Change Your Image
ericstevenson
Reviews
Pitch Meetings: Twilight: New Moon (2020)
It's easy for Twilight
Here's a movie bad by Twilight standards. I honestly think this has the best example of the catch phrase, "I'm gonna need you to get all the way off my back now". The Screenwriter guy tells the Producer guy about how werewolves shed their clothes so they're shirtless. The Producer guy says, "Well, what about their pants?". Honestly, if I was in that situation, I'd probably say the same thing. Sometimes, the Screenwriter guy tries to justify something by saying that it looks cool.
He's talking about a scene where Bella throws a slice of pizza and it transitions to Jacob catching a wrench. It really isn't cool. The catch phrases used are, "So you have a Twilight sequel for me?" "Yes sir, I do", "Well okay, then", said, "All the way off of my back", "Unclear", "Exposing yourself in front of a crowd is tight!", "Oh wow, wow, wow, wow", and "Super easy, barely an inconvenience". Is that a new record with seven? I wonder if this series has more catch phrases than "Cinema Sins". They may have more per episode, but not more in total.
I loved seeing the slow motion scenes in this. That's the advantage of reviewing a movie that came out before the show started. You can use clips from it! You still really don't need to. Please never do a pitch meeting for "The Human Centipede". Unlike "CinemaSins", you have dignity, Ryan. ****
Wicked: Part I (2024)
Generally wonderful
This is a rather wacky Oz movie as it literally starts off with the Wicked Witch of the West (or rather Elphaba) being killed and we briefly see Dorothy and her friends! Granted, that's for a few seconds. Glinda tells them how the witch came to be wicked, so I guess it's her telling this whole story for hours. It shows Elphaba having these amazing magic powers that she can't control. She befriends fellow witch Galinda. She finds out that talking animals are being oppressed and are starting to not even learn how to talk.
She's invited to see the wizard of Oz himself in Emerald City and takes Galinda (or Glinda). The sets might be the best things of all as everything (all special effects) look absolutely amazing. The casting is perfect and it's the best Oz movie of any kind since the 1939 film. It is a bit too long, especially with that dance scene, considering how the movie is split into two parts. I never saw the play, but everyone saw the original movie. Considering there have literally been a dozen Oz movies, please watch this! ***1/2.
Admirable Animation (2013)
At least he doesn't hate "Star Wars" like YMS
"Admirable Animations" is a series talking about cartoons cartoon critic MrEnter likes. My favorite of his are probably the Gumball reviews. Anyway, the series is nowadays kind of odd because he's mentioned that he might just drop both this and "Animated Atrocities" and just review cartoons of any kind. I mean, that is what most YouTube critics do anyway. A lot of people seem to hate this guy, although this series has a considerably higher rating than "Animated Atrocities" here. He has had numerous controversies, including comments about vaccines and a 9/11 comment in his "Turning Red" review.
He still manages to acknowledge these mistakes and he comes off as more personal to me than most critics. Hey, when he gives a livestream he answers some of my questions without me having to pay money! Anyway, he's gone through a lot of pain in his life. I can associate with that. It's hard to hate someone I've been following for a long time who loves cartoons as much as I do. I really wish people would be more open to me and it's not like other critics haven't had widely different opinions like him. ***1/2.
Real Time with Bill Maher: Michael Douglas/John Heilemann/Sarah Isgur (2024)
This episode's popular
I don't normally review these episodes, but seeing how this is an important manner, I'll take this on. Michael Douglas is being interviewed with John Heilemann and Sarah Isgur. I do prefer it when I'm more familiar with the panelists. This episode talks about Trump's recent win. I have to give Maher credit as I was thinking he'd just cuss out the audience immediately. You'd have to touch a stingray to get him to really mock you.
Anyway, the big new rule was about the environment and pollution in the ocean. He's right when he says that it's hard to really get a good picture of a patch of garbage as it doesn't always float. Heck, I heard 90% of the ocean is unmapped! The worst thing Trump did was take away uniqueness from Grover Cleveland! Now he'll be another President who will serve two nonconsecutive terms! How dare you treat Grover Cleveland like that! ***1/2.
