Showing posts with label animated series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label animated series. Show all posts

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Cartoon time


I have been meaning to write a short post about one of my favorite American animation series—’Courage, the Cowardly Dog’, a brilliant effort by John R. Dilworth and team, which originally ran on Cartoon Network from November 1999 until November 2002 (four seasons), with a total of 52 episodes produced. At present, it is running on Cartoon Network here in Oslo each night at around 8:15 pm and again shortly after midnight (on weeknights). I’ve seen most of the episodes, some of them several times, especially my favorites. I really cannot find enough superlatives to describe the show. I love everything about it—from the clever storylines, excellent animation, attention to detail, interesting backgrounds and overall creepiness at times. It is not really suitable for small children, since it is a fairly graphic horror cartoon of sorts, although there are a few sweet episodes as well. The star of the show, the pink dog Courage, must deal with all sorts of challenges in the form of freaky people, were-moles, dragons, murderous vegetables, mysterious CIA types, evil snowmen, evil magicians—the list goes on and on. He overcomes his initial fear and cowardice and protects his family—Muriel and Eustace Bagge—from all of the monsters and assorted creatures who want to do them harm. They all live out in the middle of Nowhere, Kansas in a farmhouse. Eustace, a cranky old man, is supposed to be a farmer, but nothing grows for him and the land around the house is pretty barren. Muriel, a housewife, is his direct opposite, a cheerful, helpful, sprightly older woman. Eustace is greedy and always looking to make a quick buck; Muriel keeps him in line and is definitely Courage’s supporter and protector. Courage loves Muriel, not Eustace. Whenever she gets into trouble, he loses his cool completely and freaks out, but he always comes around to ‘I’ll save you, Muriel’. And then he goes about the business of saving her. I’m including a list of some of my favorite episodes here.

The Last of the Starmakers 
The Magic Tree of Nowhere 
Food of the Dragon 
Dome of Doom 
The Snowman Cometh 
Snowman’s Revenge 
The Sandman Sleeps 
The Night of the Weremoles and Mother’s Day
The Quilt Club 
A Beaver’s Tale 

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Favorite movies and TV shows

(I'm updating this post as of 21 April 2013) to include Prometheus, Pitch Black and Oblivion under favorite sci-fi/horror films, and The Walking Dead under favorite TV shows)

One of my friends recently called me a film fanatic, and I have to say that she’s probably right. I’m not much of a TV watcher anymore (I used to be, but I hate reality TV and that’s all there is on TV these days), but you’ll never get me to stop going to the movies. I can’t think of a more pleasant way to spend a few hours than sitting in a dark theater with some candy and a box of popcorn, watching a movie. Movie theaters have changed—seats are very comfortable now (and they recline a bit), and each seat has its own plastic holder for water or soda bottles. Progress has been made for sure. The sound is exceptionally good, and the acoustics in the theater are too. You can now order tickets online and choose the seats you want. But that’s not why I go to the movies. I go because it’s a way to transport myself into another world for a few hours. I love being entertained; I love the fantasy, the magic, the escapism of movies. Always have and always will…….The following are some of my favorite movies, and while we’re at it, some of my favorite TV shows as well. If I listed all of the movies I’ve liked since I started going to the movies, the list would fill several pages for sure.

Favorite sci-fi/horror/fantasy films
·         2001 A Space Odyssey
·         2010
·         28 Days Later
·         Alien (all four films in the series)
·         Blade Runner
·         Bram Stoker’s Dracula
·         Burnt Offerings
·         District 9
·         Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark (TV movie)
·         Don’t Look Now
·         Harry Potter (all the films)
·         House of Dark Shadows
·         I Am Legend
·         Invasion of the Body Snatchers
·         Lord of the Rings film trilogy
·         Men in Black
·         Minority Report
·         Night of Dark Shadows
·         Pan’s Labyrinth
·         Psycho
·         Stardust
·         The Birds
·         The Exorcist
·         The Last Wave
·         The Man Who Fell to Earth
·         The New Daughter
·         The Omega Man
·         The Sentinel
·         The Shining
·         The Sixth Sense
·         Twelve Monkeys
·         What Dreams May Come
·         What Lies Beneath

Favorite films
·         40 Carats
·         All That Heaven Allows
·         All The Fine Young Cannibals
·         A Perfect Spy (TV mini-series)
·         Basic Instinct
·         Body Heat
·         Brigadoon
·         BUtterfield 8
·         French Kiss
·         Hair
·         Hold That Ghost
·         It’s Complicated
·         Jane Eyre (TV mini-series)
·         Jerry McGuire
·         Julie and Julia
·         Klute
·         Light Sleeper
·         Love Story
·         Marnie
·         Night Sins (TV movie)
·         Out of Africa
·         Romancing the Stone
·         Romeo is Bleeding
·         Saturday Night Fever
·         Some Came Running
·         Something Wild
·         Strangers on a Train
·         Sunday in New York
·         The Accidental Tourist
·         The Age of Innocence
·         The Apartment
·         The Fabulous Baker Boys
·         The Grifters
·         The Hours
·         The Last Seduction
·         The Long Kiss Goodnight
·         The Mechanic
·         The Moon-Spinners
·         The Pursuit of Happyness
·         The Sandpiper
·         The Shawshank Redemption
·         The Thorn Birds (TV mini-series)
·         The Witches of Eastwick
·         When Harry Met Sally
·         Witness
·         Zee and Co.

Favorite animated films/TV shows
·         Bernard Bear
·         Bugs Bunny and all the Looney Tunes cartoons
·         Coraline
·         Courage the Cowardly Dog
·         Fantasia
·         Ratatouille
·         Scooby Doo
·         The Flintstones
·         The Pink Panther

Favorite TV shows
·         Alfred Hitchcock Presents
·         Bewitched
·         Bonanza
·         Cheers
·         CSI Miami
·         Dark Shadows
·         Days of Our Lives (soap opera)
·         Dick Van Dyke Show
·         Disneyland
·         Frasier
·         I Love Lucy
·         I Spy
·         Kojak
·         Leave it to Beaver
·         Mary Tyler Moore Show
·         M*A*S*H
·         Maya
·         Night Gallery
·         Remington Steele
·         Six Feet Under
·         Star Trek
·         That Girl
·         The Avengers
·         The Brady Bunch
·         The Donna Reed Show
·         The Night Stalker
·         The Prisoner
·         The Rockford Files
·         The Sopranos
·         The Twilight Zone
·         The Waltons
·         The X-files


The surreal world we live in

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