Freddy & Marie

In recognition of the recent passing of Senator Fred Thompson, Turner Classic Movies aired Roger Donaldson's 1985 feature, Marie.  Now, Fred Thompson usually played the same gruff, no-nonsense character in each movie he appeared in, but Marie is the only time where he actually played himself, as attorney for embattled public servant Marie Ragghianti.  A personally and professionally satisfying role for him, as he got to take down the corrupt Democratic governor of Tennessee Ray Blanton.
For me, Donaldson's body of work is a bit uneven.  On the one hand, you've got rather solid dramas like Marie and Thirteen Days about the 1962 Cuban missile crisis (without the X-Men).  Then you've got Dante's Peak, which is nothing if not a camp classic, and you've got 1994's The Getaway, or Hollywood's quick response to Pulp Fiction... and then you've got Species 1.  I guess he was trying to outdo Paul Verhoeven on that one or something: how to combine Basic Instinct and Showgirls... but with a sci-fi twist?  Hmmm...
So clearly the '90s were a more expressive period for Donaldson, and during the '80s he was more inclined to just let the cameras roll and stay out of the actors' way, as with Marie.  Of course, I have a hard time accepting Jeff Daniels as a bad guy, and not just because of the Dumb and Dumber saga.  Then again, I didn't see all of Blood Work.  But arguably, here in Marie, his character's a more casual villain, at least at first.
But we do get a few of the more average days in Marie's life, and a glimpse back at the dark days when trachiotomy had a more, um... hands-on approach to it, as in, get your hands off this tube sticking out of my neck!  Good Lord.  There's a lot less tubing involved now.
As with all these older movies, my viewing companions had a slight case of Who's-That-Guy-itis.  In this case, it was a tall, blond actor fella who played a rape-crazy prisoner that got out early for cash... I forget who put up the money for that bad investment, but never mind.  Now, they never did figure out who the guy was, but I remembered him for his one crucial scene with Sigourney Weaver in Ghost Busters 1, and of course as the semi-villainous campaign manager in the Chris Farley 1996 comedy Black Sheep.  His name was Robert Paulson... I mean, his name is Timothy Carhart, and I think my viewing companions might have remembered him from an episode of Mad Men, but they binge-watched the entire series, and one episode doesn't stick out so good when you do that.  As for me, I couldn't help but watch the scene where Carhart's spying on that one game of tennis and... ah yes, a brief flash of Donaldson's '90s work yet to come.  It also informed his thinking when he directed the  music video for "Calabria."  If there's a skankier music video than that, I just don't want to know about it... WITHOUT RON JEREMY.  (Incidentally, text ENUR1 to 71777 for the ringtone!)

Good double bill with: ..well, for a Morgan Freeman '80s night, watch this and Brubaker.  Morgan's actor friends still give him sh... a tough time over that one!

***
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

A Day in the Life of Bugs Bunn-isovich... wow. Great Title, The Movie Hooligan!

This next Looney Tune is about Bugs versus a Russian-sounding bear, and I'm going to somehow resist the temptation to draw modern-day parallels between Obama and Putin; a better critic than I would be able to make the metaphorical comparison and make it stick.  But Big Top Bunny does feature another excellent commentary by Michael Barrier, who actually interviewed all these Looney Tunes guys!  However, this commentary seems to be more about Carl Stalling in general as opposed to this cartoon specifically, which might send the subliminal message that this isn't one of Bugs' classic outings.  And you'd be right, of course, but it still sticks in the back of the mind when you're at a photogenic Absolut party, talking about Bugs with a group of hipsters and douchebags, and the omega member of the group helpfully chimes in with "Didn't Bugs do battle with a Russian bear one time or two?"  Well, now you'll be able to answer with Big Top Bunny!  That is, unless his comment's worth ignoring completely.  I'm also assuming that Looney Tunes fans actually know the titles of the cartoons, of course.  Mostly for copyright reasons, Disney fans try to ignore specific Silly Symphony (TM) titles.
A generic commentary could equally be applied to Mel Blanc, but we'll save that for another time, as do the makers of this DVD collection.  I guess Mel's kid was busy or something.  Now, Mel could do anything and everything, mostly because of growing up in that great melting pot known as New York City... never mind.  I'm an idiot.  Wasn't Jack Benny out of New York for a while?  But, you see, that's how good Mel Blanc was.  He could do all accents, and make them sound like Yosemite Sam.  There was never much call for a Russian-type character, however, but even Looney Tunes filmmakers got tired of doing the same thing over and over.  Enter Bruno, the egotistical "Slobokian" acrobatic bear.  He doesn't need much of an introduction, apparently: all we get is one line, and then the phone rings!  Bruno's world is up-ended right out of the gate.  Bugs is invading Bruno's turf and, even though Bugs is normally the hero in these things, one can't help but feel some sympathy for Bruno.  In an alternate universe, Bruno is the Looney Tunes star, and Bugs is his Elmer, coming after him with a proverbial shotgun.
And so, the show begins at Colonel Korny's Circus... an homage to Fred Karno, perhaps?  And even though Bugs is the picture of humility, he arrives with his own set of props, including a labeled box for his rabbit hole, and in the circus-style font, no less!  Bruno has just been bumped to second fiddle, and the audience doesn't seem to notice.  Bruno has to take matters into his own paws immediately, and he takes a bow right in front of Bugs... damn, he's good.  Bugs tries to reason with Bruno, but somehow I think Bruno's playing the long game here, and he won't be satisfied until Bugs is gone from the circus, dead or alive.
Next scene: a rare instance where... sorry, SPOILER ALERT... Bugs gets injured.  Bugs always seems to get injured in these Bob McKimson affairs; I'm immediately put in mind of Gorilla My Dreams, and not just the weak finale... okay, maybe that's the only example.  Then, of course, there's Easter Yeggs where Bugs is put in danger, but... and I never thought I'd say this... oh, wait, I probably mentioned it once, but could one of you find it for me?... Elmer's head gets painted like an easter egg, and the bratty kid starts pounding him on the head with a hammer; even for cartoon violence, it's over the top in the wrong way.  Anyway, back to Boart... I mean, Bruno.  Bruno managed to sneak an anvil into their first feat of derring-do, and yet, Bruno's able to make a halo appear over his head.  Sure, he's guilty of injuring Bugs, but he's on a crusade to protect his turf, as small and petty a piece of turf it is, spending his free time locked in a tiny cage.  Go figure.  But this is not the time to go after the big boss, Colonel Korny... spoiler alert... does that count as a spoiler?  If this cartoon were being made today, sure, Bugs and Bruno would team up to get Korny. staging an American Hustle-type ruse to trick him.
...well, I don't want to spend forever on this one, so I'll try to tighten it up a bit.  Bruno uses other various ruses to trick Bugs, and they fail spectacularly.  The one worth noting is where Bruno falls into the orchestra, but they seem ready for him.  First, Bruno falls into the tuba, or whatever variant it is, I just don't care; trumpets kick ass.  Bruno then lands on a kettle drum, and the percussionist hits Bruno, and smiles afterwards.  Apparently, he's been waiting to do that for years.  Pay attention to that bit of percussion because... SPOILER ALERT... it happens a second time, but Bruno's way off camera!  That's one for the hipsters out there.  Me and the hipsters; as a group, the Hipsters probably don't want me, and I certainly don't want the Douchebags.  Of course, Douchebags probably don't care about the animated cartoonies for the tiddly winks; life's hard enough keeping up with the Wahlbergs as it is.
And so, the big finale where... sorry, had to double check it.  Bugs tricks Bruno again into a feat of such derring-do that... well, frankly, everyone loses, don't we?  Kind of like the arms race in the 1980s with Mother Russia.  But Bugs is no diplomat; he just wants to get rid of Bruno and stay with Colonel Korny's Circus as the main attraction forever and evermore, Amen.  And so, as with Stage Door Cartoon and that Fearless Freep one... wait, lemme check the DVD box; I know, I know, very analog of me... High Diving Hare, that's it!  It's RIGHT IN THE NAME... we complete the diving trilogy with the instant case, as Bugs and Bruno threaten to jump from increasingly higher heights into increasingly smaller containers of water... with a block of cement at the far end of the DRY part of the spectrum.  And you gotta hand it to Bruno... he dives, and reconstitutes himself.  Like Gen. Turgidson said, we all know how much guts them Russkies got.  Hell, look at all them Nazis killed off, they STILL wouldn't quit!  As for Slobokian Bruno, well... Bugs has got a big, Rube Goldberg-ish Colonel Korny all set up for him... and, unlike the theatrical release of Jackass 1, we get to actually SEE this one!  I said "theatrical" and not "Easter Egg Extra," incidentally, so no angry emails, please.  This culminates with Bruno getting shot out of a cannon, right out of the roof of the big tent.  Bugs says some cheesy line about ending this cartoon with a "bang."  Reminds me of the end of Easter Yeggs, but I suppose the ending of Big Top Bunny is slightly more tasteful.
Whew!  Got through that.  I feel so dirty reviewing these cartoons with awful ethnic stereotypes.  Coming up next, it's... hoh boy.

p.s.  Ooh!  Forgot one minor detail.  Just before Bugs swings out on the trapeze, he says, in response to Bruno's false promises of safety... that is, circus safety, Bugs says "DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT!!!"  I forget what this is a reference to, but that's Tom and Jerry's line!  But seeing as how they got an Oscar for a cartoon that Bugs did a few months earlier, it's fair to me.  Here's a link to it in backwards form... sheesh.

