Oh man -- I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall again over the weekend (I first saw it at SXSW back in March) and the laughs held up beautifully; it really is a comic treasure, even if it does suffer a bit from the typical Apatow bloat. So this is great news for me:director Nicholas Stoller is reteaming with Judd Apatow for Get Him to the Greek, a comedy starring Sarah Marshall's Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. Hill will play a young insurance adjuster assigned to get a wild rock star (Brand) from London to LA's Greek Theater for a gig. I don't dispense headline exclamation points willy-nilly, so you know I'm excited.
The idea was apparently hatched at a Sarah Marshall table read, where Hill and Brand exhibited a surprising chemistry. They only had a few scenes together in that film, and since I thought Hill's character was generally a weak spot, I spent most of those scenes being mildly annoyed. But I've seen Superbad, so I know that Hill has the funny, and Brand, whom I had never heard of before Sarah Marshall, has some of the movie's biggest laughs. So: more, please.
Stoller will write Get Him to the Greek in addition to getting back in the director's chair. He has some other projects in the works, including Five Year Engagement, which he will direct and co-write with Jason Segel. He's also working with Segel on his planned Muppet movie. And he co-wrote the screenplay for Jim Carrey's Yes Man, due in December. Busy guy; lucky, too.
According to Variety,Jason Segel and Nick Stoller, the writer-director duo behind the upcoming Forgetting Sarah Marshall, have just inked a deal with Disney to create a new Muppet film. They'll collaborate on the script, and Stoller will direct.
Apparently, this partnership with Disney came about entirely due to Marshall. In the film, Segel's character writes a Dracula musical performed by puppets. The puppets were custom made by the Henson geniuses. Segel took the chance to pitch a concept to the Muppets, and the rest will be history.
I think this is fantastic news. It's been far too long since we had a Muppet movie, which is quite sad when I remember what childhood staples they were. And remember how adult and edgy they were in their heyday? If anyone can bring that back to the Muppets, it is Segel and Stoller. It will be really interesting to see what they might get away with -- and what cameos will pop up in the movie. I hope this brings in a Muppet Renaissance!
Did you know that when he was getting started, George Carlin wanted to be Danny Kaye? In an interview with CNN, Carlin said: "Danny Kaye was my childhood dream when I was 10, 11. I kind of looked at that and thought, 'Gee, I can do that. ... He makes funny faces, he talks in funny accents and he can do very, very intricate vocal pieces.'" Well, he definitely didn't turn out like Kaye, but I must give him props for taste.
I adore Danny Kaye. I really wanted this rewind to be from The Cosby Show, when the comedian and actor had appeared as the dentist (in his last role) -- but it's not floating in the sea of YouTube. However, there's something from around the same time that's an excellent alternative. Above, you've got Danny Kaye as the Swedish Chef's uncle. I really miss that man... Borga, borga, borga!
While I'm sure many people are itching for more big-screen muppets, it looks like we're finally getting a peek behind the puppet superstars. Empire reports that a film company called Empire Film Group (no relation) is going to make a biopic about the legendary puppet icon -- Jim Henson. A screenplay has been written by Robert D. Slane (Come Away Home), and they hope to get a big-name director "like Penny Marshall." She could definitely make a decent film, and has been directorially free since 2001's Riding in Cars with Boys. However, I'm sort of with Empire with the idea of making it mirthfully quirky with someone like Michel Gondry.
We know all about Jim's accomplishments -- Sesame Street, The Muppets, The Dark Crystal... But what of his life? As great as his furry faux creatures are, there has to be a story. Skimming Wikipedia... The early days look pretty angst-free, with talk of his early accomplishments, and, get this, a BA in home ec in 1960. From there, you know what happens. While there were some struggles along the way, his success continued to grow into what we know today. So really, this won't be some traumatic sort of biopic drama, but maybe that's okay. Henson was all about the funny anyway, so why not have a light, fun story of his life?
The Muppet Christmas Carol may be to the Muppets what Room Service is to the Marx Brothers. Neither is particularly good, especially in relation to the rest of the Muppet or Marx Brothers movies, but they can still be enjoyed immensely if you are a big enough fan of the Muppets or the Marxes. The films share two significant factors that aided in their surprisingly low quality. Each comedy "troupe" (if you can accept Kermit & Co. as a troupe) had recently suffered from a terrible disruption in their respective commands. Muppet Christmas Carol was the first Muppet movie produced after the death of Jim Henson, while Room Service was the first Marx Bros. movie to be filmed (fully) after the death of producer Irving Thalberg (though, of course, Thalberg was not the Bros.' creator like Henson was the Muppets'). And, most importantly, each is notable for having not been written for their "troupe"; instead the "troupe" was rather ill fittingly dropped into pre-existing stories.
In the case of The Muppet Christmas Carol, that pre-existing story is of course Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost Story of Christmas (umm, commonly known as simply A Christmas Carol). Unlike previous Muppet vehicles, such as The Muppet Movie and The Muppets Take Manhattan, this one focuses on a main character not played by a Muppet. Instead, Michael Caine portrays the lead, Ebenezer Scrooge, while the old favorites play minor supporting characters from Bob Crachit (Kermit) and his wife (Miss Piggy) to the narrators, Charles Dickens (Gonzo) and Rizzo the Rat (himself). Strangely the Christmas spirits aren't played by any of the star Muppets. In fact, only one of them is even technically a puppet: the Ghost of Christmas Present, which is a burly, redheaded body puppet (has an actor inside) with a Scottish accent.
