Scooby Doo: Mystery Incorporated Season 2

This show caught me off guard. I watched the first episode expecting another cute little Scooby series I'd watch when nothing else is on. When Mr. E first called and gave his ominous warning, I was hooked. Even so, season 2 sat untouched in my iTunes library for a while. When I finally watched, I ended up binging them.

I was a little fuzzy on some of the plot points of season one, but it didn't interfere too much. This continues right where that season left off, and progresses more tightly. There is less filler this round, which is a good thing. It starts with the gang getting back together, and from there the spoilers start so fast and so quick I cannot type anything else without giving too much away.

This show hits the right notes. When it needs to be funny, it's funny. The Frank Miller-esque version of the Blue Falcon and Dyno-Mutt was great, as was the Dandy Highwayman. When it needs to be scary, it's scary. The villains are absolutely terrifying, and when one of them is a parrot, that's not an easy feat to pull off.When it needs to hit emotions, like Cassidy and Ricky's relationship, or the flashback with Ricky and Pericles, it pulls it off.

Doug Walker said, in his editorial on The Looney Tunes Show, that great characters never change, but times and situations do. I think that applies here. The characters are the same I grew up with (okay, Shaggy's a bit braver, and Fred is closer to A Pup Named Scooby Doo than the original series), but the show has matured. The monsters are still crooks in suits (usually...) but they're still scary, because they are trying to kill the gang either way. Things you just accepted in the Sixties get explanations. Everything's darker, but not bleak, and it's well done.

Some highlights this season:

The Gathering Gloom: A great lampshading on the whole "Scooby Doo Hoax"

The Midnight Zone: Another great use of an old Hanna-Barbera property, and the first big Wham Episode of the season.

Wrath of the Krampus: I can't say why this one's great without spoiling the ending.

Heart of Evil: The above mentioned Dyno-Mutt episode, with appearances from Jonny Quest villain Dr. Zin.

The Horrible Heard: Where Pericles starts to lose it.

The epic music battle at the end of Dance of the Dead.

Pretty much everything in the last six episodes.

Watch this series, even if you haven't liked any other Scooby Doo. You won't be disappointed.

The Shining

I got this book as part of a collection I found at Half-Price Books. It was Stephen King's first four published books in one volume, but not in chronological order. It starts with the third, The Shining, and I think it was released around the time the Kubrick movie was made, seeing as how stills from the movie are on the cover, with this particular title bigger than the others. I've never seen the movie, or the miniseries King directed, so I went in unspoiled... mostly. You'd have to be living under a rock not to know the basic plot, as well as the twin girls, the blood in the elevator, the "All work and no play..." thing, etc.

So it's a man going crazy in a haunted hotel and a boy with psychic powers. An good premise for a novel. I think Jack's descending into madness was well done, and believable. He's presented as a writer with alcohol problems (King admits his subconscious was trying to tell him something) and anger issues who has already snapped and hurt his son, nearly destroying his marriage in the process. At first, everything could be choked up as a regular breakdown, but as the novel goes on, the true nature of the hotel becomes clear, at it's frightening.

The parts written from Danny's point of view are done fairly well, and it captures a child's understanding, as far as I can tell. I just wish I hadn't known the nature of his powers too early on.

I think some of the exposition at the beginning is a bit clunky, but other than that I had great time with this one.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep

Let me tell you: this one took forever. I started this the year it came out, put it down halfway through Ventus' story for reasons I don't really remember, and then had trouble picking it back up again. I finally finished it, though not as much as I intended to. I was going to 100% the Trinity Report, but with 2.5 Remix coming next year, I decided to just finish up all the individual reports to see the secret movie. All in all, 113 hours went into this game. I wish I could say it was all fun, but... it really, really wasn't.

Alright, let's get this out of the way right now: the main game is good. Great, even. I had my most fun when I was just playing through the main game. The Command System happens to be my favorite out of all the Kingdom Hearts games so far. Getting to experiment means a more varied experience.

The plot starts ten years before Kingdom Hearts and features three character who we never see in any other game, so... yeah, I never got attached. And that's all I'm saying on plot, because this is Kingdom Hearts and trying to explain it to the uninformed is an exercise in frustration. There are three campaigns, one with each character, and they all play different: Terra is the bruiser, hits hard and has lots of HP; Ventus (another Sora look alike...eh) is quick and agile; Aqua uses the most powerful magic. These three are supposedly equally balanced, but Aqua can be a game breaker in the Mirage Arena (more on that later).

The gameplay is as fluid as ever. I was able to destroy Unversed as well as I could destroy Heartless. Shotlocks took some getting used to, but I managed. But let me tell you, I would have never even touched D-links if the Reports hadn't demanded it. That isn't to say you can just damage rush everything. On the contrary, I think this Kingdom Hearts was the first I had to really think to win.

