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
7.5
This is a job for Superman!
One 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."
When KAOS develops a bomb that can dissolve all clothing, Maxwell Smart is brought in to foil the evil plot.
Test pilot Hal Jordan finds himself recruited as the newest member of the intergalactic police force, The Green Lantern Corps.
After 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!
For decades, Peter Schickele has kept audiences rolling in the aisles with his rib-tickling presentations of the alleged music of P.D.Q. Bach, classical music's answer to the Marx Brothers. This special December 2005 performance of P.D.Q.'s greatest hits celebrates 40 years of this uniquely appealing act. Includes Schleptet in Eb major, Iphigenia in Brooklyn, Unbegun Symphony, Fuga Meshuga, The Seasonings, and New Horizons in Music Appreciation. Extras include Unbegun Symphony with theme identification, Odden und Enden (rounds), KUHT interview with Peter Schickele, and more.
From animation legend Chuck Jones comes the big cheese of mouse collections! Enjoy 19 remastered animated shorts featuring some mischievous mice and their daring adventures! Legendary animator and director Chuck Jones first began animating cartoons for Warner Brothers in the early 1930s. By 1939, Jones had become an integral part of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon-creation team with his animated shorts about Sniffles the mouse.
The story of Nina, a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice.
Young art student Hideo paints an unnerving portrait of Tomie, who whispers that she loves him. Inexplicably, he reacts by stabbing her to death with a painting trowel. Two friends, Takumi and Shunichi, arrive on the scene and help him dispose of the body. To cheer him up, the boys take the unwitting murderer to the nearest bar for a party... but a mysterious girl named Tomie shows up, bearing a few odd physical resemblances to the dead girl in the ground.
After a seven-year absence, Charlotte Andergast travels to Sweden to reunite with her daughter Eva. The pair have a troubled relationship: Charlotte sacrificed the responsibilities of motherhood for a career as a classical pianist. Over an emotional night, the pair reopen the wounds of the past. Charlotte gets another shock when she finds out that her mentally impaired daughter, Helena, is out of the asylum and living with Eva.
A hapless talent manager named Danny Rose, by helping a client, gets dragged into a love triangle involving the mob. His story is told in flashback, an anecdote shared amongst a group of comedians over lunch at New York's Carnegie Deli. Rose's one-man talent agency represents countless incompetent entertainers, including a one-legged tap dancer, and one slightly talented one: washed-up lounge singer Lou Canova, whose career is on the rebound.
Just outside of the Malian city of Timbuktu, now occupied by militant Islamic rebels who impose the Sharia on civilians and inconvenience their daily life, a cattleman kills a fisherman.
Londoner Harry Fabian is a second-rate con man looking for an angle. After years of putting up with Harry's schemes, his girlfriend, Mary, becomes fed up when he taps her for yet another loan.
Freddy, a Viennese Jew who emigrated to New York after Hitler's invasion, and Adler, a left-wing intellectual originally from Berlin, return to Austria in 1944 as soldiers in the U.S. Army. Freddy falls in love with the daughter of a Nazi, and Adler attempts to go over to the Communist Zone. But with the advent of the Cold War and continuing anti-semitism, the idealism of both characters is shattered as they find themselves surrounded by cynicism, opportunism, and universal self-deception.
Lemmy Caution is on a mission to eliminate Professor Von Braun, the creator of a malevolent computer that rules the city of Alphaville. Befriended by the scientist’s daughter Natasha, Lemmy must unravel the mysteries of the strictly logical Alpha 60 and teach Natasha the meaning of the word “love.”
Crimes of the Future is set in a future where sexually mature women appear to have been obliterated by a plague produced by the use of cosmetics. The film details the wanderings of Adrian Tripod, director of the dermatological clinic the House of Skin. Tripod seems at a loss following the disappearance of his mentor Antoine Rouge.
After the death of a United States Senator, idealistic Jefferson Smith is appointed as his replacement in Washington. Soon, the naive and earnest new senator has to battle political corruption.
A conflicted youth confesses to crimes he didn't commit while a man and woman aroused by death become obsessed with each other.
A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she'd spoken to God, Jeanne d'Arc is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials. Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom.
