Evil Dead Bunnies II

Evil Dead II (In 30-Seconds and Re-Enacted By Bunnies). Why didn't Sam Raimi use bunnies in the first place? It's far more dramatic.

Previously on Popped Culture...
A Clockwork Bunny
No Country For Old Bunnies
Kill Bunny

A Clockwork Bunny

Get ready for a bit o' the old ultraviolence, re-enacted by bunnies. I don't know how I missed this one — it really does capture Clockwork Orange in 30 seconds.

Previously on Popped Culture...
A Clockwork Mice
Reservoir Droogs 
A Clockwork Clownfish

The Princess Bride In 30 Seconds

And reenacted by bunnies! Inconceivable!

Previously on Popped Culture...
The Virgin Princess Peach
Cosmopolitan: Disney Princesses
Star Wars: The Pre-Teen Years

We've Got To Get Back To The Bunnies!

Great Scott! When this baby hit 88 miles per hour, you're gonna see some serious bunnies.



Back to the Future, in 30 Seconds (and re-enated by bunnies)

Previously on Popped Culture...
Back To The Ancient Future
Make Like A Tree And Get Out Of Here
The Future Is Terminated

Frankly My Dear, I Don't Give A Bunny

Gone With the Wind
With God as their witness, the bunnies will never be hungry again after this epic retelling of Gone With the Wind, in a mere 30 seconds, filmed in stunning Bun-O-Vision.

Mostly it boils down to a lot of kissing and slapping and not a whole lot more. I like it!

Previously on Popped Culture...
Terminator: I'll Be Bunny
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Bunnies
No Country For Old Bunnies

Bunnies Howl At The Moon

The 30-Second Bunnies are back with a classic, if short, take on The Wolf Man. All movies should have precis like this.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Terminator: I'll Be Bunny
You Got Lion In My Eagle!
Knitsections & Feltidermy

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Bunnies

Wow, that took way less time to watch than to read the first five books. And they need two movies to show Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows? Maybe the 30-Second Bunnies should direct.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Yo Momma So Fat The Sorting Hat Put Her In All Four Houses
Harry Potter and the Mid-Life Crisis
Imaginationland: Realer Than Any Of Us

Terminator: I'll Be Bunny

Sarah Connor is in the fight of her life with a murderous cyborg from the future — a murderous cyborg with floppy ears. I'll be back... for carrots. Oh, and yay for Starz and the 30-Second Bunnies for allowing embeding! Maybe I'll go back and update my previous posts, but I doubt it.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Why Terminators Transport Naked
We Are Outnumbered By Machines
It's Not Easy Being An American Psycho

Boldly Go Where No Bunny Has Gone Before

What the 30-second bunnies lack in timeliness they more than make up for in floppy-eared fun. Set phasers to furry for you 30-second mission to watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, re-enacted by bunnies.

Previously on Popped Culture...
No Country For Old Bunnies
Bunnies on a Plane
Kill Bunny
Bunny. James Bunny.

Bunnies Christmas Vacation

"Where do you think you're going? Nobody's leaving. Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas. No, no. We're all in this together. This is a full-blown, four-alarm holiday emergency here. We're gonna press on, and we're gonna have the hap, hap, happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap-danced with Danny fucking Kaye. And when Santa squeezes his fat white ass down that chimney tonight, he's gonna find the jolliest bunch of assholes this side of the nuthouse."

In case you haven't guessed, the 30-Second Bunnies have taken on Christmas Vacation.

No Country For Old Bunnies

As it turns out, portraying Anton Chigurh as a bunny doesn't make him any less of a sociopath. The 30-Second Bunnies have just released their cottontail version of No Country for Old Men and it's a natural for them: minimal dialogue and a plot that mostly involves people getting shot.

Anton Chigurh: Call it.
Gas Station Proprietor: Call it?
Anton Chigurh: Yes.
Gas Station Proprietor: For what?
Anton Chigurh: Just call it.

March of the Bunnies

In the harshest place on Earth, the 30-Second Bunnies find a way. It's been awhile since I've linked to my furry little friends, but their mini-version of the March of the Penguins did the trick. Somehow the travails of the little suckers seemed a lot less grim and austere when whole cycle whips by in a blink of an eye. Be sure to indulge in the whole archive over at Angry Alien. Coming up later this year: Goodfellas. I can hardly wait — it should get a full minute.

These Are A Few of My Favourite Things

No list, just a few of my pop culture faves from the year that was. Happy New Year everyone, hope it brings you something entertaining...

Chuck
The computer-geek turned secret agent series is the true heir to Alias’ average-joe spy mantle (if not necessarily the action component). The creators must have watched Jennifer Garner’s cancelled series and wondered how it would play as a comedy. Just fine, as it turns out. Zachary Levi plays Chuck Bartowski with a balance of befuddlement, charm and intelligence and appears both genuinely amazed and terrified at his head full of highly classified national intelligence. Favourite new show of the year.

