Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo: Scooby’s Trip to Ahz (1981)

 

One of the more memorable Scooby and Scrappy shorts. 

In this short, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy are planning on watching the Wizard of Oz (1939) in the Mystery Machine. However, when Scooby accidentally knocks himself out, he dreams he is in Oz. In his dream he is the cowardly lion, Shaggy is the Scarecrow and Scrappy is the Tin Man. 

Though not exactly funny, this short is loaded with charm. For some reason these characters feel perfectly at home in an OZ like setting. There is a lot of imagination put into this setting, much more imagination than in the typical Scooby and Scrappy short. Even if it is a bad pun, there is something quite charming about the Yellow Brick Toad. The artwork here is lovely and has a great storybook type feel to it. Most of all though there is just a certain calm relaxing Saturday morning charm to this cartoon that I really enjoy. 

No one will claim this to be a masterpiece but it quite charming.  

Movie Review: Anniversary

 

Michael's Movie Grade: F

A frustratingly vague and unintentionally silly political thriller. 

This movie about a new controversial political party tearing apart a family is both very politically charged and apolitical at the same time. It seems to very desperately want to say something, but afraid to make any real political commentary at the same time. At first it seems like this will be a very important movie with a lot to say but the closer you look at it you find it is completely hollow and without substance. When politics is the focus of the film then a movie needs to have a political point of view. The problem with an apolitical political movie is that it is too vague and abstract for us to have any real attachment too. What we simply get is some people seemingly talking about politics but saying nothing (admittedly that is similar to some actual political speeches I have heard but that is beside the point). 

For a movie that is supposed to be holding a mirror to our society, it often becomes too over the top and unintentionally silly. For what starts off as a rather realistic thriller, it quickly veers into completely unbelievable territory. Each plot twist makes the film more unbelievable and sillier. If this was a South Park like satire, this would work but instead the movie takes itself 100% seriously as if they believe everything in this movie can not only happen but somehow seems like a very probable future for America. 

  This is a complete mess that views itself as a film with substance, despite lacking anything to actually say. 

The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show: Who's Minding the Monster (1983)

 

A strange but fun episode. 

In this episode, Daphne, Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy take a trip to Transylvania. They read that the Frankenstein monster is on the loose and Daphne decides they should investigate. They go to Frankenstein Castle to investigate and find the castle is now occupied by the Draculas. Scooby and Shaggy become a babysitter for the Dracula's however the normal human looking baby turns out to be a werewolf. 

There is a lot that is very strange about this cartoon. Despite the obvious supernatural elements to this episode, Daphne remains completely unconvinced that the supernatural can be real and she never once doubts this. If this was played for laughs, that would be one thing, but her disbelief is just treated as a matter-of-fact thing making it seem just odd. The uses of the monsters are also quite odd. The Frankenstein monster is treated as almost a robot and Dracula's wife looks like the bride in The Bride of Frankenstein (1935). Towards the end this episode takes an even stranger twist, and the final gag is more bizarre than funny. However, it is this strangeness that truly makes this episode stand out and gives it a real bit of charm. The episode also benefits from a strong sense of atmosphere and some great background art. 

The main flaw of this episode though is its runtime. At this time a half-hour of Scooby-Doo was made up of two 15-minute segments. However so much happens here that it would have benefitted from a half hour runtime. The episode simply hops from one plot point to the next. This doesn't allow enough time for the episode to take advantage of the comedic possibilities of the story. Scooby and Shaggy babysitting a werewolf in particular has lots of comedic possibilities, yet they are never fully utilized. 

The credited writer for this episode was Robert Goldblatt, this is the only writing credit I can find for him. Perhaps this accounts for the oddness of the cartoon. 

This is a very weird and odd Scooby short but that honestly gives it a real charm. 

Garbo the Athlete

 There are many words that come to mind when you think about Great Garbo, but none of those words are athletic. Yet this following article from a 1930 issue of Modern Screen Magazine insists that athletic was just what Greta Garbo. If you have any trouble reading the following article, click on the pages below and use your touch screen to zoom in. If you don't have touch screen click here. 

Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated: All Fear the Freak (2011)

 

An intense and wonderful episode. 

In this episode the Mystery Inc. Gang goes on their biggest mystery yet as they face the Freak of Crystal Cove and try to solve the mystery that dissolved the original Mystery Inc. gang before them. 

Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated was one of the few Scooby shows to have a continuing story arc from episode to episode. One of the best aspects of this show is how well it built up the stakes from episode to episode. This is one of the few cartoon shows where not only did each episode lead up to something bigger but when that something bigger came, it completely lived up to what it promised. Most of these shows have disappointing conclusions but this show lives up to everything it promises. This can easily be seen in this finale to the first season. This episode feels so much bigger than anything that came before. Not only is the monster creepy and threatening but this episode truly changes the relationships between the characters. Unlike most Scooby mysteries the mystery has a greater and much more personal effect than simply a monster being unmasked. The reveals in this episode are truly shocking with the most shocking unmasking in the history of Scooby-Doo. This not only feels like a great cumulation of everything that everything that this season has been heading towards, but it also promises something much larger and more intense in the second season. 