South Park: Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut (1998)
Take that, Eric Roberts
This is a follow up to the end of Season 1 and features Dr. Mephesto needing to come back after being shot. I love how they reference the Terrance and Philip episode. Anyway, this episode is especially hilarious because it features the adult characters being snowed in with the crew of "America's Most Wanted"...and Eric Roberts. They decide to eat Eric Roberts and later the AMW film crew. Here's a great joke I noticed. Mr. Garrison mentions that he's bringing home some of Eric Roberts in a doggy bag.
Now, why would they eat the crew if they weren't done eating Eric Roberts? The answer is because Eric Roberts is such a hated actor they wanted to leave some of him for later. I looked at RottenTomatoes and found out that Eric Roberts has been in more movies with a 0% than any other actor, by far. Most of those films did in fact come out after the episode, so the joke's even funnier now. It opens with Kenny magically reappearing. This contradicts later episodes that show he comes back to life by being reborn through his mother.
That's honestly probably a bigger question answered than who Cartman's father is. Dr. Mephesto claims Cartman's father is his mother, who is a hermaphrodite. The 201st episode revealed this was a lie and his real father is Jack Tenorman, one of the Denver Broncos. It makes a lot more sense than this explanation. We get a great sense of story and it makes us realize that "South Park" really did have some continuity even from the beginning. Lots of great jokes (especially regarding Eric Roberts) and while not a good explanation for now, still a great episode. ****
SpongeBob SquarePants: Just One Bite/The Bully (2001)
Weird deleted scene and a great old man joke
"Just One Bite", I could have sworn that this episode was aired before "The Bully" but apparently that only happened once and that was the version I saw? Speaking of which, this episode has a deleted scene where Squidward is burned with gasoline, but they thought it was too violent? I saw this scene when it was first aired, so I guess I was just lucky, but this is a show where later seasons featured a giant splinter in Spongebob's finger with pus coming out. Anyway, this episode makes no sense with continuity as "Your Shoe's Untied" featured Squidward eating tons of Krabby Patties, but he claims to have never had one before. There's also a Patty Vault, but why would Spongebob need to even make Krabby Patties? This is probably just a lack of continuity, but this is still funny as the phrase "Krabby Patty" is said 21 times in this episode! ***
"The Bully", I thought this episode (and the previous one) were parts of Season 2, but keep being listed as Season 3. Maybe that deleted scene had something to do with it? This episode features SpongeBob being bullied by Flats the Flounder who threatens to kick Spongebob's butt. In fact, the phrase "kicking butt" or a variant of is said 22 times in this episode! A previous episode showed Flats as a victim of Spongebob's alien hunting, which is quite brilliant in that it would give him motivation for wanting to kick Spongebob's butt. Many people criticize this episode for being mean, but Spongebob is safe in the end and I found it a wonderful episode, especially with the old man gag. ****
Cathy's Last Resort (1988)
I thought Cathy was more popular
This is a special based on the "Cathy" comic strip by Cathy Guisewite. Seeing as how I'm the first reviewer, I guess these cartoons never got popular. This one features Cathy going on vacation not with Irving, but Charlene. We get the gag of her trying on bathing suits. Some people from the "Peanuts" specials worked on this and it shows. I guess it's the black bead eyes.
At least Cathy's mom isn't as annoying as she is in the comic. Rob Paulsen probably states out as the voice of Irving. He sacrifices $500 and all his luggage just to be with Cathy! I honestly think he cares too much about her. Cathy became pretty easy to make fun of in modern times. I guess I would recommend it to fans. **
SpongeBob SquarePants: Arrgh!/Rock Bottom (2000)
What a high rating!
"Arrgh!", this episode features Spongebob and Patrick going on a treasure hunt with Mr. Krabs after playing a board game with him. I think the highlight is that it's an early occasion of Mr. Krabs and Patrick interacting. It's also nice to see Mr. Krabs get his just desserts. The funniest joke is probably when Spongebob yells, "Mr. Krabs! I wanna go to bed!". Good to see him stand up to him. I guess it's "Arrgh!" and not just the letter "R", 9/10.
