue that’s hardly intriguing, but his young master’s new human friends hijack any purpose he would have otherwise… After all, it’s supposed to be his very own Dog Gone movie, so where on earth is he?<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJo7UoNXmAaR_N7BTYmyBNf9fVHuaJSiaUtYlgwNH0saYhH4O4xPzojcsQPsTHrfm0Zx6uV15cdwwwC015LtZ7wVDJvJXOXuRcc8y8vgKx01lnB2VCJOxgpKj6UDydaHlrQbTGJ7uGsE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSJo7UoNXmAaR_N7BTYmyBNf9fVHuaJSiaUtYlgwNH0saYhH4O4xPzojcsQPsTHrfm0Zx6uV15cdwwwC015LtZ7wVDJvJXOXuRcc8y8vgKx01lnB2VCJOxgpKj6UDydaHlrQbTGJ7uGsE/s320/2.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 grade: C</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>INSIDE OUT: </b>Now for a venture that can be compared to two films that shouldn’t be mentioned in a review about a children’s movie: EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SEX BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK and THE EXORCIST… In the first, Woody Allen took us inside a body as we saw humans, as mechanics, controlling from the outside, like a bridge on a spaceship, the person inside… And in the latter, well, a little girl is wielded by something other than herself – in this case a handful of personality traits including Joy, Sadness, Anger and the token goofball relief, an Imaginary Friend elephant creature that, in trying to be the Josh Gad FROZEN favorite, winds up more annoying than helpful in a somewhat creative yet rather bland trek – the personalities traipsing slowly through the child’s cerebrum as, on the outside, a little girl deals with unrealistically jovial parents and a new school, which all seems an afterthought to the candy-coded fluff going on elsewhere: perhaps too much for grownup taste buds yet INSIDE OUT might make kids think... about thinking.

2015, animation, kids

REVIEWS OF MAX & INSIDE OUT IN TWO PARAGRAPHS

year: 2015 grade: D MAX: Like a dog buries a bone, the makers of MAX buries the titular lead, and instead of centering on a military Mar...

SURPRISINGLY GREAT REVIEW OF PADDINGTON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOeBbQemSkqc5WO4eEshfBBS3VlXTmL95dqEfD7yqb2VrvWsCaz6s7aXtlvnEzpOMnMnWhU2IbAkLdmPQ4PFuatMk5IWOzGGBGYFDFejVFoSphFOgp6tHMvNXIu-KmKW2co7i2pqaNAc/s1600/Paddington_4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCOeBbQemSkqc5WO4eEshfBBS3VlXTmL95dqEfD7yqb2VrvWsCaz6s7aXtlvnEzpOMnMnWhU2IbAkLdmPQ4PFuatMk5IWOzGGBGYFDFejVFoSphFOgp6tHMvNXIu-KmKW2co7i2pqaNAc/s1600/Paddington_4.jpg" width="102" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2014 grade: A+</td></tr> </tbody></table> Items on the menu always look better than the real thing… And movie trailers are usually no different… But in this case, the commercials showing the red-hatted bear cleaning his ear with a toothbrush and flooding the house while riding the bathtub downstairs makes PADDINGTON seem banal and childish, when in fact it's an enjoyable, thoughtful and creative odyssey, and even more entertaining than, dare it be said, <i>anything</i> up for Best Picture this year… Take that, Academy snobs!<br /> <br /> Beneath those silly scenes and a few jokes that don't always hit the mark, there’s a sturdy plot about Paddington searching for an explorer who we met in the prologue – he discovered a trio of bears in their jungle home and promised safe harbor if ever visiting London, where our furry hero winds up alone on a permanent basis. Attached to a reluctant human family including a snobby father and two bitter children, he finds a true friend in the perky mom/wife till the others follow suit.  <br /> <br /> In the Cruella Devillish role is Nicole Kidman, out to kill the adventurous bear for… reasons that shouldn’t be spoiled. And what makes PADDINGTON visually sublime are the inserted shots either depicting the backstory or detailing fantasy sequences, sometimes bathed in a Noirish black & white: making this a children’s film equally engaging for adults and bonafide film buffs, paying stylish homage to classics ranging from AMELIE to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK to THE THIRD MAN, and beyond. <b>OVERALL RANK: <u>Jedi,</u> Rebel, Droid, Sith. </b>

2014, animation, kids, nicole kidman

SURPRISINGLY GREAT REVIEW OF PADDINGTON

2014 grade: A+ Items on the menu always look better than the real thing… And movie trailers are usually no different… But in this case, ...

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PoPzXq5OGwiaaFccFK67yD9Yc3OEYhIOVwhkSQZZWS4MMqN4OS23SH6GciNHDD-YyBtPZsgwExPuKM9jacR4Z3ub6jyO41D-ZPSavou2RZaFK4W1KtOnWPE0LguezHmFCIeGEfseQADR/s1600/foxy1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9PoPzXq5OGwiaaFccFK67yD9Yc3OEYhIOVwhkSQZZWS4MMqN4OS23SH6GciNHDD-YyBtPZsgwExPuKM9jacR4Z3ub6jyO41D-ZPSavou2RZaFK4W1KtOnWPE0LguezHmFCIeGEfseQADR/s320/foxy1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clooney does the Fox</td></tr> </tbody></table> title: FANTASTIC MR. FOX<br /> year: 2012<br /> cast: George Clooney<br /> rating: **1/2<br /> <br /> Having grown up with the Rankin/Bass stop-motion animation, there’s an energetic dreamlike quality that brings back FANTASTIC memories when watching MR. FOX. Based on the book by Ronald Dahl, this unique fable centers on a classy group of human-like animals who forget they’re wild beasts. Except Fox, a dapper "family man" who can’t exist without exerting his true nature of stealing chickens from locals – three big farm/corporations owned by greedy cutthroats. The best scenes have Fox on stealthily missions with his dimwitted opossum sidekick: bringing chicken dinners home to his wife, teenage son and visiting nephew. George Clooney’s deadpan voice fits the character well enough (later on imitated by Bryan Cranston for Anderson's next animated feature ISLE OF DOGS); he doesn't falter when his wife (voiced by Meryl Streep) starts figuring the content of his moonlit excursions. It’s too bad the evil farmers also catch wind of Fox, making the last half a bit ponderous. When the bad guys move in, Fox Family and Friends tunnel into the sewers and eventually fight back against the bad guys, which sounds more exciting than it actually is. Director Wes Anderson lets his hipster-laden artistic side, which includes pointless jingles and relentless navel gazing, distract what began as a fun, lightweight adventure. Overall it's like being read a bedtime story but someone half asleep. <br />

2012, animation, bill murray, george clooney, meryl streep, wes anderson

FANTASTIC MR. FOX

Clooney does the Fox title: FANTASTIC MR. FOX year: 2012 cast: George Clooney rating: **1/2 Having grown up with the Rankin/Bass st...