Muppets, Hugo and Arthur Christmas
Nov. 24th, 2011 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ericadawn16So, for The Muppets, we were afraid of a time problem with Hugo so I missed almost all of the credits after they stopped having the celebrities having fun. Was there anything else to it?
Have they dropped Clifford as a Muppet? Why wasn't Robin mentioned?
Otherwise, I'll write up a more complex review soon. I'm not saying it was bad. I liked it and as a movie, it was good. It's just that it wasn't entirely what I was expecting but my expectations were pretty high and doomed to fail. It seems like The Muppets have grown up like the rest of us when we weren't paying attention. They have more grown-up problems. I also have a couple of complaints about Small Fry although overall, I liked it. It was cute.
P.S. To my The Big Bang Theory friends, does Jim Parsons really play the piano? I know Jason Segel can.
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Hugo. I cannot say enough good things about it. If you think of yourself as a cinema fan, film buff and/or film historian, YOU MUST SEE THIS!
It's a film about the early, early film history made by someone who cherishes each and every frame of those old silent films. It amounts to a beautiful love letter that isn't afraid to show the bad parts and tragedy. My mom and I found it simply amazing to be able to see those old films on the big screen as intended. Most of the clips are from Georges Méliès' work but there is also Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and those short films made in the 1890s when film-making was new. Another real highlight to the experience is L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat by the Lumière brothers. Fellow film geeks may recall that this is the early film behind the story, possibly an urban myth, that the audience screamed in fear while watching it, scared that the train would hit them.
To see these pieces of cinema that I've read so much about and seen on much smaller screens...it was just...amazing to infinity and beyond. Some places, like Tampa Theatre, do give limited opportunities a few times a year to see the silent films but they are limited and usually charge a lot more than what a 2D admission would cost. Yes, I did 2D but if you can stomach 3D, then you should do it with this film. I think it would be worth it for these cinematic treasures alone.
Arthur Christmas...well, if James McAvoy is involved, I'm probably going to watch, right?
This was a LOT better than I was expecting. Of course, only in an animated film can you have James McAvoy and Hugh Laurie play brothers while their parents are Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton, their grandfather is Bill Nighy and assorted elf voices include Eva Longoria, Andy Serkis and Robbie Coltrane.
It was really cute though with some ideas similar to Prep and Landing but done better with more back-story and a sense of character history. The animation was also adorable and while I assume everyone is talking about end credits song with Justin Bieber, I was more excited to recognize Bill Nighy's singing voice on the first of the end credits songs. Now, we just need like 8 more songs and we can have a Bill Nighy Christmas album.
Have they dropped Clifford as a Muppet? Why wasn't Robin mentioned?
Otherwise, I'll write up a more complex review soon. I'm not saying it was bad. I liked it and as a movie, it was good. It's just that it wasn't entirely what I was expecting but my expectations were pretty high and doomed to fail. It seems like The Muppets have grown up like the rest of us when we weren't paying attention. They have more grown-up problems. I also have a couple of complaints about Small Fry although overall, I liked it. It was cute.
P.S. To my The Big Bang Theory friends, does Jim Parsons really play the piano? I know Jason Segel can.
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Hugo. I cannot say enough good things about it. If you think of yourself as a cinema fan, film buff and/or film historian, YOU MUST SEE THIS!
It's a film about the early, early film history made by someone who cherishes each and every frame of those old silent films. It amounts to a beautiful love letter that isn't afraid to show the bad parts and tragedy. My mom and I found it simply amazing to be able to see those old films on the big screen as intended. Most of the clips are from Georges Méliès' work but there is also Harold Lloyd, Charlie Chaplin and those short films made in the 1890s when film-making was new. Another real highlight to the experience is L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat by the Lumière brothers. Fellow film geeks may recall that this is the early film behind the story, possibly an urban myth, that the audience screamed in fear while watching it, scared that the train would hit them.
To see these pieces of cinema that I've read so much about and seen on much smaller screens...it was just...amazing to infinity and beyond. Some places, like Tampa Theatre, do give limited opportunities a few times a year to see the silent films but they are limited and usually charge a lot more than what a 2D admission would cost. Yes, I did 2D but if you can stomach 3D, then you should do it with this film. I think it would be worth it for these cinematic treasures alone.
Arthur Christmas...well, if James McAvoy is involved, I'm probably going to watch, right?
This was a LOT better than I was expecting. Of course, only in an animated film can you have James McAvoy and Hugh Laurie play brothers while their parents are Jim Broadbent and Imelda Staunton, their grandfather is Bill Nighy and assorted elf voices include Eva Longoria, Andy Serkis and Robbie Coltrane.
It was really cute though with some ideas similar to Prep and Landing but done better with more back-story and a sense of character history. The animation was also adorable and while I assume everyone is talking about end credits song with Justin Bieber, I was more excited to recognize Bill Nighy's singing voice on the first of the end credits songs. Now, we just need like 8 more songs and we can have a Bill Nighy Christmas album.
