It's pretty West Wing core but there's no denying the jolt of adrenaline it sends down your spine to open a movie with Piglet condemning an 18 year old to death by electrocution.
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The Trial 1962
Welles understands something about Kafka that lots of people seem to miss: he's really funny. There's a comic Unreal Engine animating all of this, keeping Anthony Perkins clipping in and out of view and running into walls. Obviously there's significant dramatic weight here but when you cook the arugula of importance down you're left with the same takeaway as when Larry Fine steps on a nail and crosses his eyes: "that would suck if it happened to me"
Perkins is…
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Mothra vs. Godzilla 1964
This was my second favorite Godzilla film as a kid. A close second after Ebirah, Horror of the Deep which must've accrued hundreds of rewatches and is probably in the running for my most watched movie of all-time, neck and neck with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and All Dogs Go To Heaven. But we're not talking Fukuda joints right now. We're talking Mothra vs. Godzilla. I can't claim any sort of expertise in the Godzilla franchise, having only logged a…
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Day of the Animals 1977
Leslie Nielsen's work with Zucker, Abrams, and Zucker casts a long shadow over his earlier dramatic work. Even when he's killing dudes on a mountain with his shirt off I'm laughing. This is probably not "fair" to this movie but so be it. There are calves out there born with parasitic worms that eat their eyeballs. I think this movie can come down off the cross.
What am I even complaining about? I liked this. Get a grip, Branson.
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Shocker 1989
John Tesh and Timothy Leary together at last! This is like Heat for the weirdest guy to ever live. Although maybe that's not true. Tesh and Leary never actually share a scene. So actually this is more like The Godfather part 2 for that guy.
Another letterboxd home run from Branson Reese!
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The Screwy Truant 1945
I cannot overstate how funny it is to me every time these Screwy Squirrel shorts open with a painting of Screwy Squirrel's big smiling face. You can practically hear the audiences screaming and rushing for the exits while I look on through a window from eighty years in the future, cackling and wearing a black shirt marked "SICKOS"
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Screwball Squirrel 1944
Screwy Squirrel. Where do you even start?
I know people are mixed on Screwy Squirrel, and I'll concede that sometimes he feels like Tex Avery in Michael Haneke drag, but you people are weak. Weak, do you hear me? Weak! More of a test of audience patience than a proper character, Screwy Squirrel has been called Tex Avery's id but I reject that reading outright. We never see Screwy Squirrel lay pipe. Some id! Besides, I don't think Avery had…
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The Hick Chick 1946
When we lived in Pittsburgh my friend Graham once remarked that he knew he loved it because he loved the ugly parts of it. I feel that way about LA but more importantly I feel that way about Tex Avery. This is about as close to a dud as he ever made for MGM and I still laughed over ten times in seven minutes. That's about as bad as it gets with me and Tex.
Not too many highlights here…
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Batty Baseball 1944
Most theatrical shorts give you zero gags where the setup is somebody inadvertently causing another person's death and then the punchline is a look of guilt and remorse moves across their face as they consider the weight of their actions. This one gives you two. A steal at twice the price!