By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 19 seconds ago

Growing up, I wasn’t a huge fan of King of the Hill. Sure, I found it enjoyable enough, but I never went out of my way to regularly watch it. To my teenage sensibilities, Mike Judge’s other major cartoon, Beavis and Butt-Head, was more endearing. Fast forward more than a decade later, though, and I discovered just how brilliant this show was. It helped that I had become a father, raising my own son in a tiny Southern town full of colorful personalities. Hank Hill was no longer a character I couldn’t understand; rather, he was someone I knew a little bit better every time I looked into the mirror.

That kinship with Hank is a big part of why I loved King of the Hill’s triumphant return on Hulu. Much of the revival’s first season focused on the relationship between Hank and Bobby, one which had changed since Bobby (much like my own son in the intervening years) had become his own man. Once more, Hank felt like my own reflection; someone trying to find his place in a world where everything changed but him. That consistency is at the heart of the newest season, which uses top-notch characterization to give us the best storytelling in this show’s history.

Bobby Loves Connie

To me, the most exciting thing about the King of the Hill revival was seeing the kind of man young Bobby had grown into. Making him a chef and restaurant owner was a stroke of genius because it highlighted the character’s passion and strengths while also underscoring that he still has more than a few things to learn. Bobby grew over that season in several ways, but none more so than finally beginning a relationship with his childhood crush, Connie Souphanousinphone. These two hooking up was the emotional climax of the previous season, and this season explores how their relationship has evolved.

As usual, the King of the Hill revival approached their changed dynamic with humor and bemusement, like when they wrestled with the decision to give their relationship a hard launch or a soft launch. They faced some predictable relationship woes, including arguments over exes and flirtatious women. All of this felt very real, but the show never resorted to cheap tricks by making us think they are going to break up. They always work things out and always lift each other up. Just as Hank constantly models good fathering, Bobby and Connie model a healthy relationship, and it is just infinitely rewarding to watch this couple do its thing. 

Never Too Old For An Arc

If the King of the Hill revival’s first season had one weakness, it was that it arguably focused a bit too much on Hank and Bobby. While these two are still front and center in most stories, many of the newer episodes focused on other older characters, with a special emphasis on how they have changed over time. For example, we see Nancy finally decide to work on her relationship with Dale rather than constantly cucking her husband with John Redcorn. We also see more of the fallout of Kahn and Minh’s divorce. Heck, even Bill gets major development, both as Kahn’s roommate and as a man suffering from crippling depression.

Giving the older characters these major arcs infuses the new season with a special power. After all, these are characters most fans grew up with, and seeing their evolution is a keen reminder that it’s never too late for any of us to change. Plus, the resolution to these arcs is often emotionally rewarding. My favorite was seeing Hank go all out to help Peggy with her menopause; overwhelmed, she asked him to be the one thing that never changes. It’s a beautiful moment because Peggy’s praise reinforces Hank’s idea of himself. As for Hank, we see his biggest secret: that he’s willing to make major changes to help the ones he loves.

As an avowed wife guy, moments like this are absolutely beautiful. Fair warning: you may want to keep some manly tissues handy because it’s hard not to tear up at the sheer sweetness of these characters.

He Walks The Line

The last thing I wanted to highlight about the King of the Hill revival’s latest season is how well it walks the scariest tightrope of them all: politics. Hank is a conservative character living in a very conservative area, but he is defined more by a personal moral compass than a political one. The show often emphasizes this by showing how reasonable and moderate Hank is, especially in the face of weird extremism. The mildest example of this is when some Comic-Con nerds mock Hank for being old and out-of-touch; he ultimately bonds with them by watching their favorite nerd show and crafting a hero-quality prop of their favorite fantasy weapon.

The most extreme example involves a hen becoming a rooster, something that is rare but scientifically possible. When Hank innocuously mentions how this is neat, some parents start screaming at him about teaching false gender ideology and how he must support trans kids playing sports. Hank doesn’t pop off a speech about trans rights. Instead, he calmly reminds his accusers that they were talking about something entirely different and trying to twist his words. The whole plot is a perfect satire of trans panic, keeping Hank Hill in character while highlighting that the loudest voices on any political issue are more interested in being heard than actually having a discussion.

Time To Grab Some Brews With The Boys

A stinging satire of culture war bullsh*t that doesn’t get preachy and merely points out how stupid extremist positions are? Simply put, there is no other modern comedy (cartoon or otherwise) firing on all cylinders like King of the Hill.

