D Thompson’s Pandora Box: Scooby Doo, Pirates, Dredd and Best Foot Forward

By: DThompson | in: Comics, Movies, TV |

Pirates of the Caribbean 2

Most Eyegasmic DVD Cover (lately): The Cover of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. OK, not so much the cover as the sleeve over the cover is an eye-catching blend of holography, air-brushed photography, painting, computer imaging and embossed framing and labeling. I still haven’t watched the movie but the cover is just entrancing. It has a beautiful, green, deep-sea filtered light quality to it. This is by far the best content appropriate packaging I’ve seen (lately) and well worth an admiring glance or two.

Best Foot Forward

Coolest Movie Using Actual Kids To Play Kids: Best Foot Forward is an old musical. How old? Lucille Ball is in it, as a sex pot. It’s interesting to watch Lucy play a wise-ass tough girl of the 1940s a decade or more before her “I Love Lucy” shtick developed. However, the really interesting thing about Best Foot Forward is it takes place at a military school’s senior prom and was made in 1943, the height of World War II. Why is that interesting? Because you would usually suffer through a bunch of thirty-something guys playing the “kids” in a movie like this but since all those guys were off fighting the war this movie uses real kids. Oh, and June Allyson and Nancy Walker are in it, and they even sing a number or two. Oh – Oh, and the prom band is Harry James and His Big Band and that’s as big band as big band gets.Imagine The Rolling Stones playing at your prom. Oh-Oh-Oh, and the music kicks some, for 1943.
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Judge Dredd

Best Collection Of An Old(ish) British Comic: Judge Dredd: The Apocalypse War has been out for some time now in paperback and fancy-schmancy hard back. The book collects the original black and white 2000 A.D. comic, which is fine because Eagle Comics’ colored versions always seemed smeary and somehow garishly ugly. Apocalypse War starts small with the story arc “Block War” but soon expands to encompas all of Mega City One (the entire East coast for you benighted yanks out there), and moves eventually into World War III. This is the most ambitiously entertaining Dredd story-line from original creators John Wagner and Alan Grant finding Dredd at his butt-stomping fascist best. Don’t argue, don’t mention Sly Stallone, just read it.
Scooby Doo. Where Are You?

Best Old Cartoon My Little Nieces Love: Scooby Doo, Where Are You? Was originally broadcast in 1969 so when I bought my nieces, five and six respectively, the first two seasons I was worried they would find it all a little old-fashioned and, you know, stupid. Fool that I was because, of course, they love it. And why not? When I was their age Scooby was the be-all and end-all of Saturday morning. (Until Hanna Barbera decided Scrappy freakin Doo was a good idea. Man, would I like a few minutes alone with whoever made up Scrappy-Doo). I also bought the girls the first season of The New Scooby-Doo which follows the same format except everyone says “groovy” a lot less and, to my great amusement, the previously dumpy character of Thelma has been slimmed down a bit. The girls notice that the voices have changed, (Ha! Remember when you noticed when cartoon character’s voices changed?) but they still love it. Hi girls! I’m waving at you!
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Posted on April 24, 2007

Comments

16 Responses to “D Thompson’s Pandora Box: Scooby Doo, Pirates, Dredd and Best Foot Forward”

HMTKSteve on April 24th, 2007 4:54 am

I didn’t care much for “Dead Man’s chest” at all. I felt let down by it.

Do you remember that terrible movie staring kids as gangsters?

Scooby doo was “teh awesome” until scrappy doo came out… They sort of got back at him in the live action movie by making him the villain!

Charbarred on April 24th, 2007 5:04 am

I don’t know what everyone has against Scrappy. Sure, except for Mr. Pink on Reservoir Dogs, he’s the whiniest character to ever hit the screens, but he had his moments
Not really looking forward to Pirates 3 although I’ll probably fork out the money and go (if I managed to survive 9 hours of that Peter Jackson New Zealand documentary, I’m sure I can get through another Pirates movie)

mozzer on April 24th, 2007 8:44 am

Char, How dare you disparage Mr. Pink! He kicks ass… by whining! But I’m with you on the New Zealand documentary. I watched LOTR 3 this weekend, and the movie had at least 4 endings.

