Doctor Who- The Faceless Ones

8/10

The Faceless Ones is one of the lost Doctor Who serials. The original footage for all but two of its episodes was eliminated by the BBC sometime between the late Sixties and late Seventies. However, the audio still exists and so the story was created for this fully animated release. The adventure has the Second Doctor (Patrick Troughton)  investigating the sinister Chameleon Airlines at Gatwick Airport. This was an interesting entry.

What separates The Faceless Ones from other serials is that it has kind of a Cold War spy-like feel as the Doctor has to outwit and outmaneuver a group of aliens pretending to be humans. The villains feel a little different than your regular extraterrestrial foes. They're motivations are more nuanced and there is more individuality amongst their ranks.

The cast is fine in this. The airport commandant (Colin Gordon) might be up there with some of the best authority figures who don't trust the Doctor at first. He has such a huffy manner.   

It's a good story but like many DW six-parters the long length is to its disadvantage as, especially in the first third, things can feel too stretched out. 

This is a change from previous DW restorations. In the past, they'd just animate the lost parts. This one has two existing live-action episodes, but they chose to animate those too. From what I understand, it was done to not confuse those unfamiliar with the situation. I see the argument, but I'm disappointed I don't get to see the original episodes as they truly were. All the episodes are in color (the original was black-and-white), and I'm also disappointed we don't get the original Sixties feel.

The character design is like if Archer was a lot sketchier. Not the biggest fans of them, but I appreciate how fluid the movement is in this. Gives a lifelike feel. I guess you have to sacrifice one element for another. Compared to photos of how the aliens originally looked, I was disappointed how they were animated. The designs don't quite match and loses some of the eeriness.

I'm not saying this is the best Doctor Who episode, but it is an enjoyable one. Highly recommended to any fan. 

Hubie Halloween

5/10

In the Netflix movie Hubie Halloween, Adam Sandler plays Hubie Dubois, a simple but well meaning man and his town's self-appointed safety monitor who isn't much liked by his town. This Halloween people start disappearing and it's up to Hubie to figure out what's going on. Yeah... This is a flawed movie which is more disappointing in that it had potential.

The big issue with this movie is that a large portion of the cast is so intensely, inexplicably cruel to the character. And THERE IS A LOT OF THIS! It's not entertaining and not particularly well written. Some times these moments just feel surreal and off. Plus, you've got some big names, such as Michael Chiklis and Ray Liotta, performing these really lousy scenes.

The character of Hubie feels like recycled material as Sandler meshes the lead from The Waterboy with Whitey from Eight Crazy Nights.

Also, Hubie Halloween has this weird mentioning of character connections. The police chief (Kevin James) is the ex of Hubie's love interest (Julie Bowen) and Hubie was the childhood friend of another person I can't go into detail on. However,  the two sets of characters never really interact with each other. So, what was the point? (In fairness, it could be a deleted scenes situation.)  

Going back to the casting, this movie has a large batch of familiar faces, but with the exception of Kenan Thompson and Steve Buscemi, they're given comedic material that doesn't work for them and feels like a waste of their talent and time. 

Thing is I wanted this movie to succeed. It had potential but couldn't stick the landing. The mystery of what is going on is solid and the reveals payoff. Most of the jokes fail, but there a few good ones, including two moments that steal the film. Also, Hubie has a modified thermos that is like a swiss army knife, and it's pretty fun seeing all the fantastic weird things it can do. 

The film looks nice. I appreciate that they took the time to make the town look busy and populated and that there is a huge selection of Halloween costumes in this.

If you're a die-hard Sandler fan, then you know what you're getting and will probably be satisfied. Everyone else though, I can't recommend this except if you want to see how ill advised and odd this goes.

Star Trek: Lower Decks- Season 1

9/10

This new animated comedy on CBS All Access  follows the lives of low ranking crew members on the USS Cerritos. This turned out to be very entertaining.

