Commafruit

Futurama returns! Two years after being cancelled by Fox, new Futurama content is realised in the form of the first of four feature length, straight-to-DVD (and torrent) episodes. Fox are satirised brutally (and in no subtle way – Planet Express are described as having been shut down by the “Box Delivery Network”) in the first few minutes of the film.

In the story, Planet Express (and later, Earth) are taken over by Internet-scammers, who in the process discover a method of travelling back in time. This produces a convoluted series of events involving multiple versions of several characters (most notably Fry, who essentially has two plotlines), but everything ties together beautifully by the end. None of the familiar style of humour is lost, although there is possibly less real-world satire.

I was also impressed with the number of references to previous episodes and the number of previous (often rather minor) characters featured. A selection: Scruffy, LaBarbara, Dwight, Nibbler & the Nibblonians, the space god, Barbados slim, Hedonism bot, Bubblegum Tate and the Globetrotters, Elzar, Michelle, Al Gore, Seymour, Mr. Panucci, Horrible Gelatinous Blob, Morbo & Linda, Tinny Tim, Robot Santa, “welcome to the world of tomorrow” guy, the Robot Devil, Leela’s parents, Hypnotoad, Richard Nixon & Agnew, Kwanza bot, Zapp & Kif, Cubert, Sal^w and the Robot Mafia.

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Having worked on a promotional website for this film, and seen the little embedded flash trailer loop 612 times, I did not have high hopes for this little chick-flick.
In fact, it’s quite funny in places, and while it gets a little soppy toward the end, this never really gets in the way of the plot or characters, and the writers manage to avoid shoving it down your throat, which is nice.

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So 80’s it hurts, this film does an incredible job of glamorising stock trading. By simplifying the actual trading, the action on screen is genuinely tense and exciting, and the between-the-scenes photography adds much to the atmosphere.

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Even for a children’s film this can seem horribly saccharine at times, and the frequency of the musical parts (aka the filler) begins to grate very quickly. Scored higher as a couple of lines made me laugh, but disappointing overall.

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I’ve been wanting to see this for some time. Very funny, especially the unscripted parts, Cohen^w certainly has a talent for leading his interview subjects to unintentionally say things to comic effect. Having only seen Borat as ~10 minute slots before, the film did seem over-long and strung out, but there are so many laugh-out-loud moments this is easily forgiven.

Plus, what a superb title!

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Enjoyable, funny, beautifully animated. I enjoyed this film but still ended up feeling slightly disappointed. Perhaps I still get too excited about CGI movies? Or maybe, like many, I have come to ask too much of Pixar.

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Having grown up with Wallace and Gromit, always enjoying their antics, I can say I was disappointed by this latest instalment. The physical comedy was fun, but the subtle in-addition-to-the-plot jokes were so lacking here that the whole films seemed a little bland.

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One of the most bizarre films I’ve seen in a while, at first I wasn’t sure I enjoyed this, but when certain characters and scenes returned to me later, I started to wonder. Example:

Napoleon, Pedro and Deb are at a party.
Napoleon: “So are you guys having a killer time?”
Deb (deadpan): “Yes.”

Worth seeing just for the scene where Pedro drinks a glass of water, has a bath, then cuts his hair. I told you it was bizarre.

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