

More than just a landmark in superhero animation, Max Fleischer's Superman shorts were no less than the foundation for so many shows that succeeded it. Playing in theaters in 1941-42, only a few years after the Man of Steel made his debut in Action Comics, these 17 exciting films were produced by Fleischer and made famous the phrase "This looks like a job for Superman!" At 10 minutes, each film had just enough time to run the opening credits, establish the threat, let Lois Lane make a headstrong rush into peril, and allow Clark Kent to change to his alter ego and save the day. The films show a remarkably dynamic and atmospheric storytelling style that enables them to hold up for modern viewers. At first the films followed a science fiction-fantasy theme, but not unexpectedly for that time soon focused on wartime concerns.

More than just a landmark in superhero animation, Max Fleischer's Superman shorts were no less than the foundation for so many shows that succeeded it. Playing in theaters in 1941-42, only a few years after the Man of Steel made his debut in Action Comics, these 17 exciting films were produced by Fleischer and made famous the phrase "This looks like a job for Superman!" At 10 minutes, each film had just enough time to run the opening credits, establish the threat, let Lois Lane make a headstrong rush into peril, and allow Clark Kent to change to his alter ego and save the day. The films show a remarkably dynamic and atmospheric storytelling style that enables them to hold up for modern viewers. At first the films followed a science fiction-fantasy theme, but not unexpectedly for that time soon focused on wartime concerns.
2009-04-07
7.4
This is a job for Superman!
5.3When KAOS develops a bomb that can dissolve all clothing, Maxwell Smart is brought in to foil the evil plot.
5.9The first manned expedition to Mars is invaded by an unknown life form, which stows away on the rescue ship.
6.3One of the greatest storytellers of our time, and arguably the greatest mythologist, Joseph Campbell spent most of his long, rich career explaining how ancient myths like the Hero’s Journey are relevant to modern life. In understanding the importance of myth as a vital, vibrant source of "mankind’s one great story," Campbell inspired others to embark on a quest for the meaning of myth in their own lives. This biographical portrait, filmed shortly before his death in 1987, follows Campbell’s personal quest—a pathless journey of questioning, discovery, and ultimately of delight and joy in a life to which he said, "Yes."
6.5After three Catholic Nuns are attacked by a Zombie Dog and turned into Zombies, they discover a group of articulate, educated, singing & dancing Zombies living in the idyllic enclave of Zomburbia. One of the Nuns refuses to accept her new-found Zombie-osity and sets off on a comic journey of self-discovery and mayhem...with, naturally, much singing and dancing along the way!
7.7A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
7.5Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
5.8After suffering a potentially career-ending brain trauma, Cameron Cade receives a lifeline when his hero, legendary eight-time Championship quarterback and cultural megastar Isaiah White, offers to train Cam at Isaiah's isolated compound that he shares with his celebrity influencer wife. But as Cam's training accelerates, Isaiah's charisma begins to curdle into something darker.
6.3Sarah and David are single strangers who meet at a mutual friend’s wedding and soon, through a surprising twist of fate, find themselves on a funny, fantastical, sweeping adventure together where they get to re-live important moments from their respective pasts, illuminating how they got to where they are in the present... and possibly getting a chance to alter their futures.
7.0Servais Mont, a freelance photographer who works taking compromising photos, gets fascinated by Nadine Chevalier, a tormented low-budget movie actress married to an eccentric film photo collector.
5.3An American writer living in exile in London, Philip listens to women. His English mistress, who visits him regularly in the studio that serves as their refuge. A student he loved in another life. A former lover confined to a hospital in New York.
6.2Ten years after his original massacre, the invalid Michael Myers awakens on Halloween Eve and returns to Haddonfield to kill his seven-year-old niece.
6.5Whitney Wolfe uses extraordinary grit and ingenuity to break into the male-dominated tech industry.
6.9Shinji and Masaru spend most of their school days harassing fellow classmates and playing pranks. They drop out and Shinji becomes a small-time boxer, while Masaru joins up with a local yakuza gang. However, the world is a tough place.
6.5After twenty years away, Odysseus washes up on the shores of Ithaca, haggard and unrecognizable. The king has finally returned home, but much has changed in his kingdom since he left to fight in the Trojan war.
7.3Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
4.9A successful psychoanalyst's life is turned upside down by a very anxious and extremely clingy patient who starts dating his daughter.
7.1Set in the small, mountainous village of Vermiglio during the waning days of WWII, a series of dramatic, consequential events unfold after the arrival of a taciturn Sicilian soldier, who hides out in town after deserting the army. While there, the soldier develops a romance with a provincial family’s eldest daughter.
6.0As soon as Muffy St. John and her college friends arrive on her parents' secluded island, someone starts trimming the guest list... one murder at a time.