DThompson, watch Pirates 2 already. Personally, I liked it. I cant wait for Pirates 3.

ipodwheels on April 24th, 2007 5:17 pm

I have watched Pirates 2 but its one of those movies that leave you hanging in the end. I hate movies like that. At least have a sub plot or something. Or spare added minutes just to make it feel like it is a movie on it’s own. I felt like I was made to watch an amazing unfinished film. That means I’d still be watching out for the third installment though. Or else, I’d never get that crazy unsatisfied feeling off my chest.

Scooby Doo rocks. I liked how they made the mysteries. You know the culprit is just one of the characters but they made everyone look creepy so you are guessing until the end. Scrappy doo, is creepy. I am just happy they trashed him in the first movie. Something just tells me he is evil. I dunno. I’m scared of him when I was a kid. It might be because he is a dog that talks. Kinda took out the reality from Scooby Doo too.

geekgasmic.com on April 24th, 2007 9:02 pm

D Thompson’s Pandora Box: Scooby Doo, Pirates, Dredd and Best Foot Forward

D Thompson of the Plugg presents to you his Pandora’s Box.

DThompson on April 24th, 2007 9:07 pm

Scrappy Doo was part of a mid-seventies blitzkrieg a ill-advised changes trying to improve on what already a perfect product. These changes included the introduction of detestable characters like Scrappy, Scooby-Dum and Scooby-Dee, the writing out of Freddy, Daphne, Thelma and the Mystery Machine and a crummy new title song sung by Shaggy, the whole thing degenerated apace until around 2000 they finally pulled their heads out and started releasing The New Scooby-Doo Movies which finally went back to the original format. So when I say Scooby-Doo is the greatest Saturday morning cartoon EVAH, I really mean it was the greatest for about three years from 1970 to 1973. Thankfully Cartoon Channel realized it and often played the old the stuff. But I’m not a nerd or anything…

DThompson on April 24th, 2007 9:11 pm

As for Pirates’ box, I just saw another way cool sleeve today on the just out Denzel Washington vehicle “Deja-Vu”. And I mean to watch the movie soon since I mean to review 3.

Charbarred on April 24th, 2007 11:56 pm

Scooby dum I remember, but who’s Scooby Dee?

DThompson on April 25th, 2007 1:19 am

HMTK Steve, that all kid gangster movie was Bugsy Malone with Scott Baio and Jodie Foster (I’ll bet she’s proud of that credit). They shot each other with marshmallow cream guns. Ridiculous.

DThompson on April 25th, 2007 1:23 am

Scooby Dum was Scooby’s hick cousin and Scooby Dee was this “hot” girl dawg, another cousin I think. If you missed her you must be living right, Charr.

Charbarred on April 25th, 2007 1:58 am

Weird, I’ve seen my fair share of scooby doo but I don’t recall seeing her

DThompson on April 25th, 2007 2:04 am

That’s her. She was a movie star dog or something.

Charbarred on April 25th, 2007 2:17 am

Apparently there was also Yabba Doo, who was Scooby’s brother:

DThompson on April 25th, 2007 11:52 am

And Scooby’s parents and other brothers and more cousins and blah blah blah, a whole family of em when one was enough. They couldn’t have made worse choices if they deliberately set out to destroy the cartoon.

ipodwheels @ Auto Parts Place on April 26th, 2007 12:45 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scooby-Doo_(character)

They have a complete list of Scooby Doo’s relatives over at Wikipedia. Looks like Scooby has more from his family that I know not of. He even has a cousin who is a lion.

I wonder if these characters were a part of the classic Scooby Doo series or the supposedly “improved one”. I just felt that they robbed Scooby of being a special scaredy dog. Which makes me think. Is Courage the Cowardly Dog a rip off of Scooby?