***
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Sammy Davis Jr.

...the Candy Man?  Well, as someone once said, everybody wants to direct.  I think Richard Donner once complained about that... and he directed the Candy Man in something called Salt and Pepper... I $#!+ you not.  No wonder he gravitated to Lethal Weapon so much!  But even though everyone does want to direct, not everyone sticks with it, and Sammy's directorial ambitions seem to have been limited to television.  For some reason, he felt an affinity for directing awards shows, as the 2nd and 3rd Annual Black Achievement Awards seem to illustrate... let's see how many there were in total.  They stop at 15 for some reason.  Perhaps they morphed into, or got bought out by, the NAACP Image Awards or something... I'll just leave it at that.  The way my brain works, I can't help but think that Davis' appearance on "All in the Family" somehow led to his one episode of "Sanford," which doesn't seem to have been produced by Norman Lear.  "Sanford and Son" was, however, so I can't help but feel a small sense of smug vindication about that.  I guess that's why the second incarnation of Sanford didn't last... why did he have to kick his son out?  Same thing with "Archie Bunker's Place"... wait, that lasted four seasons?  Wow!  Must be where "Cheers" got their plot idea.
Anyway, Sammy directed, and appeared in, episode 5 of "Sanford," according to the IMDb.  Jim Drake is credited as co-director; apparently, he did all the heavy lifting for the two seasons of "Sanford."  The guy's a dynamo.  Among his other credits, the one season of the animated "Ed Grimley" and some of SCTV.  Human dynamo.

Spectr

Oh, sorry.  I was just going through some old emails, and I came across this one for "Flickr."  The subject line was something like "It's a Biggr, Wherevr, more Spectaculr Flickr."  And I'm all, like, whatevr.  And you should be too, damn it, because those spelling bees are hard.  And frustrating!  So much psychological damage on the CEOs of tomorrow.  Well, they're getting their revenge in oh so many ways.  Misspelling words is just a dollop of icing on one buffet cupcake to them.
Anyways, it's a boring old box office weekend.  If there's something new under the sun, it's not coming out of Hollywood, and it's probably ecological-disaster-related.  We've got James Bond at #1, and The Peanuts Movie at #2.  For me, Race for Your Life, Charlie Brown is the Peanuts movie, damn it... even though, true, the gang they're racing against, I don't think they were ever seen before or since in the actual comic strip in the paper.  Go figure.  I forget which Pixar-esque studio's responsible for The Peanuts Movie... I heard they did Rio and ... something else.  Did it say Ice Age in the commercial?  Will Scrat make a guest appearance in The Peanuts Movie anyhow?  God, I hope so.  Well, we'll see what happens come Oscar time.  They may not want to give another Oscar to Pixar, but they definitely don't want to give one to the Ice Age people.
As for James Bond, well... all I know is, every last detail will be debated.  And probably complained about.  Oh, it's not like the Sean Connery James Bond, or the Roger Moore James Bond.  And On Her Majesty's Secret Service is the best one of all 24 of them.  Now they're complaining that there's too much CGI in it!  Boy, I tell ya... it's tough being a computer graphics jock these days, always having to reinvent the wheel, having it never look good enough or real enough, or just not un-fake enough.  All I know is, if I ever took a fall through the floor and had to catch myself with my arms and my chest, well, I'd probably be too winded to climb up to safety.  That's why I'm not a secret agent; that and my poor grades in school.
Anyway, those are the two debuts this week.  Looking back on the data, there've been quite a few one week wonders!  Our Brand Is Crisis is already gone, something called Woodlawn and something called Captive are both gone already.  Oh, and that Bob Zemeckis pic, The Walk, is already gone.  Ouch.  Boy, audiences are so fickle.  DO YOU NOT WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED?!!!!  Do you not want to take that trip back to the '70s?  Well, yeah, but why do we have to spend all that time at the top of the Trade Towrs?

Short Reviews - November 2015

Abar, The First Black Superman - ...OH MY GOD!  Dr. Kincade's actually Dr. BEN CARSON!!!!!!!!!!

The Buddy System - This seems like the kind of movie that Roger Ebert probably hated ... you know, kind of like Two of a Kind.

By the Sea - Good double bill with... Paradise.  Yes, I'm that old.

Catwoman - Warner Bros. just tweeted "We were Halle Berry's 'Knight in Shining Armor' until it ends... then we became the worst movie studio in history."

Deadpool - Yahoo! News tells me that this will be 'filthy, comical, hyper-violent fun.'  All I know is, Ryan Reynolds needs a hit... at the box office, that is.  Also, he doesn't seem to be having fun as a movie star.  I mean, he took everyone's advice in the Quantum Mechanics program at Harvard and became a movie star instead, because everyone always told him his whole life that he had movie star looks and what not... so now he's a movie star.  Now what, guys?  And why isn't it working out?  Why, Quantum Mechanics program at Harvard?  And don't tell me it's one of those unknowable things because electrons move too fast to be exactly pinpointed...

The Dead Pool - Dirty Harry's Class Struggle in Beverly Hills

5 Flights Up - ...oh, I LOVE that band! "Living in London," "Away From the Sun"... good times.  Good times, cold beers, great tunes.

Her - I wonder who feels more ripped off: Charlie Kaufman, or Strange Days?

In the Mouth of Madness - ...I'm sorry, I mean John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.  Hey, John Carpenter.  John Landis called; he wants his font back. (opening credits)  Judging from the plot description, this must be Carpenter's revenge against Stephen King or something.

Kingsman: The Secret Service - ...sorry, I always do this.  We only previewed it tonight, so I can't comment on the film as a whole.  Also, I can't badmouth it too much, as it wasn't my pick... but here's my question.  Now, I love to see the bullies get a beating as much as anyone else.  My question is this.  If you're a bully, and you've just been... no, YOU and the five guys you're with, you've all just been beaten about nine-tenths of the way to death by an acquaintance of someone you're picking on... do you a) lay off that person for a long while, if not forever, or b) do you seek them out right away?  Well, in this movie, the answer is b).  I guess the job market's a little tougher out there than I thought!  Clearly I don't stand a chance.

Love the Coopers - Maybe on DVD... okay, maybe on cable in four months

My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 - Just saw the trailer!  Well, enough of it.

My Brother The Pig - Let's hope he never meets Leon the Pig Farmer!  Oink oink oink...

Naked Fear - I know some directors like to work with unknowns, but... THE WHOLE CAST?!!!!!

The Night Before (2015) - First of all, there's only ONE The Night Before... what's the deal with Seth Rogen remaking all these '80s films?  Neighbors, this,...

Off Beat - Speaking of off beat, how about Judge Reinhold in this music video, at his wide-eyed, lovestruck best?  Now THAT'S off beat!

Il Piccolo Diavolo - ...boy!  And Walter Matthau thought working with Robin Williams was bad!

The Pirates of Penzance - Best musical from the 1950s... second only to Gypsy, of course

"Serial, Season One" on Pandora - ...boy!  That was quick.  Remember the good old days when you just used Pandora to play songs?  Pandora.  Because how quickly you go from just playing songs to producing TV shows matters.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone - ...oh, wait, it's just a Thompson Twins video.  Looks like the same place they filmed it, though!  I guess Spacehunter: Adventures in the Industrial District wasn't a cinematic enough title.  Plus, they didn't want to keep it a hundred and call it Spacehunter: We Blew the Whole Budget on the Costumes.

Spectre - I know it's a lot to ask, but can everyone give this good reviews?  I won't get to see it if it doesn't get good reviews...

Time Bandits - Time to start an online petition for a new Blu-Ray transfer ... 4K, 1080p, whatever.  Just get it done.

Yoga Hosers - ...I think the list of producers is longer than the cast!  How's that work?  Twice as long if you count all the "PGA"s after every producer's name now.  What's that all about?  I still don't get it.  ...oh, I know, it's probably part of that disastrous "Citizens United" decision.

Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Forfeiture

I hate to say it... nah, I guess that's not entirely true.  Anyway, I don't know what the worst Bugs Bunny cartoon is, but I think Big House Bunny is probably it.  But why?  And how could this have happened?  These are the sorts of issues I've brought upon myself for contemplation as a part-time movie critic, but part of the answer is that it has to do with your heroes and their body of work.  As I've mentioned before, I fondly recall the time when one of my school chums complained about how lame Leonard Part Six was... see, this was way way before Cosby's sex scandals were even made public, you see.  And yet, signs were there in his various TV shows, apparently; his roofie-based barbecue sauce, apparently.  Go figure.  The example from my own experience is when, as the leader of a wandering group in the big city, I chose Lethal Weapon 3 over Alien 3.  I think it was about the time when they made a cheap "Uranus" joke that I couldn't help but think to myself, "You know... if this were any other movie, I wouldn't let them get away with it..."  I think time has certainly vindicated Alien 3, of those two... The point being, a cinematic failure is amplified when it's someone you expect good things from.
Anyways, on to the plot.  As with The Wabbit who Came to Supper, we start with Bugs being hunted in the forest.  I wanted to prefer this as Bugs' natural state, but really... were rabbits ever treated like foxes or wild turkeys by professional hunters?  I hope not.  Bugs informs the audience that, damn!  He's in a tight spot, and he has to get away.  Fortunately, like Raymond Reddington of "The Blacklist" fame, Bugs has made the proper investments in getaway infrastructure... or has he?  Bugs dives into a hole, but ends up tunneling out in quite the wrong place.
Enter the Prison Picture.  Bugs digs his way into the middle of a prison's "yard" area, where it's not break time yet.  Bugs gets his bearings, then is immediately leaped upon by prison guard "Yosemite" Sam Schultz.  "Oh, I didn't know that was his last name," said my viewing companion at the time.  Well, maybe just for this one picture.  It seems to be an homage to the bad guy in Freleng's previous picture, Daffy - The Commando, which is on YouTube currently, but will probably be taken down soon after this posting.  Sorry about that :/ .
Anyways, Bugs gets beaten up by Yosemite Sam on the prison yard.  A bit too realistic, even though I don't know from personal experience.  Of course, Bugs recovers quick, as with all cartoon characters, and even though he tricks Sam with numbers, Bugs is soon on the rockpile in his new number, "Three and a Half," of course.  It's kind of a Looney Tunes tradition.  My favourite use of this of course would have to be the baby hippo in Baby Bottleneck that's three and a half seconds old.  WAAH!!!! WAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Bugs' next feat of Trickery to the Extreme is to get Sam "Schultz" to fire this cannon located in the prison yard.  Bugs loads the cannon with the ball of his ball and chain.  Sam fires, sending Bugs flying far, far away.  I seem to recall Baron Munchausen doing a simiar feat in Terry Gilliam's 1988 film, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen.  The young girl saw the whole thing, but couldn't get anyone to believe her.  Now, Bugs may seem to be home free at this point, but it's still early in the picture, and we're spending the whole thing in this prison, spoiler alert.  Sam gets a car, drives out to where Bugs landed, and brings him right back.  But the only part of it we see is the gate guard fiddling with the giant door... nice sequence and all, but what else is it reminding me of?  The only thing that comes vaguely to mind is the egotesticle... I mean, egotistical studio guard in Hollywood Daffy.  Incidentally, that's another Warner Bros. cartoon I'd rather be watching.  Alas, I have to wait til Volume 5 to review that one.  Woe is me, woe is me.
And so, having re-subdued Bugs, it's lock-up time proper.  "Now, git in tharrr!" exclaims Sam Schultz, pointing to the inside of the cell.  Bugs goes in and Sam shuts the door.  "Hey, Doc!  Why'd you lock yourself inside the cell?" asks Bugs... something like that.  You get the idea.  I know, I know, this is some of the finest satire Bugs has ever done, but it still bothers me for some reason.  Guess I'm just too pro-prison or something.  I'm just extra picky that way.  Of course, I had a similar problem with the first Clerks, because there never seemed to be any normal transactions.  The only customer that seemed to buy anything was the young kid who bought the cigarettes, and you probably remember how that turned out.  Anyway, long story short, Yosemite Sam gets his first brief taste of prison life.  There's the nightmare incarnate.  Bugs is walking away, twirling the keys, being a smart-ass and all, and there's Sam, the one who's supposed to be on the outside of the cell... and now he's inside of it.
Next scene: Bugs is out on the yard again, and Sam runs up with a shotgun pointed at Bugs' belly.  Psychological nightmare over, all too quickly.  Now, it's time for a similar ruse that Malcolm X once used on a drunk white guy that wanted to fight him.  For a Warner Bros. cartoon example, we can look to the conceit of To Duck... or Not to Duck... that is the question... I mean, wherein Daffy the Duck challenges Elmer the Fudd to a boxing match.  As for Big House Bunny, Bugs at this point says to Yosemite Sam, "Ah, you wouldn't be so tough without that uniform."  Ooh!  There's also a similar scene in A Fish Called Wanda done to similar effect... actually, better.  And so, Bugs is now in Sam's prison guard uniform.  Bugs takes out the whistle, blows on it, and now it's Sam being beset upon by armed prison guards with William Clubs and what not.  Revenge achieved, right?  Wrong!  It's still too early in the picture, and we have yet to run the gamut of Hollywood's prison lingo.  Up next: an homage to the Jail Break.  Alas, I'm not a good historian... wait!  Where are you going?  Damn.  There goes half my audience.  But I do know this: they say that Warner Bros. is the studio that did the edgiest material back in the '30s and '40s.  Anyway, someone other than me can speak to when the first jail break scene was done in a movie, but it's lampooned here.
And so, we see Sam in a jail cell, pleading his case to deaf ears.  His nightmare continues.  Bugs offers temporary relief for Sam.  Bugs, dressed in Sam's prison uniform, whispers some stuff about how he's going to help Sam escape.  My favourite part, and yours, fellow Hipster-to-Be, is of course Bugs' line about never forgetting what Sam did for "Mary and the kids."  Oh, that was borrowed from an article or another film.  And so, Bugs slips Sam a bread-shaped bag full of tools, and the tools are much larger than the bag.  Even Michael Carbonaro would have trouble with that one... actually, maybe not.  He's pretty good.  Under different circumstances, I'd find the whole scenario much funnier, but somehow it just doesn't work for me, and I know I'm supposed to be rooting for Bugs in all of this.
And so, Sam begins his journey of a thousand shovel-fuls of prison dirt.  He ends up poking his head up from the ground, much like Bugs did earlier when he first happened upon the prison yard.  From there, Sam finds himself in downright tropical surroundings.  Now, I swear that there was a similar situation in another Warner Bros. cartoon, and the character in question was hacking their way through similarly thick thickets, only to find themselves standing over a cliff.  We may never know which cartoon that was, even in this Internet Age, where secrets are gone and all trivia is known, but a slightly different fate befalls our Yosemite Sam Schultz.  As it happens, he's tunneled into the Warden's Office... trust me, it's funny.  Well, it sets up the conflicts to come, anyhow.  Anywho... that's what I thought; the auto-spell check doesn't like "anywho."  The point being, it's probably unfair to compare this to the far-superior Cellbound.  It's a Tex Avery cartoon that centers on a convict who spends 20 years digging a tunnel out of his prison, and when he makes his jailbreak, he ends up inside of the warden's TV set.  I think Cellbound succeeds with its plotting, but arguably Cellbound was less ambitious in scope.  Big House Bunny has more ambition, but for me, personally, it feels a bit wasted.
And so, Sam survives his reprimand from the Warden, and he gets his uniform back!  And yet, Sam feels disgruntled, poor guy.  Prison life's hard... and he just works there!  Go figure.  But he's soon back to his old self, because Bugs is back on the prison yard, strutting around and eating a carrot, all Big As Ya Please.  The chase begins anew, but this time, Bugs leads Sam up to the gallows.  Bugs pushes a button and he rides an elevator down to ground level.  Now, this elevator is in the place where the trap door is located on said gallows.  It's the part that falls out from under the feet of the condemned when the actual hanging takes place.  I mention it because Sam pushes the same button and...
...now, it could be argued that this is also a rich, deep Warner Bros. cartoon tradition, arguably a cartoon tradition in general, about a gag involving something working one way for the good guy, and not working for the bad guy.  The exception is, of course, here in Big House Bunny, because it's usually NOT A NOOSE.  And there's a lot of bad things that happen to Wile E. Coyote; they're usually not so realistic.  Am I driving this into the ground too much yet?
Next scene: Sam's dangling there by his rope and starts cursing himself in a sped-up chipmunk voice, until we hear the voice of the Warden.  "SCHULTZ! OFFICE!" he screams.  This isn't the first time; were I a better film reviewer, I would have pointed that out... oh, I think it was when the Warden discovered Sam in his office, emerging from the endless potted plants, dressed in a convict's clothes.  Anyway, next scene: the Warden's office.  Note that there are now NO PLANTS IN IT.  You will also notice that Bugs is dressed as the Warden, and talking like the Warden.  And so, we have finally reached the summit of Mt. Satire.  Bugs keeps it simple: he gives Sam a cigar and asks him to pull up a chair.  In grand Three Stooges tradition, Sam does this while not looking.  You'll notice that the chair he does pull up seems to be more electric than your usual piece of furniture for sitting in.  Now, Bugs does something downright mean, and he says "Have a light!" and he pulls the switch for the chair.  "Hot enough for you, Schultz?" says Bugs, as his moustache slips from place.  Whether Bugs intended this or not, Sam realizes that it's all been one big trick by that screwy rabbit, and it's back to Attack Mode.
Next scene: the door to the Warden's office.  Bugs opens the door, goes through it, closes the door, and takes off.  Sam opens the door, goes through it, closes the door and takes off after Bugs.  I only mention it this way because this seems to be a rather common construct in Friz Freleng's Warner Bros. cartoons.  The Wabbit who Came to Supper and Little Red Riding Rabbit come to mind.  There's also a sequence in Little Red Riding Rabbit and Buccaneer Bunny involving four different doors on two floors, but we'll save that for later... okay, I think the end of The Hare-Brained Hypnotist is what I'm thinking of, except that there were no doors in that one; the characters just used Stage Left and Stage Right as the makeshift doors; this was the part where Elmer gets hypnotized into acting like Bugs.
Anyway, after Sam takes off after Bugs, Bugs returns and goes back into the Warden's Office.  Sam follows soon after.  Now, if you're jaded and cynical like me, you can probably guess what's going to happen... but I'll spoil it for you anyway.  The Warden has returned, unaware of what just happened in his office, and asks Sam simply, "Yes?"  It's much the same tone that Bugs used with Daffy after Daffy got shot that second time in Rabbit Seasoning.  Daffy didn't know what to do after that, but Sam knows, by Gum!  Why, he bashes that Warden on the head and... when he realizes that it's not Bugs posing as the Warden, but the actual Warden, well, what else can a guy do who wants to apologize?  Sam politely taps the Warden's head lump back down, and he takes another verbal beating from the Warden.  Sam emerges from the Warden's office as though he's been in a boxing match.  His eyes have a dazed look, but Chuck Jones would have gotten the eyes right.  I'm thinking of that one Three Bears cartoon when Papa Bear sees the pantry full of honey and one bottle of ketchup... I mean, WOW.  I believe it was The Bee-Deviled Bruin.

