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455,045 | 11,228,318 | 32,716 | 2 | Little Lambkin was a way below average Max Fleischer Color Classic cartoon | Just watched this rare Max Fleischer Color Classic on YouTube . The title character is a toddler boy who-when his parents are temporarily away-loves to play with animal friends , a raccoon and a squirrel . Together they eat a whole watermelon . But this day , the boy has to move to the city where he has to deal with electrical appliances . In order to move back to his previous home , this toddler proceeds to switch many electrical plugs that makes a refrigerator into a stove , etc . . . I've just described most of the cartoon and I'm not very impressed with the results . The watermelon sequences in the beginning and end were amusing but the chaos with the switched plugs in the city kitchen was too ridiculous even for an animated cartoon . And the boy himself was too bratty for my tastes when he constantly cried about not wanting to move . So unless you're a Max Fleischer completist , I wouldn't recommend Little Lambkin . |
453,920 | 11,228,318 | 141,034 | 2 | Felix Minds the Kid is uninspiring | Felix Minds the Kid starts with the cat coming to the fish market trying to get some food . The fish manager throws him out saying , " I'll give you the devil if you come back here ! " Felix goes to a nearby barrel that says " fresh today " . He uses his tail to get whatever is in the barrel and gets bitten by a crab ! The crab is still literally on his tail as Felix walks through a thin log that causes the crab to get stuck . Felix then goes to a nearby house where he encounters a baby carriage and a shoe . As he attempts to eat the shoe , he hears a baby crying in the house as his father blows a trumpet to cheer him up . As the trumpet blows , three toy soldiers are now marching in step . The baby resumes crying after the father stops playing . Felix hears and offers his services . The father says , " If you watch my kid for an hour , I'll give you some feed . " He leaves as Felix tries to cheer the kid by bouncing a ball on his tail . The baby laughs after one of the toy soldiers hits Felix on the tail with his rifle ! Felix then blows a balloon , gives it to the baby who sucks its air and becomes inflatable floating away from the house ! Felix chases inflatable baby with carriage to a building with a pole . As baby hangs to pole , a crow comes to baby and pops him back to normal ! Baby cries and lands back in carriage as Felix takes him to a nursery . He then goes off to get a candy cane as baby gets invited to come in nursery by another baby . As Felix gets candy cane , he finds carriage missing baby and goes back to house to find father seething mad and saying , " If that cat doesn't get my kid back in five minutes , I'll skin him alive ! " Felix , thinking about this , hurries back to nursery to find lots of babies looking alike ! He then attempts to get father's baby by using candy cane to lure him out . Baby comes out and then tells fellow nursery mates to follow him . They do as Felix leads not noticing crowd . As the father sees the various babies coming he faints as Felix turns around , sees the big crowd of kids , and changes his cane into a floating umbrella as we iris out . This short doesn't have too many gags and I found myself bored watching it . Go watch if you're a Felix completist , otherwise skip it . |
454,012 | 11,228,318 | 70,654 | 2 | Scream Bloody Murder is low-level garbage that may provide some amusing moments | Having just watched this on YouTube and read several of the comments here , I've concluded that while Scream Bloody Murder has some effective scenes , some partially good performances from the two leads , and an interesting early bit from Angus Scrimm ( Phantasm ) , this is just mostly junk that has inconsistent characterizations ( Matthew , having spent most of his life in a convent with a hook hand , is actually able to drive and actually found the car's key for the stolen vehicle on such short notice , really ? ) , randomly gratuitous killings ( what was that doomed young married couple thinking when they let Matthew ride with them ? ) , and painful dialogue ( especially Matthew's constantly saying " Now we can be free " to both his mother and Vera who he calls " Daisy " since she resembles his mother-no surprise since the actress is the same ) . Anyone expecting logic should look elsewhere . And part of me wonders how the " MST3K " gang would have ' riffed on this picture . Occasionally , there are some unintentional amusements like when that old lady hit Matthew with her canes or when that dog , seeing him pick that now-dead lady up , was just staring at him ! LOL ! And how about when that delivery boy kept knocking and talking for more than a few minutes even though no one was answering ! And that near-sex scene with " Daisy " and Matthew did turn me on . But with all the inconsistencies I just mentioned , I can't quite recommend Scream Bloody Murder . It's on YouTube , however , if you want to see this for free . |
454,313 | 11,228,318 | 80,014 | 2 | There Goes the Bride and my $1 . 00 purchase . . . | There Goes the Bride is a very witless fantasy-comedy that is even more disappointing when you consider the cast : Tom Smothers , Twiggy , Martin Balsam , Broderick Crawford , Hermione Baddeley , Jim Backus , Phil Silvers , and Graham Stark . All have had better roles in better pictures or TV shows . None can save the very lame material here . I do have to admit to some charm concerning some dance moves by Smothers and Twiggy when they reenact Astaire and Rogers in their prime . Those scenes make the picture somewhat tolerable . There was even some amusement at the way it all ended . Otherwise , this movie is not even worth the $1 . 00 I paid for this DVD which was double billed with the mediocre It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time which featured a young John Candy . Avoid at all costs unless you're really curious . |
454,995 | 11,228,318 | 146,965 | 2 | Kisser Plant is a weird and boring Terrytoons short | Kisser Plant is a Terrytoons short starring Oscar , a human , and Astro Nut , a space creature . The title character is a gift from Astro Nut after Oscar tells him about wanting something for his garden . Problem is , the plant grows as big as a bean stalk and loves to kiss constantly including policemen and soldiers ! This is one weird cartoon that , unfortunately , doesn't provide any laughs , just repetition of the plant kissing everything in sight . And the ending can be predicted by anyone who's seen various other cartoons on Saturday morning or on the weekday afternoons in past decades before talk shows took over . Only recommended for anyone who feels a need to see all Terrytoons . |
454,546 | 11,228,318 | 25,701 | 2 | The Rasslin ' Match is one of two cartoons adapted from the " Amos ' n ' Andy " radio show | The Rasslin ' Match was the first of two Van Beuren cartoons based on the " Amos ' n ' Andy " radio series using that show's stars Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll . In this one , the Kingfish has Andy fighting the wrestling champ for money . On seeing this on YouTube , the print was not good , in fact it seemed partly blurry . Creative wise , the black caricatures border on the offensive with the white lips and , except for the end when Andy keeps hitting the champ when he gets knocked to and fro on the ring , I didn't find any of this cartoon funny . I'd only recommend this for anyone interested in all things " Amos ' n ' Andy " . Otherwise , stay away . |
453,808 | 11,228,318 | 148,091 | 2 | Dumb Like a Fox is just plain dumb | In this Columbia cartoon short , a father hound refuses to take his son fox hunting until he gets older . Since the son has never seen a fox , a fox convinces the little hound to get one that's near in the forest . What the son sees is a beaver slicing a chopped tree trunk like a whole lunchenmeat and spitting the pieces to make a dam . He later spits a doghouse for the child hound when the child comes after him . After the beaver tells little hound he's not a fox , that hound once again meets the fox who leads him to an animal he tells is certainly a fox . The animal the son now has on a leash is actually a skunk . As his father waits for his son's return , he sees the skunk with him and screams as he shovels , with his paws , dirt on his son as the fox laughs to the end of the cartoon . . . This is a pretty dull cartoon with most of the scenes focused on the very obnoxious kid hound who reminds me of both Henry Hawk and Scrappy Doo . Henry Hawk had at least Foghorn Leghorn as his nemesis in those witty Warner Bros . cartoons . The fox here is some smooth British gentleman type with no chemistry with the little hound . Animation is good but I found the whole thing forced and unfunny . I do not recommended Dumb Like a Fox but if you're curious about this obscure Columbia cartoon , it's available on YouTube . |
454,653 | 11,228,318 | 148,418 | 2 | Lo , the Poor Buffalo is one of the lamest of ' 40s animation shorts | Well , if I never thought I'd see an animated cartoon short from the ' 40s that would qualify as bland and boring , that may be because I'd never seen anything from the latter Columbia / Screen Gems animation output until now with this : Lo , the Poor Buffalo . From the title character who talks and sings like Elmer Fudd ( only with a falsetto ) to the Yosemite Sam-like Buffalo Billingsly character ( with some of Foghorn Leghorn's speech patterns ) to the stereotypical cartoon American Indian , these are some of the most unappealing characters I've ever seen from cartoons made in this era . While there's plenty of good animation and some amusing gag action ( such as when three buzzards swoop down to strip a literally shot jeep or do the same to the three main characters ) there's also some lame sound effects ( such as the " pop " noises when the characters get shot " dead " ) . Since I just passed the 10-line limit , I'll just say only animation completists who are curious about these rare Columbia cartoons should check this one out at least once . Stay away , otherwise . |
455,186 | 11,228,318 | 20,248 | 2 | Felix disappoints with Outdoor Indore | Outdoor Indore is yet another disappointment from Felix's late era at the Pat Sullivan Studio . Felix tries to join the circus . He goes to the fire department and gets a hose , attachés it to the fire hydrant , and presents it to the ringmaster ( Why , I don't know ! ) . An angry fireman turns on the apparently stolen hose which douses Felix and sends him to India . He encounters a boy sucking on a huge peppermint stick . When Felix encounters him , the stick is now standing on the ground . The boy leaves and Felix grabs the stick which turns into a tiger's tail . The tiger chases Felix who turns into a cactus that the tiger passes . As the tiger stops , the cactus behind him turns back to Felix and takes the tiger's stripes which become a ladder ! Felix climbs the ladder and with his glasses spots from afar a man playing a cornet which causes a snake to appear from his basket . Felix detaches his tail and plays it like a flute causing a snake each to appear in the two holes Felix is between . Felix jumps to a tree branch so that the snakes jump out of their holes to form a unicycle . On the unicycle , he sees a man driving a wagon with an exhausted elephant leading . Felix goes to the elephant to offer him a job at the circus where he will get adulation . The elephant accepts and he and Felix boards the next boat available . As the ship leaves , it leans heavily on the side the elephant and Felix are on making the captain on the other side furious . Felix tells the elephant to drink the water so he does . With all the seawater gone , they walk to the customs officer who is greeted by the elephant's seawater from his trunk ! Felix and the elephant walk to the ringmaster who offers them a job . They are a hit with the audience as the film iris out . This might have been an attempt to make Felix more of a heartwarming character but it doesn't really work here . And the gags seem to have a " been there , done that " kind of feel , so lacking is the timing . Perhaps the sound era and Pat Sullivan's ailments are contributing factors to these disappointing last shorts . Certainly the competition from Disney and Fleischer couldn't have helped . After a few years , Felix would be gone but would be briefly revived by Van Buren and then fully revived by the late ' 50s on television for a new audience . |
454,273 | 11,228,318 | 25,188 | 2 | Going ' to Heaven on a Mule is worse than nearly all the Warner " Censored 11 " cartoons | Just discovered on the Misce-Looney-ous site linked to YouTube this rare Warner Bros . cartoon short directed by Friz Freling that's NOT on the " Censored 11 " list . Based on the final number in the Al Jolson picture Wonder Bar , this cartoon is awash in offensive stereotypes of African-Americans like having one take to drink constantly and another one automatically eat a watermelon and a few more automatically playing dice in Heaven which here is called Pair-O'-Dice ( Paradise , get it ? ) . And their faces all resembles monkeys , aaarrrggggg ! The only thing that's remotely entertaining here is the title number which doesn't surprise me since Freling often made good musical cartoons . So for that alone , this cartoon gets two stars , otherwise I'd only recommend this for Warner animation completists . |
453,766 | 11,228,318 | 152,901 | 2 | Tangled Travels is one very lame cartoon from the so-called Golden Age | This was a spoof of travelogue shorts shown in theatres in the ' 30s and ' 40s as filler before the double feature . You hear some stereotypical Swedish voice narrating while we're looking at some animated figures moving over some live-action backgrounds . There are mostly literal jokes ( babbling brook with a bunch of dismembered mouths moving loudly , weeping willows with many of them crying , etc . ) that are very lamely depicted here ( they lack the pacing of a Tex Avery cartoon that might have done wonders ) . Dave Fleischer is the credited producer here and , compared to the shorts he collaborated with his brother Max , is not well served . The fault of this cartoon's lameness goes to writer / director Alec Geiss . Nothing here is funny except the ending since it reflects my feelings exactly . So unless you're an animation buff who's curious about this , I wouldn't recommend Tangled Travels . |
454,321 | 11,228,318 | 443,744 | 2 | Greddy Gabby Gator is the last in series of him pursuing Woody Woodpecker | This cartoon marked the last time Gabby Gator appeared in a Woody Woodpecker cartoon and the only time he was directed by Sid Marcus , Gator being a creation of the departed Jack Hannah . It's basically another of Gabby's useless pursuits of Woody for food . Seeing Woody getting sick and viewing a 3-D image of Gabby's finger-pointing is fascinating for a few seconds but otherwise it's just a witless series of tricks of Woody thinking he's having a bath while he's really being cooked . And seeing a crocodile constantly trying to eat Gabby makes absolutely no sense . Greedy Gabby Gator is only recommended for Walter Lantz completists . |