This show is pretty funny. The writers do a surprisingly strong job mining the Star Trek universe and science fiction concepts. Any Star Trek fan will get a kick out of the show as it makes some valid satire of the universe. There are also a few pretty creative ideas. The subplots to the episodes "Moist Vessel" and "Terminal Provocations" are works of mad genius. 

Though this is a comedy, Lower Decks at its core still adheres to the spirit of Star Trek and the positive outlook of Starfleet. (If you're one of those people who feel Picard or Discovery were cynical and drifted from the Trekkie spirit, you may be pleasantly surprised with this.) Basically Lower Decks is a combination of anarchic humor and more sentimental, upbeat stuff and it all meshes so well. The two supporting cast members Tendi (voiced by Noel Wells) and Rutherford (Eugene Cordero) are a rare breed in an adult animated cartoon: nice guys and total optimists whose characters don't exist to just get punished for their upbeatness.   

I advise you to stick through at least the third episode. The two leads Mariner (Tawny Newsome), the noncomformist rebel with the heart of gold, and Boimler (Jack Quaid), the one who follows all the rules and wants to rise up the ranks, suffer in the first two stories by leaning too hard into their personalities. The later episodes find a nice pacing for them. 

The animation is kind of like Rick and Morty with cleaner linework. Though the character designs are simple, the animation can be ambitious. Stuff like fights and starship and galaxy design can be pretty impressive at moments. The show especially goes all out for the final episode. The animation is really colorful and I'm happy they went with strong color-coded outfits of Star Treks past.

Overall, I highly recommend this for Star Trek fans or casual viewers. I definitely liked this better than CBS All Access' other ST entries. 

Carmen Sandiego- Season 3

 

8/10

The third season of Carmen Sandiego has the title character (voiced by Jane the Virgin's Gina Rodriguez) continuing her fight against the criminal organization VILE and unlocking her past. The cartoon remains entertaining.

Unfortunately, this season is only five episodes long. (Probably continuing Netflix's occasional habit of splitting a full animated season into two parts.) It lacks the build to the big finale that the last two seasons had, but the individual episodes are all still fun adventures.

After his being mostly absent from last season, Inspector Devineaux (Rafael Petardi) returns. I was worried we were going to get more of his constantly misinterpreting Carmen's actions and taking too much time being with his obsession with her. But the show goes in a refreshingly new direction with him. 

The writers have really settled in with writing the various members of VILE's faculty. They get more casual and a little silly but in a fun way, and they work so well with each other.

The animation remains distinctive with its stylish, painterly-type style. The finale has a fairly impressive fight scene at the end.

Though not as substantive as it should have been, Carmen Sandiego is still a good time for your kids and recommend.

  

South Park- The Pandemic Special

 

8/10

In this new special, the citizens of South Park deal with the various burdens of the coronavirus pandemic. This was enjoyable.

The Pandemic Special is classic South Park: funny, crazy satire. The one hour length allowed director/writer Trey Parker tackle all the aspects of the pandemic. (Not to mention a jab at the police situation.) As outrageous as things get, Parker is clearly trying to help people blow off steam from this horrible mess. The ending is probably one of the most poignant moments the show has ever gotten.

Now, this is also "typical" South Park. I wouldn't say this episode is considered one of the show's standouts.

Also, if you like South Park but sometimes it goes too far for you, this is one of those episodes that gets messed up.

Overall, I recommend this.  

Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo

8/10

Happy Halloween Scooby-Doo has the Mystery Inc. crew on the run from a horde of man-eating Jack-O-Lanterns. This was fun and definitely one of the stronger Scooby-Doo films. 

Though I like the recent run (2010-) of Scooby made-for-DVD movies, which was a definite improvement over the frequently mediocre run (2003-2009) before it. However, it feels like the series has been losing a little steam as some of the more recent titles have felt a little paint-by-the-numbers. This was a breath of fresh air. Happy Halloween is a lot more action heavy than most Scoob films. Rather than having the characters wander around looking for clues, they have to make do with figuring things out while being constantly chased. Think of this as a sort of zombies meet Mad Max scenario. It definitely feels like the stakes were higher. (If you're worried about this breaking the spirit of Scooby-Doo, yeah it's edgier but it never crosses the line.)   

