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The Movie:
A bizarre cartoon that's become another cult hit for the Cartoon Network (more specifically, their "Adult Swim" lineup), "Home Movies" is a crudely (yet, it's own unique style is interesting) animated series following the adventures of kids Brendon, Jason and Melissa, who spend most of their days making their own no-budget feature films with a camcorder.
Despite featuring kids as main characters (there's also some supporting roles, such as Coach McGuirk and Shannon the bully), the series is geared more towards adults, as it approaches topics like divorce, enabling ("Bad Influence"), relationships and running away to Europe to become artists ("Stowaway").
The show's off-beat sense of humor, timing and delivery is a lot of fun, and the writing (which seems to be improv in many cases) is clever and consistently pretty amusing. While a pretty low-key show at times (especially in comparison to the other 'toons out there), "Home Movies" is worth watching.
Episode #301 "Shore Leave"
Episode #302 "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do"
Episode #303 "Bad Influence"
Episode #304 "Improving Your Life Through Improv"
Episode #305 "Four’s Company"
Episode #306 "Renaissance"
Episode #307 "My Cheatin’ Heart"
Episode #308 "Guitarmaggedon"
Episode #309 "Storm Warning"
Episode #310 "Time To Pay The Price"
Episode #311 "Broken Dreams"
Episode #312 "Stowaway"
Episode #313 "Coffins And Cradles"
The DVD
VIDEO: "Home Movies" is presented by Shout Factory in 1.33:1 full-frame, the show's original aspect ratio. The basic animation is shown off well by the presentation, whose only real concern is the occasional presence of some mild shimmering. Otherwise, no edge enhancement, artifacts or wear to the elements are spotted. Colors remained bright and vibrant, with nice saturation and no smearing. Sharpness and detail were also about as good as can be expected for the material.
SOUND: The stereo soundtrack remained perfectly crisp and clear, with dialogue and sound effects sounding crisp and well-recorded.
EXTRAS: Commentaries with creators Brendon Small and Loren Bouchard on "Renaissance", "Guitarmageddon", "Storm Warning", "Time to Pay the Price", "Coffins and Candles", "Shore Leave" and "Bad Influence". There's also the "Revenge of the Dorks" interactive game, animatics for some episodes, "Some Home Movies Fans: A Music Video", "A Featurette For People Who Don't Necessarily Like Home Movies" and finally, a radio interview with Jon Benjamin and Loren Bouchard.
Final Thoughts: With inspired stories, it's own style (both in terms of looks and humor) and some solid laughs, "Home Movies" is a pleasant surprise. Fans will definitely want to pick up this third season set, while animation fans interested should try the series as a rental.
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