454,079 | 11,228,318 | 148,492 | 2 | Mother Hubba-Hubba-Hubbard is another one of those mediocre Columbia cartoons | I just discovered on Thad's Animation Blog in his series of " Your Saturday Morning Bowl of WTF " . WTF is right as , like other cartoons made by Columbia Pictures in the ' 40s , this cartoon makes absolutely no sense even with the simple story of a dog trying to find his bone with his suspects being the title character , a mouse , and , of course , a butler . The only time I laughed was when Mother Hubbard was eating the poisoned eggs and bacon , which looked like skull and crossbones , and accidentally and temporarily took the black nose off of the dog . That surprised me like hell ! There's also the unfortunate stereotype of the train ticket taker in the form of a black caricature of a tall monkey depicted here . So on that note , I'd say Mother Hubba-Hubba-Hubbard is worth a look for any buff of old animation , otherwise stay away . |
454,746 | 11,228,318 | 151,010 | 2 | I Want My Mummy is a mediocre effort of a Jose Jimenez cartoon | I Want My Mummy is the first time I've encountered the character of Jose Jimenez , created by comedian Bill Dana . Jose goes to a restaurant and is told by the waiter that an all-you-can-eat buffet is $5 . Jose only has a penny which he uses to get three peanuts from a candy machine . A bird comes by and eats them all . Still starving , Jose then gets a job as an archeologist's assistant as they leave by boat to go to the lost city of another land . Here they almost get eaten by natives before finding the lost city . His boss finds the mummy as Jose reads that anyone who touches the mummy's crown gets his head shrunken . Actually , the boss ' head is fine , it's the rest of his body that's . . . I found some lines amusing but the animation was crudely low-budget ( typical of many ' 60s efforts ) . This was one of many mediocre efforts of Paramount Cartoons during the last decade of production that rarely gets played on television today . Worth a look once as you check this out on Cartoon Brew which linked this from YouTube . |
454,829 | 11,228,318 | 233,371 | 3 | The version I saw of Boys Will Be Joys was abridged to one reel | This Hal Roach comedy short , Boys Will Be Joys , is the forty-second in the " Our Gang / Little Rascals " series . The version I saw was on Goodtimes ' VHS of " Our Gang Comedy Festival II " . It was a shortened one-reel version of an originally two-reel film . And since this version was handled by a company other than the original Hal Roach Studios or their distributor Pathe Exchange , the series title was " Those Lovable Scallawags with Their Gangs " with the episode title being " Carnival Time " . With the original H . M . Walker inter-titles removed , here's the synopsis , in my own words , I partly got from the definitive book on the " Our Gang / Little Rascals " series by Leonard Maltin and Richard W . Bann : While the gang has plans for a new amusement park in an acre of their choosing , the surveyor tells them it's being used for a future factory . Undeterred , they see the sixty-year-old president of the land-owning company who has the heart of a ten-year-old . After hearing the gang's story , he decides to make their dream come true and walks out on his own meeting ! The board of directors follow him hoping to get the chairman to agree to get him voted off . In the end , with the kids and some of the men helping in operating the makeshift rides , the president tells the board he's retiring and vows to think as young as the gang are . . . Not very amusing and the rides seem not to convincing as simply the creation of the kids-even with the financier's fun-loving aid . There is an interesting angle of a fluidly moving shot of a boy going backwards on a slide in a wheel-less vehicle that was partly fascinating . I was also amused by Farina's displaying of a " Wild Animal " in his tent-which turns out to be a skunk . Otherwise , Boys Will Be Joys was just an average " Our Gang " short . |
454,573 | 11,228,318 | 152,019 | 3 | Polly Wants a Doctor is another illogical ' 40s cartoon from Columbia | Polly the Parrot is tired of crackers , so she goes out and sees a goat eat scrap metal or " roughage " as the goat calls it . Polly decides she wants some of that so the goat obliges . After she eats slices of a record player , the goat takes Polly's head and makes a request to someone inside the parrot's body for an upbeat song . As that record plays , Polly shakes her body and splits in two for a partner . Let me just stop right there as the rest of the cartoon doesn't really make sense . In fact , this was another entry in ThadBlog's " Saturday Bowl of WTF " as linked to YouTube that was picked from the Columbia / Screen Gems scrap heap . What I'm basically saying is while there's a couple of amusing moments like the dance scene I just described , Polly Wants a Doctor , like many of these cartoons from Columbia , just has no logic to the story despite the fine full animation throughout . Only worth a look if your a ' 40s cartoon completist . |
454,319 | 11,228,318 | 26,150 | 3 | Buddy of the Legion is another bland effort of a cartoon starring Buddy | Here's another cartoon starring Warner's blandest character : Buddy . In this one , Buddy gets hired to take care of a bookstore while the heavyset female boss leaves temporarily . When he looks at a book about the Foreign Legion , Buddy dreams he's there . . . Despite some good animation provided by Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones , this animated short feels rushed because of the limited running time of six minutes that doesn't serve whatever story you half expect when Buddy dreams of adventure while sleeping . And the time spent having the boy dusting in the bookstore isn't all that amusing . So on that note , I'd only recommend Buddy of the Legion if you're a Warner Bros . cartoon completist . |
453,767 | 11,228,318 | 63,073 | 3 | Hocus Pocus Powwow was an underwhelming late Warner Bros . cartoon for me | This is one of those late ' 60s Warner Bros . theatrical cartoons that uses new characters instead of the classic Bugs , Daffy , Porky , etc . The star here is Merlin the Magic Mouse whose W . C . Fields-inspired voice is done by Larry Storch of TV's " F Troop " fame . He does all the other voices here like that of Second Bannana and the Indian Lo . Perhaps because of the obvious low-budget look , this cartoon was mostly " eh " to me . Whatever funny gags provided here come courtesy of Lo , the Poor Indian . Like when he gets Merlin's hat and pulls the rabbit out of it with that hare biting him on the nose . Or when Lo gets off a cliff , stands for a few seconds , then falls with the scene changing to the ground from up high with the impact signaled by a small smoke ( reminiscent of the Road Runner cartoons with While E . ' s impact ) . Then we see Lo running on a treadmill which he calls , " Portable warpath " . LOL ! Otherwise , this was mostly blah for me . |
454,120 | 11,228,318 | 141,057 | 3 | Felix the Cat Ducks His Duty is short on genuine laughs | Felix reads the newspaper with the headline that says mice are declaring war on cats . Despite this , Felix doesn't want to join but is forced to by a uniformed guard . When he arrives , it looks like Felix is the only feline there among very few others . When the mice first have smelly old cheese cannoned to Felix , the cat puts on his gas mask ! Then as the bombing gets really rough , he sees in the paper that married men are exempt from fighting . So he finds a female cat and weds her . Unfortunately , the wife tells him to get a job as rolling pins constantly fly ( both this and the bombing are illustrated by said objects flying on black backgrounds ) . After that , Felix goes back to the battlegrounds where he now sleeps peacefully ! Not a very funny cartoon , in fact , there are no sequences in which Felix changes into objects and other than the " old cheese " incident and the ending I just revealed , no real attempts at humor . So on that note , I'd only recommend Felix the Cat Ducks His Duty only to those completists who love this memorable character from the silent days . |
453,750 | 11,228,318 | 654,739 | 3 | My Little Margie : Miss Whoozis is too silly to recommended | Margie is a model whose photographer keeps forgetting her name . The modeling agency she works for has her father , Vern , and his boss , Honeywell , as investors though she doesn't know that nor does her father know his daughter's whereabouts . The designer wants all his models signed to exclusive contracts but Margie , who has a crush on the photographer , works at the dept . store window with fellow model Hercules in order to make photographer jealous . A big mix-up between the designer , photographer , Vern and his boss , and Margie results . One of several episodes filmed without a laugh track , the plot contrivances really show through . So this is a mildly amusing story at best though Fritz Feld as a designer does do his trademark ' pop ' sound from his mouth in his last scene . Too silly to really recommend though an interesting curio for Feld fans . |
454,534 | 11,228,318 | 68,595 | 3 | Flesh Gordon is not very sexy nor funny , in fact , you may get bored . . . | For years , I've read of this soft-porn parody of Flash Gordon since it was advertised as one of several midnight movies listed as being at the ( now defunct ) Cinema 8 at the ( also folded ) Bon Marche Mall . While I've had it on tape for years , I've only now gotten to seeing it . The verdict : While there were some amusing scenes and dialogue and maybe some good nude scenes , I found most of it a bore . The acting , direction , and script had such an amateurish feeling that after a while I just simply wanted it to end . I did like many of the stop-motion creatures that recall Ray Harryhausen and his mentor Willis O'Brien at their most creative . I guess overall , this was too silly for my tastes . Worth a look at least once is all I can recommended for Flesh Gordon . |
454,078 | 11,228,318 | 30,300 | 3 | Jungle Jitters was another of the " Censored 11 " I recently discovered | This is another of the " Censored 11 " Warner Bros . cartoons that I found on Thad's Animation Blog . Thad thinks most of the gags are stupid but since Friz Freling directed this , there are at least a few clever ones like the Looney Tunes Theme - " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down " - being depicted with these cannibals going up-and-down on a pole in a circle with a tent-like roof and a few others whistling in unison or the tall humanized salesman getting punched in the stomach . Besides that , however , the stereotypical characterizations pretty much defeats whatever entertainment value this short once had and dated references to old-time radio stars doesn't help . And what's with one of the natives speaking in a pseudo-stereotypical broken Chinese English ? And why is their leader a white prissy queen drawn as a chicken ? And why does she see the dog salesman as humanized Clark Gable and Robert Taylor ? If you're a Warner cartoon completest , I'd recommend Jungle Jitters for one time viewing . Otherwise , stay away . |
455,001 | 11,228,318 | 150,119 | 3 | Stereotypical Chinese abound in Terrytoons ' Chop Suey | Just saw on YouTube an early talkie Terrytoons short called Chop Suey . It seems to be mostly a stereotypical depiction of the Chinese-here portrayed as rats-and the way they run their laundry . Most of what happens here doesn't really make sense though there are some amusing gags like the way some things are flattened as well as a few Rube Goldberg devices and I also liked one sequence of a female rat walking down the street with something on her head while an instrumental of " Ain't She Sweet " plays as a score . There's also some interesting shots of the top of a building that some people walk on with a car following them . Otherwise , worth skipping unless you're a Terrytoons completist . |
454,549 | 11,228,318 | 801,157 | 3 | Sycamore Lodge was a rare episode of Calvin and the Colonel I managed to see | Having just discovered a site called From the Archives , I checked the section called Net Nights and found an animated program called " Calvin and the Colonel " on it . It would be the last time " Amos ' n ' Andy " creators and players Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll would collaborate together . Gosden would play the Colonel as a fox with the personality of George " Kingfish " Stevens with Correll as a dim-witted bear named Calvin with that of Andy . In this episode , the Colonel , having purchased a cabin that turns out to have been flooded , tries to sublet it to Calvin while his wife and sister-in-law do the same thing to someone else . This is basically an animated radio show with music scoring limited to transition scenes . The low-budget shows on how limited the animation really is and the laugh track really points out how lame the whole package truly is . In fact , I only laughed two times . Once when the Colonel says , " I've soured on the whole sex ! " , sotto voce , after telling his wife and sister-in-law how he's never looked at another woman in the last 20 years he's lived with them and again when , after he and Calvin see water coming out of the stove , the Colonel says , " The last tenant must have baked a spongecake in there ! " Former " Amos ' n ' Andy " writers Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher , the creators of " Leave It to Beaver " and " The Munsters " , wrote the script . Paul Frees is one of the voices here . All in all , this was a curio that I was at least glad to finally be able to view . |
454,706 | 11,228,318 | 152,347 | 3 | Search for Misery was a somewhat interesting animated serial spoof from Terrytoons | Just watched this last Terrytoons one-shot cartoon on Cartoon Brew as linked from YouTube . It's a spoof of radio soap operas complete with organ scoring and droning narration . The main character is Pitiful Penelope whose husband , Roland Stone , temporarily leaves her and the quintuplets by themselves . When Penelope hits a stop sign while running , she ends up in hospital so her friend , Big Dehlia , takes care of her babies while nemesis , Kay Niver , threatens to send them to foster care . . . Interesting spoof of a traditional format not to mention of some character poses though except for one scene of those quintuplets in a tug-of-war between Penelope and a foster caretaker , there isn't much that was funny visually . Still worth a look for enthusiasts of this once major cartoon studio named Terrytoons . |