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Date: 2011-11-25 06:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-27 03:49 am (UTC)Tell me when you see it and we're going to see The Muppets again on Monday.
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Date: 2011-12-03 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-04 03:05 am (UTC)That actually comes from the book itself. All of it's awesome.
I'm enjoying The Muppets a bit more each day although I admit to hoping there were secret scenes or something I missed the first time around with Rizzo, who appeared to have no lines, and Bean Bunny, totally MIA. The songs are growing on me though and I have had them in my head from time to time. My mom liked it a lot better the second time, too. It also motivated me to finally upgrade my Muppet Christmas Carol to dvd...I was waiting for BluRay but without even a release date, I just couldn't wait any longer.
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Date: 2011-11-26 06:11 am (UTC)*Nods.* He plays. Not sure how well since I've only seen him talk about it as a "hobby," but he does play.
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Date: 2011-11-27 10:09 pm (UTC)Robin! Yes, I did wonder about him. I actually leaned over to my husband when it was almost over and said, "Wasn't Robin supposed to be in this?" So that was one disappointment and a question.
Still, as I said on your longer review, I loved the movie on the whole. I hope it will lead to a Renaissance for the Muppets and that Robin will have a plot in the next one.
Clifford is a question mark as well, but I'm more curious about Robin.
On that note, are you familiar with this: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki?
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Date: 2011-11-30 05:04 pm (UTC)I hope they come out with all the "reject" toys because I love them especially Lizard Wizard, Ninja Clown and Super Pirate.
However, my mom and I were actually disappointed at the same things. First of all, Bonnie nearly forgets her toys at the ball pit! I mean the whole point of being okay and happy that Bonnie was getting the toys was that, unlike Sunnyside, she was going to take good care of them and then she just leaves them. My mom had issues with her mom just accepting that Buzz was correct when the sizing was way off. She says she would have noticed right away.
We also wanted the Rudolph/Toy Story 2 ending where the unloved toys get a new home with someone who will love them again. The mermaid could take over the seminars that Mr. Spell used to give in the first two films as well as counseling. Maybe she could even have counseling lessons at Sunnyside sometimes, too late for Lotso but she could still do some good.
I also missed Chuckles. I wasn't able to spot him at all.
Okay, when I saw it the second time, along with listening for Rizzo dialogue, I watched for any sign of Robin. There is a frog in a hat near Fozzie when Kermit makes his big speech at the end before exiting into the paparazzi. I wasn't sure if it was a beret or the cap Robin had in Christmas Carol but it did appear to be the only other green frog. The other frogs are the blue ones. So, I made up my own canon that Robin was always disappointed at the "divorce" and even took an internship at Vogue to find some way to bring them together again.
The film is doing well so we should definitely get another one fairly soon. Yay!
Okay, one other thing about Bean Bunny's absence...it makes Muppetvision 3D seem even more dated since it revolves around Bean Bunny and being more than twenty years old, it doesn't have Pepe or Walter. I know that seems like a duh, but I went on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride after the first film came out and before it got refurbished, you would not believe the number of children demanding to know where Jack Sparrow was...
Thank you so much for the link! I've never seen it before.
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Date: 2011-12-01 05:33 pm (UTC)Yeah, I agree that Bonnie's forgetfulness is a problem. I mean, she's a kid and that happens, but it does sour the taste some people already had about Andy giving his toys to her even more. And yeah, you're mom's right that her other should have noticed if she were paying attention.
I love your idea about the other neglected toys coming to live with Bonnie or at Sunnyside. Maybe in the next short? Probably not, but we can dream.
I had to look up Chuckles; I don't know as much about Toy Story lore as I do Muppets. His wiki entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Toy_Story_characters#Chuckles) says he's in Small Fry, but if so it's probably a really brief cameo.
Sweet that there's even a possibility of a Robin cameo in the Muppets. I love your invented back story for him. I still hope they'll do more with him next time around.
I am so glad it's doing well and I hope they keep making them and making them well.
I see your point about Bean Bunny. I've only been to Muppetvision 3D a few times, but him not being in the new movie will confuse the kiddies who go to see it after falling in love with the movie. I'm guessing they will probably either 1) Refurbish Muppets 3D in the next few years like they did with PotC (featuring Walter?), 2) Insist Bean Bunny become a bigger part of the next movie, or 3) Both.
You're welcome! I think it's awesome.
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Date: 2011-12-03 02:47 am (UTC)Missing a marketing opportunity? Not that often.
Yet still no plush Chuckles...
I might write the Robin story sometime.
Yes, Disney should refurbish it and add more attractions and generally treat The Muppets as full-fledged Disney entities instead of stepchildren that they're not sure what to do with.
Movie-wise, they've been good but in all other aspects...well, I hope they're finally realizing how beloved and lucrative The Muppets really are.