[SHORTS REVIEW] Too Many Cooks (2014)

 

OR

Title: Too Many Cooks

Genre: Horror / Surrealism / Fantasy / Comedy

Company: Adult Swim

Directed by: Casper Kelly

Year: 2014

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: TV MA

Buy on:  N/A

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE! 

So, the short introduces the Cook Family and the short basically started out as a spoof on the sitcoms of the 1980s and the 1990s.  But as the short goes on, it turns out that a certain serial killer has entered the show and he starts turning everything upside down...

So, when I heard about this short through Adult Swim, I was wondering about why everyone was talking about this short and why this short went viral on YouTube.  So, I finally checked out this short and man, was this short awesome and crazy!  What I loved so much about this short was how it subverted your expectations.  When the short first started, it was basically an affectionate parody of the sitcoms from the 1980s and the 1990s.  But as the short goes on, it suddenly turns into a surreal short full of horror elements, especially once the serial killer enters the scene.  Also, I loved how the short takes it time to build up the horror elements throughout the short and really made the tension in the story quite intense. Another thing that I liked about this short was the music.  The music essentially replays the theme song "Too Many Cooks" over and over again throughout the short.  Even though this would be something that would annoy many people, the repeating music actually helped made this short really stand out as the narrative is dictated by the theme song.  While the theme song sounds very catchy and lighthearted, it actually becomes much more disturbing once the theme song starts playing throughout the more morbid scenes of this short.

My only minor issue with this short is that it can be a bit confusing to understand, due to the short not really going into details about the characters' backstories.  Now, I understand that this short is not meant to be something deep (at least, on the surface).  But, I can't help but be curious about the backstories of these characters, especially of the killer.  I actually had to look up information about the killer in order to understand his character a bit more.

Overall, "Too Many Cooks" is easily one of the best Adult Swim shorts I had ever seen!  The fact that this short managed to subvert your expectations in such an intriguing and frightening way really made this a treat to watch!  I highly recommend this short if you are a fan of shorts that have unexpected plot twists and catchy theme songs!

• Face Like a Frog
• Slow Bob in the Lower Dimensions
• Quasi at the Quackadero

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[HORROR MOVIE CORNER] Hocus Pocus (1993)

Hello horror movie fans! Welcome to the all-new "Horror Movie Corner," where I talk about the horror movies that I have seen over the years!  So, this week's horror movie that I will be reviewing is Disney's cult Halloween classic "Hocus Pocus!"

OR

Title: Hocus Pocus

Starring:  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Thora Birch, Omri Katz

Genre:  Comedy / Horror / Adventure

Company:   Disney

Directed by: Kenny Ortega

Year: 1993

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG - For Some Scary Sequences, and for Language.

Buy on:   Blu-Ray.com  //  Amazon  //  Best Buy

This movie has some scary sequences that involves children being put into danger and some light language.  

The movie starts off with a young boy named Thackery Binx who finds out that his little sister Emily is missing and he goes out to search for her.  It was then that he finds out that the Sanderson Sisters, three sisters who are witches, had kidnapped her and Thackery tries to save Emily.  But unfortunately, the Sanderson Sisters ended up sucking out Emily's soul in order to make themselves younger and Thackery is too late to save her.  The Sanderson Sisters than put a curse on Thackery that turns him into a black cat for all eternity.  But then, the villagers caught up with the Sanderson Sisters and ended up hanging them.  But not before Winifred, the head witch, places a curse that they will be resurrected once a "virgin" lights the candle on Halloween.  The movie then fast forwards to the year 1993 and we are introduced to Max and his little sister Dani.  Max is having a horrible time in his new home in Salem, while Dani is adjusting to Salem just fine.  Then on Halloween night, Max decided to light the candle that would resurrect the Sanderson Sisters, despite both Dani and Allison telling him not to.  The Sanderson Sisters are then resurrected and they decided to continue their plan of sucking out the souls out of the children of Salem to make themselves younger.  Now, Dani, Max, Allison and now Binx, who is a black cat at this point, have to try to stop the Sandereson Sisters before it's too late!