454,119 | 11,228,318 | 152,434 | 3 | Sick , Sick , Sidney was interesting but that's all | Just watched this cartoon on ThadBlog . This Thad is an admirer of animator Jim Tyler and he considers this one of Tyler's best stint at Terrytoons when Gene Deitch took over creative control at the studio . The title character is a neurotic elephant who hates living in the jungle because of all the noise . Then when he finds some trappers coming , he doesn't want to be taken to the zoo . . . until he finds out they don't want him and they take his other friends ( among them , a lion and a giraffe ) instead . Well , at least Sidney gets his peace and quiet only it's TOO quiet . . . While it's interesting seeing the elephant trying to change shape in order to look like a gazelle or a snake to avoid being taken by those trappers and then do a 180 when he finds out how uninterested they are in him , I didn't really find this short funny at all and the lead character was just irritating . And I guess the animation was too limited for my tastes . So on that note , I really can't recommend Sick , Sick , Sidney . |
454,772 | 11,228,318 | 2,663 | 3 | Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life is mostly blah but interesting to see once | Having recently discovered the films of Mabel Normand and seen some of her great slapstick scenes with Roscoe " Fatty " Arbuckle , Barney Oldfield's Race for a Life was a big disappointment for me since Ms . Normand spends most of the short film tied onto railroad tracks because villain Ford Sterling didn't accept Mabel's rejection of his advances ( glad to see her do so by knocking him down , however ! ) . When her bashful boyfriend Mack Sennett finds out , he gets real-life race car driver Barney Oldfield to help him rush to her rescue . Also on hand are the Keystone Kops who get a hilarious scene at the end . Other than that and some of Mr . Sterling's over-the-top performance , this was mostly blah for me . Worth a look at least once for silent movie buffs . I saw this on YouTube with a score that contained some modern music from John Williams and other scores from recent movies and TV shows . |
455,184 | 11,228,318 | 779,176 | 3 | Meet Corliss Archer : The Vase That Came for Dinner is only slightly amusing | Mrs . Archer buys a vase that her husband is not too crazy about but he tolerates it . Next door neighbor teen Dexter suggests to Mr . Archer to use a plant to make vase less noticeable . Mr . Archer breaks vase . Dexter uses glue to hold vase together . He accidentally pours glue on duck Mr . Archer is cooking for dinner . After accidentally breaking vase again , Mr . Archer buys another one which we later find out has several copies available . During dinner , everyone is enjoying their duck except Mr . Archer whose food is sticking on his hands and in his mouth ! Meanwhile , Dexter's mother keeps getting different copies of the same statue from first her husband , then Corliss , then Mrs . Archer , and then Dexter . She puts one on a table and hides the other ones in the closet . Husband breaks the table one without wife noticing and goes to son Dexter to glue it together . Wife comes and discovers the broken vase and goes to her closet to replace it . Because father had been forgetting things lately , Dexter thinks he's crazy after finding vase fixed . He then thinks everyone else is such when after confessing buying the vase for his mom , his father , Mrs . Archer , and Corliss say the same thing ! It all clears up after Dexter opens closet and accidentally removes shelf . . . This is a silly and amusing episode , at least during the duck dinner . It gets a little bland and boring by the end . So it may be interesting to those who like ' 50s sitcoms . Otherwise avoid . |
454,381 | 11,228,318 | 33,324 | 3 | All This and Rabbit Stew is one " Censored 11 " cartoon that deserves it's fate | This is another of the Warner Bros . " Censored 11 " cartoons that aren't shown on commercial television anymore and the only one with their star character , Bugs Bunny . In this one , the hunter is not Elmer Fudd but a caricatured black man with the big white lips and the slow drawl that's a carbon copy of the Stepin Fetchit character . It's largely because of this stereotypical characterization that this cartoon is banned and in this case , I don't blame them . While there are still some funny gags typical of Tex Avery ( such as when Bugs ' various body parts quickly disconnect when he gets scared ) , the Fetchit character's presence makes the whole thing uncomfortable , especially during the final sequence when he's challenged to a crap game . So unless you're a completist of the Bunny , Avery , and / or Warner cartoons , I don't recommend All This and Rabbit Stew . |
455,152 | 11,228,318 | 146,518 | 3 | Krazy Kat , Bugologist is an interesting curio of the silent animation era | I agree with the previous reviewer that nothing really happens in this cartoon ( Krazy and Ignaz finds bee , thinks its dead , bee comes alive . Then elephant comes and is scared by Ignaz . The end . ) though its animation is pretty interesting for the era it occurred . The animator's name is Frank Moser who later was in partnership with Paul Terry when he formed Terrytoons in the ' 30s . Since 10 lines is required for me to finish this comment , I'll also say that before Felix the Cat , many animation stars originally came from comic strips like Krazy Cat and Ignaz , The Katzenjamer Kids , or Mutt and Jeff . It wasn't until King Features ' Popeye was adapted for animation by the Max Fleischer studio in the ' 30s , however , that a successful transition was made from newspaper page to the silver screen . But that probably wouldn't have happened without his predecessors I've just mentioned . |
453,951 | 11,228,318 | 467,110 | 3 | Live-action Underdog may be more entertaining for kids than adults | When I saw the trailer for Underdog with my friend , he thought it would be good while I thought it would be just mediocre . With the actual movie those were the thoughts each of us had of it since he laughed at most of it while I just sat there only occasionally chuckling . With Disney's name on it , I pretty much expected some lessons and cutesy humor that kids would eat up and make us sophisticated adults want something more . . . sophisticated . With a cast like Peter Dinklage , Patrick Warburton , John Slattery , James Belushi ( okay , maybe not him ) , and the voices of Brad Garrett and Jason Lee as the title character , part of me hoped maybe some clever lines would come out of them , not so . Most of the humor is visual and not wacky-visual but more amusingly-playful-visual though the scene that Underdog does to the Garrett-voiced dog at the end made me laugh a little loud . So , like I said , this wasn't hilarious , just partly amusing . The beginning with scenes of the actual Underdog cartoons were probably the most entertaining along with some of the bloopers at the end . All in all , kids under 12 will probably enjoy this more than childless adults . P . S . I saw this with a trailer of Alvin and the Chipmunks with Lee as the live-action David Seville . I hope that isn't as mediocre as this one . |
454,610 | 11,228,318 | 139,986 | 3 | Paul Terry's Dinner Time should provide interest for anyone into early sound cartoons | Just saw this on Cartoon Brew in the first of a series of " Brew Vault " sites . With commentary by Brew regular Jerry Beck and Mark Kausler , Dinner Time is noted as the first sound cartoon short made after Warner Bros . ' success with The Jazz Singer and produced even before Walt Disney's first sound cartoon , Steamboat Willie ( though released after ) . As noted by Beck and Kausler , Walt didn't like this cartoon thinking it was just a noise of sound effects and music . He had a point and I must add the synchronization of voices aren't perfect either as they don't match the lip-movements at all ! Also , the gags are scattershot with almost no point at all . There was one amusing gag when a dog sees his reflection in a river with the bone in his mouth as he drops that one to search for the one in the water . Ironic thing is , he actually does find another one there ! Otherwise , it's just chases between other look-alike dogs , Farmer Al Falfa , and a dogcatcher that mostly seems pointless . I just remembered another sequence with a cat and his nine lives that was also pretty amusing . So on that note , I guess for animation buffs who's interested in watching an important first , Paul Terry's Dinner Time may be worth a look . |
453,946 | 11,228,318 | 22,961 | 3 | Three Broadway Girls had some witty lines but the situations confused me | I bought a $1 DVD that had two movies about a year ago . The movies were Happy Go Lovely and this one , Three Broadway Girls . This tale of three lady friends who try to one-up each other in attracting rich men has some witticisms about them and the leads of Joan Blondell , Ina Claire , and Madge Evans are pretty good . It's the situations that got me a little confused and possibly bored since I almost fell asleep a couple of times . I suppose I could try to watch this again when I'm more alert and I think of how the plot plays out in my mind . Maybe by then , this would play a little better in my mind . Right now though , I'm giving this a 3 . By the way , for Laurel and Hardy fans , Arthur Housman does appear in his usual drunk role here . |
455,187 | 11,228,318 | 141,833 | 3 | Skulls and Sculls is a disappointing Felix entry | Skulls and Sculls starts with two eyes in the dark going back and forth . When the lights come on we find Felix crying in front of a lot of people in sheets . He is in a fraternity initiation . Felix gets blindfolded and then a goat comes for Felix to ride on . The goat bumps Felix up and down before going down a flight of stairs . The stairs turn into a dragon . Felix tries to escape before he finds some window bars which he plays like a harp . Those bars turn into four ostriches ' legs that run away . Felix then jumps some pond rocks one of which turn into a pelican's head with fish . Another turns into a sheeted person who chases Felix . Felix heads him off and comes to a bridge which shakes as he comes on . It turns into a tree branch pulled by another frat brother ! Felix comes swinging to the house exhausted but now initiated ! Two of the brothers hoist Felix singing " He's a Jolly Good Fellow " . It is now time for the boat race . Now he's followed by his three frat brothers , each carrying an oar . His competitors are four giraffes and an elephant . At one point , Felix and his team go up a waterfall ( or maybe it was the four giraffes , the cuts are confusing here ) . Felix and his teammates become exhausted . He detaches his tail which wakes up a fish who thinks it's a worm ( I'm guessing by this point the tail becomes an outboard motor with the fish following , again confusing cuts ) . Felix wins the race and once again gets hoisted by his frat brothers for another round of " He's a Jolly Good Fellow " . The End . As you can tell , this is confusing even for a Felix short . The fraternity initiation sets a good mood for a Halloween type cartoon but it falls apart with the boat race . I don't even know if the cuts were real or if somebody spliced too much frames ! The synchronization seems to be a bit off too . Maybe they were trying to rush release this during Felix's waning days while Mickey Mouse was winning public adulation after Steamboat Willie ( 1928 ) . Only see this if you're a Felix completist or animation buff . Otherwise , not recommended . |
455,003 | 11,228,318 | 150,678 | 3 | Gadmouse the Apprentice Good Fairy is a bland early effort of Ralph Bakshi | In Leonard Maltin's book on movie animation studios , Of Mice and Magic , in the Terrytoons chapter , he mentioned Ralph Bakshi's Sad Cat as " perhaps the dreariest character in the studio's history " . With the cat's mostly lethargic demeanor being the characterization here , Maltin has a point . This short is a reworking of the Cinderella tale with Sad Cat as the one who has to slave for Stepbrother No . 1 and 2 . The title character is a mouse fairy who is trying to step out of his low-class status which he can achieve if he creates a happy ending for someone . So the classic story goes through its paces until some amusing scenes between Gadmouse and Sad Cat has the cat wearing a white dress and literally dancing his butt off ( loved Bakshi's angles on the derrière when he cuts on the cat's back ) . After the time is up with the stepbrothers wanting to punch Sad Cat for deceiving them , an agent arrives and offers Sad a contract for some shows . So supposedly , Gadmouse becomes a first-class fairy because of this . Instead , the title cat still has to clean his own costumes with Gadmouse resigned to his fate . The dance is the highlight of this mostly bland and dreary short from the final days of Terrytoons . Still , worth a look on YouTube for anyone interested in some of Bakshi's earliest work as an animation director . |
455,106 | 11,228,318 | 148,497 | 3 | Mouse Trek was a slightly amusing Paramount cartoon from Ralph Bakshi | This was one of the last of the Famous / Paramount cartoons . It was directed by Ralph Bakshi just after his Terrytoons period and before his adult animation period that started with Fritz the Cat the following year . In this one , a uniformed cat is sent to a planet to get rid of a giant mouse . With each failure to complete his mission , he keeps trying to quit but he keeps getting medals to change his mind . He then digs a hole next to the mouse and puts barrels of explosives inside . . . The most amusing part of this cartoon was when the cat first sees the mouse , he pantomimes with his hand the little size he expected and then nervously raises it to confront the reality of the giant size he faces . The constant medals he gets to inspire him is also pretty good . Otherwise , this was pretty mediocre especially with the limited animation . By the way , the cat bears a resemblance to Bakshi's dreary Sad Cat from Terrytoons . |
454,087 | 11,228,318 | 63,135 | 4 | Inspector Clouseau is the " odd one " of the Pink Panther series | After Blake Edwards and Peter Sellers turned down The Mirisch Company's offer to make a third movie starring the French inspector ( instead they made The Party for them ) , the film unit offered Clouseau to just established comic actor Alan Arkin who accepted . Bud Yorkin , who is usually partnered with Norman Lear , became the director . Ken Thorne replaced Henry Mancini as the score composer . And the screenwriters became Tom and Frank Waldman , both of whom would later collaborate with Edwards on subsequent Pink Panther screenplays . With all that new talent , Inspector Clouseau is not completely embarrassing but it's not anywhere close to a classic either . In fact , the whole thing feels rushed much of the time despite some good gags thought of by the Waldmans like the cigarette lighter that becomes a lazer beam or a recording device that causes chaos because of the traffic noise that comes out of it or seeing Clouseau accidentally setting a roman candle in the study room . I also liked Clouseau's fight with " himself " and his near sexual encounters with Mrs . Weaver ( Beryl Reid ) and those two lingerie girls . Then there's that pay phone scene where Arkin keeps putting buttons as he mentions various " relatives " to thank . And how about that belt that shoots bullets . Not to mention that scene where the Inspector mistakes a Western movie robbery scheme for a real heist plan ( watch the movie if you want to know what I'm talking about ) . Otherwise , there are long stretches where there are scenes that are too frantic to provide any laughs . And unlike Sellers ' characterization , Arkin's Clouseau seems a bit pitiful to provide much empathy as he mentions to potential girlfriend Lisa Morrel ( Delia Boccardo ) how " everything I touch , I ruin " . And Patrick Cargil as Commissioner Sir Charles Braithwaite and Frank Finley as Weaver have nothing on Hebert Lom's Dreyfus or Graham Stark's Hercule ( though I did like the intro scene with Braithwaite and Clouseau as each keeps changing positions and table objects ) . Also , Barry Foster-who I first saw and enjoyed in Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy-doesn't make a very compelling villain here as Addison Steele . So with none of the people associated with the Pink Panther movies involved , it's understandable why not very many people count this one among the entries especially considering its reputation of not being very good though I do count this since one of the credits read " Based on a character created by Blake Edwards and Maurice Richlin " . Oh , and the DePatie-Freleng animated opening credits ( which actually begin the film as opposed to a Cold Open ) aren't as funny as the ones for The Pink Panther or A Shot in the Dark . But if you're a Pink Panther completist , I'd recommend Inspector Clouseau ( which if Peter Sellers had agreed to star in , might have been changed to " Inspector Clouseau Goes to London " ) for at least one viewing . Next up , The Return of the Pink Panther . . . |
