Change Your Image
carryall
Reviews
Sliders: Luck of the Draw (1995)
One of the most cerebral TV shows ever made
"Luck of the Draw" was an award winning and highly memorable episode from the Sci-fi TV series "Sliders" partly based on a novel called "The Lottery". It was and always will be one of my biggest favourite TV shows ever made. The plot is about the Sliders who entered the seemingly utopistic world, where the world population is only 500 million, there are no poverty, economical problems, ethnical conflicts. It seems perfect, so Wade Welles thought about staying here forever.
The whole system is based on a strange lottery system, which easily fooled Wade and Remmy. As much happy the first half of the show is, it turns out to be a really dark hour in the second half. Wade, who won the lottery, and his slider friends learnt that lottery winners are about to die in the next day in return for their money. Wade didn't want to die, and also want to save a new friend from this world, called Ryan. The guy looked baffled at first, but helped Wade in the most critical moments. On the other hand, Remmy who wanted to save another female lottery winner got into trouble when he broke the lottery rules. The second half of the show is very dark and adventurous. In the end, the Sliders managed to open the gateway, and all of the original 4 plus Ryan have been saved from the doom, however the episode ended in a memorable cliffhanger.
The acting from the cast in this show is excellent, particularly from Wade, Remmy and the Professor. The main star, Jerry O'Connell stays in the background this time. The support characters did their job very well too.
Unfortunately the Sliders 1st season ended with this episode, and never returned in this level in its later seasons. The cliffhanger resolution was bad, and Ryan, along with the little dog Henry never returned thanks to FOX executives, who were very guilty for destroying the series.
Jon Povill who also wrote the underrated "El Sid", along with shows for Stargate SG-1 won an award for this though-provoking episode. If you watch this, you will understand the main social problems of the utopistic ideologies (communism for example) and the pro-choice view in the human rights. You also understand the malthusian dilemma, and the importance of the population control in some way.
My rating: a definite 10/10 for Luck of the Draw.
Porky Pig's Feat (1943)
Frank Tashlin's best cartoon
Frank Tashlin is often mentioned as the Warners' most overlooked director, along with Arthur Davis. Possibly this is right, both did only a handful films for the studio. Tash made his cartoons in two stints, one between 1937 and 38, and the other between 1943 and 46.
The second era consists his more popular films, with such memorable ones like "The Stupid Cupid", "Nasty Quacks", "Swooner Crooner" or "Unruly Hare". But his real masterpiece was without doubt "Porky Pig's Feat", a black-and-white classic featuring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, as two hotel guests who try to escape without paying the bill to the ugly, nasty french clerk, after Daffy gambled his money.
The message of this cartoon might be wrong (however I would try the same, if I had to pay for goodwill and sunshine ha-ha), but it's possibly one of the best slapstick comedies I have ever seen in any film. The gags are utterly brilliant, and despite the 43 B/W release, this cartoon feels like much more like a late-40 short with its detailed and mature humor. As said in an earlier review, the gags are not only great here, but very unpredictable as well, which makes the film even better.
Interesting note that this was the only time when Bugs Bunny has appeared (as a cameo) in a B/W short, and also was the first occasion when Daffy and Bugs met.
The title of the cartoon is rather misleading, since Porky is just here, but the real feats are made by Daffy Duck. I always preferred the early wacky personality of him (more correctly the 40s Daffy, which has some maturity as well), and he is at his very best in "Porky Pig's Feat". This cartoon is available on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol.3, and heavily recommended to anyone at any age and any mood. Possibly this is one of the top10 overall Looney Tunes cartoons, but this might be my opinion only.
10/10
It's Hummer Time (1950)
Great Tweety and Sylvester parody from McKimson
It's Hummer Time (1950) is one of the best shorts directed by the heavily criticized Robert McKimson. It features an unnamed cat who tries to catch a little, but very clever hummingbird, and often runs into a vicious and sadistic bulldog who bullies him in various ways. The cartoon is often remembered by the popular quotes of the cat "No, not happy birthday" or "No, please, not the Thiiinker", and its reference to Tweety "I Tought I taw a Puddy Tat".
Why I think this is an excellent cartoon is the great timing and the musicality which rarely can be seen in McKimson's filmography. I always thought his shorts from 1950 (along with other great ones like "A Fractured Leghorn", "Hillbilly Hare", "Boobs in the Woods", "What's Up Doc?" or "Dog Collared") are the peak of his career as a director, and it's too bad he started to slump after this year with losing Warren Foster, his story-writer.
The cartoon itself seems to be a Tweety parody, and the whole thing is done in Friz Freleng's style. There are a lot of scores here: "Ain't we got fun", "I'm looking over a four leaf clover" or Raymond Scott's popular "Powerhouse" and many others. The timing is very precise, it made even the weaker gags better, and I was rather satisfied with the ending. The hummingbird itself is very much like the early clampettish Tweety, that's another strong point.
I'm a bit baffled why this cartoon haven't been added to the Golden Collections yet (much better than its weak and unfunny successor "Early to Bet" which was on the 1st volume), but maybe next time. Recommended to watch it on the Looney Tunes website.
10/10