Skibz777

I've been a Troma fan ever since I was a small child, and I can say with confidence that the majority of the company's non-Lloyd Kaufman films tend to be…well, junk. I've wasted many, many hours of my life wading through some of Troma's most despicable pictures, but every once in a while I have the luck to stumble upon a true hidden gem, and "Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo" is one of them.

Despite the "terror" that the DVD box promises us, "Frostbiter" is most definitely a comedy. More so, it's a straight-up parody of the "Evil Dead" movies: after a decades-long curse is disrupted, an army of ghouls and demonic forces see fit to attack the residents of a remote cabin in the woods, and before you know it, one of our shotgun-toting heroes has lost his right hand and a giant stop-motion tree-like monster is attacking the cabin. Just about every major plot point from "Evil Dead" 1 and 2 is spoofed, but it's all done with a knowing wink n' smile, and all approached in the same Raimi-esquire Three Stoogian fashion.

Yes, it's stupid, and no, it doesn't adhere to anything remotely resembling logic, but it's consistently entertaining, and that's mostly because it's considerably well-made for its minuscule budget. The jokes, although mostly low-brow, are funny, the editing keeps the manic comic pace constant throughout the film, and the cinematography is rather good, especially during the action scenes: whenever one of those puppets comes to assault the protagonists, the camera goes into "Coen Brothers mode", whipping around frenetically, exaggerating close-ups, skewing perspectives…although said rubber puppets are insanely silly-looking and hardly plausible, one can't help but get involved in the scene.

As with any low-budget picture, though, "Frostbiter" suffers from uneven acting: some of the actors were decent enough, but a few were distractingly terrible. At the center of the cast is Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton, who goofily hams up each of his scenes, coming off as a mix somewhere between a hyper Bill Murray and a subdued Chris Farley. Asheton isn't the best actor, no, but his sheer over-the-top presence seems to fit the zany tone of the movie quite well, and works excellently in comparison to the rest of the cast, who play their roles straight.

'Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo' isn't the best Troma film, nor might it appeal to everyone within the Troma fan base, but it's certainly one of their better horror-comedies, and definitely worth a look for fans of offbeat horror or the "Evil Dead" series.

I would not label myself as an Adult Swim connoisseur, but I've watched enough of it to realize that it's quality has greatly declined in the last few years. Though AS was and is more a showcase for offbeat, randomness-based humor than top-notch animation, recent programs have begun to severely push the limits of tolerable quality in both fields - that is to say, they aren't funny and the animation sucks (there is no excuse for '12 Oz. Mouse'. There is no excuse.).

By no means is 'Superjail' adult swim's saving grace. In terms of premise, it's no surprise it'd be in their programming block (a violent, surrealist comedy set in a violent, surrealist futuristic prison), nor is it quite chock full of gutbusting humor or even a foreseeable future beyond one or two seasons (but I feel I'm being too harsh).

See, what makes 'Superjail' stand out far above it's fellow Adult Swim shows is it's art. In a complete 180 from AS' usual preference of poorly animated Flash cartoons, 'Superjail' is psychedelic, vivid and detailed, recalling the best of early 90s alternative comics and cartoons (think Mike Judge and 'Liquid Television'). Each second of animation is pure mania, crammed with as much action as the eye can take, but never in a way that seems too busy or distracting. It's a sheer blast to the senses and you can't take your eyes off it. Simply, the art breathes with LIFE, which is a lot more than I could say about...well, ANY Adult Swim cartoon.

Not to say that the art is the show's only positive point; the consistently hilarious David Wain (of 'Wet Hot American Summer' and 'Stella') supplies the voice of "The Warden", the series' protagonist who, though slightly two-dimensional, is just as lively and wild as the animation, both in character and voice. And, though not as often as I'd have liked to, I had a hard chuckle here and there at some of the show's clever 'ATHF'-esque use of non-sequiturs ("four hearts was one too many", indeed).

Though it certainly won't become the next 'SeaLab' (or whatever), 'Superjail' is definitely worth the time for those into offbeat animation or anyone who just wants to see something *different* on TV for once. I only hope that the demented aesthetics 'Superjail' will spark a similar line of Adult Swim shows in the future and get the block back on the right track...after all, future generations simply can't endure another "Assy McGee"...