The voice acting is top notch. Once again, the Disney characters are played by their movie counterparts (when possible). Even Chris Sanders came back as Stitch. For the new characters, we have the the much talked about pairing of Leonard Nimoy and Mark Hamill as Master Xehenort and Master Eraqus, and they hit it out of the park. Aqua and Ventus's voice actors do good as well. Terra... man, he is dry. Probably the only misstep in the audio.

The graphics... let me tell you, I feel old every time I turn on my PSP. I remember when the GBA was a big deal because it had Super Nintendo-level graphics. Now... wow.

So, what's my beef with Birth By Sleep? To use an discredited South Park meme, "If you go for 100% completion, you're gonna have a bad time." You think filling out Jiminy's Journal was hard? Try doing it three times, and each time you have to conquer a mode meant for multiplayer. No one I know plays KH, so I was stuck doing Mirage Arena solo. This meant beating very hard bosses solo. This meant hours of grinding to get high enough to beat them. I really want to like the arena, but I can't give an honest thumbs up. Worse, the other Arena Challenges come from a watered down Mario Kart and an asinine Mario Party clone. And once you do all those, you still need to grind for medals to get everything.

All in all, unless you're a completionist like I am, stick to the main story. Otherwise, hey, you're funeral.

And now, I can finally move on to re:coded

Creepshow and Halloween III: Season of the Witch

My Halloween ended this year by watching two horror movies that have been on my list for a while.

I'm a fan of horror anthology shows like The Twilight Zone and Tales From The Crypt, and Stephen King is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, so this seemed right up my alley. It's based on the old EC horror comics, so it's five short tales of terror.

Father's Day: Wow. I honestly can't remember the big picture of this part. I guess it was okay, but nothing spectacular.

The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill: This little tale, based loosely on H.P. Lovecraft's The Colour Out Of Space, features King as the titular hick who finds a meteorite that causes a strange plant to grow everywhere. It starts out pretty funny, but by the end it gets downright depressing.

Something to Tide You Over: Okay, as far as Liam Nieson goes, I've seen Scary Movie 3-4, Airplane!, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It!. From the titles alone, you can probably guess that he would be playing against type as a horror movie villain. But lo and behold, he plays the role, and plays it well.

This seemed the most like the episodes of Tales From the Crypt that I love: a horrible person getting a supernatural punishment.

The Crate: This one dragged on too long. There were some funny moments, like one character imagining killing his wife, but nothing too spectacular.

They're Creeping Up On You!: If you're afraid of roaches like I am, AVOID THIS! I mean, seriously. I feel sorry for Tom Savini, since those were real roaches and he has a phobia against them. Otherwise, it’s a creepy ending to a great horror anthology.

I liked Creepshow, and I'm interested to see the sequels. But that's for next Halloween.

I finished up the holiday with Halloween III: Season of the Witch. The sequel that would have turned the series into an anthology, it focuses on an evil executive who wants to commit mass murder using cursed masks.

Since seeing James Rolfe's Top 10 Sequels That Aren't As Bad As Everyone Says list, I wanted to see this, but I was not impressed. The plot moved a bit too slow, and it ends right before the curse would have gone into effect. It felt like it was missing its climax, even though we get a confrontation with the bad guy.

Also, I feel like pointing out that, when I remembered the plot point about a piece of Stonehenge going missing but not where it came from, I thought it came from some 80s cartoon like G.I. Joe. Oh well.

WOT: The Great Hunt

Well, I finished re-listening to The Great Hunt. What do I think? Well, I'm going to skip the intro and just talk about it character-by-character.

Rand: Rand was a frickin' idiot in the first part, with the whole "I'm going to chase away my friends to protect them" BS that not only I hate, but it seems to never lead anywhere. Mat and Perrin find out before he disappears, and Loial forgives him instantly, so...why?

Other than that, I see him as just someone reacting to things. He's still this guy who just wants to get out of this mess he's gotten himself in. His development comes into the future books.

Mat: I hated Mat in this book. Yes, he has a right to be pissed at Rand, but come on, it never occurred to him that someone who's been friends with him for so long wasn't interested at all in helping him? And when he finds out Rand can channel, he abandons him? Leigh Butler, in her reread of the series, noted that it had something to do with him just not having a big inner relation yet, but he still lost points with me. He's still a load here, so... ugh.

Perrin: Still awesome, though he doesn't do much here. This books just wasn't really focused on him. When it is, he just angsts over being able to speak to wolves. This is resolved better in the next book.

Egwene: Still not a lot of development. She trains, get caught by the Seanchan, then gets rescued. If she was hardened by her slavery, it doesn't show here.

Nyneave: I like her better here. She's kind of snippy, but considering everything, I excuse her. She's more compassionate, and her journey to through the Accepted ceremony was cool. Seeing her lead Elyane was awesome, especially since she stuck it to the Seanchan.

Elyane: More of a role, but never really got here character. I guess they were setting her up for future books.

Loial: Still love him. Love how he had to adjust to violence in this book, love how he sticks by Rand, love him. Keep it up Loial.

