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“A few months after Rikki-Tikki-Tavi, Chuck Jones once again returned to the world of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book with this version of “The White Seal.” Two-thirds of his Kipling trilogy consists of the more obscure tales from that classic tome, and that’s partially why I appreciate the” read more
“1975 ended the Cricket series, but it also launched the three Rudyard Kipling adaptations that Chuck Jones made between 1975 and 1976. These three specials are among the best of Jones’ work, capturing both the darkness of the original stories and providing a template for Jones’ artistry to go wi” read more
“Between 1975 and 1976, much of America’s pop culture ephemera was drunk upon the upcoming bicentennial. Don’t believe me? Well, then look no further than the third and final installment in the Cricket specials, Yankee Doodle Cricket. Purporting to tell the unknown truth about the American Revolu” read more
“Picking up right where The Cricket in Times Square ends, A Very Merry Cricket reunites us with Tucker the Mouse and Harry the Cat on a story that’s part road trip and part lukewarm variation of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. New York City, introduced through a nightmare hallucination of location ” read more
“Between 1973 and 1975, Chuck Jones produced three specials based upon The Cricket in Times Square by George Selden. This first entry plays the story straight, complete with an ending that feels somehow rushed upon given the leisurely pace of the rest of the piece. There’s a quietness and gent” read more
Bugs Bunny’s Bustin’ Out All Over
“Another year (1980 in this case), another Looney Tunes special centered on a unifying theme, this time it’s springtime. Once more, this special features three new cartoons with a wraparound segment hosted by Bugs Bunny. All of these specials feature animation that’s a step down from the gl” read more
Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales
“Not only do we get Chuck Jones’ involvement in 1979’s Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales, but Friz Freleng, another one of Termite Terrace’s genius directors. Usual suspects and big names like Bugs, Daffy, Poky, and Yosemite Sam are here, but the presence of Foghorn Leghorn, Taz, and Speedy” read more
Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals
“The first special of all-new Looney Tunes material was Bugs and Daffy’s Carnival of the Animals, a live-action/animation combination that premiered in 1976. This plays directly into a long-established tradition, the never-ending rivalry between Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny, with a backdrop of classic” read more
A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur’s Court
“Warner Brothers had ceased production on new Looney Tunes material by the mid-60s, but classic characters never die. Through repeated viewings on television, a series of compilation films highlighting their greatest directors, and the occasional lone out to other studios for limited use, the charact” read more
“Beginning life as a failed TV pilot, Adventures of the Road Runner was eventually released as a theatrical short, before finally getting chopped up into three further shorts. Taken individually, everything here is a wonderful piece of animation, filled with smart gags and a frantic go-go-go pacing. ” read more
“1997 brought about the final Chuck Jones Looney Tunes cartoon, and I couldn’t think of a better star than Bugs Bunny for that honor. Jones created many of Bugs Bunny’s greatest moments, from the reveal that he’s the artist torturing Daffy in “Duck Amuck” to the greatest animated short of a” read more
“Does anyone remember the 1996 Tom Arnold vehicle Carpool? No, I didn’t think so. Well, another year, another Chuck Jones Looney Tunes short, and at least this one premiered before a family film. “Superior Duck,” as implied by the title, find Jones returning to Daffy Duck, and his fevered ” read more
“In the mid-to-late 90s, Jones released four theatrical shorts, each providing an opportunity for him to work his magic on his most beloved characters. The prior year’s “Chariots of Fur” reunited Wil E. Coyote and the Road Runner in a lovably familiar tale, and 1995’s “Another Froggy Evenin” read more
“By 1976, Jones had returned to work under Warner Brothers, and reunited with the cast of characters that made his name. These works were primarily TV compilations or in-between segments for films like The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie. Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner first came back to prominence ” read more
Duck Dodgers and the Return to the 24 ½th Century
