Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

"I may have no choice but to shut this place down and go back to my life as an international playboy." -Uncle Thorny While working on a case, Mystery Inc. accidentally burns down a barn.  To pay for the damage, the gang all gets jobs at a country club for the summer.  However, their employment is quickly in jeopardy as a Lake Monster begins attacking the club.  It's up to Mystery Inc. to solve the case or the country club will be going down the drain. What Works: Curse of the Lake Monster takes all of my complaints from the first movie and fixes them.  The CGI, while still not fantastic, is an improvement.  Plus the movie doesn't have as many special effects as the first, which is the right way to go if you can't have good CGI. The previous movie's villain had a really lackluster design, but this time we get a frog-monster.  It's goofy looking, but it's at least creative.  I laughed every time it came on screen. Fred (Robbi

"Who in their right mind would bring bears to the beach?!" -Shaggy Rogers When a group of ghosts begin terrorizing Coolsville Academy, a group of four teenagers and a dog are blamed for it.  The teenagers, who discover they all love mysteries, decide to work together to clear their names and find out who is really responsible for the spooky situation. What Works: The Mystery Begins actually does a really good job of capturing the tone of the series.  Its goofy, cartoony fun, plain and simple.  Does that material translate super well to live action?  No, but I give them points for committing to the goofy tone anyway. The cast also does a solid job.  Nick Palatas plays Shaggy and, while he's no Matthew Lillard, he still does a good job of bringing this goofball to life.  He's the best of the group, but I liked everyone in their respective roles. At times, the movie reminded me of The Breakfast Club .  Each member of the gang is from a diff

"If you've come to apologize, I forgive you for hitting me with your crutch." -"Henry Gale" "Two for the Road" focuses on Ana Lucia (Michelle Rodriguez) as she brings food to Henry Gale (Michael Emerson).  He attacks and nearly strangles her, but she is saved by Locke (Terry O'Quinn) knocking Henry out.  Seeking revenge, Ana Lucia tries to get a gun from Sawyer (Josh Holloway).  He refuses, so Ana seduces him and steals the gun after they have sex. Jack (Matthew Fox) and Kate (Evangeline Lilly) return to the hatch with an unconscious Michael (Harold Perrineau).  When he wakes up, he tells them that the Others are basically savages and only have two guns.  He wants to lead a rescue operation to save Walt (Malcolm David Kelly).  Jack, Kate, and Locke head to the beach to get the guns back from Sawyer, who realizes that Ana Lucia has taken his gun.  Locke realizes something bad is about to happen at the hatch. Hurley (Jorge Garcia)

"Darn bushes howlin' at me again." -Jeremiah Wickles Mystery Inc. attends the opening of a museum exhibit featuring the costumes of all the villains they have ever defeated.  The gala is ruined by an Evil Masked Figure and what appears to be a real, live Pterodactyl Ghost, who proceed to steal some of the costumes.  Mystery Inc. gets to work on the case to restore their damaged reputation, but quickly discover that somehow the costumes are being brought to life and the monsters are very real! What Works: Cards on the table, I love this movie.  I know that's probably an unpopular opinion.  In fact, I don't think I know anyone else who shares it, but I won't apologize for it and I regret nothing.  Part of the reason I like it so much is that it feels much more faithful to the cartoon than the first movie did.   Monsters Unleashed isn't nearly as tonally awkward as it's simply silly and goofy the entire time. I love Scooby-Doo a

"We're not safe anywhere." -Carlos Alvarez Anna Tate-Garcia (Linda Cardellini) is a social worker and single mother.  Two of the boys in one of her cases are murdered after she took them away from their mother, Patricia (Patricia Velásquez).  Patricia warns Anna that La Llorona (Marisol Ramirez), an evil spirit, is coming for Anna's children and intends to drown them.   What Works: I love Linda Cardellini and I was pleasantly surprised to discover she is the lead in this movie.  She tries her best with what she is given and her character is pretty interesting when it comes to the social work stuff.  One of her coworkers is sent to check in on Anna's kids at one point and it's interesting to see the shoe on the other foot for her character. It's bizarre to see Raymond Cruz in this as the exorcist character.  I can only think of him as Tuco from Breaking Bad  and this character is nothing like Tuco.  Cruz is by far the best part of t