EPILOGUE

Sam once again finds Bugs wandering around the otherwise empty prison.  They're near the prison gates, which is quite convenient from a plotting standpoint.  Sam rushes up with his trusty shotgun, and says to Bugs, "Stay where you're at!"  Sam opens the gate and tells Bugs to get out.  I'll leave the irony of that aside for fans of this cartoon.  But, if I were a bigger fan of this cartoon, I would definitely call this next moment a bit of quiet genius... or some kind of genius.  Sam tells Bugs several times "OUT!   OUT!!!!!"  Bugs mimes his response, by pointing to himself and saying "What?  Me?  Out?"  Jerry Seinfeld couldn't have done it better.  "You want me to get out?" Bugs seems to mouth at Sam.  Bugs eventually shrugs and walks out the gate.  Sam locks the gate with a giant cartoon padlock, ironically enough, then begins to laugh, kinda like how the psychiatrists in What About Bob? laughed when they got rid of Bob, or at least thought they got rid of Bob.
And so, Sam enjoys his new-found freedom with Bugs out of his life... that is, until he hears the voice of that much hated Warden again.  "SCHULTZ!!! OFFICE!!!!" the Warden says.
And so, Bugs' revenge really is complete at this point, as it's now Sam tapping away at the rockpile that Bugs was at earlier in this picture.  No one seems to be supervising Sam, however.  Sam wonders aloud to himself... something about wanting to know which stool pigeon it was that squealed on him.  Now, I don't know much about prison life, arguably, except that it's very structured, more than most people care for.  Also, I've noticed that all the jobs with my local Department of Corrections have this warning about how catching tuberculosis seems to be one of the perks of the job... or maybe it's a hazard.  Depends on how you feel about vaccines, I suppose.  Freakin' Obamacare, right?  Anyway, we see Bugs, taking his well-deserved victory lap on the prison wall.  He's sitting on a stool, right?  And then he... ah, skip it.  If I had to suffer through it, now you have to.
Of course, maybe I'm the wrong person to review this cartoon.  Maybe Joyce Mitchell loves it, right?

**
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Zeinabu irene Davis

Alas, she seems to be stuck in some sort of limbo where only short films on college campuses exist.  But she got to have some fun during those go-go '90s.  She and her partner in cinematic crime, so to speak, her husband Marc Arthur Chéry, oh they got 'er done.  He did the writing, she the directing, and they made a total of three films together during that decade of record... alas, the nostalgia's already happening.  Someone's got a song called "1991" I believe?  I heard about it in the gym locker not too long ago... oh, apparently there's two: one by Azealia Banks, one by Kat Graham.  That's about as far as I go, research-wise.  The one that got the most critical traction... by which, I mean any critical traction, was 1999's Compensation.  The collaboration between director Zeinabu and star John Jelks, well, I haven't seen anything quite like it since Lina Wertmüller and Giancarlo Giannini... which probably speaks more to by lack of depth of knowledge about the great film collaborations than anything.
The plot of 1999's Compensation involves a modern-day couple (1990s-era) and a similar, parallel story involving a couple from the turn of the century.  Now, sure, I could be cynical and say that 1991's Dead Again had a similar conceit.  As did How to Make an American Quilt and Fried Green Tomatoes to an extent.  And what about Cloud Atlas and Being Human and The Hours and Alex & Emma?  Well, some of those came after...  Anyway, sure, I could sit here and rattle off those titles, but the review I read of it kinda piqued my interest, what can I say?  Alas, it doesn't seem to be at my local big-city video store, and they have everything.  Doesn't seem to be on YouTube either.  Will no one put up the money to get this to DVD?  Not Blu-Ray, that's way too expensive.  Unfortunately for us, John Jelks never answers his phone... Mr. Big Shot.

'Burnt' Gets Singed, 'Our Brand is Crisis' in Crisis at the Box Office

I don't know why, but lately I've been getting all misty-eyed and sentimental for the days when Dr. Ben Carson was just this guy who was on the fringes, who only appeared occasionally as a footnote on The Daily Show, and who was just barely known as that crazy-ass smart doctor who would say outrageous stuff.  Now he's a celebrated, successful neurosurgeon, and he's running for President.  But enemies are hounding him at his door, trying to slander his work on the board of Costco and Kellogg, just because he wasn't anti-gay marriage enough... wait a minute, did I hear that right?  He was on the boards of Costco and Kellogg?  How many brains does a neurosurgeon have to neuro-surge on anyway?  But for some reason, and I know I shouldn't be thinking about this, his comment about how the Holocaust could have been prevented if, Gosh darn it, the Jews only had more guns.  I guess he's working his way over towards how Obama's the Gun Hitler of America.  You know, "First they came for our B.B. guns, and I said nothing..."  That kind of thing.
Now, I'm no expert, and I'm no historian... but I did glance over the following page on Wikipedia.  It's called "Racial policy of Nazi Germany."  And apparently, Kristallnacht was inspired by the shooting of a German diplomat by a Jew.  I don't know about you, but Dr. Carson's suggestion kinda fails the smell test for me at this point.  Now I'm just waiting for him to try saying that, well, Prohibition didn't work against alcohol, so why does anyone think that background checks for gun buyers are going to change anything?  I know, I know, trying to find logic in Republican conversations.  A fool's errand indeed.
Anyways, what's the big movie this weekend?  Probably The Martian again.  The only thing I'm really waiting for is Hail, Caesar!  I'm kinda pleased that some have already called it "the best movie of 2016."  Sure, that may be a bit hyperbolic to some, but it's the only new movie I give half a damn about... okay, here's some non-political movie talk.  On Facebook, they say that Heidi Klum transformed herself into Jessica Rabbit for her 16th annual Halloween party in New York City... oh, I feel so old.  But that's an entrepreneur for you.  I don't know why anyone in their right mind would feel the need to have an annual Halloween party in New York City, but God bless her.  Now, brighter minds than mine saw a photo of her all dressed up as a human version of Jessica Rabbit and referred to her as "sexy."  Call me old fashioned, but I'm still partial to the animated version.  Besides, with all the people going under the knife these days, there's actually a few women who already looked like that.  So, perhaps there's a lesson here, Heidi.  Whatever you do, don't go under the knife!!  Take up swimming to keep the skin tight or something.  Swimming and sauna on a regular basis.

(Sunday proper) ...oh, right!  Burnt!  Well, Chef turned out to be a sleeper hit.  I don't know how much they advertised for it, though.  But that's the fickle fans of Fate for ya.  After all that cross-promotion on that new "Limitless" show, after all the ad campaigns and everything... STILL no one wanted to see Bradley Cooper on a motorcycle with sunglasses and a leather jacket.  Not even Sienna Miller on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" could propel this turkey past The Martian.  Not even Bradley Cooper's character wanting to make food on a par with orgasms got people excited.  Now I'm as much an orgasm fiend as all the other Onans on my block, but ... oh, I don't know.  I've seen that "Seinfeld" episode.  Food and sex don't mix.  Well, they do, but you should try to keep them separate.  Also, it didn't seem like a message with a Populist slant to it.  It didn't seem like "an orgasm-worthy chicken in every pot"... anyway, let's move on.  The peace treaty between Sandra Bullock and George Clooney over George throwing Sandra into a swimming pool seems to be holding with the Smokehouse production called Our Brand is Crisis.  Then again... it debuted even under Burnt, so... urge to kill rising.  I gotta go; this is all getting very unseemly.