If you were waiting for my TL; DR review, here it is: the new King of the Hill season is television at its finest. You should really drop whatever you’re doing and go stream it on Hulu. And here’s a little recommendation: while you’re up, get in some comfy clothes and grab your favorite drink and coziest blanket. All the episodes are out now, and trust me: you’ll want to binge this bad boy all night long!

KING OF THE HILL REVIEW SCORE

By Chris Snellgrove
| Updated 20 seconds ago

Right now, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is tearing through theaters like a one-man army. This film is the latest adaptation of an ancient Greek text about a soldier trying to find his way home after helping to win a costly battle. Specifically, Odysseus helped to bring the Trojan War to an end, which is ironic when you think about it. After all, the success of this fictional tale might have finally brought a real-world conflict to an end. Namely, the endless culture wars fought by the bravest keyboard warriors this side of 4chan.

For many months now, all of the usual suspects have been whinging about Nolan’s casting decisions. This included having Lupita Nyong’o play Helen of Troy and having Elliot Page play Sinon, a Greek warrior. At the prospect of (gasp!) a Black woman and a trans man playing Greek characters, haters began screeching that the film was woke garbage that would bomb at the box office. That is, of course, the conventional wisdom of the old adage: “go woke, go broke.” However, The Odyssey earned a whopping $264.1 million in its opening weekend, providing a lesson everyone should learn. The lesson? Repeat after me: the internet is not real life.

There Is No Normal

When I’m not dropping hot takes about movies and TV shows, I’m a professor at a humble state college. One of the life lessons I try to impart to all my students is that there is no normal; there is only what has been normalized around you. Are you in a room with nothing but flat-earthers? In that scenario, you’d be considered the crazy one. After a while, you might even start to believe what they are saying. This is just human nature … everyone wants to fit in rather than be an outcast. Eventually, it becomes easier to drink the Kool-Aid of wacky groupthink than to speak truth to a bunch of idiots.

What does this have to do with The Odyssey? Everything, really. Despite once clinging to the mantra “facts don’t care about your feelings,” the conservatives predicting that the movie would bomb didn’t have any real data to suggest that would happen; instead, they just had the rancid vibes of everyone in their preferred virtual spaces insisting that the film would flop. This is a practical example of the flat-earther example above. You can only hear the majority of people in your favorite online groups predict doom for so long before those predictions seem inevitable. Nobody wants to question the narrative because that’s the quickest way to get ostracized from the group.

The Internet Is Not Real Life

Now, the success of The Odyssey (it made over a quarter of a billion dollars in the first weekend!) has destroyed that narrative on its own. What has that done to the naysayers who predicted its doom? Some have retreated into conspiracy theories; millionaires must be buying out empty theaters! The movie is only successful because it pandered to woke elites! It’s only making money because of presales! The expensive IMAX tickets inflated the numbers! These are just a few conspiracies being peddled by intractable crazies who can’t comprehend The Odyssey being popular and successful. Their narrative has fallen apart, proving once and for all that the internet is not real life.

Regardless of its political leanings, every single online group you are part of has its own biases about countless topics. This includes what is or isn’t woke. But part of being a grownup is realizing that these groups’ opinions don’t reflect the wider culture anymore than your childhood friends’ opinions reflect the opinions of everyone in your hometown. If you and your buddies hate a new bar but it gets more crowded by the month, then most people clearly like it. And if the movie all of your online buddies have called woke garbage earns hundreds of millions in the first weekend, then it’s clearly both popular and successful.

The Culture War Is Over

Everyone votes with their dollars. If having a Black woman or a trans man portray a Greek character was a huge dealbreaker, mainstream audiences would have boycotted The Odyssey. If the average moviegoer actually cared about tweaking the lore of a 3,000-year-old poem, they’d have avoided the film. The fact that the movie is doing gangbusters at the box office is proof that most going to see it aren’t fretting over politics or culture war narratives. They just wanted to see a giant blockbuster filled with great actors; Christopher Nolan, whose every film has been successful, gave those audiences exactly what they wanted, and he’s being rewarded for it.