"I killed your little brother, but he's dead because you didn't look after him." -Mick O'Brien After an attempt to steal drugs leaves three people dead, 16-year-old Mick O'Brien (Sean Penn) is arrested and sent to a juvenile detention center.  Not willing to be intimidated, Mick soon becomes the big dog in the prison, but he makes himself some enemies along the way.  To make matters worse, Mick's rival, Paco Moreno (Esai Morales), wants revenge on Mick for killing his brother and ends up in the same detention center. What Works: The best part about Bad Boys is the tension.  Director Rick Rosenthal does an outstanding job of building the conflict and suspense.  The tension between Mick and his enemies continues to rise and rise until you feel like the movie is going to explore.  It's very exciting.  There's even a scene where a character is carrying a radio that has an explosive inside.  Is it going to go off?  And when?  It'

"Friends don't quit." -Shaggy Rogers Two years after the breakup of Mystery Inc, each member of the gang is recruited to come to an amusement park on Spooky Island.  The owner, Emile Mondavarious (Rowan Atkinson), tells them the people that come to the park are having their personalities completely changed while on the island.  The gang goes their separate ways to solve the mystery, but quickly realize they will have to come back together if they want to survive Spooky Island. What Sucks: I'm going to start with what's wrong with Scooby-Doo this time around.  The biggest problem with the movie is the tone.  It's all over the place.  The movie started out as a much more adult-oriented film.  It was supposed to be PG-13 or even rated R and some of the jokes still reflect that, even if most of them were cut out.  Mid-production, they changed the film to be more family-friendly.  They really needed to commit one way or the other.  Either way

"I'm the master, and you're the puppet!" -Neil Gallagher A group of psychics experience visions that compel them to travel to the Bodega Bay Inn.  They expect to find an old college of theirs, Neil Gallagher (Jimmie F. Skaggs), but instead find him dead.  They become determined to finish Neil's quest; to find a hidden stash of puppets that have been magically brought to life.  The puppets are indeed at the hotel, but are acting under murderous orders. What Works: Easily the best part of this movie are the puppets.  Most of them have interesting designs.  I especially like Jester who has a face divided into three parts and they spin independently of each other.  It's a really cool design.  My favorite is probably Blade.  Yeah, he has a knife for a hand and murderous tendencies, but I think he's kinda adorable. Most of the kills are pretty lackluster, but there are two good ones.  One involves leeches and it's disgusting to watch

"Sin never dies." -Margaret White Carrie White (Sissy Spacek) is a high school outcast who is relentlessly picked on.  After one particularly cruel incident, Sue Snell (Amy Irving) has an attack of guilty conscience.  She gets her boyfriend, Tommy Ross (William Katt), to take Carrie to prom and show her a good time.  Unfortunately, some of the students are planning a prank on Carrie, but none of them know Carrie is actually telekinetic and their ignorance will prove fatal... What Works: The character of Carrie White is truly fantastic.  She's very relatable and easy to root for.  The poor girl never had a chance.  Not only is she bullied at school, but her mother, Margaret (Piper Laurie) is emotionally and physically abusive.  Carrie has a wonderful, but tragic character arc.  We see her grow and stand up to her mother, only for everything to collapse around her.  It's horrible, but very compelling. Sissy Spacek does an excellent job as Carr

"Hope y'all are ready to party!" -Ben Driebergen Wow...what an episode.  I think that is the best finale of any season of Survivor .  I've never had such a wild emotional roller coaster ride.  It's one of the best episodes of the entire series and gave us the most emotionally satisfying winner ever.  I still can't believe it actually happened and that it wasn't just a fan fiction.  Anyway, let's take a closer look at the gameplay starting with the Final 6. Who Played Well: Michele and Natalie both did a great job.  Natalie won her way back into the game and Michele won Immunity and they played Ben, Denise, and Sarah like a fiddle by making them believe Natalie did not have an Idol.  They should have targeted Sarah instead of Ben or Denise, but it was still a solid round of play for them. Tony was the only person who had the correct read on Natalie, but no one would listen to him, which was extremely frustrating.  He also saved

"That's the mystery!" -Velma Dinkley Mystery Inc. meets famous, horror writer, Ben Ravencroft (Tim Curry) and accompany him to his hometown of Oakhaven, Massachusetts.  They quickly discover that that the town is being haunted by the ghost of Sarah Ravencroft (Tress MacNeille), Ben's ancestor, who was executed for supposedly being a witch.  As Mystery Inc. tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, they discover that the Witch's Ghost might actually be real! What Works: Like Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island , The Witch's Ghost has a much darker tone than previous installments in the franchise and I'm totally here for it.  I love seeing Scooby (Scott Innes) and the gang take on real monsters.  There's a sense of danger here that raises the stakes.  It's good stuff. The best part of the movie is Tim Curry.  Whoever cast him in a Scooby-Doo movie is a genius.  He also plays a stand-in for Stephen King, which makes it even better. 