...oh wait!  I've got a good one now.  And this can really be applied to much of what Dr. Carson says... Dr. Ben Carson, Republican hopeful for President, thinks that the Holocaust could have been prevented if only all the German Jews had guns.  Well, I'd like a second opinion on that.........

Travolti da un insolito destino sul Fiume di Espediente

Oh drat.  I thought this was Hair-Raising Hare, so for those of you keeping score, I'm still stuck on Disc One of Volume One of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection.  I gotta wait til Disc Three to get to that.  Meantime, the instant case, Water, Water Every Hare will just have to do.
It seems to be Bugs Bunny trapped in a bit of a shaggy dog story.  I almost wish there were a special commentary about this one, but there's not.  Apparently it's not all that special, but I do recall seeing the three-part gag somewhere, some Looney Tunes documentary or something.  You'll probably know it too when you see it.
Now, gravity is man's oldest, most silent nemesis, as you all know.  Thank God for these animated cartoons to give us a chance to fight back... but water?  Well, water gets toyed with almost as much as gravity does in these here cartoons, and arguably more so.  It seems to be a recurring theme with former farmboy and Looney Tunes animator/director extraordinare Charles M. Jones, and Jones puts water to the ultimate test in his 1943 offering Fin 'n Catty, where ... SPOILER ALERT... an obsessive-compulsive cat overcomes his fear of water, so much so that he ends up living in the goldfish bowl of the goldfish he spends the whole cartoon trying to catch.  Must be a Stockholm Syndrome variant or something.
...okay, that's the only example I can think of.  Ooh!  Just thought of another one, but it's a Friz Freleng cartoon.  In Duck Soup to Nuts, Daffy informs Porky Pig... and frankly, all the rest of us... that he can stay underwater "practically indefinitely."  Unusual for an actual duck, but understandable.  Some go to great, great lengths to get away from Porky.  I mean, the Highlander can do it too, but he tries not to make a habit of it, know whut I mean Vern?  Porky dons a primitive (cutting-edge for the era) diving suit to go after Daffy and fails.  Plan B?  Drain the lake, one bucketful of water at a time.  Could be why Daffy didn't want Porky painting his lake in Boobs in the Woods... the 1950's WARNER BROTHERS cartoon of that name, that is ...  Kinduva sore spot with Daffy.
But I digress again.  We start with a heavy rainfall that seems to be covering all of heaven and earth.  I just don't get it.  I mean, Jones was born in Spokane, Washington, and he moved to sunny California, so what does he care about rain?  Oh well.  A good plot's a good plot.  The wandering eye of the camera,... or the animator's bench... wanders all over the land, and eventually follows a river.  The river flows right to Bugs' door, AKA a hole in the ground.  Bugs is desperately tired from a long night of partying after the Oscars, and doesn't notice that his entire underground rabbit cave is, like, totes full of water.  The water makes Bugs float, making him just a little too free, and the rain river seems to have stopped on Bugs forevermore... okay, here's the lyrical reference.  Good thing I just heard that song again this week!  (Note: The Movie Hooligan is not responsible for the third party ads that exist on EVERY SINGLE SONG LYRIC WEB PAGE.)  Incidentally, there's a nice water cooler gag that you'll probably not want to use at the water cooler, at least not without explaining where the hell it's from and what not.
And so, the water eventually overwhelms even Bugs' mattress, and Bugs and his mattress get washed away... hmm!  Where did that exit in Bugs' underground house come from?  Major Plot Device!  Oh well.  Like that Adam Sandler movie's titled, just go with it.  But it can be argued that Hair-Raising Hare made a little more sense, at least in terms of getting Bugs to the lair of the evil scientist... that's right.  It's Bugs v. Evil Scientist time again, and this ain't your father's cushy Hare Remover, either.  The scientist here is a small guy with a big green head, and a voice like Vincent Price.  Wonder if he's a fugitive from Area 51 or something?  Hmm.
SECOND ACT: Anyway, as luck would have it, the evil scientist needs a brain for his Frankenstein / robot slave... in this case, the latter.  Robot slave.  The evil scientist happens to catch a glimpse of Bugs floating by in the river, and the evil scientist gets out the old rod and reel and catches Bugs just before Bugs can plummet to his death over the falls.  Bugs might have been better off that way, but oh well.  Boy!  This scientist really is evil.  Building a robot that needs a human brain, giant castle at Niagara Falls... check and check.  To be fair, hydroelectric power has a low carbon footprint.  Yes, it's your garden variety Evil Scientist in need of a brain.  That he settles for Bugs' brain instead of a human one sets him apart from the pack.
As usual, Bugs demurs and selfishly chooses self-preservation over a noble contribution to society at large in the name of science.  The evil scientist has no choice but to release the Kraken... but this is on land, so he goes for the giant orange monster with tennis shoes.  Now, finer minds than mine will know all the screen appearances of this particular beast.  (Wikipedia)  Why, I think he was in Hair-Raising Hare, for one!  There was another one where Bugs went after him with an electric razor.  Anyway, as with Hair-Raising Hare, Bugs runs from the monster, but stops just short of falling into a deep pit.  A pebble falls in in lieu of Bugs; you know, to demonstrate its depth as a pit.  In both Hair-Raising Hare and Water, Water Every Hare, Bugs carefully tiptoes backwards with hands in prayer position.  However, in Hair-Raising Hare, he says a quiet prayer and a slightly louder "Amen!"  Love that part.
Anyway, the similarities continue as Bugs turns to the monster and does his gay hairdresser voice, and... GAY HAIRDRESSER???!!!!!!  Shame on you, Warner Brothers.  Shame on you.  Needles to say, Bugs gets the better of the monster in this occasion, and on several others afterwards... oh, right.  Note to self: get a screen captcha... capture of the various oils in one of the lab rooms.  I believe one of them was "Uglifying Acid."  LOL.  Bugs doesn't use that one, unfortunately, but he does use one to make himself invisible, and another one to shrink the orange monster to the size of a mouse.  When this happens, the monster moves into the nearest mouse hole he can find, kicks the current rodently occupant out, and puts a big sign on the door saying "I Quit."
With the monster out of the picture, the evil scientist has to take over.  He makes Bugs reappear by pouring "Hare Restorer" on him... something like that.  Now, I hate to call this cartoon a bit half-assed in the plot department, but a jar of ether does break, and Bugs and the mad scientist start chasing each other, ballet-style.  You know, because they're all strung out on ether.  The evil scientist takes a nap on the floor of his palatial estate, and Bugs ends up in the river that we first saw at the start of this thing.  You'll never guess where the water takes him; you'll just never guess in a million, billion years.

Good double bill with: oh, I should really stop doing this feature, especially for these Warner Bros. cartoons.  One begets the other, really.  Oh, they're the cinematic equivalent of Lay's Potato Chips, I tells ya.  For example, for similar endings, go with Chuck Jones' The Aristo-Cat.  These two have virtually the same ending, except that Bugs wasn't actually having a dream, whereas the cat in The Aristo-Cat was.  Stan Freberg would have been pretty young to do The Aristo-Cat but I swear he did most of the voice of the cat.  When the cat was really screaming, Mel Blanc stepped in to do those.

***1/2
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Samad Davis

Durdy game, indeed!
...wow!  I DID work on this already!  Anyways, this guy's deserving of some treatment.  Sure, he's on the fringes, but on which side of them?  I think he's on the right side of the fringes... or maybe not, as his directing name is "Mody Mod."  Sorry, but all I can think of is that one speech in Ghost Dog.  I'm just racist that way.
To make things worse, Samad can't decide if he prefers comedy or drama.  Sometimes you have to pick just one, especially if you're on the fringes.  Why is that, incidentally?  Fight the future!  Fight something, anyway.  Everything when you're just starting out.  The very elements of nature seem to be against you.  The first directorial effort on the ol' IMDb C.V. is something called Comedy Only in da Hood..sorry, I guess I mean "Comedy Only in da Hood."  It's a video, and there's no external reviews to it on the IMDb.  And only one member of the cast has an attached picture.  Somehow these are not good signs.  In times like these, we have to turn to good old YouTube for results... not bad!  One way into my heart is a good impression; I don't know why that is.  It just is.  And yes, if Eddie Murphy was just a regular guy in the hood, he probably wouldn't last.  Sure, if you were cynical, you could say that Hollywood Shuffle already explored that territory, but I say keep at it, future comedians.  Damn the critics, full steam ahead.
After that came Durdy Game... sorry, another video. "Durdy Game."  Variety calls it "the ultimate example of reaping what you sow."  Well, they would know.  I'm more of a snob, and I kinda thought Fargo was that.  And of course, The Man Who Wasn't There, well... somehow the balance of what Ed Crane reaped as opposed to sowing seemed kinda way, way off against him, but maybe that's just me.  Maybe he was a bastard who had it coming to him.  In any event, the picture probably deserved a slightly better distributor than Xenon, I'm just saying.  I mean, with titles like "Stripper's Ball (Jenna Jameson)"... maybe they just saw the title and said "Okay, we'll do that one too."
But Mody Mod wasn't finished with the theme of games... few Hollywood directors are.  Michael Bay comes to mind for some reason.  In any event, he... I'm assuming it's a he... if it's a she, she's clearly not an inflexible feminist... Samad / Mody Mod traded way up and went for about as much gusto as they could muster with Three Can Play That Game... and YES, I actually knew that it's a sequel to Two Can Play That Game with Vivica A. Fox.  And she actually returned to do the sequel!  How cool is that?  For a Hollywood director struggling to make house payments, you better think that's cool.  I'll tell you what; even if this was just a video-only release, I won't change the italics.  And in terms of IMDb reviews, one out of three ain't bad, especially if the one is the latest and the greatest.
Sadly, Samad decided to stick to his second love: producing.  But who knows, maybe it's a first love now.  Producing has become a lot more glamorous, mostly because of that "PGA" credit after a producer's name.  See?  The money men can be a union too!  How do you like that?  Personally, I still kinda don't.  What next?  A "DGA" after every director's name?  After some 100 years of there NOT being?  Distasteful.