The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the Free French. Marshall Erwin Rommel, touring the defenses being established as part of the Reich's Atlantic Wall, notes to his officers that when the Allied invasion comes they must be stopped on the beach. "For the Allies as well as the Germans, it will be the longest day"
A 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.
Batman and Robin deal with relationship issues while preventing Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City.
Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.
After the re-emergence of the world's first mutant, world-destroyer Apocalypse, the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.
David Rice is a man who knows no boundaries, a Jumper, born with the uncanny ability to teleport instantly to anywhere on Earth. When he discovers others like himself, David is thrust into a dangerous and bloodthirsty war while being hunted by a sinister and determined group of zealots who have sworn to destroy all Jumpers. Now, David’s extraordinary gift may be his only hope for survival!
Milo and Kida reunite with their friends to investigate strange occurances around the world that seem to have links to the secrets of Atlantis.
When a litter of dalmatian puppies are abducted by the minions of Cruella De Vil, the parents must find them before she uses them for a diabolical fashion statement.
A young cat named Oliver is left alone in a kitten box, while all the other young cats have new owners. A big dog named Dodger shows him how to get food and later Oliver lives with him, his owner Fagin and Fagin's other dogs Tito, Rita, Einstein, and Francis. Fagin has one problem besides being broke he owes a nasty man named Sykes a lot of money. If he can't pay it back he's in big trouble. While Oliver runs into a little girl named Jenny who becomes his new owner which he is happy with and later Sykes sees Jenny as the key for him to get his money.
Fa Mulan gets the surprise of her young life when her love, Captain Li Shang asks for her hand in marriage. Before the two can have their happily ever after, the Emperor assigns them a secret mission, to escort three princesses to Chang'an, China. Mushu is determined to drive a wedge between the couple after he learns that he will lose his guardian job if Mulan marries into the Li family.
The Game World launches an attack on the real world. In front of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and the Uchu Sentai Kyuranger appears the "Arena of Death" where the destruction of the Earth will be decided. Trapped in this inescapable dimension, generations of Super Sentai and Kamen Riders must engage in a battle royale, an unprecedented battlefield of many puzzles connecting the real and game worlds. And then, "Those Heroes" revive... Everything is scaled up, all rules are broken! And when it seems like the real world will fall into a disaster, imagination brings forth unimaginable new heroes!
As a computer virus based on Pac-Man invades Japan, a group of doctors attack Genm Corp and begin a wave of terror using stolen Proto Gashats. Ghost and Ex-Aid find themselves at the center of the fight in an effort to protect those most important to them. But they aren’t alone, as Heisei Riders from the past join them to stop Dr. Pac-Man!
Return to the forest and join Bambi as he reunites with his father, The Great Prince, who must now raise the young fawn on his own. But in the adventure of a lifetime, the proud parent discovers there is much he can learn from his spirited young son.
Astonished to find the Beast has a deep-seeded hatred for the Christmas season, Belle endeavors to change his mind on the matter.
The Go-Busters must protect the Tokyo Enetower from the evil Vaglass organization. However Enter's new creation Steamloid causes the Buddy Roids to rust, making them unable to fight or be used in the Buster Machines.
When LexCorp accidentally unleashes a murderous creature, Superman meets his greatest challenge as a champion. Based on the "The Death of Superman" storyline that appeared in DC Comics' publications in the 1990s.
Being one of 101 takes its toll on Patch, who doesn't feel unique. When he's accidentally left behind on moving day, he meets his idol, Thunderbolt, who enlists him on a publicity campaign.
Follow Ariel's adventures before she gave up her fins for true love. When Ariel wasn't singing with her sisters, she spent time with her mother, Queen Athena. Ariel is devastated when Athena is killed by pirates, and after King Triton outlaws all singing. Along with pals Flounder and Sebastian, Ariel sets off in hopes of changing her father's decision to ban music from the kingdom.
Who or what exactly is a Heffalump? The lovable residents of the Hundred Acre Wood -- Winnie the Pooh, Rabbit, Tigger, Eeyore, Kanga and the rest of the pack -- embark on a journey of discovery in search of the elusive Heffalump. But as is always the case, this unusual road trip opens their eyes to so much more than just the creature they're seeking.
With the first anniversary of her wedding to Tarzan beckoning, Jane ponders how to make it the perfect English celebration.