"I think I liked you better when you just hit people with your stick." -Bernard Nadler "S.O.S" focuses on Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) and Bernard (Sam Anderson).  In flashbacks, we see them meet for the first time when Bernard helps Rose get her car out of the snow.  Five months later, Bernard proposes marriage, but before saying yes, Rose tells Bernard she is dying of cancer and only has about a year to live.  For their honeymoon, Bernard takes Rose to Australia to see a faith healer, Isaac (Wayne Pygram).  Rose is not thrilled, but agrees to see him to appease Bernard.  Isaac tells Rose she can be healed by energy from the earth, but not by him.  He doesn't know where the location is, but it's out there somewhere. Rose decides to tell Bernard that Isaac healed her so they can enjoy the time they have left.  At the airport, Rose drops a bottle of medicine and John Locke (Terry O'Quinn) retrieves it for her.  Rose is one of the few people wh

"You open?" -Literally Everyone Clerks follows a day in the life of convenience store clerk, Dante (Brian O'Halloran), as he works a shift he wasn't scheduled for.  He has to deal with drug dealers, annoying customers, and his trouble-making friend, Randal (Jeff Anderson), who works at the video store next door. What Works: The strongest aspect of Clerks is the dialogue.  This is a really funny film and extremely well written.  It's too good for some of the actors, if I'm being honest.  Clerks is a surprisingly thoughtful movie and has a lot more to say than you'd expect from a movie about a convenience store employee. The four leads all have great chemistry and give authentic performances.  They really feel like they've known each other for years.  Marilyn Ghigliotti gives a really impressive monologue near the end of the film and I'm surprised she and the late Lisa Spoonauer haven't been in more projects.  I love Jeff

"Tribal Council was a disaster, as usual." -Michelle Fitzgerald Well that was a decent 90 minutes of Survivor .  I don't know what the heck the last half hour over on the Edge of Extinction was all about.  That was a bigger waste of time than watching Seal Team .  The important thing is: we've made it to the finale and TONY VLACHOS IS STILL IN THE GAME!  Never in a million years did I think this would happen.  I'm so happy!  Anyway, we have two votes to talk about, so let's get into the first half of the episode. Who Played Well: We'll start with Ben.  Yes, he got caught trying to play Jeremy and Michele against each other, but I respect the attempt.  More importantly, he took his biggest rival, Jeremy, out of the game.  Denise was also part of the plan to take out Jeremy.  I don't know why they didn't try to break up Sarah and Tony, but they still need to take Jeremy out, so it's fine. Finally, we have Nick, who manage

"Great plan, Moonbeam.  After that we can sing "Kumbaya" and do trust falls." -Sawyer The 18th episode of season 2 kicks off with Hurley (Jorge Garcia) confessing to Libby (Cynthia Watros) that he has a hidden stash of food.  Libby encourages Hurley to destroy it all and he does, only to learn about the pallet drop of food.  Hurley begins to see a familiar face from his time in a mental hospital, his old friend, Dave (Evan Handler).  Hurley starts to spiral and gets into a fight with Sawyer (Josh Holloway) before deciding to go live in the caves alone.  On the way, he runs into Dave again, who tells him he is still in the mental hospital and the island is all in his head. Dave takes Hurley to a cliff and tells him he has to jump off in order to wake up.  Dave proceeds to jump.  Libby arrives and convinces Hurley this isn't all in his head and talks him down.  They share a kiss and head back to the beach. Sayid (Naveen Andrews) gets "Henry

"I think he fell in love with the Russian werewolf." -Professor Sharp In Australia, Jerboa (Imogen Annesley) runs away from her werewolf colony and falls in love with a young man, Donny (Leigh Biolos).  Eventually, a group of scientists and military officers discover the the existence of Jerboa and where she is from and have to decide how to handle the werewolf situation. What Works: This movie is f**king bizarre.  There isn't another way to describe it.  It's disgusting and weird and even surreal.  There are so many times that I shouted "What the f**k?!" at my TV while watching this.  I have to give the filmmakers props for going as hard as they did. While it's not handled the best, the romance between Jerboa and Donny is mildly interesting.  She gets pregnant and gives birth to a wolf/human baby.  When she shows Donny, he immediately accepts it and just goes with this weird development.  It's beyond strange, but it was int