455,125 | 11,228,318 | 388,419 | 4 | Christmas is a slightly enjoyable holiday movie | Christmas with the Kranks is a slightly amusing , slightly heartwarming slapstick comedy starring Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curits as the title couple who initially want to skip the holidays because their only offspring , a daughter , is leaving the country to join the Peace Corps . In fact , Luther Krank is planning to leave with his wife for a cruise on that very day . As a result , they get harassed by the neighbors led by Dan Aykroyd . Other neighbors include M . Emmet Walsh , Felicity Huffman , Caroline Rhea . There's also a couple of cops ( Cheech Marin , Jake Busey ) who Luther refuses to buy the annual police calendar from . Also appearing are David L . Lander , who I fondly remember as Squiggy on " Laverne and Shirley " , as a tanning customer who causes Curtis to hit her head on the tanning bed and , in his last role , the late Tom Poston as a priest who discovers Jamie in her bikini after she goes to the receptionist for a band-aid . Those scenes were funny as were those between Allen and a white cat that he keeps stepping on ( also loved when the cat got frozen with only the eyes moving ) and his botox scene when he has trouble putting things in his mouth . Others were either too frantic or too predictable . Best surprise was Austin Pendleton as someone no one knows at first but then Allen remembers from somewhere else . Like I said , this wasn't very funny but by the end I was willing to overlook many of the film's flaws and just enjoy the celebration that filled the last 30 minutes with wonderful singing from Aykroyd and nice accompaniment from Marin , Busey , and especially Poston in his final minutes of screen time . Oh , and Rhea and Huffman are completely wasted in their few minutes as Curtis ' neighbors . Still , a tolerable time waster from screenwriter Chris Columbus who adopted John Grisham's novel " Skipping Christmas " , and director Joe Roth . |
454,350 | 11,228,318 | 23,853 | 4 | Buddy's Show Boat is another Looney Tunes-time filler pre-Porky | This is another Leon Schlesinger-Looney Tune-Buddy cartoon I recently discovered on YouTube . With the leading character being such a bland creation , the animators must have simply thought of weird material to keep themselves awake while making these boring time fillers . Buddy's Show Boat is so obviously pre-Code when the bells on the telephone look like a lady's breasts and we see the villain looking at Buddy's girlfriend Cookie in a lecherous manner with us also enjoying the view ( for those who like looking at such things ) ! For anyone interested in seeing these vintage cartoons and how different they are to today's , this is certainly worth a look . Otherwise , the easily bored should probably avoid . By the way , the YouTube version is not the best print . |
454,083 | 11,228,318 | 23,852 | 4 | Buddy's Day Out marks the start of a series of cartoons starring a forgotten Warner Bros . character | I just watched on DailyMotion this cartoon short from Leon Schlesinger Productions whose product was distributed by Warner Bros . It marked the first appearance of a character named Buddy . Who ? You ask . Well , when Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising left to go to M-G-M , they took Bosko with them . So Schlesinger raided the Walt Disney studio for animators and the character they created to replace Bosko was Buddy who was basically Bosko in whiteface with girlfriend Cookie , pet dog Happy , and little brother Elmer . With that all said , this cartoon has some amusing sight gags like a car going back through a fence and crashing into various animals before landing in Cookie's yard or a train that seems on its way into crashing into a car with Elmer and Happy inside when Buddy and Cookie use a ladder to derail the locomotive in another direction . Otherwise , there is some cringe-worthy spots of some little animals and insects saying , " Woogie , woogie , woogie " or variations thereof that makes the cuteness factor here really annoying . So on that note , I'd recommend Buddy's Day Out only for those really curious of what the Looney Tunes gang had to go through to eventually get to the greatness of Porky Pig , Daffy Duck , Bugs Bunny , etc . |
454,316 | 11,228,318 | 26,155 | 4 | Buddy's Theatre was just a slightly amusing cartoon starring the always bland Buddy | Buddy runs a movie theatre . The feature stars his crush Cookie . Before that , there's " Passe News " , a preview trailer , and " Rejected Short Subjects " . In the feature , Cookie performs on a piano and sings until a gorilla comes through her window . Buddy sees this and vows to " save " Cookie . Now that I told you the synopsis , I'll just say that while there are some amusing gags here and the animation is quite good , the short doesn't have much of a plot and , as usual , Buddy is just the blandest character ever created for Warner Bros . This character was created because when Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising took Bosko with them to M-G-M , Leon Schlesinger was left without a regular cartoon character for his animated shorts . Lucky for us , Porky Pig would be created the same year this short was made . . . |
453,845 | 11,228,318 | 26,148 | 4 | Buddy Steps Out was an early start for animators Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett | This being my first viewing of a Buddy cartoon from Leon Schlesinger after losing Harmon-Ising's Bosko to M-G-M , I have to say it's a good thing Tex Avery arrived a year later so animators Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones didn't get stuck with such bland material such as what is done here . While Buddy and Cookie go out , a picture of the main character comes to life and with the statue Atlas ' help , brings a frozen bird inside who starts chirping to a tune on the radio with many other characters in the house coming to life . Reminiscent of other Warner Bros . cartoons with similar formats , Buddy Steps Out is hardly any different but knowing that the animators would eventually be two of the most creative staff members of Termite Terrace , this one is certainly worth a look . By the way , director Jack King originally was raided from Disney . When he returned there , he'd be Donald Duck's resident helmer before his retirement in 1947 . |
454,320 | 11,228,318 | 26,151 | 4 | Buddy the Gee Man was another partially amusing cartoon starring perhaps Warner's blandest leading man | This was another cartoon starring perhaps the blandest character created for Warner Bros . - Buddy . In this one , he's a detective who's hired to spy on the goings-on at a prison . He finds out the warden is cruel to all his prisoners so Buddy makes sure he's fired ! Then Buddy takes over and gives them all treats ! In between , there's a few numbers in " Sing-Song Prison " . . . It's the score that keeps this animated short moving to somewhat entertaining end . There are some slightly amusing gags and like many of these ' 30s efforts , the animation moves briskly . It's just the leading character that fails to charm . Still , I'd recommend Buddy the Gee Man be seen once if you're a Warner cartoon completist . |
455,160 | 11,228,318 | 292,673 | 4 | I'm just commenting on the Groucho Marx-Carole Landis segment I saw on VHS tape . . . | I'm not reviewing the entire content of Screen Snapshots : Hollywood's Greatest Comedians , just one segment-that of Groucho Marx and Carole Landis singing " Song of the West " . This silly song makes whimsical fun of country western music in front of an appreciative audience of either soldiers or sailors as they take a break from all the battles of World War II . My favorite line ( and judging from the reactions of the audience , theirs too ) was Groucho's " So let's put another cowboy on the fire " . The reason I'm just commenting on this segment is because it's the only one from this short subject I've seen as presented on an old ' 80s Goodtimes VHS tape called Groucho and the Marx Brothers which also contains many trailers from their MGM movies ( except for A Day at the Races ) , an " extra " presented as the trailer for Monkey Business ( that's the one where the Four Marx Brothers audition with Maurice Chavalier imitations ) , another trailer for RKO's Room Service , a short film of Groucho and Harpo in a soapbox derby with Jackie Cooper , and a pilot film for the television version of " You Bet Your Life " which is a real-time document of the radio version before editing for later " transcription " on the air . It has some fascinating behind the scenes stuff involving announcer George Fenneman and producer John Guedel . Anyway , the Groucho-Landis segment is worth a look for Marx fans . |
454,796 | 11,228,318 | 30,520 | 4 | Where are Hans and Franz in The Captain and the Kids ' Old Smokey ? | This short mainly concerns the Captain switching the old horse-drawn fire engine with the new gas-powered one . Then Mama calls and says her house is on fire . The Captain rushes over in the new vehicle but gets stuck hanging on his coat at the top of the ladder . The horse who was just on his way to the retirement field hears the call and rushes to rescue them . . . Some amusing touches but mostly uneven with the Captain a really useless character here . And where are Hans and Franz ? Loved the horse and his reactions of sadness when getting fired and excitement when rehired . And the humorous way he and another human character tried to rescue the Captain . So for him I'm giving this at least a 4 . |
454,017 | 11,228,318 | 184 | 4 | The brief Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene is at least worth a look as supposedly the first film western | This was another very brief Edison film that I discovered on the Internet Archive site . Supposedly the first movie western , Cripple Creek Bar-Room Scene has no horses , no guns , and no fistfights . What it does have is the bar setting , three men playing cards , a drunk that's lying around , a barmaid , and another drunkard who comes in , gets a drink , threatens the other tramp to a fight , and then both get thrown out by the barmaid and those three card-playing men . Since this was approximately four years before the first story short The Great Train Robbery , the only interest this would be for anyone are those who have an interest in early cinema . On that note , Cripple Creek Bar-Room scene is at least worth a look . |
454,187 | 11,228,318 | 141,015 | 4 | Felix Dopes It Out was my first not-so-impressive exposure to the famous cat | In Felix Dopes It Out , a man with a red nose gets a cigarette lit on it by the man next to him , has one fly say to the other on his head to stay from that nose , and gets rejected by a pretty woman for marriage because of it as Felix laughs at it all . When the man pulls a gun to his head , however , Felix promises to help him find a cure . So he takes a boat to Boola-Boola where at sea he encounters a shark . The shark jumps above the cat constantly as it seems to want to eat him . Just then , a box of garlic appears next to Felix's boat . Felix eats some which repels the shark leaving Felix sailing alone . Sometime after , the cat gets thrown a great distance to the island where he gets chased by a chef who magically changes his menu from Fish to Cat . Felix eludes him when he reaches the island leader who's sleeping as Felix goes to the safe to get the red nose antidote . As he leaves , a snake comes by but is subdued when the cat gets a flute , puts it on the sleeping man's lips , and it plays some soothing music . Back to where the red-nosed man is , the man reads the note which says , " Cure for the red nose . Keep drinking until it turns blue " This angers him as he chases Felix and we iris out . . . I remember seeing this about 20 years ago on a VHS cassette that had some public domain cartoons . This was the very first Felix short I've ever seen and I have to admit , I wasn't very impressed . Even today , the gags are only slightly amusing and only once or twice does Felix use his tail to detach for something ( in this one , he uses it to plug a hole the shark made in his boat ) . And much of the middle section is weak . Still , worth a look once for anyone curious about the first real cartoon superstar in animated history . |
454,816 | 11,228,318 | 1,031,331 | 4 | Paradise Lost was a step down for " Bionic Woman " compared to pilot | In this one , we find out Jamie's boyfriend Will died ( perhaps following that shot he got on the shoulder in the pilot episode ) . She then decides to have sex in the public restroom with a guy named Steve ( perhaps named after Steve Austin of " The Six Million Dollar Man " ) . Miguel Ferrer's character walks in at this point and asks her , " Are you in or out ? " Not liking his tone , Jamie says , " I'm out . " ( Didn't she agree to join " on my terms " the previous week ? That scene confused me . ) Jamie then , through super-hearing , finds out about a woman about to commit suicide and manages to save her in perhaps the most cheesy way I've seen on modern television . Obviously , there was some bad editing . She then meets a nice man in a bookstore as she's reading " What Color is Your Parachute ? " He's played by ex - " Grey's Anatomy " star Isaiah Washington . He has a dog with him which , I guess , is supposed to tell us what a nice guy he is ( and perhaps make us forget his homophobic remarks that got him fired from the hit ABC show ) . We later find out he's her handler in Ferrer's agency . The rest of the episode takes place in a town called Paradise where everyone there turns up dead except a teenage girl who was in the bathroom when whatever caused the mass dying occurred . I'll just stop here and mention that the most intriguing scenes concerned the Katee Sackhoff " bad " bionic woman and her love scene with a trainer of Jamie's . Oh , and the little sister of Jamie's can be both a brat and a little lovable . Overall , this episode was a little step down from the pilot I saw last week but the scenes for next weeks episode with Michelle Ryan and Sackhoff look very interesting indeed so I'll tune in next week for that . |