This episode was written by Mitch Watson, who wrote many episodes of this show's first season and provided some voices of incidental characters. His non-Scooby work includes the live action made for TV movie, Ben 10: Race Against Time (2007) and the TV series, Beware the Batman (a very underappreciated TV show). 

The episode was directed by Victor Cook, who not only directed many episodes of the show but was also the supervising director for the first season and a producer for the second. As well as this show, he also directed the direct to video movie Scooby-Doo Stage Fright (2013). His non-Scooby work includes such series as Spectacular Spider-Man and Stretch Armstrong and the Flex Fighters.

This is truly a wonderful episode. 

Movie Review: Blue Moon

 

Michael's Movie Grade: A+

One of the best movies of the year (so far). 

For those of you unaware Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers were one of the greatest songwriting teams of the 20th century. With Hart providing the lyrics and Rodgers providing the music, the team had written many gems of the Great American Songbook. These include My Funny Valentine, Where or When, The Lady Is a Tramp, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and of course Blue Moon. The two worked only together until Rodgers teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein II for Oklahoma. This movie tells the story of Lorenz Hart at a bar after seeing the premiere of Oklahoma. 

On paper it would seem like a movie like this wouldn't work. It takes place almost entirely in one setting and is filled with wall-to-wall dialogue. While you can argue about how cinematic this type of storytelling is, you become so caught up in how great the dialogue is that you don't even really pay attention to this. Early on in the film, two characters quote Casablanca (1942) to each other. Perhaps it is inevitable that a movie filled with such great dialogue would pay tribute to the film with the most iconic dialogue in cinema history. The script by Robert Kaplow (author of the best seller Me and Orson Welles) is extremely witty, intelligent, engaging and insightful. This is the kind of script that stays with you long after the film is over. The ideas expressed in the dialogue are very profound and thought provoking, yet this is not the only charm of the dialogue. Being a film about a lyricist, words are chosen not only for their meaning but their sound. Appropriately there is a real lyrical quality to the dialogue that is quite entrancing. Even so the dialogue can also be really funny at times, which helps the film from getting too heavy as to not be entertaining. Of course, having some of the greatest American music play throughout the movie

One line from Casablanca that is quoted numerous times throughout is "nobody ever loved me that much." Within this quote lies the tragedy of the story. Though Hart had some written the lyrics to some the greatest love songs ever, he never experienced that kind of love himself. Meanwhile his alcoholism and personal problems have driven away the closest people he ever had to him. This movie looks at a deeply lonely and sad man, who finds more companionship with a bartender and piano player in a bar than to those who should be closest to him. Yet the movie does not spend most of its time pitying him but rather empathizing with him. We deeply feel every emotion he is feeling and any of us who have ever felt lonely or incapable of being loved, see too much of ourselves for our own comfort. This complexity is perfectly captured by Ethan Hawke's magnificent performance. This may be the best performance of his career as he perfectly captures every single emotion and complexity to this character.   

Yet Hawke is not the only standout of this cast. The whole cast is excellent, and special attention must go to Margaret Qualley as a younger woman he is infatuated with. She is positively radiant on screen, and we can perfect understand this infatuation.

This is a pure masterpiece.  

Movie Review: Truth and Treason

 

Michael's Movie Grade: B

A very well made but familiar World War 2 movie. 

There have been many movies lately about individuals standing up against the Nazi Regime in Germany. Perhaps this is because in today's politically heated climate, the message of standing up to the evils around you is incredibly timely. It is also safer to tell these stories than ones involved directly in today's political climate. This is especially true since most sides of the political spectrum (except for those dangerous amoral extremists who actually wave around Nazi flags), will believe the modern equivalent of the Nazis to be people on a different side of the political spectrum.

Talking about being safe, safety is the main flaw of this film. This movie does nothing that the countless similar films haven't done already. It does all these elements quite well, but its familiarity makes it simply blend in with the many similar movies. Because of this, you are not likely to remember much about this movie in the future and if you do, you will probably get it confused with a different film.

Despite this the movie is very well made. The emotional moments hit quite hard and some of the tense scenes feel almost unbearable. Even the romance (something that often feels forced into these films), is quite effective and touching. However, the heart of this film lies with the characters and the cast. We automatically like and care about these characters. Even more than this we respect their bravery and how strongly they stand for what they believe in. The cast is uniformly excellent. Ewan Horrocks is especially compelling in the main role.