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BLM - From Lobelog: Free Ahed Tamimi! She hurt the IDF's masculinity.
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MOVIES - From TheVillageVoice: "Searching for Daniel Day-Lewis."
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MOVIES - From Variety: Quentin Tarantino's "Jackie Brown" will be 20 years old Christmas Day.
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STAR TREK - From Deadline: Paramount has set Mark L. Smith to write the screenplay for the announced R-rated Star Trek movie that Quentin Tarantino says he wants to direct and J.J. Abrams will produce.
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SPORTS - From BET: Former Major League Baseball player, Darryl Strawberry, admitted to having sex in the team clubhouse during games.
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POLITICS - From teleSUR: Oxfam describes the situation in Yemen as an "apocalypse," after 1000 days of a U.S. backed military campaign by Saudi Arabia.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: The board of directors of The Weinstein Company will meet today to consider bids to buy the company, in the wake of the co-founder Harvey Weinstein facing multiple accusations of sexual abuse, harassment, and misconduct.
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MOVIES - From GQ: "The Dark Optimism of Paul Thomas Anderson."
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MOVIES - From RollingStone: Cher makes her grand entry in the "Mamma Mia" sequel.
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MOVIES - From THR: Josh Gad joins Disney's "Artemis Fowl" film.
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MOVIES - From TheWrap: Nick Castle who played Michael Myers in John Carpenter's 1978 "Halloween" is returning to play the character again in next year's David Gordon Green directed reboot.
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MOVIES - From TheWrap: Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born" remake, in which he stars with Lady Gaga, has been moved from a Summer 2018 release date to October 2018.
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MOVIES - From YahooEntertainment: Yahoo's "50 Best Movies of 2017." Their pick for best is "Lady Bird."
From YahooEntertainment: Yahoo's "10 Worse Movies of 2017." "Baywatch" is the winner/loser.
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SPORTS - From YahooEntertainment: NBA legend, former L.A. Laker, Kobe Bryant, talks about his animated short film, "Dear Basketball," directed by Disney legend, Glen Keane.
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BLM - From YahooLifestyle: George Zimmerman, who killed an African-American child named Trayvon Martin, has threatened to kill Jay-Z who is produced a six-part docuseries about Trayvon Martin, "Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story."
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COMICS - From THR: Elvis Presley will battle aliens! "Bubba Ho-Tep," the Joe R. Lansdale novella that became a 2002 cult film (from director Don Coscarelli), will get a prequel comic book from IDW Publishing in 2018.
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MOVIES - From BoxOfficeMojo: There will be a whole lotta movies released on Christmas Day 2017.
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MOVIES - From TheHollywoodReporter: Paramount Pictures announces release dates for GI Joe, Micronauts, and Dungeons & Dragons films.
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ANIMATION - From ShadowandAct: Adam Reid's animated sci-fi comedy, "Barry and Joe: The Animated Series," gets some backing from late-night talk show host, Conan O'Brien.
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TELEVISION - From ShadowandAct: HBO has picked up two new shows from Issa Rae, the creator of the acclaimed HBO series, "Insecure."
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SCANDAL - From Deadline: BBC preps a feature-length, definitive documentary about the "Harvey Weinstein sexual misconduct scandal."
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BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficeMojo: The winner of the 12/15 to 12/17/2017 weekend box office is "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" with an estimated take of $220 million.
From Deadline: "I, Tonya" leads specialty box office for the second weekend.
From Variety: "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" hits $230 million in international box office.
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From YahooEntertainment: Bob and Harvey Weinstein apparently blacklisted Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino from films in which they were involved, including "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy and "Bad Santa."
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STREAMING - From IndieWireTV: Ian McKellen wants to play Gandalf in Amazon's upcoming "Lord of the Rings" TV series. McKellen says he is not to old because Gandalf is over 7000 years old.
OBITS:
From TheWrap: Sports broadcaster, Dick Enberg, has died at the age of 82, Thursday, December 21, 2017. Over his nearly 60-year career, Enberg worked for CBS, NBC, and ESPN covering eight Super Bowls, multiple World Series, and the Wimbledon tennis tournament. He is also famous for his catchphrase, "Oh, my!"
From Variety: Film production designer, Therese DePrez, has died at the age of 52, Tuesday, December 19, 2017. DePrez is best known for her work on Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan," but over her long career, she had worked on such films as Spike Lee's "Summer of Sam" and John Cameron Mitchell's "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."
From Deadline: The actress Hiep Thi Le has died at the age of 46, Tuesday, December 19, 2017. She was best known for playing the role of real-life Le Ly Hayslip in Oliver Stone's 1994, "Heaven and Earth." Le was also a celebrated restaurateur and chef.
From THR: The actress Heather North has died at the age of 71, Thursday, November 30, 2017. Although she appeared in numerous films and TV shows ("The Monkees," "My Three Sons"), North is best known as the voice of "Daphne Blake," on various "Scooby-Doo" animated TV series, beginning with the second season of the first Scooby-Doo series, "Scooby-Doo Where Are You!"