300
Tonight we will film in BLUESCREEN! If this is the future of CGI and digital backlots, then I say viva technology! It was visually stunning, creating a world that couldn’t otherwise exist on screen and the most unique film experience of the year for me. While the historical veracity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/300_film#Historical_accuracy) of the depiction of the Battle of Themopayle has been questioned, that seems an unfair load for a comic book adaptation to bear. It is there for entertainment (and for me to make Spartan Babies!)

Amy Winehouse
One of my favourite performances of the year was by Amy Winehouse. Back in the summer, before she spiraled out of control, she came into Sympatico’s Orange Lounge and just tore off four, stripped down versions of her songs. It was brilliant — with a simple backing her lyrics and voice shone through. Check out You Know I’m No Good. (And c'mon Sympatico, when are you going to allow embeding of videos?)

Last Suppers
One of my favourite posts of the year started on a whim and snowballed from there. In writing about McDonalds I found a parody of The Last Supper with Ronald as Christ. From there I know have 35 versions, covering everything from Star Wars to Sopranos and I have another dozen waiting in the wings for some elusive downtime.

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows
With the completion of the seventh and final Harry Potter novel, J.K. Rowling closed the book on the boy wizard and a pop culture phenomenon. A fine ending to the series, but it turns out it may not be the end of that world. Here’s hoping.

Eastern Promises
Director David Cronenberg Russian mob drama was part Donnie Brasoco, part Sopranos and grittier than both of them. Made me wish it was an ongoing series.

The Writers Strike
Who knew labour disruptions, union negotiations and picket lines could be so entertaining? The scribes who pen the tube’s best and worst shows have be on strike since early November, mostly over residual rights for web broadcasts. The first casualties were the late-night talk shows, which were off the air immediately, but they will all be returning within days, but only David Letterman’s Worldwide Pants production company has signed a deal to use writers. That should be tough on Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel and the like. Hopefully it won’t harm Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert (the only shows I can handle), but even they are allowed to write, as they are part of the Writers Guild. Too bad anyone has come back before the strike was settled, but the Letterman side deal is a brilliant tactic. As for the rest of the shows, most made it through to the Christmas break without difficulty, but January will show the strikes real impact. Except on me. My DVR still has the full seasons of Dirty Sexy Money, Reaper and Pushing Daisies waiting for me. So stay strong, strikers!

My Name Is Earl
Earl shook up their format this year by sending Earl to prison in what turned into a parody of Prison Break. While the grim Burrows brothers of Prison Break spiraled deeper into a moral morass, the Hickey’s are sprucing up the prison and helping gang members find love. Hmm, it’s better than I make it sound.

30-Second Bunnies
Don’t have time to actually see a film? There are always the bunnies. The occasional mini-reenactments always leave me happy and hoppy. The James Bond medley broke the 30-second rule, but was worth the whole minute-plus runtime.

30 Rock
Pure comedic genius that consistently makes me laugh out loud. I’m glad Alec Baldwin didn’t leave the show and that Tina Fey buried Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

As alway, check out the fabulous lists of list at Fimoculous, everything from the Top 10 List of Reputations in Crisis to the Top 10 Sexy Geeks. You'll be there for hours.

Bunnies on a Plane

So I've finally seen Snakes on a Plane, more than a year after the web-hyped, box-office dud ran rampant over the pop culture zeitgeist. Ok, not the actual film, but the 30-second version, re-enacted by bunnies.

I resisted the film because I was bothered by the attempt to create a cult classic, a mantle I believe is bestowed by the audience, not manufactured in advance. Ultimately it appeared most people agreed and the film slithered away, only to be remembered for Samuel L. Jackson's prodigious use of the word "motherfucker."

But now that the Bunnies have hopped all over it, perhaps I need to give it a look, if only so it doesn't become another one of my pop culture blind spots.

Kill Bunny

It’s always a good day when a new 30-Second Bunnies shows up in the mailbox. I get a surprising amount of joy watching squeaky-voiced little rabbits perform an entire movie in the time it takes for a commercial to pitch something nobody should buy. (Oreo pizza anyone?)

So when the reenactment of both Kill Bills arrived I was excited. The fuzzy versions of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction distilled Quentin Tarantino’s language and flow into a potent shot and I expected the same again. Sadly, it didn’t deliver. Stripped of the style and music it just seemed… empty.

But I forgive as I spent the next part of the evening re-watching most of the rest of the 38 other leporid films. Such hoppy goodness.

Yippee-ki-yay, Bunnies!

The 30-second bunnies are back with their not-so soft and cuddly take on the iconic John McLane and it’s likely the only Die Hard I see this summer. The plot of the upcoming Live Free or Die Hard finds McClane (Bruce Willis) working for Homeland Security and chasing a gang of hackers, trying to take down the world’s electronic infrastructure.

Inevitably these clever, technologically-proficient criminals will be taken down by McClane’s roughneck, hands-on justice after they bring his family into it, thus making it personal. I’ll stick with the bunnies.

Perhaps this will help end Hollywood’s feverish love affair with all sequels, all the time. Ok, probably not. Happy trails, Hans.