"Rock Bottom", this is one of the highest rated episodes and I think I can understand better why watching it again. It features Spongebob going down deep on the wrong bus. I think it's interesting because he accidentally hurts the driver over and over at the beginning and then the buses actively avoid him. It really does give hidden depths to the episode if you think that the drivers were intentionally avoiding him because one was mad at him for getting hurt at the beginning. Of all the pain Spongebob goes through, it's nice to see him succeed at the end, especially when the resolution is pretty unexpected. I'm going to say the bathroom on the right is for males. 10/10. ****
Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue (1990)
Really looks dated
This is a special featuring popular 1980s cartoon characters telling kids how bad drugs are. The characters helped a kid named Mikey kick his marijuana habit. In modern times, we look to comedians to teach us how to live our lives because they're funnier than cartoon characters anyway. Seeing as how Bill Hicks, George Carlin, Denis Leary, Eric Andre, Doug Stanhope, Joe Rogan, Bill Maher, Russell Brand, and Zach Galifianakis are all pro-drug, I would have loved to see a special featuring some of them. The War on Drugs is now recognized as a disaster for the economy and this special highlights that. I could have sworn it was Ronald Reagan who promoted this special, but it was actually George H. W. Bush.
One would think the GI Joe characters would be in this seeing as how they did PSAs at the end of every episode of their cartoons. People are actually saying stuff "The Simpsons" says wouldn't fly by today? How about something as ridiculously preachy as this? There's the occasional good joke, life Alf threatening to eat Garfield. It's just propaganda under the guise of seeing popular cartoon characters together. Makes me glad the "Peanuts" gang wasn't involved. *1/2.
Futurama: Otherwise (2024)
Don't worry, it's not ever
What a funny coincidence. "The Simpsons" was itself joking about having a final episode recently. This episode features the Planet Express being destroyed. Fry is left behind after having weird memories, but saved. Fry then tries to propose to Leela after they get a new ship. They hear about a ghost ship, which Fry believes to be the Planet Express.
They get into a fight with Zapp Brannigan's ship and he comes to them in an escape pod. They're attacked by a third ship and Zapp allows Fry and Leela to be married right before they die... Of course, it was an alternate reality and they're just fine. No, this isn't the last episode, but fitting for the last episode for the year. There's some pretty good jokes and a nice reminder of how the show works. It's definitely not great, but very nice. ***
Futurama: The Futurama Mystery Liberry (2024)
Better than the last one at least
This was an anthology series and it was definitely better than the previous one, but overall, it still wasn't good. It features parodies of Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift (which I haven't heard of). "South Park" took on the Hardy Boys better, because it was funny for someone who hadn't read the books. This did in fact have a good twist. The second was a Tintin parody. I used to be more familiar with Tintin, but now I've forgotten a lot of it.
This was the best as it also had a pretty good twist, although it does raise the question of how Wernstrom's skeleton appeared "before" he was crushed. The animation was quite authentic. The third segment was the "Encyclopedia Brown" parody called "Wikipedia Brown". I love that title, but the plot changes and Neil deGrasse Tyson's appearance just seemed phoned in, like many Simpsons celebrity guest stars. It was nice to see some celebrities with their entire bodies. First segment gets **1/2, second gets ***, and third gets **, which averages out to a **1/2 for me. **1/2 (already wrote that)
Futurama: Cuteness Overlord (2024)
Possibly the best episode this season
This episode features toys called the Fuzzy Funbags. I believe they are sort of a cross between Beanie Babies and Pokemon. Zapp and Kif investigate a ship where the crew has been killed, presumably by something that stowed away on the ship of the Planet Express. Meanwhile, Amy starts collecting the Fuzzy Funbags after going to an orphanage with her kids. I liked this episode because it showed Amy as a caring mother. She really did feel regret collecting all the Funbags.