454,216 | 11,228,318 | 431,381 | 4 | This Screen Snapshots Series episode was an interesting curio for Three Stooges fans | Just saw this rare Hollywood newsreel from Columbia Pictures on YouTube . It concerns various movie stars and the horses they own and watch in a derby . Among those are The Three Stooges in comedy inserts and their attempts to get Curly on their horse via a ladder and other uses to amusing results . The version I saw had the Stooges segment colorized . Other stars appearing were Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor , Clark Gable and Carole Lombard , and Bing Crosby . There were many others that wouldn't ring a bell today like ( no relation ) Buck Jones and Allan Jones ( father of " Love Boat " theme singer Jack Jones and co-star of The Marx Brothers in both " A Night at the Opera " and " A Day at the Races " ) . All in all , an interesting curio for fans of old yesteryear celebrities like me . |
454,912 | 11,228,318 | 120,768 | 4 | The Negotiator starts interestingly but goes downhill quickly | Having just seen an , I'm sure , edited ( mainly for profanity ) version of The Negotiator on My Network TV , I don't think this is my definitive review of this movie but I want to comment on it anyway . I liked the interesting set-up of Samuel L . Jackson's way of dealing with hostage situations at the beginning and the way his partner was set-up for murder . But then just as Jackson starts holding up J . T . Walsh for his deceit I was already thinking how overblown the rest of the movie was going to be and I was right . It's at this time that the other lead , Kevin Spacey , shows up as the other negotiator and while it's interesting to see these two intense actors perform together all I could think of was when will this be over . Even the presence of Walsh ( bless his soul ) , John Spencer ( ditto ) , Siobhan Fallon , Paul Giamatti , and Ron Rifkin in support isn't completely enough to make this a very compelling movie when one doesn't feel any real suspense during the whole thing . All that's left is too quick editing and too much action going on all at once that makes it hard to really tell what's going on or why certain things are taking place . Only recommended if you're a fan of the two leads . |
454,015 | 11,228,318 | 63,365 | 4 | Norman Normal is an interesting , if disappointing , unique Warner Bros . cartoon entry | Just watched this extremely rare Warner Bros . cartoon on the Misce-Looney-ous Blog . With a story , voices , and title song sung by Noel Paul Stookey of Peter , Paul , and Mary , the title character of Norman Normal ( voice of Paul Dixon ) is a young ad executive who's told by his boss to get his latest client drunk in order to sign a contract , tries to talk to his father about right and wrong but only gets stories of the Depression from him and gets told to " fit in " , and encounters at a cocktail party a lampshade wearing guy who keeps saying " approval " , another drunk guy who tells a racist joke about Eskimos , and a bartender who says , " You don't want your real personality to show , do you ? " when Norman refuses a drink . Directed by Alex Lovy , this supposed pilot for a possible TV series showed some promise when Norman and his boss are talking and they literally turn into a bully and a shy kid while discussing their client as if the whole thing is something that brings Norman bad memories of his childhood but the subsequent stuff with the father ( who literally floats in the air when discussing his past ) and the cocktail party fell flat with me . Still , this one-shot from the near end of the Warner Bros . cartoon factory in the late ' 60s is worth a look for anyone with a taste for the unique . And dig the rock band that appears in the beginning and end ! |
454,482 | 11,228,318 | 30,380 | 4 | Little ol ' Bosko in Bagdad is awash in some stereotypes | I had previously reviewed The Old Mill Pond which , in my mind , caricatured many African-American musicians in a mostly flattering light . In this cartoon , Bosko ( who's here redrawn as a realistic-looking black kid instead of the monkey-looking one from Warner Bros . ) is tempted in a dream by a Louis Armstrong-like giant frog , complete with trumpet , to give him and his many palace co-worker servants a bag of cookies meant for Bosko's grandma . Those servants include caricatures of Stepin Fetchit , Bill " Bojangles " Robinson , and , as Armstrong's cohort here , Fats Waller with his piano . Love the tap-dancing animation between Bojangles and Bosko and much of the singing , but , as with The Old Mill Pond , the Fetchit character is offensive and annoying as is Robinson almost successfully tempting to trade Bosko's cookies with watermelon . Good thing Bosko refused ! And the Armstrong-Waller buffoonery is too close to stereotypical to be funny . Worth a look , however , for what MGM cartoons were like before the arrival of Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery . . . |
453,807 | 11,228,318 | 147,841 | 4 | Animal Cracker Circus is only slightly amusing | I saw a slightly altered version on YouTube when the toddler was singing different words than the ones in " Animal Crackers in My Soup " with different music ( though in the later " Animal Cracker Circus " sequence , an instrumental version of that is playing ) . He refuses to eat his spinach and had fed some of it to the dog before the cracker ringmaster promises a show if he finishes it . He does and the show starts . A highlight is when the cracker lions dance to the tune I just mentioned . One of the lions comes down from the table and chases and bites the dog who feels pain when that happens ! As the dog and toddler go to bed together , that cracker lion is still chasing them as we iris out . . . Pretty good animation with some interesting sequences involving the animal ( and some human ) crackers but there's hardly a plot here and it's slightly amusing with no big payoff . Worth a look for anyone interested in the obscure Columbia cartoons . |
454,310 | 11,228,318 | 6,145 | 4 | That Little Band of Gold is a little blah | While there are some funny scenes at an opera concerning Ford Sterling , with his crude pantomime demonstration of what he thinks of the woman sitting next to him , and Fatty Arbuckle , who is sitting with wife Mabel Normand and her mother in a row of seats across from Sterling and his two women , as well as some after that when Fatty ditches his wife and mother-in-law to join Sterling and his women in a restaurant , this was mostly a blah short for me about Fatty and Mabel's marriage , his cheating and neglecting her , and their eventual reconciliation . The whole thing was a bit too dramatic for a slapstick comedy with Sterling getting most of whatever laughs came . And I can't believe Mabel forgave Fatty so quickly ! Worth a look for silent movie buffs , worth avoiding for everyone else . |
454,358 | 11,228,318 | 146,959 | 4 | Kickapoo Juice was the final entry in Columbia's " Li'l Abner " animated series | Kickapoo Juice is the fifth and final entry in Columbia's attempt to make Al Capp's " Li'l Abner " comic strip into a cartoon shorts series . This one has Abner making a giant statue of his bachelor idols-Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat-to the consternation of Daisy Mae and his mother , Mammy Yokum . Yokum tries to fix her son's obsession with them by taking away their large pot of moonshine with the title name and ends up taking some of them herself . Chaos ensures . . . There's some outrageous gags here that were pretty amusing but it all fell apart in the end . While this was originally in Technicolor , the print I saw was in black and white . Animation was good for the ' 40s era but the story wasn't all that . I recommend this mainly for " Li'l Abner " completists and animation fans curious about Columbia's contributions to the genre before they started distributing UPA shorts . |
454,586 | 11,228,318 | 151,608 | 4 | Molly Moo-Cow and Robinson Crusoe is pretty ordinary | Molly Moo-Cow lands on an island that also has Robinson Crusoe on . Crusoe sings how he likes to be alone . He sees footprints that his thinks is some kind of trouble so he chases the tracks before he and Molly bump into each other . Molly licks his face indicating she likes him but Robinson will have none of it and chases her off the island . As Molly gets back on her raft , Crusoe encounters some natives who attempt to boil him . He calls for help so Molly rows back to shore and scares the natives out . Robinson lets her stay then asks , " But what will I do with you ? " Molly puts some mud on her face which causes Robinson to say , " Friday ! " as we iris out . Other than the singing of Crusoe and the natives , this short is pretty ordinary and that racist ending pretty much mars whatever other enjoyment you may have of this late Van Beuren cartoon short . Only worth seeing for Van Beuren enthusiasts . |
454,508 | 11,228,318 | 1,092,396 | 4 | This early Japanese animation is mainly interesting filler about monkey vs . octopus battles | This very brief cartoon from Japan whose title translated means " The Monkey Fleet " and runs little more than a minute has the Asian monkeys battling octopuses as they both go underwater with the simian animals riding in submarines shooting their torpedo bullets at the sea creatures . The battle scenes are pretty fascinating for animation done in the ' 30s but the fact that's all you see in such a very short film makes it filler in my eyes . The script was by Chuzo Aoji , with animation by Manzo Miyashita and music ( the one I heard on YouTube , anyway ) by Joichi Yuasa . Worth a look , anyway , for anyone fascinated by early Japanese animation . Or any animation buff at all . |
454,553 | 11,228,318 | 41,604 | 4 | Groucho briefly shines with Marilyn Monroe in his brothers ' Love Happy | This day being the one Groucho Marx died 30 years ago , 3 days after Elvis , I decided to watch some of his movies that I either have on tape or just checked at the library . Love Happy , I taped 12 years ago from AMC . This movie came 20 years after Groucho and his brothers ' talkie debut in The Cocoanuts . His participation is limited here which is just as well since he doesn't have many funny lines except with the villainous Ilona Massey and , in her brief part , a well-endowed Marilyn Monroe . Says Groucho to her , " Is there anything I can do for you ? ( turns to audience as he see-saws his eyebrows ) What a ridiculous statement ! " The story mainly concerns Harpo , as himself , as he steals plenty of sardine cans as they're being thrown at him unknowingly by Eric Blore . One Blore doesn't throw but has stolen unbeknownst from him by Harpo has some valuable diamonds . There's also a plot about a musical show with dancer Vera-Ellen and singer Marion Hutton ( Betty's sister ) that's for the birds . Best parts of those segments concern Chico's piano playing with violinist Leon Belasco though there's also a sexy Vera-Ellen number that got my temperature rising . Worst parts for me were Chico's wooing of Ms . Massey and Vera-Ellen's constant crying in front of Harpo . Most interesting part was the chase sequence at the end where Harpo rides on lots of billboards in one of the rare instances of product placements of the period . Many of those gags probably came from former animation director Frank Tashlin , a co-writer of the script . While there's one scene with Groucho and Harpo , the one with Chico at the end probably was shot on separate occasions since they don't share that scene together , just a cut to Chico after Grouch calls out to him . So , technically , this isn't really a " Marx Brothers " picture , just Harpo starring with Chico in support and Groucho in an extended cameo . Having not seen The Big Store , I reserve judgment on whether this is the worst movie of their career but Love Happy is certainly one of their lesser ones . P . S . Raymond Burr is one of the henchmen . |
454,550 | 11,228,318 | 22,464 | 4 | Jack Benny fans may want to check out his early short Taxi Tangle | Jack Benny is stuck in traffic in his cab besides a woman in another cab whom he identifies from his black book as Helen Hunt from Palm Springs ( though she claims to have never been there ) . From just a few lines of dialogue , they propose ( with a justice of the peace conveniently found nearby ) , argue about finances , then quickly annul ! Jack says some amusing lines here but the topper comes after the woman leaves her car followed by plenty of her kids ! Also appearing is silent player Tammany Young as Jack's cab driver whose banter with the police traffic officer about his various ailments is not funny here and may be even offensive today . All in all , an interesting curio for any Benny fans that might still be around . . . |
454,677 | 11,228,318 | 1,055,415 | 4 | Fifth episode of " Back to You " was only slightly amusing | Well , this episode of " Back to You " seemed to go everywhere without hitting any payoff . In a nutshell : A carpool system has developed with Kelly going with Montana and Gary with Marsh who is a rotten driver . Chuck agrees to take Ryan to dinner to prove to Kelly he's not " rude " while Kelly agrees to spend the night with Montana to prove she's not " strict " . Chuck almost ditches dinner with Ryan-even with Ryan falling down drunk on the floor-with a willing woman ( Tia Carrere , in a brief if effective appearance ) . Ryan eventually ends up at Chuck's sharing a cigar . . . Better in the second act than the first , I thought the whole thing seemed a little predictable and only marginally amusing . Montana probably came off best here . Nice to see Ms . Carrere again after seeing her on " Dancing with the Stars " last year . Long loved her since Wayne's World . The weakest part were the Gary-Marsh driving scenes . Will review after a couple of weeks since " Back to You " will be preempted by Fox baseball playoffs during that time . |
454,699 | 11,228,318 | 197,675 | 4 | Mean Mother doesn't always live up to title | After seeing Grindhouse last weekend , I wanted to see something that came from the real grindhouse or drive-in of the ' 70s . A movie with the title Mean Mother looked like something up my alley . It seemed to have started that way with Our Hero Beauregard Jones making a drug deal with his contact that goes sour and has him kicking the bad guys ' butts , but then we meet his white buddy from the Vietnam War and many of his exploits gets the lion's share of the story when they're separated . Too bad , though when it does get back to Jones , there's also his girlfriend Tracy King ( better known as Marilyn Joi ) who's there as eye candy but what eye candy ! She's worth seeing when , after getting tied up , she convinces her white captor to set her free in exchange for some hanky panky with plenty of nudity provided on screen . I should note that Our Hero is played by Clifton Brown a . k . a . Dobie Gray whose best known hit song was " Drift Away " ( " Give me the beat , boys , to free my soul . I wanna get lost in your rock-n-roll and drift away . . . " ) Also Italian redhead Luciana Paluzzi , who is best known as Fiona Volpe in the James Bond film Thunderball , plays the white buddy's doomed girlfriend Therese . Like I said , there's plenty of boring stretches involving the white buddy but by the end it's back to Jones for an action packed ending ( of the low budget kind anyway ) that should make you at least glad you saw this once . . . |