Wow!  I'm actually surprised that I enjoyed this movie as much as I did!  When I first heard about this movie, I was a bit intrigued about what this movie was all about.  So, when I finally watched this movie, I was completely hooked!  I liked the fact that the movie tackled the subject of sibling relationships and how important it is to care about your siblings, no matter how annoying they can be.  This was best shown between the Sanderson Sisters, Thackery and his little sister Emily and Max and his little sister Dani.  The Sanderson Sisters are like the negative side of the sibling relationship as Winifred abuses her younger sisters Mary and Sarah and wouldn't think of protecting them.  Thackery and Emily are on the more positive side of the sibling relationship as Thackery truly cares about his sister Emily, although he failed to save her.  And then we have Max and Dani who are in the middle as they argue with each other a lot, but they would do anything to protect each other.  I also loved the way that the movie had a nice balance between horror and comedy as I laughed out loud during the Sanderson Sisters' crazy antics and yet, I was a bit scared for the children being threatened with death throughout this film.  Especially during the scene where Emily, a little girl , ends up dying at the beginning of the movie.  I especially loved the actors' performances in this film, with the Sanderson Sisters being the best part of the film.  Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy did a fantastic job at portraying the Sanderson Sisters as they were so hilarious and entertaining to watch! I also enjoyed Thora Birch's performance as Dani as she made Dani quite snarky yet energetic at the same time.

The only issues that I had with this film was that I felt that the protagonists were a bit too flat and I wished that they had explained the backstories of some of the characters.  Even though Max and Allison were interesting characters, they weren't as entertaining as the Sanderson Sisters and the only protagonists that were pretty entertaining were Dani and Binx the Cat.  Also, I would like to know how the Sanderson Sisters became witches in the first place (although it was implied that the Devil gave them their powers).

Overall, "Hocus Pocus" is a fantastic film that both children and adults will enjoy!  It balances horror and humor very well and it has some of the best performances from Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy!

[SHORTS REVIEW] The Snails (Les Escargots) (1966)

OR

Title: The Snails

Original Title: Les Escargots

Country: France

Genre: Horror / Surrealism / Fantasy

Company: Sofac

Directed by: Rene Laloux

Year: 1966

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: N/A

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Best Buy 

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE!

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The short starts off with an old farmer who is trying to make his vegetables grow, but they will not grow.  Finally, the old farmer got so distressed about the whole thing that he started crying and it was then that the vegetables started to grow due to his tears.  The old farmer then continued growing his vegetables by using his tears to water the vegetables and the vegetables eventually grew to massive sizes.  Unfortunately, the next morning, the old farmer wakes up to find a bunch of giant snails, that were the size of houses, crawling around in his garden.  It turns out that the snails ended up eating the farmer's vegetables during the night and the vegetables caused the snails to grow to an enormous size.

It was then that the giant snails ended up going to the city, causing destruction and mayhem in their wake!

Wow!  I was quite amazed and a bit creeped out by this strange little short!  After watching "Fantastic Planet," which was by the same creator and actually came out several years after this short, I was thinking to myself about whether or not I would actually see another animated film that was just as weird as "Fantastic Planet."  Well, "The Snails" was definitely just as weird as "Fantastic Planet," although in a different way. "Fantastic Planet" took place on another planet, while "The Snails" takes place on Earth and yet, things get weird midway through the short once the snails appear.  I loved the way that the short went in a completely different direction midway through as the short started off lighthearted with the farmer trying to grow his garden, to a bit odd as he used his own tears to make the garden grow and then to pure terror when the snails started growing in size and started terrorizing the people in the city.  The animation was quite unique as the characters move in a very jerky way and always have exaggerated expressions on their faces that just adds on to the weirdness of this short.  The animation also reminded me a bit of Terry Gilliam's animations in the animated segments of the "Monty Python's Flying Circus" TV series.

The only problem that I had with this short is that there were times where the short sort of dragged on and the pacing was a bit slow at some places that I was hoping that we actually got to the main point of the story much faster.  Also, for anyone who does not like nudity, there is one brief scene of a topless woman that might be a bit problematic for some people.  Also, I was a bit confused by some of the scenes, although the whole point of this short is to be as weird as possible.

Overall, "The Snails" is truly a treat to watch if you are a huge fan of "Fantastic Planet" and if you wanted to watch an animated short that is similar in tone and style to "Fantastic Planet!"

[SHORTS REVIEW] Quasi at the Quackadero (1976)

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Title: Quasi at the Quackadero

Starring:  Sally Cruikshank and Kim Deitch

Genre: Fantasy / Science Fiction / Comedy 

Company: N/A

Directed by: Sally Cruikshank

Year: 1976

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: N/A

Buy on:  N/A

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE!

The short is about how two "ducks" named Quasi and Anita, along with their robot friend Rollo decided to go to a strange amusement park called the Quackadero.  It was there that the three "supposed" friends saw all kinds of surreal activities going on, such as having their thoughts painted on pictures and going through several time traveling dimensions.  Also, Anita and Rollo are plotting against Quasi and want to get rid of him.