The Funbags were the ones that killed the crew and they're being led by Cashew Cuttlefish. I like how, with the exception of Cashew, the Funbags are never shown moving. It can be a double-edged sword as some scenes appear to be boring. I can understand why Amy is one of my favorite characters. While not a classic (are any of these really) this was quite enjoyable. Its problem is that it does need more jokes, but the plot is still solid. ***
Futurama: Planet Espresso (2024)
Eh, I've seen better
This was another episode that ended with no real ending. It actually starts off really good, with Hermes' father dying and then he and Farnsworth finding an underground spaceship. They discover that coffee was delivered to Earth from an alien species in a ship that crash landed before they could harvest their best coffee. The second half was a bit disappointing. It seemed like it went by too fast. The Planet Express then rebrands itself to sell coffee.
It was nice to see Mom again, even though it's a shame she won in the end. Even worse, the end reveals that the aliens wanted to give the coffee to humans so they could eventually enslave them. Like last week, the ending seems too rushed. It could have used more jokes. It was still nice to learn more about Hermes. You rarely see him interact with Professor Farnsworth. **1/2.
Futurama: Attack of the Clothes (2024)
Some good ideas at least
This episode's funniest joke was at the beginning when Fry was the only one to strap himself to the couch. Sadly, it goes downward from there. This episode features Professor Farnsworth building a giant sewing machine after re-animating a headless corpse. He gives the body to Cara Delevingne. I've never even heard of her. It is interesting to see a head gain a body.
Hi, Barack Obama! Anyway, all of the clothes are discarded after one day, although I thought he said they'd dissolve on their own. The ending seemed too silly, with the clothes just randomly appearing on Earth. Definitely some good jokes, but it lacked plot structure. Zoidberg's as funny as ever. It was cool to see those moths. ***
Futurama: One Is Silicon and the Other Gold (2024)
Pretty good, but not the best
This episode has a strange way of storytelling. It features the characters (except Leela) going to a place called Infyrno Fest. It ends up horrible, but the characters seem to like it. Leela has friends with an AI named Chelsea during the time, but wants some real female friends. Amy offers to recruit her to a book club. They grow tired of books so they decide to become wine tasters instead.
The boys form their own book club. Chelsea gets jealous of the book club and attacks them by killing the girl, Phoebe. It's revealed Phoebe was a robot Chelsea had control over. This was a guise to get Leela closer to her friends. I think the problem was that this episode was too plot heavy. It still had good jokes and it was nice to see Leela make new friends. ***
Futurama: Beauty and the Bug (2024)
Maybe the best this season
This episode features Bender becoming a bugaloo fighter. I have to admit that I thought it would focus on Amy at first, and now that I think about it, she's probably one of my favorite characters. Well, maybe just because she's hot. It was interesting to learn more about the Bugaloo, as they have rather cool designs. These giant beetles acting like bulls are pretty cool. It really did keep up my interest the whole time, mostly because of the mystery of their intelligence.
Professor Farnsworth scans them and sees they have no brain. When they all talk to Bender, you wonder what's really going on. Is this some dream? Anyway, it turns out they can talk when gathered together to form a hive mind. They actually did raise some interesting thoughts about bulls. I liked the female robot in this, but knew Bender was promiscuous. ***
Futurama: The Temp (2024)
That was very strange
This episode starts with a guy claiming to be Fry who obviously isn't him. He goes to a wedding anniversary with the crew. It's revealed that 23 years ago, he was a temp who was abandoned on a planet of rotting books. Loved that 2029 book joke. 23 years later, he comes back and uses hypnotism to make people think he's Fry and leaves Fry on the book planet for six weeks. The crew eventually remembers they left someone on that planet and find Fry.
The temp (wow, I really did forget his name!) shows that he learned hypnotism. I knew he did, but it was good to have an explanation. Well, everyone seems to think this was a good episode, but I still didn't think it was great. I thought it needed more jokes, but did have some great ones. I actually could feel for Frank (that was his name!) and it was a great set up with how he hadn't replaced Fry for 23 years. Yeah, how could he? ***
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Not as good as the first two, but still good
This movie features Deadpool being even more distraught over the death of Logan from the "Logan" film. He is then recruited for a chance to be in the MCU. I haven't even seen or recognized the MCU cameos in this! He looks (and eventually finds) another Wolverine to save his timeline from being wiped out. He's thrown into the Void where unwanted Marvel characters go, with more hilarious jokes, but a few weak points. I thought we'd see the other versions of Wolverine face off against the other Deadpools!