“Originally released in 1980 as part of a Thanksgiving special, Daffy Duck’s Thanks-For-Giving, and soon spun off and reedited as its own short, this marks the first original Daffy Duck and Porky Pig film since 1965. A direct sequel to the wonderful original, “Duck Dodgers in the 24 ½th Century” read more
“The second non-Tom and Jerry short film, and the last one they ever made, was this adaptation of Frank Tashlin’s book. Tashlin was a former contemporary of Jones’ in the Termite Terrace, but this short was the subject of contention between them. Despite having no real input on the film, Jones de” read more
“After his tenure with Tom and Jerry, a love-it-or-hate-it period in which Chuck Jones was heavily criticized for trying to transform the cat and mouse into Looney Tunes proxies, Jones directed the only two non-Tom and Jerry shorts for MGM. The first was also his lone competitive Oscar win. Other sho” read more
“Out of the three entries we have in DC’s cinematic universe, Suicide Squad is the one I enjoy the most. But that praise doesn’t amount to much when you consider how sloppy and frayed the three films are. Man of Steel and Batman v Superman are drunk upon painterly compositions that don’t amount” read more
“Plenty of romantic musical comedies are built upon the flimsiest baubles, putting all of their strengths in movie star personas, high-energy choreography, top-notch production values, and a strong score. You Were Never Lovelier is built upon this formula, and it’s an utterly charming and beguiling” read more
“I have a very large soft spot in my heart for Frank Sinatra. I find his trajectory from teen idol crooner, to movie musical superstar, to well-respected dramatic actor to be an awe-inspiring run of high-quality artistry. Here in Pal Joey all of those various elements, along with Sinatra’s innate s” read more
“To hear Kim Novak tell it, Harry Cohn didn’t want her anywhere near this low-key story of a May-December romance. Cohn didn’t want Novak’s glamorous, icy sex goddess persona compromised by playing a character so vulnerable, damaged, and needy. But Novak was a shrewd mind, and she knew Middle o” read more
“In the right role, Kim Novak’s detached glamour and chilly braininess could be used to great effect. In 1958, two of the best films to utilize her strengths as an actress and screen presence allowed for her to play roles that mirror each other in unique and strange ways. Vertigo is the more lauded” read more
“Has any sequence better symbolized the treatment of Kim Novak than the opening of Jeanne Eagels? A wide-eyed beauty with dreams of performing, she’s paraded around with the empty promise of a crown, before cruelly being thrown to the sidelines. The parallels to Novak practically write themselves. ” read more
“Even in 1955, I find it hard to believe that this was wild, transgressive, erotically charged cinema. Not in a decade that gave us Nicholas Ray’s subterfuge of teenage ennui (Rebel Without a Cause), two of Billy Wilder’s naughtiest comedies (The Seven Year Itch, Some Like It Hot), and numerous T” read more
“After very smart, adventurous entries in the X-Men franchise in First Class and Days of Future Past, Apocalypse cannot help but feel limp and perfunctory at best. The major problem is that the franchise has committed for so long to sticking us with heroes and villains that blur those lines, with act” read more
“An entertaining blast of stale air. There’s one for the front of the DVD! Look, sex farces are harder to successfully complete than they may appear. Rock Hudson and Doris Day made it appear effortless and charming together (and separately) in films like Pillow Talk, but there’s real hard w” read more
“This is what the thematic material of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice looks like when it’s injected with, you know, joy, emotional coherence, and narrative thrust. Not that the Marvel Cinematic Universe is without its own problems, there’s the frequent lack of prominent characters of color, ” read more
“What exactly is Inside Daisy Clover trying to be? Semi-pornographic name aside, at any given moment, it operates as two or three different movies each trying, and failing, to achieve maximum attention. There’s a serious drama about a ragamuffin street urchin, a biting satire about the Hollywood st” read more
“For some reason, Disney does quite well in adapting Rudyard Kipling’s immortal stories of a young boy raised in the Indian jungle and his various animal friends and foes. This live-action version (for lack of a better term, as much of it is CGI) leans heavier on the Kipling source than the swingin” read more
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice
“There’s still some hope for the future of the DC cinematic universe, but they’re going to have to start listening to the fans and maybe remove much of the power from Zack Snyder. It’s not that Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice doesn’t have interesting story ideas or unique spins on the myt” read more