bo 10-25-15

Oh, man!  Did I totally forget this?  Phooey.  See, this is why I don't work for The Onion.  They now have box office reports like this, and they're, like, way way funnier.  Oh well.  I still say diversity's a good thing, as even I'd rather be reading other online stuff at times.  Anyway, we got three debuts this week.  The Martian is still at #1.  What's their secret?  Is Ridley Scott personally letting people in through the back at the theater?  No, that doesn't make sense.  I guess there's just something about Matt Damon and space, as with Elysium a few years ago.  That was a bit more dystopian in outlook, however... if I remember correctly.  And a bit of an opposite role for Sharlto Copley, at least compared to District 9, to put it mildly.
Anyway, Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs debuts at #7 in the Top 10 after its third week of being out in public.  Alas, a movie will just never be as beloved as some of Apple's products.  Why, I remember that one story like it was yesterday: the thieves in New York City were stealing iPods not to resell them, but just to have them!!!  That's love.  That's love of a product.  And yet, what happens every time a few dozen people get trampled to death at a Walmart scrambling to get the latest iPhone?  Everyone talks about the downfall of our society.  Um... hel-LOOO?  Steve Jobs?  You're WELCOME??!!!
Our second debut is the latest installment of the Paranormal Activity franchise.  I wonder if the original makers of The Blair Witch Project are just sitting there, kicking themselves half to death.  Lemme check and see what IMDb has to say... welp, after a 7-year hiatus, co-director Daniel Myrick's still going strong, and he's about to release a movie with Beverly D'Angelo.  You're just a hop, skip and a jump away from Pacino, my lucky friend!  Anyway, I guess this is the fifth installment of the P.A. franchise.  Seems to depend on how you choose to count that Tokyo Nights one.  Hmmmm....
And last but not least, Michael Caine gets to play the British Best Friend to Vin Diesel in... whatever.  Let's call it Babylon A.D. 2 or something.  The director's named Eisner, but the studio's not Disney, so I guess it's a case of youth rebellion.  All I know is, as Dave Letterman might have said on his old show, you got your ghosts (ding), you got your witches (ding), you got your... Hotel Transylvanias (ding)... have fun this Halloween weekend at the multiplex, kids!  Ah hee hee hee hee hee hee.... squirrels and nuts!

Gone to Get a Rabbit's Kin but Now the Rabbit's Gone Again...

Rabbit's Kin represents a one and only for me, as it seems to be the only time I can recall when someone geeked out even more than I usually do about a Warner Brothers cartoon.  And it's not a hard one to pinpoint, as it's the one and only screen appearance of a character by the named of Peter J. Puma, aka "Pete," also known as "Sneakin' Pete," voiced by the great Stan Freberg.  But due to some strange union clauses, only Mel Blanc gets voice credit on any of these things.  Freberg is of course the only guy with the right vocal chords to properly do a beloved character like Marvin the Martian... of course, Mel Blanc voiced Marvin one time in Haredevil Hare but it was just more of a generic nasal nerd character.  It also may have been Marvin's first appearance...
And as a special bonus on the DVD, Freberg shows up to do the Rabbit's Kin commentary!  As near as I can tell, he's the only celebrity to stop by to do the commentary.  But it is a special cartoon, and the DVD makers went to great pains to provide a special commentary.
Even Freberg himself doesn't understand the appeal of Pete Puma, but he did fail to mention its source of inspiration: a character from one of Jackie Gleason's sketch comedy TV shows... okay, apparently it started on The Jack Benny Show, kind of like how Ed Grimley started on SCTV, then ended up on Saturday Night Live and then on his own animated TV show.  In animation form, however, Pete seems to be the animated Felidae equivalent of Bob Denver's character on "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"... I know, I know, if anything, it's the other way around.  Well, time passes, and all this stuff gets mashed all together into one whole decade somehow.  And now that the cartoon is well past its 60th anniversary, there seems to be a bit of a Hippie burnout vibe to Pete.  If I were a better crafter of headlines, I'd call this one "The Lion That Toked."
Now, I don't know who Bugs has less respect for in terms of his enemies.  Bugs seems to fear the Tasmanian Devil the most, followed by Yosemite Sam and his French and Scottish cousins.  At the bottom of the list is Elmer Fudd and Pete, with Pete somewhere under Fudd.  Bugs uses both Elmer and Pete to rest on when asking "What's up, Doc?"  And yet, with Pete's very first line... it was your proverbial love at first sight.  Pete may be a bad guy in the context of Rabbit's Kin, ... but he's just so damn goofy!  If I may use that word in a non-Disney context.
Bugs asks Pete, "...a LITTLE rabbit?  Wouldn't you rather have a BIG rabbit?"  If you listen to the DVD commentary while watching the cartoon, you'll notice that both Freberg AND Pete Puma say "Yep!" at the same time.  Dayamn... talk about synchronicity.  I know, I know, everyone else in the entire world will call it "creepy."  Correction: it's Hollywood creepy.
...damn, just thought of another example.  At the VERY BOTTOM of Bugs' enemies list has to be the dog from Hare Ribbin'.  The things he does to that beast... I think it's like how the kids treat a substitute teacher that sits in for a couple days.  But it's interesting to see each approach that Bugs takes to each enemy.  Take, for example, how Bugs reacts to Pete Puma's gift of an exploding cigar.  Bugs tucks the cigar away in his... vest pocket... whatever... and tries to ignore Pete's lit match.  "Well, I think I'll have to be going now!" exclaims Pete.  Enter the tea tray.  My friend and I love Carl Stalling's score for this cartoon.  Sure, it's no Bob Clampett cartoon, but hey.  The Carl Stalling Orchestra can't have maximum fun all the time.  I stand by my hypothesis even though I have yet to devise a suitable means of measurement.  Rife with Type I and Type II errors, a low 'n', what have you.
In between long silent gaps where Freberg's just soaking in the old cartoon, he pontificates on the place of cartoon violence in society.  The older I get, the more I tend to agree, and the less spontaneity I seem to have in my thinking.  Also, the older I get, the worse my breath gets, and the more likely I am to break off a conversation by saying "Okay, thank you!" over and over again, but those are probably perks.  On the other hand, Freberg found Rabbit's Kin rather violent... and the older I get, the more violent I find it.  Now, if Rabbit's Kin were made today, Bugs would save the "El Explodo" cigar for the Third Act of the picture, but Robert McKimson's a weak director... just kidding.  Hey, they all can't be The Sixth Sense, right?  Gotta do the occasional pass fake to keep people on their toes.  And so, to close the First Act, Bugs uses the cigar right back on ol' Sneaky Pete Puma right away, as Pete sits there, four lumps off the main lump on his head, eyes turning all colors of the rainbow.  As far as cartoon violence goes, I agree with Freberg.  When the cigar goes off, Pete's in a sorry state, the rainbow gone from his eyes and replaced with tiny, glowing red embers, fur burnt off most of his face.  Thankfully, this image is quickly faded out, and it's on to the Second Act.