Anyway, as someone who's read Deadpool, I recognize some of these versions of Deadpool. I do wish he had gotten the girl in the end. It drags on a bit in the middle, but still has fine performances from everyone! There's tons of great action scenes, even if the serious scenes aren't the best. I love that montage of behind-the-scenes footage during the credits, even if it's from an awful movie like the 2015 Fantastic Four! I guess it wasn't quite a sendoff to the X-Men franchise (or at least with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine), but probably more of a sendoff to 20th Century Fox! ***
Futurama: Quids Game (2024)
I enjoyed it at least
This was an improvement from the previous episode. It features Fry and a ton of minor characters celebrating his birthday. Then they go to another planet and are sucked into a parody of "Squid Game". I went to the "Honest Trailers" and "Pitch Meetings" videos on them to understand the show. I certainly heard of it before. The characters are slowly killed off with each game.
I thought that they were just creating an illusion that they were dying. I was half right. The characters came back to life easily at the end. The flashbacks with Fry's childhood were kind of weird, as it ended by revealing Fry's mother cheated for him in his birthday party games. I guess it was supposed to be heartwarming. In the end, Fry did prove that he's not a cheater. ***
Futurama: The One Amigo (2024)
Not that bad
This episode is about NFTs. It features Bender making and selling some. After a museum takes them, Bender goes to Mexico to learn about more about his roots. He meets a guy who is apparently his cousin. Wow, how convenient! This definitely had some funny moments.
I like how they talk about stuff that happened from 2000 to 3000. Still, the fact that the episode is about NFTs is pretty unsatisfactory. "Futurama" doesn't need to rely on stuff that's dated. Well, it does take place in the future, so maybe it does make sense? This was just okay. I don't know why they thought the fall would kill him. **1/2.
SpongeBob SquarePants: SpongeBob Meets the Strangler/Pranks a Lot (2004)
So long, old series
"Spongebob Meets The Strangler", fantastic episode and a good way to end Stephen Hillenburg's run on the show. This was originally intended to be the last episode of "Spongebob Squarepants" PERIOD. Now we're up to 15 seasons! This episode features SpongeBob coming across the Tattletale Strangler. After getting him arrested, the Strangler escapes and disguises himself as Spongebob's bodyguard to strangle him. Everything goes wrong.
It's hilarious how this episode just escalates everything. How many parties can Spongebob have? The funniest thing might be Spongebob's cleats getting stuck in the Strangler's eyes. I mean, I love how they show a shot of him with normal shoes and then in the next shot which shows the same thing, he has cleats on out of nowhere. It's great to see the Strangler slowly go insane and then just quit going after Spongebob altogether. Wouldn't Squidward notice who he was given how smart Squidward usually is? ****
"Pranks A Lot", another great episode, but not as good as the first. I wish this would have aired first as it's not as good. This episode features Spongebob and Patrick using invisible spray to fool people into thinking they're ghosts. I love at the end how they do everything to stop Mr. Krabs from leaving the Krusty Krab. Wait, how did Mr. Krabs gather everyone at the end? Who cares, it's funny and it's sadly when this show should have ended. ***1/2.
Twisters (2024)
Like the first one? You'll like this more
"Twisters" tells the story of a woman named Kate who lost most of her friends to a twister to study it. Years later, she's brought back in to study an outbreak of tornadoes in Oklahoma. She meets a rival named Tyler. These are indeed elements of the first film, but they're actually done better. Tyler is first made out to be a villain like the first film had, but he actually becomes a valuable ally. The first film featured a romance and this really doesn't.
