Jan 30 2012

Leprosy Groups About as Much Fun as a Boat Full of Lepers

Watch this:

Funny stuff, right?  And that joke about the leper boat?  Gets me every time.  But you know who’s not laughing?

Lepers.

That’s right.  Pirates animation company Aardman is altering that scene in their upcoming film due to objections from leprosy groups.  My first reaction to this was “Lepers still exist…and they have groups?”  My second reaction was to seriously start thinking about which of my friends may be lepers (I’m looking at you, Deb).  My final reaction, and the most important one, was “THE FUCKING HELL?!”

Have we really become so politically correct that we now have to worry about offending lepers?  If it’s gotten to the point that we can’t even make fun of the damn lepers, than who are we allowed to make fun of? 

Well, I’m putting a stop to this right now.  You know what?  Fuck you, lepers.  I’d say that I wish you’d contact some hideous disease and die, but you’re already a goddamn leper.  At least stop complaining about children’s films long enough so you can hear me laughing at you.


Mar 28 2011

Go Team Venture!

by

I’m a big fan of The Venture Bros. on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup of programming.  Other than Robot Chicken, it’s the only Adult Swim cartoon I still watch.  The fourth season blu-ray just came out, and having already secured it and quickly wolfed down every morsel of its content, let me assure you that it is a worthy purchase indeed.  And the blu-ray really is the way to go.  The animation is gorgeous in high def.

But that’s not why I’m writing today.  Series co-creator Jackson Publick announced on his blog that not only has the show been renewed for two more pulse-pounding seasons, but a 90 minute TV movie is on the way as well.  That’s huge news, and frankly, a load off my mind, since every show I like gets cancelled after a few seasons, especially quirky niche shows like Venture Bros.

The finale of season four opened up a lot of interesting possibilities, and it’s great that they’ll have at least two more seasons to explore them.  One of my favorite things about the show is that the creators don’t just reset the status quo every episode.  Characters grow and change, taking full advantage of the serial nature of television.  A welcome surprise from a comedy cartoon that first appeared to be a straight forward parody of Johnny Quest, but has grown into an amazingly well-written show that tackles love, failure, growing up, and even death while still remaining funny and packed full of 60s throwback action.

So kudos to you, Team Venture.  Here’s to many more seasons of hilarity, heartbreak, and of course, adventure.


Mar 16 2011

New Thundercats Looks Animaybe Okay

by

Remember this business? Well now we’ve got a teaser:

So look. It’s VERY anime. And normally I’m not into that. Granted the original Thundercats was anime too, but 80s anime occupies a different, more loved spot in my conscious. At any rate, as much as I might normally turn away from this, my heart actually quickened a bit. For some reason, just seeing Wilykit and Wilykat jumping around, Tygra going all invisible, and Cheetara spinning that bo staff brought back so many awesome memories that I just have to believe the creators of the reboot have latched on to what made the original great. I’ll definitely give this show a chance. And when it fails me horribly, you’ll read about it here.

[Via Screened]


Feb 18 2011

Thundercats. Ho?

by

There’s been talk/threats of a reboot of my absolute favorite childhood cartoon, Thundercats, for quite some time. If you’re not familiar, this is what the original badass Thundercats were all about:

Recently, there’s been some buzz around a new animated series that’ll look like this:

So anime it hurts!

Ugh right? They took that neat hand-drawn style and replaced it with boring ol’ anime. What a disappointment.

But then there’s this little relic. Test footage from a scrapped Thundercats CG movie:

Wow. Suddenly I’m psyched for the new cartoon. It couldn’t possibly be worse than that.

[Via I Watch Stuff]


Dec 20 2010

Spider-Man Gagged Again, Batman Fills the Silence

by

I tell ya, this Spider-Man musical, huh? Am I right? The shakily-reviewed, fan-maligned, still unreleased Broadway debut of your friendly neighborhood wall-crawler has been delayed once again.  So what’s the deal this time?  More horrifying wrist injuries?  No, apparently, one of the main issues is that preview audiences have had a tough time following what the hell is going on.

/Film says that producers “have decided that the second act, which is where the show strays from the classic Spider-Man mythology, is unclear and needs to be tinkered with.”  So, first, great job fucking up the story of one of the most recognizable characters in popular fiction to such a degree that it’s not only disappointing, but flat out incomprehensible.

Second, if the whole point of a musical is to tell a story through music, I’m going to guess that the droning, generic contributions of Bono and THE EDGETM probably aren’t cutting it. Not a surprise, based on what we’ve already seen. C’mon, that could be a song about literally anything. What does it tell us about Spider-Man?

Luckily, Batman swoops in to the save the day. Not that probably-also-shitty Batman musical they’re cooking up. I’m talking about Christian Bale himself. Check out this interview where he actually starts to sing a song from Newsies. Sure, he stops after only two words, but it still made my day. Plus he transitions in the Powerpuff Girls theme for some reason, which is amazing in its own right. Any father who exposes his daughter to an excellent cartoon that’s been off the air for six years is a great dad in my book.