From BleedingCool: Bob Givens, the man who created the official design for Bugs Bunny, has died at the age of 99, Thursday, December 14, 2017. Given was asked to redesign the "too cute" Bugs, and Given's iconic look first appeared in the animated short film, "A Wild Hare." Given, once an employee of Walt Disney, participated in the notorious 1941 strike at Disney. [Thank you and rest in peace, Mr. Givens. - Leroy]
Showing posts with label Bugs Bunny. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bugs Bunny. Show all posts
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Review: "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" is Surprisingly Quite Good
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some mild language and innuendo
DIRECTOR: Joe Dante with Eric Goldberg (animation director)
WRITER: Larry Doyle
PRODUCERS: Bernie Goldmann, Joel Simon, and Paula Weinstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Cundey (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Rick W. Finney and Marshall Harvey
COMPOSER: Jerry Goldsmith
ANIMATION/ACTION/ADVENTURE and COMEDY/FAMILY/FANTASY
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman, Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton, Heather Locklear, John Cleese, Joan Cusack, Bill Goldberg, Dan Stanton, Don Stanton, Matthew Lillard, Ron Perlman, and (voices) Joe Alaskey, Bob Bergen, Casey Kasem, Frank Welker, Billy West, with (receiving no screen credit) Peter Graves and Michael Jordan
The subject of this movie review is Looney Tunes: Back in Action, a 2003 adventure and comedy film from director Joe Dante. Back in Action blends live-action and animation and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Looney Tunes characters. In the movie, the Looney Tunes help a down-on-his-luck security guard find his missing father and the mythical Blue Monkey diamond.
Right out of the box, let’s proclaim Looney Tunes: Back in Action a fantastically funny film, almost as good as the gold standard of films that mix live action and animation, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and better than Space Jam. It’s not dumb and hackneyed as some have claimed; nor is it a cynical attempt to market Time Warner trademarks and merchandise. Just about anyone who has ever loved the Looney Tunes characters will love this film.
As simple and as silly as it is, LT:BIA’s story ends up making a very funny film. Daffy Duck (Joe Alaskey) is having another of his many conniptions about his status as second banana to Bugs Bunny (Joe Alaskey), but this time Kate Houghton (Jenna Elfman), an eager young Warner Bros. Studio executive fires Daffy. Daffy’s shenanigans also cost a studio lot guard, DJ Drake (Brendan Fraser), his job.
Later Daffy and DJ discover that DJ’s dad, Damien Drake (Timothy Dalton), the famous spy movie star, is actually a real life spy. He’s been kidnapped and is being held hostage in Las Vegas. Via a special spy signal, he asks his son to find the Blue Monkey Diamond and keep it from the evil Mr. Chairman (Steve Martin), head of the Acme Corporation, who wants to use the diamond’s mystical powers to turn everyone on the planet into monkeys. It’s up to DJ, Kate, Bugs, and Daffy to find the jewel, rescue DJ’s dad, and save the world.
The films is technically well made, and the merger of animation and live action is easily on par, if not superior to Roger Rabbit. Joe Dante (Gremlins), no stranger to special effects and genre films, does a fantastic job prepping his film, especially its stars, to act with characters and effects that would only be added after the principal photography was finished. Animation director Eric Goldberg has also done some of the best helming of animated film in years. It’s the best work this year by a director of animation after the Finding Nemo crew, which is clearly evident in the Bugs/Daffy/Elmer Fudd (Billy West) surrealistic and imaginatively designed race through the Louvre in Paris.
The cast of actors is fantastic. Brendan Fraser is an underrated actor, movie star, and comedian. He’s excellent with physical comedy, and by now has a knack for working in an environment where a lot of the film elements are added after he does his work. Jenna Elfman is a pleasant surprise, and she has excellent chemistry with her costars, live and animated.
The films gets a hardy recommendation because it’s such fun. The fact that almost all major and minor characters that have ever appeared in a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon have a part in the film makes it a must see. There’s even a small scene that plugs 2004’s Scooby-Doo 2, and if that’s not enough for certain moviegoers, then, they are indeed in need of a laugh. Looney Tunes: Back in Action is just what the doctor ordered.
8 of 10
A
Updated: Wednesday, November 13, 2013
The text is copyright © 2013 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Animated Short Review: "Baby Buggy Bunny" is One of the Great Bugs Bunny Shorts (Happy B'day, Mel Blanc)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 163 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux
Baby Buggy Bunny (1954)
Running time: 7 minutes
DIRECTOR: Charles M. Jones
WRITER: Michael Maltese
PRODUCER: Edward Selzer
ANIMATORS: Ken Harris, Abe Levitow, Lloyd Vaughan, and Ben Washam
LAYOUT ARTIST: Ernest Nordli
BACKGROUND ARTIST: Philip DeGuard
COMPOSER: Milt Franklyn
SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY
Starring: (voice) Mel Blanc
The subject of this review is Baby Buggy Bunny, a 1954 animated short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. This animated film is part of the “Merrie Melodies” series of cartoon shorts from Warner Bros. Pictures. The film stars Bugs Bunny, as he takes on an orphaned baby who is definitely more than he seems.
In Baby Buggy Bunny, Baby-Faced Finster (aka Ant Hill Harry) (Mel Blanc) robs a bank, but his loot ends up in Bugs Bunny’s (Mel Blanc) home (the hole in the ground, rabbit hutch). Finster disguises himself as an orphaned baby, and perches himself on Bugs’ doorstep as an orphaned infant, left with a note by the missing mother in which she ask Bugs to care for Baby Finster. Bugs takes Finster in, but finds the baby quite ornery. Soon, Bugs figures out that Baby Finster is really Baby-Faced Finster, hot off a bank robbery, and Bugs is determined to see justice done.
Although there are so many Looney Tunes animated shorts that I could call a favorite, Baby Buggy Bunny stands out because the entire cartoon is top-notch – from the stylish character designs and quicksilver animation to the superb sketch comedy and gag writing. This is one of the Looney Tunes that is as much for adults (if not more so) as it is for children.
Classic Bugs Bunny cartoons usually set the rabbit up against worthy adversaries; in the case of Baby-Faced Finster, the short film has a nasty and sneaky creep who is as malevolent as he can be in Looney Tune cartoon. A good villain really kicks Bugs Bunny’s smarts and luck into high gear, and Finster certainly does that. Outside of cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny vs. Daffy Duck or Yosemite Sam, Baby Buggy Bunny is one of the better fight Tunes.
8 of 10
A
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
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