They even do a nice subversion of meeting the love interest at the airport trope. They have enough time and she isn't even a love interest. This movie does indeed escalate as it gives us six twisters! What's amazing is that it's actually done in a more realistic manner than the first movie. I liked the first one, but this is a better follow up, even though it's more of a remake than a sequel. There's no characters from the first movie and while that did confuse me, this is still a good summer flick. ***
Drawn Together (2004)
Not for those easily offended
This is one of the most insane cartoons ever created and probably the weirdest non-anime cartoon of all time. Most people remember this show for being crude, but I remember it for being utterly insane. The focuses on eight housemates who are all parodies of various cartoons. That's really all you need to know. In the first episode, Toot dies four times and comes back with no explanation. There's a million cameras watching what the characters do and yet it's arguably the most unrealistic cartoon ever created.
I mean, in the words of my favorite movie "The Princess Bride" that's inconceivable. I even went to TVTropes myself and said that nothing happens in the show other than to be as funny as possible under the "Headscratchers" page and everyone just shut up. Let's get into the actual quality of the show, shall we? It's not for all tastes, as it is well, rather crude but these really are people who try their hardest to put in as many jokes in as short a time as possible, which I simply can't help but admire. Ling-Ling is my favorite character (if only because I'm a huge "Pokemon" fan), so it's a shame that he was the least focused on character, which is probably the only reason why this doesn't get a perfect 10. Some people say it declined in its third season, but I don't really see it.
Nowadays, we're getting even grosser shows like "Big Mouth". This still has some really great voicing and both Tara Strong and Cree Summer, two of the most prolific voice actresses of all time, have stated this show has the best characters they ever voiced (Toot and Foxxy Love, respectively). Yeah, I do think Captain Hero was focused on a bit too much. Also in the first episode, Xandir announced that he died 8,293,506 times saving his girlfriend, this giving him more deaths than all other fictional characters in history and by far the greatest boyfriend ever...and he's gay. Some people consider "A Very Special Drawn Together Afterschool Special" to be the best episode, but that episode is so utterly insane, I can't even give it a standard rating. So in a very strange way, I do recommend this show for trying to have as many jokes as possible with legitimately funny characters who do have distinct personalities, but don't expect to try to comprehend this insanity or your head will explode. ***1/2.
The Angry Beavers (1997)
A great underappreciated cartoon
This NickToon might be forgotten by a lot of people, but please don't let that be the case. Some NickToons of this time were pretty hit and miss and this was a definite hit. It tells the story of two beavers, Norbett and Daggett who live together and...basically just do random cartoonish stuff. There's supporting characters who are pretty goofy too. The humor goes on and the animation is extremely nice and fits the surreal tone. Daggett is of course the best character.
I honestly think that Richard Steven Horvitz may be the greatest voice actor of all time. He can take any character and make him hilarious. The way he plays off Norbett really suits the personality he grants upon his voice. It's hard to take consistency into this show, as it frequently just has stuff happen for no reason. Horvitz is great at just taking random words and making them hilarious like "doom" or "nuts". I even learned some stuff like this, like how beavers never stop growing their teeth. ***1/2.
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
One of the best Looney Tunes cartoons ever
I guess it would be silly for me to summarize the plot of a 7 minute cartoon, but I'll still try my best. Daffy reads his favorite Dick Tracey comic and dreams about being "Duck Twacey". Just the way he says that is funny. All the town's piggy banks are missing, including his own. This cartoon might be most notable for being John K.'s (the creator of "Ren And Stimpy") favorite cartoon. Seeing all the dirt we've dug up on that guy, we might not hold that opinion to a high standard anyway.
While the entire cartoon is amazing, it's near the end that solidifies it as a masterpiece. I'll never forget Duck Twacy listing all the villains. The designs and colors put into their appearances are absolutely amazing. It's even great to see how they're drawn after their debuts. I'm not sure where these villains come from, with the exceptions of obviously Batman and Wolfman. It deserves to be timeless as you don't need to be familiar with Dick Tracey to love this.
There was one cameo by a character resembling Flattop who wasn't even among the villains that Twacy listed. It might be the most apparent Dick Tracey reference. It's timeless enough for us to recognize Sherlock Holmes! It's one of Bob Clampett's best, who might rank next to Tex Avery as my favorite animator. The expressions are absolutely amazing. Yes, this might be even better than Daffy in the Hunter trilogy. ****