[Clip via Badass Digest]


Dec 13 2010

Visit Scenic Coyote Falls

by

Not a ton going down today, but remember that new CG animated Road Runner short WB was working on? Well here it is (in full this time), and you don’t have to suffer through some terrible Cats & Dogs movie to see it.

I dig it. It hit all the right beats, had me laughing out loud, then got out quickly. And it reminded me of Tangled, in that it was produced with CG, but was obviously tailored to look like its hand-drawn source material. Nice going, WB. Let’s see more where this came from, hopefully in front of better movies than Cats & Dogs.

[Via /Film]


Dec 8 2010

Critical End! (The Podcast) #74: Gargamel’s Travel Pants

by

The one where we DON’T complain about the 3D. REVIEWED: Tangled. PLUS: The only podcast with a “C Moon” joke.

Download it.

 

Subscribe in Logan Lee & Ryan DiGiorgi - Critical End! (The Podcast) - Critical End! (The Podcast) or via RSS.


Oct 26 2010

Cars 2: Audience 0

The teaser trailer for the upcoming sequel that nobody asked for Cars 2, is officially the first work from Pixar that has depressed me to no end.  Please announce in a few weeks that this was actually produced by Dreamworks:

What the hell is even going on here?!  Is this supposed to be some sort of Mission: Impossible spoof?  If so, you’re like a decade late on that, Pixar.  Oh, and I consider myself something of a fan of comedy, but can somebody PLEASE tell me what the joke is supposed to be?  Did I miss something (besides Cars 1 of course)?

Cars 2 will attack your good sense and wallet sometime next summer.  I’m sure it’ll be in 3D too, but c’mon, were you really planning on sending your kids to college?  I think not.


Oct 12 2010

Futurama You Didn’t Watch Now Watchable

Did you watch any of the new episodes of Futurama?  I ended up hearing mixed things.  Ryan liked it.  Some fat guy I carpool with hated it.  But the feeling I got from most people was sort of a “I could care less” vibe. 

Now you can care less on DVD and Blu-ray starting in December.  According to IGN, Futurama Vol.5, the first set to contain the new episodes, is heading your way on December 21st.  This is (barely) just in time for X’mas, which is great news as it means I don’t have to pay for something that may very well end up sucking.  

Oh, and IGN is also telling me that the set is going to “span two discs”.  Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t the other sets have four or five?  Was the new season really that short?  Hmmm.

Compliment or complain about the new Futurama season in our comment section below.


Sep 24 2010

Roger Rabbit CG Test from 1998

by

The idea of a Who Framed Roger Rabbit sequel has been around for a while.  Last time Zemeckis talked about it, he said Roger would definitely be in 2D, but just for fun, here’s some blurry video of a CG Roger test done 12 years ago.

[Via Fred Entertainment]


Sep 20 2010

Community Goes Claymationy for Christmas Episode

by

Man, this show just keeps catering to me more and more. It wasn’t enough to bring Chevy Chase and Joel McHale together in one half hour block of funny, now they’re upping the ante by announcing that this season will feature a stop-motion Christmas episode, presumably as an homage to the Rankin-Bass claymation specials of old.  Expect Abed to be referred to as a “misfit toy” at least once.

This news is even more exciting in that it marks one of very few times we’ve seen Chevy do an animated character.  He did the American version of Doogal a while back, and a few guest voices here and there, but it’s never been a major chunk of his career.  Which is a shame, since Fletch would have made an AWESOME animated series.  Imagine a cartoon Fletch strutting to this theme song and tell me I’m wrong…

Thanks to reader Todd for the tip!


Aug 11 2010

Critical Hit! | Cartoons That Went All Live Action on Us

by

Just add Jason Lee and call it a day. Hollywood can’t stop turning old cartoons and comics into flesh-and-blood talkin’ pictures.

Download it.

 

Subscribe in Logan Lee & Ryan DiGiorgi - Critical End! (The Podcast) - Critical End! (The Podcast) or via RSS.


Aug 9 2010

New Venture Bros? Oh yes please.

by

Come on, September…


Jul 23 2010

New Futurama Officially Worth Watching

by

Well, I really wanted to link you guys to a great interview that Can’t Get Enough Futurama did with one of the show’s writers.  It’s interesting both to fans of the show and anyone curious about TV writing in general.  Unfortunately, the site’s down or something.  It was fine this morning, but now it keeps asking for a password.  Click the link and maybe it will be working again by the time you read this.

In the meantime, I’m very happy to report that after two lackluster episodes, the new season of Futurama is finally hitting its stride.  The last three have all been worthy of the show’s original run.  If you’re not watching, you should be. Check the clip below for a taste.

Futurama Thursdays 10pm / 9c
Da Vinci’s Fabled Lost Invention
www.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes Futurama New Episodes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Jun 23 2010

Critical End! (The Podcast) #57: We hear he’s old and gay!

by

Please don’t mention Emily in this one.  My fragile heart can’t take it.  REVIEWED: Toy Story 3PLUS: Trailers and contest winners and gay jokes and things.

Download it.

 

Subscribe in Logan Lee & Ryan DiGiorgi - Critical End! (The Podcast) - Critical End! (The Podcast) or via RSS.