Noir November: Cool World (1992)

Mixing live action and animation to tell a tale featuring a detective, a femme fatale, a confused artist, and a whole heap of bad toons, Cool World is an interesting failure. But it will always be quickly forgotten in a cinematic landscape that also holds Who Framed Roger Rabbit, and rightly so.

The story focuses on a young man (Frank Harris, played by Brad Pitt) who ends up living in Cool World, despite the fact that he's a flesh and blood human now stuck in a world full of cartoons. Frank ends up taking on the role of guardian/protector. He becomes a detective, and his main concern is stopping other real people from coming over to Cool World, or vice versa. If a human and cartoon end up having sex, for example, then the results could be disastrous. But that doesn't stop Holli Would (Kim Basinger) from trying to make that happen, especially when she has the opportunity to bewitch the man who believes that Cool World is his creation (Gabriel Byrne).

Written by Michael Grais and Mark Victor, the script for Cool World is a hodge-podge of cliches, potentially intriguing ideas, and thin characters (aside from the three leads). Director Ralph Bakshi puts his fingerprints all over it, of course, with the style of animation, and the constant use of cartoon characters in very adult situations, and fans of his work will at least want to give this a viewing. It's just a shame that everything potentially good (even great) in the movie is often covered over by sub-par animation and a constant urge to make things silly. Not that ALL the animation is sub-par. There are some moments that are pretty good, really, but the quality just isn't consistent as it needs to be.

Pitt isn't exactly on top form, but he does okay. Likewise, Byrne. Both men perhaps spent most of their time making sure that they were looking at the right spot and interacting convincingly with characters that were to be drawn in later. Basinger, on the other hand, gives a great performance. In animated form, she's a real hottie, and in human form . . . . . . . she's Kim Basinger. It's a win win, and she effortlessly makes her character a memorable sexy seductress who convincingly winds men around her little finger.

Wild 'n' whacky in a way that will surely put off as many viewers as it pleases, Cool World feels very much like an experiment gone wrong. That may have something to do with the fact that it was seriously altered (read = watered down) once Basinger became attached and voiced concerns about the original tone. While not exactly kid-friendly, it would have been interesting to see this given a distinctly more adult feel. Whether that would have greatly improved it or not, we'll never know.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Cool-World-Gabriel-Byrne/dp/B0000AUHQC/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415891181&sr=1-1&keywords=cool+world

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Into The Wild Green Yonder (2009)

I don't care what people say nowadays, I think The Simpsons is one of the best TV shows ever made. It's certainly the best animated show of all time (despite stiff competition from classics and newcomers). I've seen some of the newer episodes that people like to say prove the show is well past its prime and just don't see the decline in quality that people keep trying to point to. Yes, there were some noted peak seasons but the show is consistently great, in my opinion, and I'll always be a fan. The show that comes closest to it (despite stiff competition from classics and newcomers) is Futurama. Created by Matt Groening and others who worked on The Simpsons, Futurama is the sci-fi-centric sibling of that show. It started off very much in the shadow of The Simpsons but quickly went on to gain a loyal following among fans like myself, who found a multitude of great references and gags in every episode.

The central premise is that old sci-fi staple of someone being accidentally frozen for many, many years and then waking up in a strange future. The 21st century man is just an average guy named Fry (voiced by Billy West) but he soon settles into his new life with Professor Farnsworth (also voiced by Billy West), Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal), Hermes (voiced by Phil LaMarr), Dr. Zoidberg (Billy West again) and, of course, Bender the robot (voiced by John Di Maggio). Together, this ragtag team go on missions delivering goods in their Planet Express spaceship.

In case you're unaware of just what happened to the show here is the easy summary. Futurama was cancelled. Then four movies (with this being the last one) were made. Then it wasn't cancelled any more. Which makes the four movies just as good as they ever were but also leaves them feeling a bit odd because they were obviously meant to provide a satisfying resolution for fans. Having said that, the movies don't really go by standard movie rules and, thankfully, end up playing out like extended episodes of the fantastic TV show. Just as they should.

The plot here is all about the universe being damaged, Leela protesting, Bender getting himself in trouble, Fry being able to read the thoughts of others suddenly and a few other things but all you need to know is that the jokes keep being thrown around thick and fast, the characters are all as entertaining as ever, the animation and design work is superb and Zapp Brannigan (ANOTHER character voiced by Billy West) sings a bit of Duran Duran at one point. What more could you wish for.

Peter Avanzino directs the inspired lunacy, written by Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen, and he clearly knows how to pitch everything just perfectly for fans of the show. If you love Futurama then I, personally, feel that the movies are well worth buying, watching and rewatching.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Futurama-Green-Yonder-Blu-ray-Region/dp/B001GPTCF2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1343725855&sr=8-4