Hurin: He annoyed me. Not as much as Mat, but all his insistence at making Rand a lord annoyed me.

Liandran: The only reason she's not the character I hate the most in this book is because the Seanchan are in it. I am waiting to see her get was she deserves in the next book.

Seanchan: I. HATE. THEM. That whole sequence with Egwene being enslaved was just so painful to read, and seeing them get their comeuppance was gratifying. I hope they get wiped out later in the series.

Padan Fain: Man, I'm telling you, I'm having a hard time matching him up with the peddler from the first book. I guess that just shows how much he's been corrupted.

All in all, liked it, waiting for book three.

Horror: Do Not Watch Alone

This was a collection of public domain horror movies. I got it because it had three movies I wanted to see: Night of the Living Dead, Count Dracula and his Vampire Brides, and The Last Man on Earth. It's fifteen movies, and while there's some gems, most of them are bad, bad, bad.

Night of the Living Dead

Love it. It's the kind of movie I enjoy: a very basic plot that focuses on the characters. It's just a group of characters trying to survive. Just go see it, it has stood the test of time.

House on Haunted Hill

Boy, this dragged. It's scary, but in a "jump out and scare you" kind of way. It's people talking, and I was never really invested in the plot. I think they were going for ambiguity on whether the house was haunted, but I never bought it. Not bad, but not good.

Carnival of Souls

It was the only movie that really scared me, at least to the point where I was kind of jumpy after watching it, but it was pretty predictable. I guess it was original in the 1920s, but if you can't guess the endings, you don't watch a lot of movies. Still, it was pretty much like a long Twilight Zone episode. Kind of slow, but in this case it kept me guessing well enough.

I Bury The Living

You'd be forgiving for thinking this is the shock film, but it's actually a very slow mystery. The plot is this man has to work at a funeral home that has a big map. Plots pinned with white pins are paid for, black pins are full. He finds that when a black pin is put where a white pin is supposed to be, that person dies. Really, I loved this one. See it.

Blood Tide

Boring. It's supposed to be about a monster from underwater attacking a coastal town, but the monster shows up so little I can't even remember what it looks like. Skip it.

Fangs of the Living Dead

Something about a vampire family. Didn't hold my interest.

Bloody Pit of Horror

Um... wow. Uh... a crazy guy tortures people. Yeah... Boy, the lip syncing was bad.

The Undertaker and His Pals

This seems to be a comedy movie with a horrific plot. There's mostly slapstick here, but sometimes the plot just misses. Like, the two restaurant worker want to kill the Undertaker for messing up, but as soon as one of them gets in trouble, suddenly he's the one that the other two want to kill. What? Interesting, but I don't think I'll see it again.

Count Dracula and his Vampire Brides

This is listed where Nightmare Castle was on the back of the DVD, which shows how little those putting it together cared. Part of the Hammer series starring Christopher Lee, it doesn't seem like a Dracula movie. Dracula seems like an evil CEO and he wants to kill off humanity... ugh. If that sounds like an interesting movie, it's not. Boring.

Dementia 13

Don't remember it.

Nightmare Castle

Don't remember it either.

The Last Man on Earth

Ever see I Am Legend? Yeah, this was the first adaptation, and it's much better than Will Smith's version. Vincent Prince plays a man who might be becoming a monster through trying to survive. And that scene where he sees his transformed wife? Creepy! Loved it.

The Pyx

Again, so bland and boring I can't remember anything about it.

Dominique is Dead

The same

The Ghost

I swear, this was ripped off a bad VHS recording. I saw the static. And that's the most remarkable thing about it.

The Casual Vacancy

J.K. Rowling's first book for adults, I think a more accurate title would be Every Dysfunction You Can Think Of.

The plot is supposed to be about a councilman in a small British town dies and an election has to be held to pick a replacement. In execution, however, it's really a framing device for a lot of characters to have experiences. The election is wrapped up with plenty of pages left.

The amount of characters made my brain break at the beginning. There's a snobby family scheming to get the husband elected, an uptight deputy headmaster with a caring wife and a nihilistic son, a man who abuses his wife and sons, a woman with a heroin addiction and a teenage daughter who is practically raising her brother, a man who hates his girlfriend but is in love with the widow, and all this other stuff. I was overwhelmed when the book started, and by the end I was still sketchy on some of them.

Very little is resolved. In fact, it really seemed that only half the story for a lot of these characters was told. I wanted to see how Fats reacted to his mistakes, or Simon to finding out his son sold him out, or Gaia and Kay's relationship now that Gavin's out of it, or Sookvenda's actions to her mother discovering her self-mutilation. Every subplot feels like it could have been it's own book.

Are you seeing the pattern? Too many characters. This is a doorstopper book, but it still seems half-finished. In Harry Potter, it worked, because there was seven books to tell the tale. Here, there's too much too soon. And all the darkness... again, it works through seven books, but here it's just heaped on you all the time. There's little in happy moments.