Happy Turkey (and Muppets) Day

Marilyn Monroe and TurkeyWe've been watching the Macy's Parade while cleaning / cooking and there has literally yet to be a musical number from Broadway that's NOT movie-based as I type this. Should've live-blogged and talked Sister Act, Spider-Man, Priscilla, How To Succeed, Newsies and more... Broadway is basically movies on stage now, with a special emphasis on 1990s comedies.

Meanwhile at the multiplex, it won't just be turkeys slaughtered for today's festivities. In Hollywood's infinite wisdom, three showbiz-centric movies for adults must open simultaneously (The Artist, My Week With Marilyn, Hugo) and three movies children might like (Hugo, The Muppets, Arthur Christmas ...two of which are obviously for adults) must open in direct competition as well. There probably won't be enough dollars to go around which is sad because the same ticket buyer might well like all of those movies. On balance, this is an absurdly high quality crop, not one, well, turkey in the batch [Disclaimer: Arthur Christmas is the only one I haven't seen but I hear good things.] 

If all five of those newly released options weren't enough, Oscar maniacs can also sample The Descendants (expanding) and, in NY & LA, A Dangerous Method and Rampart. In case you haven't been keeping up and since we're hosting a big dinner, here are past thoughts...

THE ARTIST ~ review | all posts | best pic race | interviews soon
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN review | more Marilyn on the way
HUGO  ~ the filmmakers speak | work in progress thoughts |  all 
A DANGEROUS METHOD ~ several reviews from our team
RAMPART - all posts | best actor race 

As for THE MUPPETS... I didn't have time to review the new film before guests started arriving but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I found it quite uneven even within both of the narratives. The Muppet reunion brand relaunch is what I came to see and the nostalgia factor there worked like a charm. But individual scenes didn't always sparkle and I wanted more funny performances and less story beats. Meanwhile the musical comedy factor seemed to fall mostly to the Jason Segel / Amy Adams / "Walter" coming-of-age storyline which I liked much more than I was expecting to -- great sight gags in the beginning and Amy Adams could not be a better fit for the Muppet world -- until I didn't. By the time the three of them met The Muppets I was over it because... THE MUPPETS; stop distracting me from them! So my reaction was all over the place and far more colored by my own childhood fixations rather than the movie itself. But if you grew up loving The Muppets it's a total must-see. I recently rented the DVDs of the original series and it is crazy enjoyable -- like giddy-smile making -- just as we all remember. In fact, after watching three episodes back to back I think TV needs a relaunch of The Muppet Show more than the movies need the muppets. Variety shows are sort of back given the plethora of performance competitions but the variety has gone out of them as they are the same thing over and over again, whether that's contemporary pop karaoke or dancing.

One of the new songs "Life's a Happy Song" (Bret McKenzie --yay!) is a total charmer and should give the felt fuzzy group their fourth music-related Oscar nomination (the first three films all won one nomination in Song or Score categories.)

Do your Thanksgiving plans include movies? Have you seen The Muppets yet?

Comments

[olivia]

I will most definitely be more pleasant on this holiday because I saw Hugo yesterday and it just brightened up my entire week, so my family should be thankful for that.

[//3rtful]

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

[joy]

Happy Turkey Day! It's my first work-free thanksgiving since I moved to the states 7 years ago. Me and my friends just decided to see "Hugo" again tonight.

Thank you Nat for another year of great writings!

[Mike F.]

I enjoyed the muppets, but it was frustrating because It seemed to me like with a little more polish they could have really had something. But there was so much energy and genuine enthusiasm on screen it is hard to not enjoy it.

[adri]

We saw Hugo. I really liked it, and I can believe it's going to be a favorite for a lot of people. Thelma Schoonmaker edited that in 3D? She is indeed an editing goddess and a pioneer. Art direction, cinematography, visual effects, direction, oh yeah. And I found Ben Kingsley very moving - he's on my list for Best Supporting Actor now.

[Erin Matthiessen]

I enjoy your blog so much but - sorry - just had to point out that How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying was a Pulitzer Prize-winning Broadway musical (in 1961) before it was a movie (1967), and therefore does not fit in with all the other movies-into-musicals you mention. Nonetheless, your point is exactly right on: Broadway musicals today are derivative, risk-averse, bland, over-priced and sadly lacking in inspiration and imagination. Basing them on a well-known movie seems a sure-bet, a guaranteed way to get tourist dollars into producer's pockets.

As for the movies: thanks for all your kind words about the Muppets. Love them, have missed them, want Kermit to sing at my funeral.

[Ian]

I loved the Muppets! So tongue-in-cheek and clever. Jason Segel did a great job with this. And Bret McKenzie looks Oscarbound!

[denny]

I really enjoyed The Muppets - I wish it had been funnier (I remember there being far more throw-away gags in the other movies) and that it had more cameos, but it was totally charming and the ending variety show was the stuff that Muppet-lovers dreams are made of. You could not have picked better leads than Amy Adams and Jason Segel (although Amy's big number was, sadly, a total throw-away).

All of that to say, it kind of paled in comparison to the other movie I saw in the cinema this weekend: Hugo is one of my favorites of the year right now.

And I also spent one night at home with my man and we watched Weekend (thank God for On Demand!), which I thought was great and he liked except for the ending (cue: "Why do all gay movies have to have sad endings?!?!").