5.7As a little girl, Melanie Hogan wished to find her own prince charming just like her parents found true love. Now an adult, Melanie is running her own bakery and dating a handsome CEO, Justin. Although things seem perfect when Justin asks Melanie to spend the holidays together at his beautiful lake house upstate—and meet his mother. Melanie finds herself spending more time with Justin’s best friend and loyal assistant, Dean, who just might be harboring a secret crush on her. When complications arise that throw Melanie and Dean together over the holiday, will the two realize they're meant to be?
5.5After their partner swap experiment takes a turn, four friends arrive at a remote beach hut to face the fallout and purge themselves of deeper truths.
7.7In the boorish city of Agrabah, kind-hearted street urchin Aladdin and Princess Jasmine fall in love, although she can only marry a prince. He and power-hungry Grand Vizier Jafar vie for a magic lamp that can fulfill their wishes.
7.5'Toon star Roger is worried that his wife Jessica is playing pattycake with someone else, so the studio hires detective Eddie Valiant to snoop on her. But the stakes are quickly raised when Marvin Acme is found dead and Roger is the prime suspect.
7.1A beautiful girl, Snow White, takes refuge in the forest in the house of seven dwarfs to hide from her stepmother, the wicked Queen. The Queen is jealous because she wants to be known as "the fairest in the land," and Snow White's beauty surpasses her own.
4.4Batman and his sidekick Robin attempt to the foil the sinister schemes of a deranged set of new villains, most notably the melancholy Mr. Freeze, who wants to make Gotham City into an arctic region, and the sultry Poison Ivy, a botanical femme fatale. As the Dynamic Duo contend with these bad guys, a third hero, Batgirl, joins the ranks of the city's crime-fighters.
6.6Shouichi encounters a teenage girl called Sayaka, who ran away from a military facility because of an attack by the Ant Lords. Sayaka has a supernatural ability to foresee the future. Risa Fukami, of the military group GA, wants to use that power to enhance the newly-made G4 System, which was based upon designs stolen from Ozawa. Now, Agito and Gills must fight to stop the Ant Lords' attack, as G3 and G4 settle their score.
6.4The Underground Empire Badan makes its move, intending to invert the world. Kouta and Mai are pulled through one of these inversions where the discover a boy named Shu, who also holds the power to invert the world. As the Riders fight to protect Shu, Fifteen appears again, seeking Shu. As Kouta flees, past Riders gather and fight one another, split between the Showa and Heisei era Riders. But, the truth of Badan is not as it seems…
7.8Determined to prove herself, Officer Judy Hopps, the first bunny on Zootopia's police force, jumps at the chance to crack her first case - even if it means partnering with scam-artist fox Nick Wilde to solve the mystery.
6.8With their freedom on the line, the Looney Tunes seek the help of NBA superstar Michael Jordan to win a basketball game against a team of moronic aliens.
7.5The ToQGers stop at a station in Zawame City, where there is no Shadow Line activity. However, they come across Kamen Rider Gaim and are brought into a fight with the Underground Empire known as Badan. As the ToQGers and the Armored Riders work together to discover Badan’s true intentions, a mysterious Rider calling himself Fifteen appears…
5.0A man's repeated attempts to retrieve an apple off a high tree branch all prove fruitless. What does he want the apple for? That would be telling.
6.5Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private join forces with undercover organization The North Wind to stop the villainous Dr. Octavius Brine from destroying the world as we know it.
7.2Wart is a young boy who aspires to be a knight's squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for him beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give him an education, believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn't quite work out that way.
6.5In the year 50 BC, Gaul is occupied by the Romans - nearly. But the small village of Asterix and his friends still resists the Roman legions with the aid of their druid's magic potion, which gives superhuman strength. Learning of this potion, a Roman centurion kidnaps the druid to get the secret formula out of him.
7.0A young linguist named Milo Thatch joins an intrepid group of explorers to find the mysterious lost continent of Atlantis.
6.9Cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent when she was a baby, Princess Aurora is sent into hiding under protection from three good fairies. As she grows up far away, Maleficent becomes increasingly determined to seal the princess's fate.
7.1When the gentle woodcarver Geppetto builds a marionette to be his substitute son, a benevolent fairy brings the toy to life. The puppet, named Pinocchio, is not yet a human boy. He must earn the right to be real by proving that he is brave, truthful, and unselfish.
6.4Set several years after the first film, Ariel and Prince Eric are happily married with a daughter, Melody. In order to protect Melody from the Sea Witch, Morgana, they have not told her about her mermaid heritage. Melody is curious and ventures into the sea, where she meets new friends. But will she become a pawn in Morgana's quest to take control of the ocean from King Triton?
6.3Former Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, one side of his face scarred by acid, goes on a crime spree based on the number '2'. All of his actions are decided by the flip of a defaced, two-headed silver dollar.
3.8An anthology of one-minute films created by 51 international filmmakers on the theme of the death of cinema. Intended as an ode to 35mm, the film was screened one time only on a purpose-built 20x12 meter public cinema screen in the Port of Tallinn, Estonia, on 22 December 2011. A special projector was constructed for the event which allowed the actual filmstrip to be burnt at the same time as the film was shown.