That’s how you can tell (and you may want to sit down for this) that the whole idea of a culture war is fake. Under capitalism, the predominant culture and cultural preferences are represented by what people pay for. The Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t fail because it was woke; it failed because it was another low-effort film from a fading franchise. Obsession didn’t succeed because it was anti-woke; it succeeded because it had fresh ideas, killer performances, and a visionary director. In short, audiences just want a good film, and a movie’s box office is the most reliable barometer of mainstream audiences’ opinion on a major blockbuster film.

Freaks And Greeks

Given its own massive box office, The Odyssey is clearly a movie that appeals to mass audiences. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to like it or that it is necessarily a great film; after all, plenty of terrible movies are still insanely profitable. And you don’t have to approve of the casting, either. If boycotting this movie because of those two actors is that important to you, nobody’s going to drag you to go see it. But if you’re still hating and claiming this movie will bomb, you are officially the minority opinion on Christoper Nolan’s latest film, one that could easily earn over a billion dollars when all is said and done. 

Again, the takeaway here is that the internet isn’t real life. Did everyone in your scoldmaxxing online circles predict The Odyssey would fail? Now you know how much those predictions are worth. Were you utterly convinced that Elliot Page’s brief appearance in this film would destroy Nolan’s chances of success? Now you know how little the average person actually cares about these things. Fortunately, you can avoid these problems by putting the phone down, walking away from the computer, and going outside at least once a day. When you start talking to real people and not digital avatars, you might start caring less about what the internet has to say.

Regularly going outside is the best thing for anyone who has spent months liking countless posts about how The Odyssey would fail. If that’s you, then do us all a favor and touch some grass while you’re out there!

By Robert Scucci
| Published 31 seconds ago

Movies like Dr. Giggles aren’t meant to be taken seriously, and I’ll point out one tell you may not have noticed that drives this point home. The movie is called Dr. Giggles. Comedy slashers of the ’90s are something special because their self-awareness is what often drives the humor, and this film is no exception. From its over-the-top usage of one-liners to its clever kills carried out through the inappropriate use of various medical implements, Dr. Giggles is an absolute riot from start to finish that will have you busting a gut with laughter.

Deranged Doctor’s Revenge

Before we get to the blood and guts, I need to quickly establish the premise for Dr Giggles, but it won’t take long. The deranged son of a murderous doctor named Evan Rendell returns to his hometown to exact revenge against those who killed his father after being locked up in an insane asylum for 35 years. Dr. Evan Rendell Jr, or Dr. Giggles as he is more affectionately known, wants to finish his father’s work by cutting the hearts out of his soon-to-be victims.

Dr. Evan Rendell Senior cut out his victims’ hearts before his death so he could find a replacement heart that could help him resurrect his dead wife. Dr. Giggles, on the other hand, just wants to kill his victims for the love of the game. However, Jennifer Campbell (Holly Marie Combs) becomes a victim of interest because she’s wearing a heart monitor, indicating to the deranged doctor that she’s afflicted with an illness not unlike his deceased mother’s.

Punning Psychopath

The above rundown is basically all you need to know about Dr. Giggles, and for me to tell you why this movie is such an effective horror comedy. The titular doctor, portrayed by Larry Drake, is an unhinged psychopath who speaks almost exclusively in puns as if he were a doctor with a questionable bedside manner.

Belting out one-liners like “leave it in for at least a minute” after impaling one of his victim’s heads with a thermometer, and “if you think that’s bad, wait until you get my bill,” it goes without question that Drake thoroughly enjoyed himself while seemingly ad-libbing his way through his HMO-violating rampage.

Everybody Understands The Assignment

Dr. Giggles‘ premise is further elevated by the fact that every other character in this movie pretty much plays it straight. As far as victim behavior goes, you might as well be watching a serious slasher like Halloween, but they’re running from … this guy. Imagine running from a serial killer who you think is going to stab you to death only for him to violently pump your stomach because he thought you ate too much ice cream, and wanted to remind you to cut down on your sugar intake.

The tonal juxtaposition between a slash-happy sociopath and his slaughtered subjects makes for a great watch because the gore is offset by fearless levels of campiness. In other words, Dr Giggles is not a serious slasher, but it plays out like one, which only adds to its entertainment value.

If you want to see a feature length horror comedy that resembles something you’d see in an episode of Tales from the Crypt, then Dr. Giggles should be your next watch. Just make sure you’re up to date on your life insurance policy because you may die of laughter.

As of this writing, Dr. Giggles is streaming for free on Tubi, YouTube, Xumo Play, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video, and The Roku Channel.