454,535 | 11,228,318 | 609,391 | 4 | I Married Joan : Opera is a slightly amusing episode | Joan gets picked chairman of the entertainment committee . She invites an opera singer to perform for the function . Husband Bradly gets in opera singer's way during rehearsal and gets sent out of own house ! Later Joan defends husband's honor and singer eventually quits before showtime . Joan goes in her place while lip-syncing to her records but messes her performance tripping over props and costumes . After it's all over , husband doesn't want to see another singer but after he leaves Bing Crosby introduces himself to Joan as a new neighbor but denies being THAT guy ! Once again , you have a silly plot that's occasionally made palatable by Joan Davis and Jim Backus as her husband . Best scenes are the rehearsal with the opera singer and Joan though the actual performance Joan does solo on stage works only slightly well comically . If you're a fan of Davis , you might be a little amused . Otherwise , skip this episode . |
454,767 | 11,228,318 | 2,659 | 4 | Bangville Police is supposedly the first Keystone Kops short with Mabel Normand providing the charms . . . | Bangville Police supposedly marked the debut of the Keystone Kops , named after the studio they worked for . In this one , however , they don't dress in the silly cop costumes or drive the fast-paced car that's their trademark . Anyway , Mabel Normand is a farm girl here who's begged her dad for a calf . She later sees some strange men in the barn and quickly calls the police . One answers and the chase is on . Next , Mabel slams her door just as someone is coming in . Turns out it's her mother who jumps to the conclusion robbers are in there ! So while Mabel blocks her door with furniture , the mother and father try to fight their way in ! This was perhaps the most amusing part of the short along with some explosions of the cop car . This was a short 7 minutes that went by so fast it's over before it's begun . The only real characterization that's developed is Mabel's who exudes charm with just her face and big eyes and seems so optimistically cheery here except , of course , when she's frightened . It's easy to see why she became a star . It's largely because of her that I'd recommended seeing this at least once and why I'm giving this a 4 . |
454,563 | 11,228,318 | 24,509 | 4 | Despite stereotypes , Rufus Jones for President is worthy for Waters and a very young Davis | Well , if it weren't for Ethel Waters and a 7-year-old Sammy Davis , Jr . ( here billed without the Jr . ) , Rufus Jones for President would be one of the worst representations of African-American stereotypes I've seen from the early talkie era and wouldn't have been worth seeing because of that . Ms . Waters is excellent here singing " Am I Blue ? " and " Underneath Our Harlem Moon " while Mr . Davis shows us how his childhood experience in showbiz prepared him for his superstar status as an adult . He's so good tap-dancing here that for awhile I thought he was a little person with decades of experience . So if you're willing to ignore the negative connotations here , Rufus Jones for President should provide some good enjoyment . P . S . This marks the fourth time today I've seen and heard the song , " I'll Be Glad When You're Dead You Rascal You " performed on film , this time by Davis . Must have been a very popular song about this time . |
454,897 | 11,228,318 | 60,446 | 4 | This Gamera vs . Barugon comment is about the KTMA version on " Mystery Science Theater 3000 " | All right , since there's no " MST3K " entry listed on IMDb for Gamera vs . Barugon in the first season section , I'll review this rare KTMA episode that's available on YouTube here . After the theme song , Joel just fields a recorded call that complements his show and describes the movie before hitting " movie sign " as we go to the picture . It's basically about a giant turtle with flames on his feet defeating this monster with a straight long tongue who can fire snow mist off his mouth . There's also a Japanesse guy with a brother and another friend who's searching for treasure and a native woman who knows about Barugon by legend . The in-between segments has Joel fielding more recorded calls , one of which complains about the constant talking by Joel and his ' bots , Tom Servo and Crow . Crow deservedly calls that guy on it . This being an early episode , there's not too much talking at the screen for the first hour so anyone watching this may be a little disappointed as I initially was . What talking there is has some good zingers about Bob Hope , MASH , Don Ho , Chuck Norris , and others I can't remember . The movie itself threatens to be sleep inducing with confusing cuts throughout . Gamera vs . Barugon was later re-shown on the Comedy Central version of " MST3K " in the fourth season . I hope to review that from YouTube soon . Until next time . . . P . S . The show's production company was originally called Hair Brain before settling on Best Brains . And Tom Servo ( as originally voiced by Josh Weinstein ) initially sounded here like a mix between Kermit the Frog and Marvin Martian ! |
455,154 | 11,228,318 | 152,219 | 4 | Rodeo Dough is an early Mintz Krazy Kat for Columbia | This was a Krazy Kat cartoon made for Charles Mintz and distributed by Columbia . While the studio originally based the character on the comic strip created by George Herriman , by 1931 he was changed in design and personality to be more like Walt Disney's popular Mickey Mouse ( whose cartoons , ironically , were also distributed by Columbia at the time ) . So in this one , Krazy and his Minnie-like girlfriend are riding on a horse kissing as they come upon a sign that advertises for a rodeo contest . Krazy reluctantly enters to impress Minnie , uh , his girlfriend . While you see some rough stuff involving a previous contestant , when Krazy enters he starts dancing and so do some of the horses and bulls that are suppose to be rough on our hero . So , unless you like animation set to prepared music , this might not be a very exciting cartoon . Still worth a look for anyone interested in vintage early talkie animation . |
454,733 | 11,228,318 | 146,448 | 4 | Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse at the Circus doesn't really live up to title | Once again , I'm in agreement with the previous reviewer so I'm not sure what I can add except to say while this short is primitive , it does have some charm to me . I liked seeing a close-up of the cat's tail from behind with the mouse looking up as the tail swings back and forth as well as spin around once in awhile . This is also one of the few cartoons I know of in which a DOG wants to eat a mouse while the CAT is not only friends with the little rodent , in this case he ( or she ) is in love with him . It's too bad , though , that the short doesn't live up to the title since while we see the leading characters GO to the circus , we don't see anything HAPPEN at the circus . Still , it's worth a look for animation buffs once . |
453,970 | 11,228,318 | 28,055 | 4 | The Old House contains stereotypes but also some good animation and humor | While this short mainly depicts two black kids screaming and running for their life in a haunted house-thereby reaffirming the " blacks scared of spook " stereotype-there are some good animation and nice humorous touches that redeems this short , The Old House , somewhat . This is the MGM Bosko and not the Warner Bros . one that looked like a little monkey ( that remark may offend some people but it's true ) . Both though were created by Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising so there was no copyright infringement involved . If what I just described doesn't appeal to you , by all means avoid . To anyone else interested in MGM animation pre-Tom and Jerry and Tex Avery , it's worth seeing at least once . |
455,242 | 11,228,318 | 29,708 | 4 | While Uncle Tom's Bungalow provides some moments , it's too politically incorrect for today | This cartoon short , Uncle Tom's Bungalow , is the fourth ( chronologically ) of the " Censored 11 " Warner Bros . films that doesn't show on commercial TV anymore . Directed by Tex Avery , this cartoon gets some points for the beginning frames bouncing up and down to the music score , some nice visual touches with an ice machine making various ice floes , the title character appearing with a limousine , and same character telling Simon Legree : " My body may belong to you , but my soul belongs to Warner Bros . ! " Otherwise , there's not much funny here and there's a bit more racist stuff then there were in the earlier ones I reviewed ( though I was highly amused when the two little girls , Topsy and Eva , switched colors when showing fright to Legree ) . Worth a look for fans of animation especially of Tex Avery . Everyone else should just avoid . |
453,806 | 11,228,318 | 148,630 | 4 | Poor Little Butterfly is interesting if a bit offensive | Poor Little Butterfly depicts two Japanese sister butterflies waiting for the arrival of their boyfriends , a bug and a ( I think ) lizard with Goofy's voice ( probably Pinto Colvig ) . Goofy lizard gets the buck-tooth one . The more beautiful sister gets a ring from the bug . Goofy lizard and buck-tooth butterfly enjoy themselves flying over a candle flame . Bug and beautiful butterfly sister dance . As the boyfriends leave on their boat , sister butterflies start crying . The sadness is temporary as the boat capsizes and sisters and boyfriends are reunited . . . Some beautiful animation though I found the buck-tooth Japanese characterization a bit offensive . And I was a bit confused as I thought the sisters were humans who were in love with giant insects . Interesting and worth a look at least once for anyone curious about these obscure Columbia cartoons . I found this on YouTube . |
454,389 | 11,228,318 | 438,865 | 4 | Hataw tatay hataw is slight Filipino fluff | Being of Filipino descent , I took a chance and watched with my parents this Filipino comedy from 1994 called Hataw tatay hataw . It basically tells the story of a middle-aged bellboy whose long-lost daughter returns from the U . S . to visit her father who disguises himself as the hotel owner to impress her . Along for the ride is hotel coworker Carol and the bellboy's adopted son Boyet . There is a running gag involving a wheelchair bound customer who keeps getting in accidents with the bellboy and his coworkers . Most of the slapstick scenes I found clumsily staged but I give the filmmakers credit for even attempting them . Many familiar American songs like " Top of the World " and " We are the World " are heard in the soundtrack either instrumentally or with Filipino translation . There's also an original musical interlude with the leading ladies that plays like a music video . This was slightly an enjoyable piece of fluff that I may see again . |
455,241 | 11,228,318 | 445,946 | 4 | The Contract is below average for the talents of Morgan Freeman and John Cusack | When my dad suggested we watch this movie starring-for the first time-Morgan Freeman and John Cusack , I wondered why the title , The Contact , seemed so unfamiliar to me . Having just checked the IMDb entry , I found out it was a direct-to-DVD entry here in the U . S . Watching this I can see why with director Bruce Beresford trying to make this both a drama and a thriller and succeeding in neither . In fact , I think I would have preferred if Freeman's storyline of planning a hit with his men had been taken further with Cusack being an agent hired to take him down instead of him being a school coach with a drug-taking son who accidentally encounters Freeman being handcuffed to the agent he just shot in a forest . Oh , their exchanges aren't too bad but after that I wondered when the real fireworks would begin . What tension there is between Freeman's agents , the police , and the FBI agents is pretty entertaining but that scene near the end with Freeman threatening Alice Krige if Cusack and his son were harmed came completely out of left field for me . What's the relationship , if any , between them anyway ? There are some other things here I don't get but I don't want to discuss them here . In summation , if you're a fan of both Cusack and Freeman , The Contract is worth a look but nothing else . |
454,581 | 11,228,318 | 109,770 | 4 | Roger Corman's low-budget Fantastic Four is at least worth a look once | When I saw the 2005 Fantastic Four , I remember liking almost everything in it . The only real disappointment to me was the too-short battle with Dr . Doom . Now after just seeing two World War II Superman cartoons and a year ending episode of Heroes , I'm watching on YouTube the first , unreleased , Roger Corman-produced version of The Fantastic Four from 1994 . Since Corman is indeed responsible for this version , I expected the low budget to show in the special effects and various costumes and sets . In fact , both the Thing and Dr . Doom look nothing more than people dressed in Halloween costumes . I did like the origin story as presented here as well as the beginning scenes before that culminating in Mrs . Storm , right before the rocket launch , saying as the four leave , " Look , what a fantastic four . " And some campy lines did brighten things up , my favorite being Johnny's exclamation after Reed figures what their powers represent : " Holy Freud Batman , Reed ! " But after a while the fight scenes became tedious and the dialogue bordered on the ridiculous . I give kudos , however , to Alex Hyde-White ( Reed Richards ) , Jay Underwood ( Johnny Storm ) , Rebecca Staab ( Sue Storm ) , Michael Bailey Smith ( Ben Grimm ) , and Joseph Culp ( Victor von Doom ) for trying to make their characters as believable as possible . Oh , and I also liked the computer-animated Human Torch scene when he was outrunning a laser beam near the end . And I couldn't believe it when Reed was referring to Doom as " your old friend " to Ben since there was no evidence of that at all ! So overall , a good beginning hour before it almost falls completely apart at the end . Worth seeing at least once for FF fans . Look for George Gaynes ( Tootsie , Police Academy series ) as the professor in the beginning as well as Buffy / Angel's Mercedes McNab as a young teen Sue Storm . |
