[Public] Mana mana.
Went to watch the new Muppet movie. I'm fairly pleased. There was a lot more bleak interpersonal conflict than I am used to in Muppet stories, but it turned out okay.
Major points for celebrity cameos - even indirect ones; Miss Piggy wore Christian Louboutin shoes for at least one scene - and silly dance numbers and, well, a lot of the comic notes that the Muppets of yore hit. I don't know who is responsible for the revivification of the brand that we've been seeing in Internet shorts and so on, but I like it.
Also, points to Jack Black for what may be his best movie role ever, in that he was playing himself again but nobody allowed him to write an idiotic premise.
Also also, Chris Cooper absolutely floored me. He was a villanous villain of villainy, but more than that...well, you'll see if you go watch it.
Seven previews, of which two looked tolerable - a Pixar movie and a new Studio Ghibli film. The rest were...hmm...the Rock having an awesome time in what looks to be a terrible movie, some creepy CGI thing, some trademark Wallace and Grommit animation style (read: 10 fps) pirate movie, a feel-good story about Drew Barrymore saving whales in Alaska, and something forgettable.
Felt a bit wibbly - just a bit - during the lovely arrangement of The Rainbow Connection.
Some voices were weird, of course. Frank Oz wasn't involved in this production, and Jim Henson is long dead. Some new guy (Eric Jacobson?) did Miss Piggy and Fozzie...well, new since 2002. Anyway, Miss Piggy was all right. Fozzie sounded perfect about one in every six phonemes, which really freaked me out because he was noticeably different the rest of the time.
Oh, and of course the movie was entirely about the glitter of show biz and the glory of the Muppets being famous. I never cease to be amazed at how they make an engaging story out of that. The self-awareness helps.
So yes. B+ at least for the film.
Major points for celebrity cameos - even indirect ones; Miss Piggy wore Christian Louboutin shoes for at least one scene - and silly dance numbers and, well, a lot of the comic notes that the Muppets of yore hit. I don't know who is responsible for the revivification of the brand that we've been seeing in Internet shorts and so on, but I like it.
Also, points to Jack Black for what may be his best movie role ever, in that he was playing himself again but nobody allowed him to write an idiotic premise.
Also also, Chris Cooper absolutely floored me. He was a villanous villain of villainy, but more than that...well, you'll see if you go watch it.
Seven previews, of which two looked tolerable - a Pixar movie and a new Studio Ghibli film. The rest were...hmm...the Rock having an awesome time in what looks to be a terrible movie, some creepy CGI thing, some trademark Wallace and Grommit animation style (read: 10 fps) pirate movie, a feel-good story about Drew Barrymore saving whales in Alaska, and something forgettable.
Felt a bit wibbly - just a bit - during the lovely arrangement of The Rainbow Connection.
Some voices were weird, of course. Frank Oz wasn't involved in this production, and Jim Henson is long dead. Some new guy (Eric Jacobson?) did Miss Piggy and Fozzie...well, new since 2002. Anyway, Miss Piggy was all right. Fozzie sounded perfect about one in every six phonemes, which really freaked me out because he was noticeably different the rest of the time.
Oh, and of course the movie was entirely about the glitter of show biz and the glory of the Muppets being famous. I never cease to be amazed at how they make an engaging story out of that. The self-awareness helps.
So yes. B+ at least for the film.