Afternoon all

Yes we're thinking of hiring 24 hour security for the inside of our house. Kaos has really come into his element with this tree, probably hasn't had his ass kicked this hard though, courtesy of Stace's right boot. Don't f&^% around when Stace has a toothache, that's the only advice I've got. We might take him to Zamels next time we're there, now THAT would be fun to watch.

Just a couple of movies to rave about today...

Scooby Doo - stars Freddie Prinze Jr, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini (who???)

Well, not being the biggest fan of the cartoon, I wasn't overly keen to see the flick. The one draw card for me was seeing Moreton Island and the Tangalooma Resort, where a great deal of the film was shot. Aahhh, the memories. There's one particular beach scene at night and its just dialogue, and you hear the little waves crashing onto the sand, man I love that sound. We gotta go back!

So the movie, well, it was a cartoon brought to life. A little odd seeing places I know as the backdrop; of course the island, but also the Gold Coast Airport, could you have picked a more drab airport to film in...ok Adelaide probably takes the cake there. So moving on, the plot is typical Scooby, there's a mystery to solve and Fred, Daphne, Shaggy, Velma and Scoob to solve it. Its a cartoon brought to life, not much more to say there. Great special effects I've gotta say!

But back to the Island scenes, man was it amazing to see how the place got turned upside down to create the sets. I think at one point they drained the pools outside 'C' block to create sunken lounges in a bar setting, awsome. Next thing the water's back in the pool and people are dancing around it in the palms and everything, great stuff. I didn't pick out the Flensing Deck however, anyone else catch what that was used for? And the Dolphin Lodge (at the end of the pier for those that have been there) looked amazing also. I was really impressed. Also the shots of the island from the air and from a distance and the super-imposed fun park on top of it, just uncanny how well it was done.

Most impressive of all was Shaggy. Matthew Lillard doesn't mind playing a kook, anyone who saw him in Scream will attest to this. But the myriad of odd roles he's taken is testament to his odd-ball style - my fav of the lot would be "Hackers", its a top flick even for the computer-illiterate. Matthew could quite easily have done the voice for Scoob back in the day, he's so spot on its uncanny. So kudos to Matt on a job well done.

Now this Linda Cardellini chick, never heard of her, so I went looking for clues...pun fully intended. Credits include "Deadman On Campus" (one great scene, almost worth price of entry alone), "Strangeland" (I'm the only one in the world whose seen this I'm sure) and "Legally Blonde". So yeah, still don't know who she is. Great cameo from Rowan Atkinson, good to see he is still appreciated in world film circles. And an appearance from Isla Fisher. Yuuuuummmmmmmmmmm. What a babe. She made fame in "Home and Away", and no that's not where I found her, I found her on the cover of the first RALPH mag I bought when I first moved to Perth, been in love ever since. BABE!

Its a bit of light-hearted fun, there's a few good laughs in it (Scoob in the plane is a classic), and if you dug the cartoon, you'll get into this in the same fashion. For anyone interested, Scooby Doo 2 is scheduled to hit screens in 2004. 3 stars.

Big Trouble - stars Tim Allen, Rene Russo, and a cast of thousands

Ok, go rent this movie as soon as you leave work. I'm not saying that you go home, get changed, have a cup of tea, think about dinner blah blah, I'm saying get it on the way home. And if that video store doesn't have it, curse them severely and then go find another store. This thing had me in stitches. After a dubious beginning with none other than Jason "Clerks" Lee, its full steam ahead until the very last scene, and laugh, I nearly laughed my leg off! Movies don't make me laugh. Was it just that I was in the mood? Was it just that the humour suited me? Who cares, I'm recommending it anyway!

Eliot used to be a newspaper columnist earning good money with a loving family, but then got divorced and lost his sense of humour, started his own ad company and buying a Geo (hillarious car!) - his son now thinks he's a loser. Arthur Herk is a slimy business man who hits onto the house keeper, he has been discovered stealing money from the company, there is now a hitman in town to kill him. Eliot's son has drawn Arthur's daughter as someone he has to 'kill', but he and the hitman unbeknownst to eachother turn up to Arthur's house at the same time, and when the TV gets shot, it all goes pair shaped.

Classic characters are all over the place, the inconceivably stupid dropouts at the bar ("we wanna depart, but we wanna arrive as well"), the Russian bar owners selling arms ("Missile wery hard to get"), Puggy the homeless hippy whose staple diet is corn chips ("I just want you to know I love you"), Roger the dog and his battle with the evil dog-food eating toad, the New York hitmen who hate Miami ("if I don't kill someone soon, I'm gonna forget how"), the FBI agents, the local police pair, the goats, lol, where to stop.

Tim Allen is Tim Allen, but classic performances from Janine Garofalo, Patrick Warberton, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Michael McShane, Siobhan Fallon, a suitcase that we don't see the contents of, and many many others, see this flick sore to heights of class I haven't seen come out of Hollywood since Quenton Tarrintino took over all those years ago. Its part slapstick, part dialogue, all funny, very Zoolander/Mystery Men, crossed with a smattering of Pulp Fiction and then a whole lot "Three Days In The Valley" on top. It rocks along at high speed and its hard not to get totally immersed in it. At no point does it slow down and you get a chance to think about what you've just seen, you just gotta keep up as best you can.

You gotta see it, even if its just to make me happy in the knowledge that you did. Go now, don't worry about work, it'll be there tomorrow. 4 stars.

We nearly over hump day, wahoo.

BH