454,003 | 11,228,318 | 852,713 | 5 | The House Bunny is a pleasant enough movie for anyone not looking for anything that makes you think too much . . . | Well , I've now seen The House Bunny and all I've got to say is it's what I expected judging from the previews and reviews and that means that it was pleasant and uneven and shallow and perhaps a little smart but it was enjoyable so that's a mostly good thing . The girls are good eye candy but they can act and Anna Faris is especially a remarkable comic presence . I really like when she mentions everyone's names with that deep croaking voice . As her second banana , Emma Stone is also pretty good with what she's given here and Kat Dennings , who I loved in Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist , isn't bad here either . Colin Hanks , Tom's son , has a sweet presence too but the real surprise was seeing Beverly D'Angelo and Christopher McDonald in their roles especially McDonald since I usually think of his not-so-sympathetic role in Thelma and Louise when I think of him . Well , I think I've said too much so I'll just say The House Bunny is an okay comedy that should make the 90 or so minutes go down easy to anyone not looking for the next Oscar bait movie . . . |
454,492 | 11,228,318 | 26,257 | 5 | Dancing on the Moon was an interesting Max Fleischer Color Classic | Just watched this Max Fleischer Color Classics cartoon on the Classic Cartoons blog . Like many of Fleischer's Technicolor cartoons of this era , this one has backgrounds of models done on a tabletop that achieves that 3-D effect of an animated character appearing in live-action . Here , those backgrounds are of moon craters . Various newlywed animal couples are singing the title song as well as , well , dancing on the moon ( obviously , this was way before the historic moon landing of 1969 since everyone here is breathing healthy in space ) . Actually , a feline groom is missing his bride since she narrowly missed her ride . That's all I'll say except that while the musical number is pretty entertaining and there are some amusing gags , the final punchline isn't funny and in fact may be a bit too cruel for the young ' uns . If you're a Fleischer completist , however , I do recommend Dancing on the Moon for one look . |
455,114 | 11,228,318 | 26,153 | 5 | Buddy's Lost World was an okay cartoon starring the forgotten Buddy | In this Leon Schlesinger / Looney Tunes cartoon short , Buddy and his dog Bozo are sailing to the Lost World , you know , that world inhabited by cavemen and dinosaurs as first depicted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in his novel of the same name . The animation is good and the cartoon moves at a brisk pace though after a while , nothing makes real sense and Buddy's bland personality isn't enough for this animated short's charm . Still , if you're a Warner Bros . cartoon completist , Buddy's Lost World is worth seeing at least once . By the way , the studio would go back to prehistoric times when Chuck Jones made Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur , which featured a caricatured Jack Benny , some four years later . |
455,255 | 11,228,318 | 19,701 | 5 | Duke Ellington and Fredi Washington make Black and Tan an interesting curio | Having just seen Bessie Smith's only film appearance in the short St . Louis Blues , I'm startled by some of the same people from that one involved here as well : director Dudley Murphy , Alec Lovejoy in a bit part ( as one of the piano movers ) , and the Hall Johnson Choir . Also appearing is Fredi Washington , sister of Isabel Washington who also appeared in the aforementioned short . Fredi is the dancer girlfriend of pianist Duke Ellington whose film debut this is . Anyway , at the club where she's the dancing star with the Ellington Orchestra , she does some energetic dance steps before collapsing . Later , on her deathbed , she requests " Black and Tan Fantasy " as the Duke plays her request with her demise at the music ending proper as the screen blurs her point-of-view and fades to dark . Besides the good music , there's also some multiple-exposure shots and cuts under the glass floor and reflections of the close dance-stepping men on it that makes this a pretty fascinating curio of the early talkie era . I found Black and Tan-retitled Black and Tan Fantasy-on the Kino Video DVD " Hollywood Rhythm , Vol . 1 : The Best of Jazz & Blues . |
453,736 | 11,228,318 | 832,072 | 5 | The Algebra Problem is interesting , if repetitive , episode of Meet Corliss Archer | Corliss asks her dad to figure out an algebra problem . He manages to get his wife into it . When Dexter comes and finds Corliss doing her homework , he tries to help her . Dexter's father comes and tries to help Mr . Archer to solve the algebra problem . Corliss's mother then goes to Dexter's mother's house and they count various household items in order to solve the math problem ! Finally , Corliss's dad goes to work and asks the C . P . A . there to figure out the problem but even he can't figure it out by the end of the day ! As Corliss and Dexter are on the back porch relaxing , their parents are still discussing the problem . . . Pretty amusing episode although it gets a little monotonous with the repetition . Some amusing visual gags in the cartoon bumpers and live-action sequences especially one I like involving a kitchen appliance that holds butter suddenly turning into a toy police car in front of Mr . Archer's eyes ! Worth seeing at least once for anyone interested in sitcoms from the ' 50s . |
453,776 | 11,228,318 | 151,919 | 5 | I might have seen a shortened version of Patriotic Popeye | I saw this pretty amusing Popeye cartoon after Vengeance Valley , the Burt Lancaster western that aired on Family Theater on FamilyNet . Since a commercial was inserted in the middle of this cartoon , I don't know if I saw the whole thing since Popeye didn't have too much trouble handling his two nephews as they try to light fireworks for the 4th of July . Loved the scene of Popeye bumping into the bull while playing baseball with his nephews and then getting bumped back by him as the nephews try to unlock the shed that has the fireworks ! Like I said , pretty amusing but that commercial interruption and possible limited time after the movie may have made it a shortened cartoon when I saw it . So with that in mind , I'm giving Patriotic Popeye a 5 . |
455,078 | 11,228,318 | 60,984 | 5 | Six Figures Getting Sick is pure David Lynch territory | I just saw Six Figures Getting Sick-David Lynch's first foray into film-on YouTube when I typed David Lynch . The title is basically the short's description as repetitiously we see six heads vomiting red into their hearts while the word " sick " flashes on the screen . Then a different image of the same thing happens and all this is repeated a total of six times to a constant wailing siren . Interesting at first , it all does get a little . . . " repetitious " . Still , if you're used to the weirdness that comes with the territory of David Lynch , you should feel right at home at this experimental short of the director's early years . Everyone else , you've been warned . |
454,220 | 11,228,318 | 1,039,339 | 5 | High School Musical was just an average episode of " Miss Guided " | Student Lauren ( Gina DeVivo ) tells Becky she's tired of " one-line " parts which reminds Becky of her high school days when she only played maids in musicals even when they didn't call for one like in " Jesus Chirst Superstar " . With the regular drama teacher out , Becky gets Principal Huffy to hire her to direct " Miss Saigon " . Meanwhile , Bruce fires his ad staff for not getting enough space in the papers for the play and gets Lisa to do the job . His ulterior motive , however , is to try to get as close as possible to her . Becky's first task on the play is to pick Lauren for the lead even though she can't sing and there's someone better . Obviously , Becky's trying to compensate for her days of being cast in demeaning parts . Furthermore , the budget goes over because of her perfectionist skill demands on sets which Tim is in charge of . This eventually puts a kibosh on a potential dinner date for them . Also , Lauren gets so insecure before showtime she quits meaning Becky now takes the lead even though the leading character is 19 years old ! This almost crosses legal territory when the teen playing the soldier tries to kiss Becky ! During the performance , Lisa , having come from a bad dinner date with her about-to-be-ex-husband , arrives drunk which Bruce tries to take advantage of . While they kiss in his office , Lisa then falls asleep so Bruce leaves her there . She wakes the next morning with Bruce wanting to talk about it but she tells him flat out they'll never be together . That doesn't faze Bruce . Principal Huffy gets a verbal agreement from Becky to not direct another play and , after Lauren apologizes to her for what she did , Becky , reading the bad review from the paper tells her that they both accomplished their dreams and found out they're not worth pursuing ! While there were some funny scenes like Becky's performance in " Miss Saigon " and Bruce's asides on his intentions of Lisa , there weren't enough to really make me really laugh out loud and I felt bad for the good singer ( who was also Asian ) who didn't get the lead and wished that Lauren had tried to go on during opening night . I also hope this is the last time Bruce tries to seduce Lisa since it wasn't that funny . So this was just an average episode of " Miss Guided " . |
453,805 | 11,228,318 | 141,108 | 5 | The Frog Pond is an entertaining if partly bland cartoon | In Ub Iwerks ' The Frog Pond , many frogs are singing and having a good time until a big bully frog takes some food and basically orders a house built on his lily pond . They oblige with the most glamorous house anyone ever had with good food service ( like grasshopper and some flies ) . Then this bully invites everyone for his party . During this party with all the dancing frog ladies he can have , the bully frog takes another frog's woman while drunk . But this particular frog has his own plans for revenge when he mixes a drink for him that has rat poison in it . So when the bully frog drinks it , he feels a jackass kick him in the stomach several times . As he faints , the other frogs paint some stripes on him as they lock him in jail in his house and send him to a fall which takes him to prison where a human ( ? ) guard gives him a pick which he pounds on rocks that spell in little pieces , " Crime Does Not Pay " . . . Pretty entertaining if a little bland . I liked many of the musical numbers and that jackass scene in the bully's stomach . Worth a look for any Ub Iwerks and Columbia cartoon fans . |
453,836 | 11,228,318 | 32,897 | 5 | Pedagogical Institution should provide some amusements in this Max Fleischer cartoon | This was one in a series of Stone Age Cartoons from Max Fleischer . A young man is trying to get a job but he has to go to college first which isn't easy since during registration , the big thermometer goes all the way down from Genius to Kluck with the line , " Add Oil " ! During class , this student gets all the math problems wrong and blurts out various names when the professor asks , " Now , what was Eve's name ? " Then the teacher draws one rabbit plus another and asks how many that is . I'll just say you'll really be surprised by this one ! Animation was very good and if you're amused by what I just described , then Pedagogical Institution ( College to You ) should by up your alley . |
454,770 | 11,228,318 | 4,284 | 5 | Mabel's Strange Predicament should satisfy some fans of early Chaplin | Mabel's Strange Predicament is the second film in which Charlie Chaplin dresses in costume as The Little Tramp ( the first being Kid Auto Races in Venice ) . In here , he's just a drunk who's infatuated with the title character played by Ms . Normand . She's a lady who has a dog that she takes with her to the hotel room where , after dressing in her pajamas , gets locked out of with dog still inside . After Charlie chases her upstairs , she goes to another room where an elderly man lives and hides under his bed . Also mixed up in this are her suitor and the elderly man's wife . Most of the highlights are from Mabel's under-bed hiding and the slapstick that ensues when she's found out as well as some of Chaplin's falls from either being hit or just simply staggering . Should be amusing enough for fans of early silent comedy and the two stars especially very curious Chaplin enthusiasts . |
454,734 | 11,228,318 | 146,968 | 5 | Krazy Kat Goes A-Wooing has a kind of primitive charm | Since the previous reviewer summed up what happens in this 2-minute cartoon , I'll just mention that Krazy also has some kind of flying contraption which he uses to fly to where he mistakenly thinks is Ignatz ' house and he takes a guitar where you see visual notes whenever he plays some music . And in many of the word balloons , many of the words end with " ink " like " darlink " . Since Zsa Zsa Gabor speaks like that , I half wonder if she learned English after moving from Hungary with her sisters by seeing films like this ! Nothing much more to say except this film has a primitive charm that could interest animation history buffs . If you are interested in seeing this , it's easily available on YouTube ( at least it was when I found it there ) . |
454,062 | 11,228,318 | 147,715 | 5 | Window Washers is another silent Farmer Al Falfa cartoon from Paul Terry | This is another Paul Terry silent cartoon . A cat and mouse are riding in a car that keeps slipping off its wheels so the mouse positions the car parallel to the wheels as they keep moving . A policeman dog gives chase after spying on them through a birdhouse which he climbed , spider-like , through . Cut to a separate scene with Farmer Al Falfa painting his tires before leaving . A human policeman chases him but when the cop catches up , the car eats him spitting his out uniform and beat stick ! As the farmer arrives at his home , the cat and mouse-who had managed to elude the police dog-come up , sees the window washer ad , and get to work with the cat using the mouse as a sponge ! There's also a fish who washes inside and outside his bowl and another mouse who cleans the farmer's glasses . It all ends with the mice chasing Al and the cat outside . . . Besides some of what I described in the synopsis , there's a few more amusing sight gags like when the car arrives at a river , the wheels go underwater while the body of the car becomes a boat with the cat and mouse rowing ! Also , the cat and mouse's car gets a flat so the mouse gets the pump and pushes the air through the tire while the car is still moving ! Not much logic here and the animation was pretty primitive but if your an animation fan who's curious about these early silent Terrytoons , this and many others that are on YouTube are worth a look . |
453,995 | 11,228,318 | 1,032,928 | 5 | Das Sandbad is an early Austrian " nudie " I discovered on the internet | Just watched this primitive silent short by Austrian Johann Schwarzer on the Europa Film Treasures blog . It's basically a depiction of a clothed man with his naked lady friend , who's wearing just a towel , coming to a sandy place with the woman lying there nude with all her parts to see just before the man comes back to pour sand on her legs and her body . That's it and compared to what is filmed today , it's nothing to really get excited about but since this was made when movies were something fresh to countries outside America , it's fascinating to wonder what the Austrian males were thinking while watching this ( of course , it's not hard to imagine what they were thinking , still , they probably weren't as perverted as we probably would be now with the more explicit images ) . On that note , Das Sandbad is worth a look . |