Innovative part is that the big reveal at the end is a little bit different than usual.

This appears to be the third of the loosely connected trilogy that I believe was created in honor of Scooby's 50th anniversary. While I thought the last two (13th Ghost and Return to Zombie Island) were decent and disappointing respectively, Happy Halloween justifies the setup and is a great finale.

This is also one of the funnier entries. Happy Halloween is written, directed, and produced by Maxwell Atoms, creator of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy and the Bunnicula series, given his preference for the humorously spooky, he was a good choice. (The threat is very similar to the killer pumpkins from the Halloween episode of GAoBaM, but I'll give him a pass.) He took a page from the recent show Be Cool Scooby-Doo and decided to make Daphne (voiced by Grey Griffin) quirkier, and she has a string of great lines.

In the past, Mystery Inc. has had movie team-ups with Kiss, the WWE, and celebrity chefs, but this one has got to be the weirdest: horror movie host Elvira, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and Batman villain the Scarecrow (voiced by Dwight Schultz, who was Barclay on Star Trek the Next Generation). It strangely works. Bill Nye is pretty funny as an eccentric version of himself. Scarecrow serves as a Hannibal Lecter-type, serving as an intellectual rival for Velma (Kate Micucci). Elvira is the only one who doesn't pan out. Yeah, the actress herself is game, but her lines often don't work. We also get one of the better guest Scooby characters in the form of a dad who gets wrapped up in the chase and definitely wishes he was elsewhere.

The tone is a little rougher by Scooby standards as there are some mild insults thrown by characters. Unusual for the series, but again, nothing breaks the spirit of SD, and it's not like the film is mean-spirited. Happy Halloween  does carry the same issue of the last few films of Velma being so logic obsessed that she's become a bit of a pill. She does something at the beginning that definitely feels a bit too far. However, after that she does have a pretty good character journey. She's practically the star of this.   

The animation doesn't feel on the same level of the previous films. Not an extreme stepdown, but something feels off. There are too many basic camera angles and backgrounds. It might be because of interference due to COVID-19 (the second Phineas and Ferb movie had the same issues). It also may be because Atoms' experience is mostly in the more hectic output of television. (There are definitely some more cartoony eye movements that are definitely the director's stylistic choice.)   

I strongly recommend this for kids or Scooby fans.

Chester Gould's Dick Tracy (The Complete Dick Tracy) Volume 28

8/10

This collection covers Dick Tracy from 1974-1975, this being the second-to-the-last volume of Gould's original run. I'm happy to say that though the end is coming, the title remains entertaining.

What I like about the 70's strips is how they became a bit of a return to form story wise: plots run smoother and quicker than in parts of the 50's and 60's and their is a lot more focus on Tracy and the supporting cast.

Gould brings a good batch of stories here. Not a stinker or a slow one in the bunch. We also get one of the strongest post-40's succession of bad guys. Though, I felt the imposing extortionist Bulky is sadly underused.

The artwork remains strong.

Once again, Gould frequently uses the strip as a soapbox against any laws that support the rights of the accused or criminal rights, which he felt were shackles for the cops. He has already been pretty rightwing, but just when you thought he was at his most extreme, he kicks things up a notch. Now if you're a conservative and/or a big supporter of the police, especially in this current climate, who has never read this strip, these viewpoints may seem like their up your alley. However, Gould is faaaaar right and makes things weird. He is a proponent of a world without bail, habeas corpus, warrants, parole boards, defense lawyers, the right to remain silent, etc. 

Gould lets other unhealthy views appear here, too, including a shockingly unsympathetic view of the suicidal. There are also a couple kinda misogynistic moments. This is surprising considering that, especially compared to other comics writers from his era, Gould had been a rather feminist writer. He usually didn't fall into stereotypes, frequently used strong women, and added a female cop during the 1950's.

Overall, this can be recommended to any Tracy fan. Just understand that things can get odd.