tanzimhusain Reviews

Dragnet (1987)

A comic gem!

[28 October 2007]

I managed to catch Dragnet on one boring late night on HBO and how glad I am to have done that! Without going into the small details, this is a must see.

The chemistry between Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks is just awesome. Both Dan and Tom manages to play their respective characters with sheer conviction. The plot is simple and the dialog hilarious: just the sort you need for straight unadulterated fun.

Best of all, the move has some of the most brilliant comic moments from 1980's.

I'm not giving anything away, you'll need to watch to find out ;-)

The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996–1997)

The best Jonny Quest... atleast so far!

[5 April 2002]

The best Jonny Quest... at least so far!

I've had the opportunity of going through all the incarnations of Jonny Quest, including the original, but nothing beats the latest offering.

Old timers might disapprove Jesse or the new Dr. Zinn, but I totally liked them. The most awesome thing about the new show is how it had adapted itself to the 90's – superb animation with breathtaking CGI, fast paced action with a cool soundtracks and excellent voice characterizations – just the thing that will not only attract a whole new generation of teen age carton watchers, but also the old fans of the Quest family too!

Too bad it didn't last too long… guess that's life.

Hoping for yet another Quest reincarnation.

The Mask (1995–1997)

Sssmokin!

[5 April 2002]

Definitely one of the best of 90's along with shows like The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest.

The Mask was a cartoon of different domain, especially since it was a shoot off form the hilarious movie with the same title, starring Jim Carey.

Almost all of the time, such projects never live up to expectations, but boy, this one proved to be such a different story!

Enter a gem of a show, intelligent, funny and original. Superb voice characterization and animation. The daily trials and tribulation Stanley Ipkis in a modern industrial city is so life like, and his walk on the wile side as the Mask is something we all wish we could do.

Some how this show will appeal more to adults than to children.

A must see.

The Smurfs (1981–1989)

One of the best cartoons ever!

[26 March 2002]

I'm really surprised when I see that so few user comments on such a hallmark show. To me the Smurfs defined the 80's. And most importantly, it was what a cartoon should be - plain and simple fun, a touch of morale lessons and most importantly, very little violence.

When you consider other cartoons that were popular in the 80's like Thunder Cats, the Smurfs come out way up ached, in all departments. What makes the Smurfs more interesting than its counterparts is the fact that it also was intellectual, not just a shallow action adventure cartoon, so even grownups can have fun watching it.

If you ever get a chance to watch it, don't miss it.

Trust me.

Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000–2023)

Must See! A Classic!!

[22 March 2002]

I first came across Aqua Teen Hunger Force on cartoon network's Night Shift, and boy I'm glad that I didn't miss it.

3 Weird characters - a milk shake can (Master Shake), a pack of French fry (Frylock) and a hapless meatball (Meatwad) are a neighborhood investigative sort of crime solvers.

Master shake has an eternal distaste for Meatwad and claims to be the head of aqua teen force, although he is always screwing up things. Frylock is the resident cool-headed intelligent character that tries to keep the peace between Shake and Meatwad.

The dialogue is superb and will keep you laughing even at its worst.

You must get to see this show... trust me :)

Space Ghost Coast to Coast (1993– )

What does a superhero do when he's not busy saving the world?

[12 February 2002]

He hosts a talk show!

I must say, when I first saw the re incarnation of the popular sci-fi cartoon from the late 60's, I treated it with a bit of apprehension, after all who wants to see one of his childhood cartoon heroes host a late night talk show?

But it all washed away once I got going with the episodes. I was glad to see Zorak and Molter, ‘now' Space Ghost's prisoner and unwilling(?) personas behind the music and control panel – pouring in hilarious and uncanny comments that most of the times unraveled Mr. Ghost himself and not to mention a doze of the energy ray for Zorak all most all of the time. The guest list is impressive too, as pointed out by one of my fellow critic.

All in all, Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a show not to be missed. Trust me.

Pinky and the Brain (1995–1998)

One of the most hilarious and innovative cartoons from the 90's

[10 October 2001]

I must say, Pinky and the Brain is definitely a cartoon to be reckoned with.

All the episodes concentrate on an ingenious mouse, Brain's, futile efforts to try to take over the world, futile because all the effort Brain puts on is thwarted by his not so ingenious sidekick, Pinky.

The interesting and totally inverse conversation that Pinky and the Brain have fuel all the laughter, combined with hilarious plots that are loosely based on stories of Robin Hood to even Graham Greene's The Third Man!

At the end of the day, it's a cartoon that's to be enjoyed by all, and not only the children.