It was another beautiful morning when I rolled out of bed. Watched some Backyardigans as I had breakfast. Uniqua and Pablo proclaim "It's Great to Be a Ghost" when they pretend to haunt a spooky old house. Tyrone's nervous about the whole paranormal thing. They get their chance to show their stuff when Tasha shows up, claiming she can't be scared. Everyone tries, but it's the least-likely kid who finally gets to her.
Went right into the next episode on the disc while getting ready to head out. "Monster Detectives" has Uniqua and Detective Tyrone searching for her missing pink soccer ball. They have to rescue her ball from the spooky home of Pablo, the soccer monster. They have to be careful. If someone plays soccer with him, they'll turn into a soccer monster, too!
This time, I did make it to the Collingswood Farm Market. I actually did need to restock my fruit and vegetables. Not to mention, they're only going to be around for another month. They close the Saturday before Thanksgiving. It was late when I arrived, around quarter after 11, but still pretty busy. Tomatoes are mostly gone, replaced by leeks, broccoli, greens, and the first cranberries of the season. I grabbed cranberries, pears, broccoli, three small sweet potatoes, and tiny Empire apples.
It was such a nice day, I took the long way home across Newton Lake Park. It was the perfect day for it. The sun sparkled over the green water. The last of the flowers bloomed along the shore. Teens between practices at the Collingswood High School across the street chatted and strolled together.
Stopped at CVS on the way home for a drink. They were surprisingly busy for a nice day. I guess everyone else wanted to stop quick on the way home, too. I looked over a few magazines, but I eventually just bought my Pink Grapefruit sparkling soda and headed home.
Barely had enough time for lunch and to finish "Soccer Monster" and start "The Key to the Nile" when I got in. Tasha is the Princess of Egypt in this show tune-filled desert tale. She's also a spoiled brat who expects her pages Pablo, Austin, and Tyrone to wait on her hand and foot. When the Nile dries up, the boys reveal that only presents for the Sphinx Uniqua will convince her to reveal how to refill it again. The boys help her find the gifts, but she never gives them credit. It's Uniqua who finally points out to her best friend that the way to get anyone to do what you want is a simple "please" and "thank you."
Work was steady when I arrived, and the carts were empty. While I gathered the trash briefly early-on and did some returns, I was mostly outside in the parking lot. That was fine by me. It was still a nice day, a little warmer and slightly more humid, but still breezy and beautiful. There were plenty of baggers, too, especially once it slowed down later in the day. Spent the last ten minutes helping one of the evening baggers mop of a stream of bright red liquid (fruit punch?) that someone spread through half the store.
Treated myself to a cream doughnut, then headed home. When I got in, I made a tasty dinner of fish cakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, and roasted potatoes. Ran Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while I ate, and later while finally getting around to dusting my bedroom quickly.
The basic plot is more-or-less the same as in the original 1971 film and the book. Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore), a sweet boy from a poor family, finds the golden ticket that'll allow him to enter the fabulous factory of famous chocolatier Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp). He's joined by his Grandpa Joe (David Kelly), who worked for Wonka before he closed his factory due to spies stealing his ideas. They're also joined by four other very spoiled, aggressive children from families that have encouraged their worst natures. Wonka himself has his own problems with his overprotective dentist father (Christopher Lee). Ultimately, as four of the kids wind up getting in trouble due to their own nasty attitudes, Wonka and Charlie come to understand that, while chocolate can be sweet, having a family who truly cares about you is the sweetest love of all.
I'm actually rather impressed. I wasn't expecting much from it, but this was really fun. It might help if you've read the original book of the same title. They used a lot more from the book than the first movie did, including the episode about the Indian prince who wanted a palace made of chocolate, Charlie's dad and his toothpaste factory job, slightly larger roles for the other three grandparents, and Veruca wanting to take home squirrels sorting nuts, rather than geese. The special effects are incredible, from Charlie's tiny dilapidated home to the Technicolor lunacy once the kids make it into the factory. Special kudos to Highmore's wide-eyed Charlie and Annasophia Robb's sassy Violet Beauregaurde.
Actually, the biggest problem with this movie is Willy Wonka himself. Johnny Depp is trying waaaayy too hard to make Wonka a child-like genius who never learned how to deal with adults, much less kids. He just comes off as an annoying jerk. The unnecessary backstory with Wonka's father doesn't help, though Lee does give Wilbur Wonka the right menacing note. And using the same guy for all the Oompa Loompas just looks creepy, rather than funny or cute. (Although, given this is Tim Burton directing, that may have been the intention.)
Don't bother comparing it to the 1971 version. They're two entirely different movies. This one is faster-paced and much closer to the original source material, and it's just as enjoyable in its own way. If you're a fan of the books or Depp, you may want to hop on the pink hard candy boat and enjoy this ride, too.
Finished out the night online with Scooby Doo on Zombie Island. Daphne and Fred, now the hosts of a TV show that scouts out paranormal activity, joins back together with Shaggy, Scoob, and Velma to seek out real spooks, not just people in masks. They get more than they bargained for when a pretty young southern belle invites them to Moonscar Island, home of her employer's haunted pepper plantation. While Scooby chases the many cats on the island and Fred gets jealous of Daphne ogling the handsome, if grumpy, new gardener, Velma wonders about the island's many disappearances. But when Shaggy runs into a group of gruesome pirate zombies, it becomes clear that the kids have gotten their wishes. These ghouls are real...and they and the two women who brought them there may not let the kids off the island alive!
The first of the Scooby Doo direct-to-home-media movies was so popular, it revived the franchise. This is one of the very rare times in this series that not only are the ghosts real, but they have a genuinely tragic backstory and aren't played for laughs. The animation's pretty decent for a home media offering, too, especially on the island. If you have older kids who are fans of Scooby and horror, they might be willing to give this one a chance.
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