Started off a sunny, chilly morning with breakfast and "That's Snow Ghost," one of the earliest episodes of Scooby Doo, Where are You? The members of Mystery Inc find themselves on a ski vacation at a run-down inn. An old Tibetian man thinks he's being haunted by the ghost of a Yeti who has somehow appeared around the area. Velma thinks the ghost is after a lot more than just him when the kids discover jewels in a local sawmill.
Worked on my first batch of Christmas cookies of the season after breakfast. I always make Lauren and her parents their own separate batch of Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, something I get raves from Lauren about every year. (It'll also make up for it being too hot to bake when I went up to visit her in July.)
Ran the short version of the 1986 Babes In Toyland while I worked. 11-year-old Lisa Piper (Drew Barrymore) finds herself in the magical title world after an accident on a sled. She literally lands in the middle of the wedding of lovely Mary Quite Contrary (Jill Schoelen) to nasty Barnaby (Richard Mulligan), and immediately proceeds to break it up when she learns that Mary really loves Jack Be Nimble (Keanu Reeves). Mary's mother Mrs. Hubbard (Eileen Brennan) isn't happy about this. Barnaby has been threatening to throw her and her children out of their shoe home. Barnaby's even less happy. He has Jack arrested, but Lisa, Mary, and Jack's friend Georgie Porgie (Googy Gress) break him out of jail. They go to the Toymaker (Pat Moriata) for help. He reveals that he's gathered some of the evil in the world in a bottle and intends to get Barnaby's...but Barnaby has his own plans for that bottle and for Toyland.
For all the cheese, bad casting choices (Keanu Reeves does not belong here), and unmemorable music, there's still some good ideas on display. I like Barnaby living in a bowling ball and using his strange one-eyed bird-thing to keep an eye on the heroes, and there's Mrs. Hubbard, who keeps a list to remember every single things she says or does. Barrymore's actually not bad as the child who has been taking care of her family for so long, she forgets what it's like to be a kid. Too bad I suspect this may have been rushed for the Christmas season, and they didn't have the time or crew to make a decent script and songs.
If you really love the cast, have young kids who won't mind the cheap production and special effects, or are into campy musicals like I am, you might have fun with this. Otherwise, I'd march by this one.
Move onto Arthur's Perfect Christmas as I cleaned up the cookie mess and had lunch. Arthur is looking forward to the best Christmas ever, with piles of snow, a sparkling tree, and a traditional dinner. Nothing goes as he or his friends planned. Francine can't go to her friend Muffy's Christmas party because her family's having a Hanukkah party, which sets off a fight over which holiday is more important. Buster's constantly tired because his mother keeps waking him up early for gifts and presents. He just wants her to quit worrying and let them enjoy their own kind of holiday. Arthur's little sister D.W decorates the tree with unicorns and wants that one wildly popular toy no one can find. In the end, with the help of his clumsy Uncle Fred, Arthur discovers that "sometimes, the things we hope for aren't the things we get. We get something even better."
It was almost 3 when I finally made it out to get the laundry done. I should have done the laundry this morning and the cookies in the afternoon. The laundromat was really busy, with lots of people getting stuff done. At least I didn't have a big load. I worked on story notes and ignored General Hospital.
As soon as I got back in, I put everything away, then did some writing. Re-wrote the previous scene to have the story actually land her in Toyland, rather than in the middle of a meadow. Asking around directs her to a huge old manor house on the edge of town. The manor is surrounded by a beautiful garden, filled with silver bells and cockle shells and flowers that look like maidens. She runs into a pretty girl in a flowery peasant dirndl carrying a copper watering can. The girl says her name is Rey Quite Contrary, and she runs the Cockleshell Gardens around Mother Goose Manor.
Finally finished off the last of the leftover ground turkey casserole after I broke for dinner around 6:30. Since that didn't take long, I figured I'd get the Christmas cards done. I have a fairly long list of people who get cards, including several that need to be sent in the mail. I'm glad I got those Christmas cards from the estate sale back in October. Between that and the remaining Hallmark cards, I had plenty for everyone.
Finished out the night with the original 1968 film version of The Odd Couple. Felix Unger (Jack Lemmon) was just thrown out of his home by his wife and is on the verge of committing suicide when he ends up at the apartment of his poker buddy Oscar Madison (Walter Matthau). Oscar, himself newly divorced, suggests he move in with him. That turns out to be a mistake. He quickly discovers why Felix was thrown out when he learns that he's an obsessive-compulsive cleaning nut who has to keep every single thing around him tidy. Oscar is the world's biggest slob. It doesn't help that Felix won't do anything else besides clean and obsess over his wife. Oscar tries to get him together with a pair of goofy British sisters (Monica Evans and Carole Shelley), but he first makes them cry, then won't go upstairs with them. Fed up, Oscar starts making worse messes than before. It ends up with a blow-up in the apartment between them...but in the end, Oscar realizes that, no matter how much he drives him crazy, his sensitive friend still needs him.
To tell the truth, I kind of like this better as a TV show. As much as I love Matthau and Lemmon and enjoy their chemistry, there was always something special about Jack Klugman and Tony Randall in that show. That said, the movie is surprisingly dark for a comedy and for Neil Simon, starting as it does with attempted suicide. It actually touches fairly realistically on divorce and separation from one's spouse, not to mention living with someone totally dissimilar.
Not that there aren't funny moments. There's some classic lines here, including Matthau's famous ones about the notes Felix leaves on his pillow. Their poker buddies are pretty funny too, especially in the closing where they have to look for Felix again. The sequence with the sisters is very well-handled, just the right amount of awkward for the situation. (Simon was Oscar-nominated for the adaptation of his hit play.)
If you're a fan of the TV show, Neil Simon's other work, or either leading man, this is definitely worth checking out.
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