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rose_griffes) wrote2023-11-29 07:45 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2023-11-29 07:45 pm
an actual post (instead of a poll) for November
In the last five months I’ve watched the Muppet movies that a) had a theatrical release and b) are easily found online. Muppets from Space, the only non-musical of the bunch, isn’t available.
Unsurprising favorites: either beloved original The Muppet Movie (1979) or The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), which had the winning factor of Michael Caine taking the role of Scrooge as seriously as an actor NOT interacting with puppets.
Charles Grodin used a similar tactic in The Great Muppet Caper as the lovestruck yet pragmatic villain. His quirky humor made his screentime the most compelling; the movie dragged a bit when he wasn’t around. I’m still cackling at his delivery of the line, “Thieves aren’t breathing down your neck,” to his sister in the film (played by Diana Rigg).
Really random side note: more than 30 years after Grodin co-starred in the film, he wrote RPF about an imagined almost-fling with Miss Piggy–posted in Vulture magazine.
Caper gets a bit too silly at times, but I still enjoyed Miss Piggy’s modeling reverie, which has a full-on parody / homage to Esther Williams’ films.
In spite of the nostalgia factor of the earlier films, I would put Muppets Most Wanted (2014) ahead of them–third place after the original film and the Dickens adaptation. It might be due to the eccentric music, but also there’s just something about the very idea ofevil Kermit Constantine, the world’s most dangerous frog, that makes me giggle. Plus, Ricky Gervais as henchman villain Dominic Badguy was perfect: Gervais isn’t a favorite of mine, but this role suited the production well.
Loki season two:
I haven’t read many reviews, but there seemed to be a consensus that the first part of season two dragged a bit. I certainly felt it, and it wasn’t helped by the aesthetic, which didn’t have enough variety. Most of it looked a bit muddy, even though it also looked expensive.
But the acting was fantastic, and the ending worked very well for me. A winner overall, even if it felt too slow early on.
Started the new Doctor Who episode on Disney+, but haven’t yet finished. How did they get David Tennant’s hair to be so tall?!
BOOKS!
Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman was a pointed fairy tale that I didn’t love, but that made me think. So, success on that front.
Curtis Sittenfeld did a ton of research about Saturday Night Live to write her novel titled, Romantic Comedy. Enjoyable, not nearly as fluffy as one might think, given that title. I liked it more for the behind-the-scenes view of an SNL clone than for the people and romance.
Non-fiction: Jasmine L. Holmes’ book Carved in Ebony is about ten black Christian women, all American, and their impact–both in a historical and religious sense. It’s an explicitly religious book, by the way–in both the women profiled and the author herself. I started reading (e-book) and finished with the audio book, which worked well for a change. I’m not often an audio book consumer, but I had Thanksgiving travel and needed a lengthy distraction.
some blather about that, plus an embedded video
Unsurprising favorites: either beloved original The Muppet Movie (1979) or The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), which had the winning factor of Michael Caine taking the role of Scrooge as seriously as an actor NOT interacting with puppets.
Charles Grodin used a similar tactic in The Great Muppet Caper as the lovestruck yet pragmatic villain. His quirky humor made his screentime the most compelling; the movie dragged a bit when he wasn’t around. I’m still cackling at his delivery of the line, “Thieves aren’t breathing down your neck,” to his sister in the film (played by Diana Rigg).
Really random side note: more than 30 years after Grodin co-starred in the film, he wrote RPF about an imagined almost-fling with Miss Piggy–posted in Vulture magazine.
Caper gets a bit too silly at times, but I still enjoyed Miss Piggy’s modeling reverie, which has a full-on parody / homage to Esther Williams’ films.
In spite of the nostalgia factor of the earlier films, I would put Muppets Most Wanted (2014) ahead of them–third place after the original film and the Dickens adaptation. It might be due to the eccentric music, but also there’s just something about the very idea of
Loki season two:
eh, a few spoilers
I haven’t read many reviews, but there seemed to be a consensus that the first part of season two dragged a bit. I certainly felt it, and it wasn’t helped by the aesthetic, which didn’t have enough variety. Most of it looked a bit muddy, even though it also looked expensive.
But the acting was fantastic, and the ending worked very well for me. A winner overall, even if it felt too slow early on.
Started the new Doctor Who episode on Disney+, but haven’t yet finished. How did they get David Tennant’s hair to be so tall?!
BOOKS!
Ava Reid’s The Wolf and the Woodsman was a pointed fairy tale that I didn’t love, but that made me think. So, success on that front.
Curtis Sittenfeld did a ton of research about Saturday Night Live to write her novel titled, Romantic Comedy. Enjoyable, not nearly as fluffy as one might think, given that title. I liked it more for the behind-the-scenes view of an SNL clone than for the people and romance.
Non-fiction: Jasmine L. Holmes’ book Carved in Ebony is about ten black Christian women, all American, and their impact–both in a historical and religious sense. It’s an explicitly religious book, by the way–in both the women profiled and the author herself. I started reading (e-book) and finished with the audio book, which worked well for a change. I’m not often an audio book consumer, but I had Thanksgiving travel and needed a lengthy distraction.