453,872 | 11,228,318 | 151,609 | 5 | Molly Moo-Cow and the Indians is palatable but ordinary | Since the summary tells the whole story , I'll just mention some gags . When the Indian hunter takes the ducks away , the ducks each take an arrow from his backpack which forms a trail . As Molly is grabbing the hunter , she kicks him in the head with her hind legs ! And as the hunter escapes on a rowboat from the woman Indian throwing vases , the rowboat is still tied to a rope but the rope doesn't pull the boat back . Instead , it takes the boat's outer skin out leaving only the inside wood skeleton ! A bit more palatable than some other Molly Moo-Cow cartoons I've seen it is still a bit ordinary . Worth a look if you're interested in seeing every Van Beuren cartoon ever made . |
455,080 | 11,228,318 | 338,216 | 5 | Lucky You is an uneven drama about poker | Spider-Man 3 was sold out so my friend and I chose to see Lucky You . The main story was between Eric Bana and Robert Duvall who plays Bana's father . They're both card playing gamblers who have an intense rivalry both inside and out of the poker table . Theirs are the most interesting scenes . Drew Barrymore as Bana's potential girlfriend is only partially effective . Other supporting players include Debra Messing as Barrymore's sister , Horatio Sanz as a guy who bets a golf game with Eric , Robert Downey Jr . , Charles Martin Smith , and , as the only female in the high stakes " World Series " poker tournament in the end , Jean Smart . Interesting depiction of card playing but very uneven as a drama , in fact I almost fell asleep a couple of times . . . |
455,210 | 11,228,318 | 546 | 5 | Porter's Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend is interesting take on McCay comic | I saw two versions of this live-action version of Winsor McCay's comic strip Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend . The Google Video version had music suitable for the era and film . The YouTube version ( which Google now links to as well ) used Carl Stalling's music for Warner Bros . cartoon shorts along with Treg Brown's sound effects that seemed WAY unsuitable . Director Edwin S . Porter gives wonderful visual touches throughout from the whirling lamppost sequence to depict drunkenness to the bed jumping up and down while the drunk tries to sleep to his dreams of three devils picking at his head to him hanging on a swinging weather vane . Two bad the print of both versions were downright poor with washed out frames nearly constantly . Recommended mainly for film enthusiasts . |
454,104 | 11,228,318 | 837,381 | 5 | Meet Corliss Archer : Janet Goes to College is fitfully amusing | Corliss reads about an 84-year-old woman who just graduated college . She suggests to her mom Janet about attending herself . Janet's husband Harry also thinks it may be a good idea since she has " only two hours of housework " a day . That infuriates Janet so she and Mary , Corliss ' boyfriend Dexter's mother , decides to teach their husbands a lesson about how hard household chores really are by attending school . At dinner , with the wives at classes , Harry's first cooked meal turns out to be not-so-appetizing to Corliss , Dexter , and his father . The men are ready to plead to their wives to come back home when they overhear the women about why they are in school and pledge to wait until their wives back down . Corliss and Dexter help out with a long list their fathers wrote and end up exhausted . Eventually , everyone ends up tired , even the wives with all their classes . A truce is called with Janet and Mary agreeing to quit school only if their husbands kneel before them . This was a battle-of-the-sexes type episode so typical of the ' 50s sitcoms . There are many amusing sight gags and witty lines so it is fitfully entertaining but if the whole premise strikes you as too old-fashioned then you're better off watching something else . |
454,107 | 11,228,318 | 449,088 | 5 | At World's End was a pretty enjoyable POTC film despite having missed the first two | Having just seen Knocked Up and Waitress in another theatre earlier in the day , a friend called me up about 15 minutes later at home and proposed seeing one with him . We went back and forth over some titles when he reluctantly picked Knocked Up ( he thought I was at work earlier and I didn't tell him I watched some movies and one of his choices , Delta Farce , was in another theatre that wasn't near him ) . When we arrived at his neighborhood cinema , however , I asked if he enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean : At World's End the night before with his nephew . He said he did and asked if I was willing to switch to that . I did since I didn't want to see KU again so soon . Now , having not seen the previous two installments and having fallen asleep during some of the movie , I was a little confused at what was going on but by the fight scenes in the final 15 or so minutes , I was genuinely thrilled by many of the action set pieces . As the new pirate king , Keira Knightly delivered a very rousing speech to her new crew . Orlando Bloom certainly proved very sexy and romantic next to her . Seeing multiple Johnny Depps and having a dialogue with his father ( and his character's inspiration ) Keith Richards provided some of the movie's many amusing moments . I may now have to see the first two POTC films and this one again to really understand what was going on but I must say , I still didn't have a bad time watching this one . |
454,459 | 11,228,318 | 988,595 | 5 | 27 Dresses was a pleasant enough viewing for Valentine's Day | I have to confess , I wasn't intending to go see a movie on Valentine's Day since " Lost " and " Survivor " were on TV tonight and I only picked 27 Dresses because the other movies on the list for the theatre we were attending were either ones I wasn't interested in or they only had one showing in the afternoon . The movie itself was a little funny and sometimes hilarious so it was a mostly pleasant experience though I did perk up a little bit when leads Katherine Heigl and James Marsden did a karaoke to Elton John's " Benny and the Jets " . Comic actress Judy Greer did have some really funny lines as Heigl's sidekick though not enough to kick things into high gear . Even so , me and my friend had a pretty good time watching 27 Dresses . |
455,011 | 11,228,318 | 419,946 | 5 | The Marine is action packed but also cartoonishly dumb | I have a friend who's a fan of the WWE so it's because of him that I agreed to see The Marine . The only actor I noticed was Robert Patrick from Terminator 2 and I liked the line that referenced that movie . There was also a black character that seemed to have wandered from Tarantino territory with references to how he doesn't like rock candy and his experiences with ' Johnny Whiplash ' from summer camp that amused me a little . As an action hero , John Cena did pretty well with himself in the various fighting stunts he no doubt trained for in his WWE career . Having said all that , I found the movie ridiculous almost from the beginning what with all the car explosions and gun fighting that only the Cena hero survives intact again and again . The movie gets a little more tolerable as it goes on but it didn't make me say , " Wow , this was a great action flick ! " Instead I was simply glad it was over . My friend , on the other hand , loved it . So watch if you love the WWE and John Cena , but don't expect an intelligent thriller . |
455,008 | 11,228,318 | 410,297 | 5 | You have to be in the right mood to enjoy The Lake House | I just saw The Lake House with my mother and father . My dad left early on believing the movie was lousy . My mom and I stayed and while I understood most of what was going on , Mom kept getting confused until nearly the end . I think the ending was a little confusing for both Mom and me and it wasn't until I read many of the Q and A blogs that I understood both the timelines and why things happened at certain times . Both Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves are wonderful in their leading roles and Christopher Plummer and Shohreh Aghdashloo are equally good in their supporting ones . If you don't think too much about the logic of sequences , you may get carried away by the romance of the movie with the beautiful Chicago scenery . Me , I'm still wondering how it ended the way it did . . . |
453,839 | 11,228,318 | 53,231 | 5 | The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film was an interesting early work of director Richard Lester | Just watched this early Richard Lester short starring Peter Sellers on YouTube . It's basically a silent one with a music score and speeded-up images done for humorous effect . Sellers is both a photographer and a hunter here . I also noticed Graham Stark-who I've seen in the Pink Panther movies with Sellers-in this film . There were a few comic touches-like that man using a horn with a needle running around a tree stump as that needle touches a record on the stump or duel of two men with one carrying a sword and the other carrying a gun with another guy with a horn in his ear in between them-that I thought was highly amusing while others-like a woman " washing " on the grass-was a little lame . Still , since The Beatles hired Lester to helm A Hard Days Night because of this short , I'd at least recommend The Running Jumping & Standing Still Film for historical purposes . |
455,002 | 11,228,318 | 152,344 | 5 | Scuba Duba Do is a slight improvement over a previous Ralph Bakshi Sad Cat cartoon | As the second Sad Cat cartoon directed by Ralph Bakshi that I've seen on YouTube , Scuba Duba Do is a slight improvement on Gadmouse the Apprentice Good Fairy . The cat's been assigned by brothers Fenimore and Latimore to clean the chimney . There , Sad finds a treasure map . When his brothers find out , they make their brother vote to make one of them the leader for the search . Sad closes the curtain and picks . When he is asked who he voted for , Sad says , " Can't tell you . It's a secret ballot . " After his brothers leave , Gadmouse appears and gives the remaining cat some magic wings to help him quickly find the treasure . It turns out to be guarded by a sea monster who scares Latimore and Fenimore into giving up their search . After they leave , Sad comes by and also is asked by the sea monster if he's seeking the treasure . Sad says yes . The monster then turns into a game show host who offers him various prizes including a luxury ship ! When his brothers come back and open the treasure chest , all that's in it are a sandwich and a cup of coffee . As Sad Cat leaves on his cruise , his brothers are left bickering . . . This one has a little more life in it than the previous short I just mentioned at the beginning of this comment with the leading cat singing at the start and various amusing touches I mentioned in the synopsis . Interesting for anyone who's a Ralph Bakshi completist . |
454,343 | 11,228,318 | 152,346 | 5 | The Seapreme Court was a slightly amusing Little Audrey cartoon short | This being a Famous Studios ( though the version I saw had the Harvey Films logo which means this particular print had been struck after Paramount sold many of their pre-1960 films and characters to that comic book company ) cartoon short starring Little Audrey , The Seapreme Court is another in the let's - teach - this - girl - and - the - kiddie - audience - watching - a - lesson this time being a be-kind-to-all-animals one concerning fish . There are some amusing literal gags like the widow fish whose husband was " canned " or Audrey being sent to the " eelectric " chair and the animation and score was top-notch as usual but this isn't laugh-out-loud material , at least compared to M-G-M or Warner Bros . shorts . Still , if you love animation from a time when cinemas showed them before the main feature , this might prove of some interest to you . |
454,685 | 11,228,318 | 319,142 | 5 | Winter Carousel is last animated short of Ladislaw Starewicz | Winter Carousel is the last short by the pioneering stop-motion puppet animator Ladislaw Starewicz . It mainly concerns a group of forest animals cavorting in the snow , skating , riding on tree branches , and sledding . While you may get some amusing touches here and there , this short does seem a little on the bland side . And since there is no real story to pay attention to , most kids will probably get bored . I found this on a DVD called The Cameraman's Revenge and Other Fantastic Tales . Among other Starewicz shorts in this collection : The Cameraman's Revenge ( 1912 ) , The Insects ' Christmas ( 1913 ) , The Frogs Who Wanted a King or Frogland ( 1922 ) , The Voice of the Nightingale ( 1923 ) , and The Mascot ( 1933 ) . All are worth seeing , so if you're an animation fan who's curious about this forgotten animator , by all means seek them all out ! |
453,837 | 11,228,318 | 64,726 | 5 | Night of Bloody Horror was an okay regional suspense movie I watched on YouTube | This was another of those cheap low-budget horror movies I remember seeing in newspaper ads or television commercials on late night as a child in the ' 70s and wondering what they would be like . The version I watched on YouTube was a little faded and washed out but I saw clearly enough to understand what was going on and enjoy a little . I say a little since with the running time being about ninety minutes , there's not enough time to give too deep characterizations as to motive for the various murders that happen here . As the lead suspect , a young Gerald McRaney is pretty adequate in one of his earliest roles ( though he must have considered himself the luckiest man with the women he kissed here ) . There's also a nightclub scene with a local rock band called The Bored that has a few sixties moments like having some frames printed in negative form with some painted colors added . ( and can you dig the cyclone-like special effects that depicts McRaney's " migranes " ? ) Despite the tagline being " Keep telling yourself , It's only a picture , only a picture . . . " , I don't think the few gore scenes were all that scary , in fact , they looked a bit fake . So on that note , Night of Bloddy Horror is no great shakes though it's not completely boring either . P . S . The theatre that was playing this movie in the late ' 70s ( and perhaps the late ' 60s as well when this was first released ) was the now-defunct Joy's Robert E . Lee one which had four screens during a time when most cinemas in our area had just two . The movie house I just mentioned was perhaps one of 200 owned by one Joy N . Houck , Sr . whose son , Joy Jr . , was this film's director . By the way , my neighboring city New Orleans ( where Joy Jr . was born ) was the location used for filming . |
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