I've always been a bit disappointed that 'Futurama' is coming back. It's not that I don't like the show, quite the contrary: it's the finest animated television program I've ever had the pleasure of viewing. The characters, the character development, the animation, the writing, the acting...it's eons above any other contemporary cartoon I've seen, and that includes 'The Simpsons'. It's hysterically funny, and at times, rather touching (was there a dry eye in the house when we first watched "Jurassic Bark"?). And the last episode, "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", might just possibly have been the best series finale I've ever seen.

Of course, that's precisely why I'm a bit worried about 'Futurama''s return...sure, it's back, but at what cost? What has changed? It's hard for me to come up with a comparison; the closest I can think of is when 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' was cancelled by Comedy Central and then revived on the Sci-Fi Channel: while it was still pretty funny, it really lacked a lot of the show's original charm that came with the previous writers and actors. And if there's one thing 'Futurama' can't afford to lose, it's its charm. Regardless, I was still mega-excited over the release of 'Bender's Big Score', and went out to purchase it the day it came out.

My expectations of the film were sort of medium: I knew it wouldn't be *great*, but it would be at least on par with a regular episode of the show. Were my expectations met? No. No, they weren't. It was bad. It was really bad. Well, it wasn't REALLY bad, but Lord, was it disappointing.

Let's start off with the plot: the basic core of the film revolves around a trio of naked lobster-like aliens who, using the power of e-mail scams and a tattoo on Fry's rear end which has an embedded code that makes time travel possible, enlist Bender's help to go back through time, steal a variety of expensive objects, and take over the world. However, as is the norm with feature-length adaptations of television shows, there's a number of subplots: Hermes' body is destroyed and, living as a head in a jar, must try to win back the love of his family (this story doesn't really go anywhere and is mainly used to pad out the 89-minute run time), a series of flashbacks follow the life of Fry if he were to return to the 21st century (which, of course, creates TONS of continuity and canon problems), and Leela starts falling in love with "Lars", a lab technician, much to Fry's dismay (this story takes over the entire third act, wrapping up in a completely ludicrous conclusion).

And, of course, there's a fair amount of time spent on cameos from beloved 'Futurama' characters. Unfortunately, it's the not-so-beloved ones that are featured most prominently. While there's no Calculon, Wernstrom, Lrr, URL, or Robot Devil, there's plenty of Hedonismbot, the Harlem Globetrotters, Santa, and Barbados Slim, who has more screen time than Zapp Branigan. Let me reiterate: BARBADOS SLIM has more screen time than ZAPP BRANIGAN. A Zapp Branigan that is barely used, by the way...I like the character in small doses, but I couldn't help but feel a bit ripped off when his three-minute part was over with. And did I mention Santa has his own musical number? Now there ARE a good number of chuckles throughout, and maybe even a couple of guffaws if you like Zoidberg's antics (and who doesn't?), but most of the time, the jokes really fall flat, which is something that I never thought I'd say about 'Futurama'. One joke in particular, which is the myriad of uses for dust made from the ground-up corpses of FOX executives, may have been amusing the first time, but is repeated so often throughout the course of the film, it just becomes annoying. In fact, the whole FOX-bashing, fourth-wall breaking opening scenes that reference their cancellation is really heavy-handed and gets old quickly.

The Fry/Leela relationship is handled rather clumsily, as well. The kinda subtly complex relationship the two characters formed over the course of four seasons seems to have completely vanished. Fry comes off more whiny than sympathetic, and Leela's relationship with "Lars" seems forced and unbelievable (and yes, I am aware that they're fictional characters, so I'll just stop talking now).

On a positive note, however, the animation looks spectacular. A lot of money went into making it look like a theater-quality feature film, and it shows. The inevitable space battle towards the end and a lot of the background art looked superb.

Mostly, though, the entire thing played out more like a below-average episode of the show, stretched out over 90 minutes (and it DOES feel like 90 minutes, might I add). 'Futurama' didn't quite return with a 'bang', per se, but more of a 'non-disruptive rap'. Of course, I've only seen it once. I may give it another chance sooner or later and again with commentary, but after such a long wait, the first experience should have been a memorable one.

I don't wish to appear ungrateful, though: I'm extremely happy that the fan support wasn't all for naught and the show's back in production. I've yet to relinquish hope, either: the brief preview of the next film, 'The Beast With A Billion Backs', featured on the Best Buy-exclusive bonus DVD that came with my purchase, looked to be much more promising: it had a few laughs, and it appears to be focusing on the relationship between Kif and Amy...and you can't go wrong there....can you? Until then, though, I think I'll just stick with reruns of the series.

But that's just MY opinion...