TV: Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated

"You realize you were speeding?"
"Y-yes, I do, Officer."
"Okay, as long as you know."

The town of Crystal Cove is the "Most Hauntedest Place on Earth" and is rumored to be cursed.  While the town thrives on the tourism aspects of their reputation, most of the problems are not supernatural.  Teenagers Fred Jones (Welker), Velma Dinkley (Cohn), Daphne Blake (DeLisle), and Shaggy Rogers (Lillard), along with Shaggy's dog Scooby-Doo (Welker), enjoy solving the mysteries of the town.  They regularly get to the truth faster than the adults of the town, to the frustration of Sheriff Stone (Warburton).  Their parents and classmates do not understand their love of mysteries.

They soon learn that there is a darker history to their town.  A mysterious man, known only as Mr. e (Black) begins leaving them clues and alluding to secrets from the past.  Finding the truth won't be easy, especially as darker forces stand in the way. 


Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated is the 11th TV series to feature the beloved Hanna-Barbera characters.

The Good:

This series gives the Scooby gang a modern update and a darker twist.  It pays homage to the prior series, with callbacks to prior villains and jokes about polarizing characters (like Scrappy Doo).  The voice cast is great, and includes well-known actors from the franchise.  For example, Casey Kasem was the original voice of Shaggy, and voices his father in this series, and Matthew Lillard played Shaggy in the live-action films and voices the character in this series.

Unlike previous versions, this series has an overarching story that connects to each episode.  You can watch each episode individually, but you get drawn into the story and want to see what happens next with the bigger picture.

The Bad:

The series is not long enough.  It is only 2 seasons, 52 episodes total.  Each episode is strong, and they tell a complete story, but I wish it was longer.

Other Comments:

-I have enjoyed the Scooby-Doo cartoon shows by entire life.  I grew up watching A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and reruns of the original series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?  I have seen most of the other versions of the show, but this is definitely my favorite.

-The series also features other characters from the Hanna-Barbera collection, including Dynomutt and the Blue Falcon, among others.

-The show also features characters from pop culture, including the Griswold family from the National Lampoon's Vacation film series.

-There series is fun and takes a different approach to the characters and setting.  The creators clearly love the franchise and want it share that love with a new generation.  I highly recommend this show!

Scooby-Doo!: Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)
Creator: Joe Ruby & Ken Spears
Starring: Frank Welker as Fred Jones, Scooby-Doo
Mindy Cohn as Velma Dinkley
Grey DeLisle as Daphne Blake
Matthew Lillard as Shaggy Rogers
Patrick Warburton as Sheriff Stone
Lewis Black as Mr. E
Gary Cole as Mayor Fred Jones Sr.

Vivica A. Fox as Angel Dynamite

Udo Kier as Professor Pericles
Linda Cardellini as Hot Dog Water (Marcie Fleach)

Sherlock Holmes in Washington

"Yes, I shall write a monograph some day... on the noxious habit of accumulating useless trivia."

Sherlock Holmes (Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Bruce) are hired by the British government to find a classified document and it's courier.  The document was being transported from England to America by British spy Alfred Pettibone (Gerald Hamer).  Pettibone was traveling undercover as John Grayson when he was kidnapped.

Holmes and Rathbone travel to America to retrace Pettibone's steps.  But they are not the only ones looking for the document.  William Easter (Daniell), Pettibone's kidnapper, and his associates are checking on all of the people that interacted with Pettibone and they are not above violence to reach their aims.  Can Holmes solve the case and recover the document?

This is the 5th of 14 Sherlock Holmes to star Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce.  This is an original Holmes story, not based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's stories.

The Good:

As expected, Rathbone and Bruce are good in these roles.  Rathbone gets to try out a new persona when he goes undercover.  The villains, George Zucco and Henry Daniell, are fantastic.  Both actors also portrayed Professor Moriarty in the series (Zucco in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Daniell in The Woman in Green).

The Bad:

No real complaints.

Other Comments:

-The story is set in 1940s, the same as when it was made.

-The story moves at a brisk pace and keeps the various characters in play, without overloading the audience.

-It isn't my favorite entry in the franchise, but it was an entertaining and enjoyable film.

Sherlock Holmes in Washington (1943) 71 minutes
Director: Roy William Neill
Starring: Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes
Nigel Bruce as Dr. Watson
Marjorie Lord as Nancy Partridge

Henry Daniell as William Easter

George Zucco as Stanley

John Archer as Lieutenant Pete Merriam

Blackhat (2015)

When hackers target high-profile targets in Hong Kong and Chicago, authorities in both countries believe it is part of a larger plan.  Captain Chen Dawai (Wang) of China, and his sister Chen Lien (Tang) team with the FBI to find the culprits.  Dawai recognizes the hacker's code and asks for the release of convicted hacker Nick Hathaway Hemsworth).  Nick and Dawai were college roommates and wrote the original code that is being used.

FBI agent Carol Barnett (Davis) gets Hathaway released into the care of U.S. Marshal Mark Jessup (McCallany), along with a tracking anklet.  Can the team keep their respective governments at bay, while stopping the dangerous hacker at the heart of the attack?

The Good:

The cast is good.

The Bad:

It takes too long to get invested in the story/characters.  They use too much hacker jargon and not enough understandable explanations.  The film is not memorable and I don't have a need to watch it again.

Other Comments:

-The film is billed as an action thriller, but meanders at a slow pace.  There are some impressive explosions, but there is also lots of talking/planning.  If you want a straight action flick, this is not the film for you.

-The film was fine, but I don't intend to see it again and I don't recommend it.

Blackhat (2015) 133 minutes

Rating: R for violence and some language

Director: Michael Mann

Starring: Chris Hemsworth as Nick Hathaway

Lei Tang as Chen Lien

Leehom Wang as Chen Dawai

Viola Davis as Carol Barnett

Holt McCallany as Mark Jessup

Andy On as Alex Trang

Ritchie Coster as Elias Kassar