Ahoy, Bunnies!

Yo-ho-ho, just in time for the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean, comes the 30-Second Bunnies reenactment of the previous two swashbucklers. They are both summed up in the single take for obvious reasons – it was the same movie.

Is Johnny Depp finally walking the plank with this one? Will the Hollywood rebel loose some of his cool factor by continuing to star in the franchise? It was surprising to see him come on board for a Disney movie about a theme park ride, but he turned that around so I’m not counting him out yet. Plus it has Chow Yun-Fat. Sure, he hasn’t done anything good since leaving Hong Kong (go rent Hard Boiled and see what I mean), but hopefully this one will work out.

Of course if Pirates brings in another treasure chest full of cash at the box office, we will likely see another movie rise from the briny depths in two years. As Entertainment Weekly put it: “Vowed the studio, ‘We will not stop until pirate movies suck again.’”

With Great Power Comes Great Bunnies

Yay, just before the Spider-Man 3 hype machine kicks into high gear comes Spider-Man 1 & 2 in 30 Seconds (and Re-Entacted By Bunnies). Great stuff as always and I love that all of Doc Oc's tentacles have bunny ears.

Bunny. James Bunny.

Bond: Do you expect me to talk?
Goldfinger: No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.

The 30-Second Bunnies pulled out all the stops for this Bond marathon (well, marathon by bunny standards at 74 seconds), touching on almost all of the 007 oeuvre. Great stuff.

Here's what's been announced for the Bunny universe for the rest of the year:
Spiderman 1, 2 & 3
Pirates of the Caribbean 1, 2 & 3
March of the Penguins
Die Hard
Napoleon Dynamite
Saw
The Grudge
Kill Bill

I'm happy to see Kill Bill there as creator Jennifer Shiman does a great job with Quentin Tarantino films and she is clearly a fan. I'd love to see her tackle a classic war movie like Apocalypse Now or Full Metal Jacket. A boy can dream, can't he?

A Pop Culture Christmas

I know it is the Christmas season, not by the ever-growing forest of lights on the neighbours houses, or the fact that advertisers have been pushing holiday shopping since the first of November, but by the specials on TV. There are a few that I just have to see to make me feel the seasonal spirit.

Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics has become a recent favourite, with the profane denizens of South Park remaking various Christmas classics and creating some of their own along the way. It is often blasphemous and likely offensive to many, but somehow it still manages to be sweet at the core. It also speaks to the eight-year-old in me who thought singing fake lyrics to We Three Kings was the height of hilarity:

We three kings of Orient are,
Puffing on a rubber cigar.
It was loaded, it exploded
Now we’re on yonder star

So when Cartman sings O Holy Night, I know where he’s coming from:

And, O holy night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth.
O holy night! The something something distant
It is the night with the Christmas trees and pie.
Jesus was born and so I get presents.
Thank you, Jesus for being born.

My favourite though has to be the lounge act duet of Jesus and Santa, singing carols and songs in the first person – a brilliant concept. Who hasn’t wondered what these two would be like singing at a piano bar?

Jesus: He he hoo, get away!
Santa: Go away?
Jesus: Get away.
Santa: Where away?
Jesus: Away in a manger, no crib for My bed
That's where cute little old Me lay down My sweet head.
The stars in the sky
Both: Looked down where I lay.
Jesus: Cute little eight-pound me (Santa: Oo-oo)
Both: asleep in (Santa: on) the hay.

Another modern-day classic (ok, ‘80s classic) is Scrooged, Bill Murray’s greed is good interpretation of Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Murray plays the Scrooge-lik Frank Cross, a driven and cynical TV exec who torments his employees and keeps the entire network working to produce a live show on Christmas Eve.

Much like Groundhog Day, I can watch this film over and over again even though I know exactly how it’s going to turn out. I just can’t get enough of that smarmy Murray charm – plus, Bobcat Goldthwait!



Clearly I like my holiday fare with some edge and A Christmas Story walks it quite nicely. “You’ll shoot your eye out!” is all Ralphie ever hears in his relentless quest to get "an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle, with a compass in the stock and 'this thing', which tells time."

Ralphie is such a sweet little geek, I’ve always imagined he grew up to be Zach Braff’s Scrubs character Dr. J.D. Dorian – the only other person I could see dressed up in a pink bunny sleeper with feet. There are so many great childhood scenes that ring true as real kid moments and not what adults think kids act like. What kid hasn’t thought about sticking their tongue to cold metal? Or realizes that the way you deal with a bully is to run away? Forget the film? Than catch up with the 30 Second Bunnies.



But my ultimate Christmas fave, the one I cannot make it through the season without is Dr. Suess’ The Grinch Who Stole Christmas – the animated version, of course. It is such an amazing piece of work, whose sum is better than it’s already amazing parts: the tremendous wit and words of Dr. Suess; the stellar animation work by Chuck Jones (director of multiple classic Loony Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons); and the dulcet tones of Boris Karloff as the narrator. It’s as good as it gets.