Wow! I can't believe that I've never seen this animated short before until just recently!  I bet that if I had watched this animated short when I was little, I would have loved it! "Quasi at the Quackadero" is certainly one of the WEIRDEST animated shorts I have ever seen!  Sally Cruikshank (who had also done animation work for "Sesame Street" during the 1980s) had done an awesome job at animating this short as the characters and the wacky world that they live in come to life and I have to say that this animation was very well done for the 1970s!  I also loved the fact that there are so many details going on in the animation like there was one scene where a circus master of sorts was yelling at his crew and you can see a strange creature pop out of his pants for no reason at all.  I was also entertained by the bantering between Quasi and Anita, as I found it interesting that while they went out to the Quackadero together, it seems like they can't stand each other and I was interested in seeing how Anita and Rollo will get rid of Quasi towards the end of the short.

The only problem with this short is that it can be rather confusing at times, especially during the scenes where Quasi, Anita and Rollo go to the Quackadero.  Also, if you are not a huge fan of bizarre imagery, this short has plenty of bizarre imagery that might creep out some viewers.  And another thing, even though this aspect is probably not that important to the story, I would have loved to see more from Anita, Quasi and Rollo's relationship with each other since I wanted to know why they treat each other so terribly.

Overall, "Quasi at the Quackadero" is one of the most bizarre yet creative animated shorts I have ever seen and I can't wait to check out the sequel "Make Me Psychic" someday!

[MOVIE REVIEW] Return to Oz (1985)

OR

Title: Return to Oz

Starring:  Fairuza Balk , Nicol Williamson and Jean Marsh

Genre: Fantasy / Horror / Alternate World / Friendship

Company:  Walt Disney Company

Directedby: Walter Murch

Year: 1985

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: Rated PG

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Best Buy  //  Blu-Ray.com

 Dorothy Gale had just come back from the Land of Oz, but when she tried to tell her aunt and uncle about her adventures in Oz, they thought that Dorothy had gone crazy, so they decided to take her to a doctor that will give her treatment for her insanity.  The treatment turns out to be shock therapy and Dorothy, with a little help from a mysterious girl, escapes from the mental hospital and ended up in the land of Oz once again.  But, once Dorothy arrives in Oz, she discovers that the Land of Oz has been taken over by the Nome King and that the Scarecrow, who was the King of Oz, has been kidnapped by the Nome King.  So, Dorothy along with some help from a pumpkin man named Jack Pumpkinhead, a mechanical robot named Tik-Tok, her hen Billina and a half moose half sofa creature named the Gump try to journey to the Nome King's kingdom to rescue the Scarecrow, while encountering nightmarish creatures such as Princess Mombi and the Wheelers along the way.

Now I have a confession to make.  Whenever I talked to people who have seen "Return to Oz" when they were little, many people were terrified of this movie when they were kids.  Me however, I wasn't that scared of the movie when I was little and I actually found it to be pretty interesting and I still find it pretty interesting to this very day!  This movie has actually turned my expectations on its head as it is a much darker sequel to "The Wizard of Oz" that has caused some controversy among "Oz" fans and yet, it was pulled off extremely well to make it stand out from "The Wizard of Oz." The surprising thing about all this is that this was the most faithful adaptation of L. Frank Baum's "Oz" books in terms of tone, even though "The Wizard of Oz" is hailed as one of the greatest movies of all time.  What I really loved about this movie was the fact that it was darker and edgier than "The Wizard of Oz" and the villains in this movie seem genuinely threatening and are actually out to harm Dorothy and her friends.  Probably my favorite scenes in this movie were any scenes with the Nome King as he seems to be friendly towards Dorothy and her friends, but you can tell that he has some evil intentions up his sleeves and he actually means to trick Dorothy into a sense of security in order to manipulate her throughout her adventures.  I loved the new friends that Dorothy makes along the way, especially Tik-Tok and Jack Pumpkinhead as they were truly original and fun to see on screen.

Parents should know that this movie can be pretty terrifying for small children.  There are many scenes where Dorothy and her friends are in constant peril and are in danger of being killed by the vllains.  Also, there are some genuinely scary scenes such as the scene where Dorothy accidentally wakes up a headless Princess Mombi, who tries to capture Dorothy and the scenes with the Wheelers.  Parents might want to screen this movie first before showing it to their children.  Also, the reason why I took off half a point from the rating was because the movie can get pretty confusing at times and it was hard for me to follow what exactly happened in the plot at times.

Overall, "Return to Oz" is a truly enjoyable film that "Oz" fans would enjoy extremely well!  However, this movie can get pretty scary at times, so watch this film with extreme caution.

• The Nightmare Before Christmas
• Coraline
• Corpse Bride