The Turtles and the Teenagers

Got a quick start this morning with a small breakfast and The Busy World of Richard Scarry. Lowly Worm is upset when he loses his hat after an accident with the apples for the pie Mother Cat is making. Mr. Frumble helps him look for it all over town...but the title "Hat Pie" should tell you where it went to. "Hans the Dutch Plumber" loves his work, but his wife isn't fond of him being constantly wet. He's about to look for another job when he sees a huge hole in the dyke that only he can fix. "Hilda's Romantic Tea Party" is to bring their teacher Miss Honey and a lonely ice cream shop owner together. Hilda's dismayed when her plans don't go the way she wanted, but love has a way of winning out no matter what.

Headed out soon as the episode ended. Hiked down the block and across the street to the bus stop in front of Oaklyn's town hall. The bus down the White Horse Pike was on time, and though there was a little traffic at noon, it wasn't bad as it could have been.

I had just enough time when I got in to have a quick lunch. I originally considered a tavern that's right where you get off, but I wanted something faster and cheaper. Tried a nice little pizzeria next door to it. The pizza was hot and fresh, brought to you by a gentleman with a genuine Italian accent, and the slices were huge. I had it quickly with a can of Diet Pepsi.

Even with lunch, I had more than enough time to hurry across the street and down to the Somerdale Cinemark 16. They were a lot busier than I thought it would be for a weekday, with a long line when I arrived. I forgot Tuesday is half-price day at the Cinemark. My ticket cost about $6.50, rather than the $9 it usually does. 

Ducked into the theater to see Teeange Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem just as the commercials were starting. Nothing really interesting I hadn't already seen here. I'm debating Blue Beetle. I missed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in theaters, and this is another superhero character I'd heard of but never really knew much about until recently. 

Once again, won't go heavily into the plot because of spoilers, but I mostly got a big kick out of this. First of all, while it was disconcerting to hear the Turtles voiced by actual teens at first (Donatello sounded like he was about 12), it did ultimately end up working with the story's theme of acceptance and wanting to be "normal." Jackie Chan was a very funny Splinter, while Ice Cube had one of his better performances as the lead villain Superfly. My biggest complaint is the movie doesn't move as fast as it could, and a lot of the references to current teen culture will likely be dated in a few years. Leonardo's crush and April O'Neal seems a bit shoehorned in, too.

On the other hand, the animation is incredible. It's made to look like the doodles in April's notebooks, with sketchy lines and a lot of scribbled color outside the lines. We also get to see some mutants who were only minor characters in the original franchise, and two who are usually played as villains were refreshingly just dumb and goofy here. I do wish they'd done more with the Turtles' individual personalities. Leonardo is the only one we get to know. I guess they wanted to establish them as more of a unit first.

Honestly, if you love the Turtles, this is by far their best big-screen outing since Secret of the Ooze in 1991. (I even heard the infamous Ninja Rap from that film used briefly at one point.) Definitely recommended for Turtles fans and those who want to check out some really unique animation.  

At least it was a gorgeous day for an outing. It was cloudy, dry, and windy. To my shock, the wind wasn't just cool. It was downright cold. I regretted not bringing a sweater as I made my way back up the hill to WalMart.

Made a brief stop there on my way to the bus stop. I finally found the SunBelt Bakery granola bars...on the shelves with the regular granola bars. They must have outgrown the end shelves. Also grabbed a container of Propel raspberry-lemonade drink mix. The only registers open at that point were self-checkout, which meant a long line. Thank heavens the line moved fast enough.

I relaxed for a little while at the bench on the grassy strip between WalMart and Taco Bell before hiking back down the hill to the bus stop. By this point, it was 4 PM. The traffic on the White Horse Pike was not wonderful, which is likely why the bus was late. It didn't show up until well past 4:15. The traffic on the Pike often moved quite slowly, enough that it was quarter of 5 before I finally got into Oaklyn.

Worked on writing when I arrived and settled down. I'm trying to re-write Joyce getting the shoes, but I'm having a hard time concentrating. I'm trying to lead into the Warlock of the West's big arrival.

Broke for dinner at 7 PM. Finished with that and Rock Around the Clock. I go further into the first rock musical on the big screen at my Musical Dreams Mutant Reviews blog. 

Rock Around the Clock