SECOND ACT: As in most of the Tom and Jerry cartoons I saw... seems like only yesterday, and seems like they got quickly forgotten.  Almost a shame.  Anyway, the point is, usually when the bulldog lays down the law, Tom resorts to strategy for his second attack.  In Pete's case, he's got the right idea, but the execution fools nobody.  But Shorty's a defenseless little twerp, and he has to hide behind Bugs.  Pete pretends to be Shorty's mother, and Freberg's performance is even goofier than the First Act, that it's hard not to laugh.  Pete almost makes his getaway with the small rabbit, but Bugs quickly shuts him down, grabbing hold of the lion's tail... I mean, the puma's tail, with poor Pete hitting his ass against the ground at exactly three beats per second.
Now, I hate to spoil every last detail of these things as is my usual habit, but Pete Puma is nothing if not a conundrum.  In a way, he's like how Saul Berenson feels about Carrie Mathison: smart and dumb at the same time... something like that.  Pete seems to learn new tricks quite quickly, but his strict adherence to Bugs' mind games balances all that new stuff out.  I mean, Pete gets the strategically sound idea to dress up as Shorty's mother, but completely screws up the costume... for one.  And the accent, and hiding his tail, etc.  Pete also gets the idea to prepare for another head-bashing, but the preventative measure he takes could have been better.  It's perhaps the best visual-only example of Bugs' triumph via logic, as Bugs produces an Acme Stove Lid Lifter to counter Pete's Acme Stove Lid acting as a makeshift helmet.  Now, maybe I'm overthinking this slightly, but it seems to me that a helmet isn't good if all it does is prevent a head lump from swelling to its proper size.  But that's just me; maybe this is one of the rules of Cartoon Physics.  Typically, in the world of cartoon head lumps, the lumps are narrow, cylindrical, and typically colored red, glowing or otherwise.  There's not usually tiny lumps off the main lump.  But keeping with the honorable medical tradition of dealing with these cartoon lumps, in Act One, Bugs taps the extra lump back into Pete's head with a tiny mallet.  Much more civilized than, say, the way Tom Cat deals with the bulldog's lump in Putting On the Dog.

THIRD ACT: Shorty comes dangerously close to being a villain now.  With Pete Puma vanquished anew a second time, it's time to take a stroll out in the world, free of its old dangers.  Time to stop and smell the roses, and reflect on the meaning of it all.  Alas, things quickly shift back to Pete, because a cartoon vanquishing of a bad guy never seems to last.  But the Warner Bros. screenwriters like to keep things fresh and moving ever forward, even the cartoon screenwriters.  Bugs' mentoring of his one-time co-star, the small brown bunny called Shorty, is now ready to move up to the highest levels of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: self-actualization.  Alas, it seems that self-transcendence is going to have to wait, as it's time to actualize some more mischief against that sneakin' old Pete Puma.  And in keeping with the ancient screen traditions, we in the audience only hear some of Bugs' dialogue, as he lays out the plan to Shorty.
Next scene: we see Shorty ambling along a road lined with thick green bushes.  When suddenly... the arm of Pete Puma reaches out and grabs poor ol' Shorty by his long brown ears.  Shorty disappears into the bushes, leaving a poof of cartoon smoke in his wake.  But Pete's not a complete savage, and he decides to run home to have Shorty for dinner in a familiar environment.  We see the outside of Pete's abode, and it kind of looks like one of those "hole in the wall" places that Wile E. Coyote would sometimes have in the side of a desert mountain!  Odd.
So, as much as I hate to agree with Bugs, he was definitely right in referring to Pete Puma as "sneaking."  Pete's normally a formidable opponent in battle, with his long, wiry arms and sharp claws, but he's no match for Bugs in the social butterfly department.  And even Bugs would have to admit that Pete had some good ideas, perhaps too good, for Bugs disguises himself as one of Pete's cousin... I just can't remember the name.  Fred, maybe?
Anyway, Bugs' puma costume is several orders of magnitude better than Pete's mother rabbit costume.  I'm thinking Rick Baker's involved somehow.  For the audience's benefit, Bugs lets the head of the puma costume hang off his head, lest we get too confused.  Pete himself falls for the ruse, hook, line and sinker.
But even Bugs isn't confident enough to try the tea routine again.  There must be some other way to bring lumps into the conversation... I guess I'll leave that part for you to see for yourself.  There's probably a lesson in Contract Law here someplace, but I'm just not perceptive enough to see it.  Always check the fine print; let's leave it at that.  As for unintended consequences, well... hey, how about climate change?  That's the ultimate one!  The best you can do is try to make the damage less severe.  Pete, on the other hand, goes the other way.  He grabs the mallet from Bugs and says "Oh no you don't.  I'll help myself!"  And help himself he does.  My good lifelong friend and I like the musical flourish that arises when Pete starts bopping himself on the head with the mallet.  I guess it's like that joke that Joe Biden told about the guy who hits himself in the head with the hammer.  His reasoning?  It feels so good when he stops, the guy says.  That's about at Pete Puma's level of logic.  If Pete's got to get hit on the head, well, Pete might as well do the hitting this time to save a little face.

EPILOGUE - And so, Rabbit's Kin ends as it should: happily.  Bugs and Shorty walk out of the proverbial lion's den, but with the lion hitting himself in the head with the mallet.  Must be a '50s thing or something.  But even though Bugs has vanquished his foe, part of Pete Puma lives on in all of us, and Bugs goes so far as to imitate Pete's trademark wheeze as the cartoon closes, much like Bugs imitates Beaky at the end of Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid.  I wonder if it was Mel Blanc doing the wheeze, or if Freberg did the extra one.  I think it was Blanc, because somehow the last one didn't seem to have that extra Freberg flair to it.

****
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan

Auteur Watch - Lee Davis

Boy, I tell ya... mo protegé, mo problems.  But this is kind of interesting, because Spike Lee protegé Lee Davis' IMDb page has a Top 4 with none of Spike's stuff in it!  How did he or they do that?  I mean,... wait, gotta look it up in my own blog; something sad about that... I mean, check out the IMDb page of Aleta Chappelle.  I'm rich, b'atch!  No, wait, different one.  Now, first of all, maybe I don't know my IMDb at all, or something's different here.  Usually there's a photo of the person that's profiled in the page, right up top next to their name.  I've never seen a person that looks like a movie poster before!  So, that's one.  Number two, Aleta's got about as many directorial credits to her name as does Lee Davis, but she's only known for other stuff that she worked on in a non-directorial capacity.  I just think it's wrong!  Wrong, wrong and terribly wrong!  W.N.G. Wrong!
But it is definitely one of those "Dream Come True" type deals, the story I read.  Apparently, Davis was working at a video store or something.  It's a little bit like what happened to Quentin Tarantino.  So Spike walks in to this store, and says to Lee Davis, "Hi.  I'm filmmaker Spike Lee."  And Lee Davis says "Hi, Spike Lee!  I'm Lee Davis!"  Then Spike said "But your first name is my last name!  Let's work together!"  Something like that, but I'm no screenwriter.  I couldn't turn that into, say, a 10-episode miniseries for FX or anything.  But long story short, apparently the partnership wasn't meant to last.  I mean, three films together, and Davis wasn't feeling the love, exactly.  They eventually parted company, and rather completely at that.  But I still say he turned out better than, say, Spike Lee protegé David C. Johnson!  Or is Drop Squad more beloved than I think?

62 Skidoo

There is relief in Jack Black's household this weekend.  Those personal appearances he put in on The Daily Show and at Colbert's new place paid off big time, as that Goosebumps movie comes in #1, just two million dollars ahead of Ridley Scott's The Martian, out for its third week.  Slightly more disappointingly, it's the latest from Guillermo del Toro at #4, called Crimson Peak.  That title seems familiar for some reason... oh well.  Maybe I'm thinking of 1997's Dante's Peak.  What a year for big disaster movies.  Anyway, Crimson Peak marks a reunion of sorts between del Toro and jaded Hollywood insider Matthew Robbins.  Robbins is, of course, best known for making that hasty follow-up movie with Star Wars star Mark Hamill called Corvette Summer.  You know, kinda like how Keanu Reeves made all those small pictures in between Matrix 1 and the other two four years later.  It's a Hollywood tradition at this point.  Meanwhile, Sizzle Beach U.S.A. is all, "So what am I?  Chopped liver?"
Of course, in the biz proper, Matthew Robbins is also known for briefly being in Spielberg's orbit, mostly with UFO stuff, like *batteries not included and being one of the six screenwriters to work on CE3K.  And how's Spielberg's own directorial baby doing this weekend?  Not bad, considering!  I guess people would rather drop their kids off at exciting-ish Halloween-esque fare as opposed to a dry, boring old history lesson like Bridge of Spies.  The reviewer over at The Onion referred to Spielberg as the most "confident" director of all time.  I don't know if that's the word I'd use, personally, considering how much Spielberg obsesses over getting things right and awesome.  I mean, sure, when it crosses the $300 million mark, then yeah, it's time to celebrate.  But confident?  No.  No, you know who's confident?  Michael Bay is confident.  Uwe Boll is confident.  Chris Columbus was confident when he boldly stepped into the breach and said "A big special effects extravaganza with Adam Sandler?  Adam Sandler in Ghostbusters, but with a video-game theme instead of ghosts?  I'm on board!"  It took supreme confidence to take that deal, and a bunch of whiskey to make it through principal photography.
And then, of course, there's the Coens.  They've got the second season of Fargo on the TV right now, and of course, a couple ads for Bridge of Spies during airtime.  They've got Hail, Caesar! in February.  Oh, it's all crappening.  I guess True Grit did better than I thought.  But Spielberg's been riding the Coens' coattails for years now, so to speak.  I mean,... and I've probably pontificated on this before... you've got most of the cast of Raising Arizona in Spielberg's 1989 bomb... I mean, sleeper hit Always... that's the only example I can think of... ooh!  I know.  Peter Stormare.  I think it's safe to say that 1996's Fargo really caused things to heat up for him.  He's in the second-to-last episode of Seinfeld, and in 1997's Jurassic Park and 2002's Minority Report.  I guess Spielberg had enough of him after that.  And yet, the Coens never did a picture for DreamWorks.  But that's how Hollywood works sometimes: the Coens don't work for DreamWorks, but Adam Rifkin does.  Interesting choice, Hollywood... interesting choice.  Oh, and costume designer supreme Mary Zophres is known to work for Spielberg now; not so much for the Farrellys.  Well, their films aren't drawing people in because of the costume design, arguably.  I gotta go for now, but I'll be talking about these things for the rest of my life.

A Star Is Bugs

Alas, Looney Tunes director Bob McKimson may never get his day in the sun alongside the likes of Friz and Chuck Jones and the always insane Robert Clampett, but What's Up Doc?... the 1950s Bugs Bunny cartoon, not the 1972 Barbra Streisand classic What's Up, Doc?, just might be his best satirical stab at Hollywood.  I forget at what point this one started to grow on me, but it probably started with the big musical number featuring Bugs and an increasingly disheveled Elmer.
...nah, that can't be it.  Now that I'm watching it again, it must've been the Vaudeville routine with Elmer going "Yuk Yuk Yuk Yuk!"  And arguably, that's pretty much what the earliest Looney Tunes cartoons were like.  But let's start at the beginning in Beverly Hills, and Bugs' home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.  The rooves back then were solar panels, but just absorbing the Los Angeles heat without turning it into electricity.  Now, I hate to be critical, but Disney probably would have handled the perspective shift on that umbrella better.  On the other hand, that's Disney for ya: geometrically correct animation with no soul.  I still remember this one Disney short where Goofy's body is mostly in a tiny box, forcing him to walk around slowly with only his hands.  I couldn't help but think to myself, oh!  An Iraq War veteran!  Not whimsical enough, Disney... not whimsical enough.
And so, like most of these things, it starts with a phone call, or a random TV show on The Simpsons.  Bugs gets a call from the "Disassociated Press."  Oh, s'z'nap!  Bugs helpfully fills in for the person on the other end of the call by saying "The public has been demanding my life story?"  We're far from the modest Bugs of "This Is a Life?"  But Bugs is indeed a star in his own right, and he knows how to play the game.  Plus, this was the old days when stars would answer their own phones.  And Bugs is always ready to talk about himself... and doesn't get tired of it, Mr. Clooney!  HAH!  See, Warner Bros. owns both of their souls... Anyway, Bugs says "Well, I can tell it to you right over the phone!"  And even though it's been only ten years since Bugs became a star, it's still a tumultuous decades' worth.  Most people don't live in a lifetime what Bugs went through in those ten years.  And I have it on the highest authority.... a Looney Tunes t-shirt... that Bugs' birthday was some time in 1939.  A pretty big year for movies in general!  ...okay, so it's eleven years.  See, What's Up Doc? came out in 1950.  I think Bugs' more dramatic brother stood in for him on Elmer's Pet Rabbit.  Just not the same voice that we know and love today.  I don't know who that was in Elmer's Pet Rabbit, but he wasn't even good enough to play Bugs on the radio!
And so, Bugs tells his life's journey to a reporter over the phone... something sad about that.  Now, if you're like me... scary thought, I know... you like to find connections between things.  And sure, the Looney Tunes probably explore a finite number of themes.  But since my Cray Heuristics department has been disbanded, I can't give you a complete list of cartoons similar to the instant case.  The one that springs to mind that is the most similar, in terms of basic plot structure, is the 1947 classic, A Hare Grows in Manhattan.  Of course, that one focused mainly on slapstick and the usual anti-bully hijinks.  So Hare Grows is more like a part of a mini-series, whereas What's Up Doc is the whole VH1 special... something like that.  But they both feature a young Bugs reveling in childhood.  On the other hand, the Bugs in Hare Grows... I mean, who'd think that that would amount to anything?  Also, did they switch the audio track when the cross-fade to the hospital starts?  Why?  The other take must've sucked or something.  Ah, directing.
And so, the years roll on, and Bugs proves himself to be not just another flash in the pan at Moray's Dance Academy.  Bugs is running the Star Marathon, not like the internet sensations of today.  Boy, those were the days, when movie stars had to be able to do everything: sing, dance, tapdance... the occasional dramatic acting.  Somehow Will Ferrell, for example, feels a little light; he didn't tapdance his way to the top, methinks.
And so, Bugs goes from dancing school, to being swamped with fan mail?  But how... where... when... ah, skip it.  Oh, this thing's full of lessons for wannabe stars, I tells ya.  Note my disagreement with Network from earlier.  But Bugs doesn't have a sense of his self-worth yet.  I mean, the first three roles he gets on Broadway, well... hmm!  They seem to be preparing us for a callback!  Anyway, fate intervenes, and Bugs gets his big chance to move up through the veritable blackberry vines of Broadway stars.  He gets the starring role in one of those plays he was doing.  I hate to do the play-by-play on it, but I guess it's a good teachable moment... I mean, learning experience for him.  But his first takeaway... I mean, his first reaction is to quit the biz forever.  Needles to say, Bugs bombs worse than Daffy tapdancing to "Jeepers Creepers"!  As a lifelong watcher of Bugs, I kinda hate to see him falter like that.  But this isn't Yosemite Sam he's taking on, in this case.  It's New York, and they're kinda tough to please.  Which is why Bugs' next starring role is on a Central Park bench.  Boy, I hope things turn around, and soon!
Enter Elmer Fudd, "that big Vaudeville star."  And here's lesson #2 for wannabe stars.  Although it does put me in mind of the story I saw about how David Steinberg became a star.  He was performing in a theater off Off-Broadway, and there were only six in the crowd... one of which was a theatre critic for The New York Times.  After that, well... now you know why he's a Hollywood gatekeeper, asking Bob Zemeckis how it felt to win the Oscar.  Of course, Forrest Gump and Going Berserk aren't quite in the same league, but I think Steinberg kinda knows that.  And so, Elmer showers Bugs with praise, Bugs eats it up, and off they go on the road.
But much like the Ford brothers at the end of... what's it called?  Benjamin Button?  Nah, that can't be right.  Oh, right... The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford... Bugs being the Charley Ford in this Movie SAT example, Bugs gets tired of the monotony of the road, and the monotony of the act.  Personally, I don't see what the problem is.  Elmer tells a joke, says "Yuk" seven times, and Bugs dances!  What's not to like?  But no, Bugs has to have it all.  Bugs has to be The Man, because his ego can't leave well enough alone.  Bugs, amongst other indignities, hits Elmer on the head with a giant novely mallet, and Elmer is reduced to basics... even less than basics!  He's just a hat and two shoes!  But I admire his professionalism, because Elmer's hat and shoes does Bugs' dance anyway, and completely in the dark, on top of it.  Bugs gets his moment in the spotlight, and out of his clown outfit, parading his nakedness as though he's in a production of Hair or something.  But then... Elmer's got a shotgun on Bugs.  Ah hah!  Finally, a little truth!
And then, the ode to Tex Avery's A/The Wild Hare, which is the first time that Bugs uses the phrase "What's up, Doc?"  The assembled audience reacts.  Oh, how complicated these things get in such short order... contrary-wise.  Sorry, my mom's been saying that a lot lately.  Damn you, Dodgson!  And so, like everything else in showbiz, Bugs and Elmer take what seems to work, and beat it to death for the rest of their lives.  This persistence takes them all the way past the studio guards at Warner Brothers and into the studio, where Bugs and Elmer film "What's Up Doc?" in the Third Act OF What's Up Doc?  Confused yet?  Anyway, now that the bright lights are on, and Elmer's in that damn hunter costume, you might notice the disappointed look on his face.  This is not the life for a former Vaudeville star.  I mean, ten seasons of "Fibber McGee and Molly," for God's sake!  Does that count for NOTHING?!
Yes, it does not, because life's just unfair that way.  And showbiz is positively littered with such examples.  For example, did you know that Jennifer Lawrence once played a recurring character on "The Bill Engvall Show"?  Of course not!  Because she's Jennifer freakin' Lawrence, for f... God's sake!  I could give other examples... but why?  JENNIFER LAWRENCE!  Anyway, back to Bugs, who finished his phone interview, telling the other party on the line that he's late for the studio, as he starts filming his life story TODAY!  I couldn't help but wonder what would happen to Private Snafu in a similar situation.
And so, we get another WB clapboard, but an extremely lavish, monogrammed set and then... well, you can probably guess what it is.  But note the expression on Bugs' face.  Alas, being a movie star is at times much like any other job: full of drudgery that has to be done, but with slightly higher stakes.  Plus, celluloid lasts forever, so be sure to get it right the first time, or you'll end up like Wheeler and Woolsey: digitally remastered, and deservedly obscure.

Good double bill with: the aforementioned A Hare Grows in Manhattan... and possibly The Old Grey Hare, which features the joint childhoods of BOTH Bugs and Elmer!!!

****
-so sayeth The Movie Hooligan