I was not a film critic as a child, and there were a lot of movies I liked then that wouldn't appeal to me today: Benji, Candleshoe, The Love Bug and all those Tim Conway/Don Knotts movies leap to mind. And I didn't like some movies the first time I saw them. I was disappointed that Freaky Friday was not like the book (the remake is better), and I've always felt Gene Wilder was a little creepy both in The Little Prince and -- don't kill me -- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. There are a number of movies I can't enjoy anymore because I am appalled by the gender or racial stereotypes. And some are too saccharine for words. In fact, there are a number of childhood favorites that I think it's best for me not to see again at all, because I prefer to remember them fondly without the reality of a contemporary viewing to shatter my illusions.
However, it's a wonderful feeling to revisit a childhood favorite and discover that the movie is still fun to watch. I'd much rather tell you about the films I loved as a child or pre-teen that I still watch and enjoy today, than dwell on the ones that don't hold up very well. Compiling this list has caused me to draw up a list of movies that I haven't seen since I was younger that I'd like to see again soon -- Yellow Submarine, which I enjoyed as early as age six, isn't on the list because I haven't seen the complete movie since college, but I think I'd still like it. And I've been tempted lately to check out those early Kurt Russell films from Disney like The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes. The seven movies on the following list are all films I liked when I was young and still like now -- "young" meaning all the way up into my early teenage years, because I was able to watch better movies I am more likely to remember and that appeal to me now.
People celebrate the holiday season in many different ways, for many different reasons. If you, like me, choose the remembrance of the birth of Christ as the primary reason to observe Dec. 25th, or if you are simply interested in hearing from that perspective, you might find this interesting. Of course, you might not. By the time you're done reading, you may want to beat me upside the head, because frankly, I'm not sure there's a lot of coherence to my thought process here. Nonetheless, let's give it a go. Today, on the day many of us choose to recall the birth of our Savior, the 12 Days of Cinematicalmas Presents: Christmas Movies To Remember Jesus By.
You know, readers, this is one bugger of an article to write, for two reasons. First, because I don't typically discuss my faith in this forum -- it just doesn't come up much when you spend most of your time writing about comic books -- and second, because upon examination I realize that most of the Christmas specials I watch when I really want to feel the "spirit of the season" are not directly about Jesus. Typically, when I want that story, I go straight to the Book. Movies aren't ever as good as the books anyway, right?
So initially, I sat in front of a blank notepad (the computer notepad, of course, not that paper stuff that I hear some people still use) and thought "I'm not going to be able to write this article, because the movies I want to write about really hold no unique appeal to Christians. They're loved by really just about everyone." I was all set to jet off an apologetic email to the editorial team here at Cine, ex planing why I couldn't write what seems like it should be a very easy article on a subject I'm intimately involved with. But before the email was composed, a weird thought hit me. I examined it, and sure enough, it was accurate. Keep in mind, I'm just your average layperson, and am in no way specially qualified to make observations about scripture or people's relationship with their God, so this is just a simple observation from a humble follower. ...
Everyone has those one or two movies which signify to them that the Christmas season is upon us. You know ... the movie or TV special which opens up your cynical little heart and lets the Christmas spirit charge on in and take control for a while. For some people, it is Miracle on 34th Street, or the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Typically, they are films you watched with your family while you decorated the tree as a child, or something equally nostalgic and appropriate. For me, it is the Muppets. This weekend was tree weekend for my wife and I, and we gathered to us some of our closest friends for a weekend of tree cutting, popcorn stringing, and hot cocoa drinking. The entire weekend was filled with Muppet Christmas shows, and life was good. For the casual Muppet fan -- those of you who are trying to figure out how we had more than one or maybe two movies to watch this weekend -- allow me to enlighten you. 12 Days of Cinematicalmas brings you Christmas with Jim Henson:
Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas. Everybody loves a good version of the Gift of The Magi, especially when it is played out by a cute otter family. Henson's adaptation of the classic children's book is a little campy, a bit rough around the edges and thoroughly packed with adorable. You can tell Henson and company are still operating on a small budget, but they really make it go a long way. And despite the obvious places where the puppetry is a bit weak, the town and the characters in it are completely believable. It features an all woodland creatures jug band, a river creatures rock band, and one of the most soulful songs ever performed by the Muppets, "When the River Meets the Sea."
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. If you haven't seen this one hour TV movie, you have a gaping hole in your childhood which you must remedy immediately. This is the Sesame Street special, and it is 100% timeless. Starring Big Bird (yes, remember the days when Sesame Street movies starred people other than Elmo) and prominently featuring Kermit and Grover (remember the days when a cute little monster meant Grover and not Elmo?) discussing the physics of Santa and chimneys with kids, this movie has it all. Bert and Ernie re-enacting the Gift of the Magi (hey, that story again), Cookie Monster trying desperately to write to Santa asking for cookies, and ... and ... Mr. Hooper! Sesame Street today is a depressing place with no Mr. Hooper and tons of Elmo.
The Christmas Toy. A rather odd made-for-TV special by the Henson company which didn't feature any of the usual Muppet characters. This one wasn't great; it has pacing issues and a totally creepy girl doll, but the strength of the Muppet performers provides enough entertainment to make it worth watching. The story was Toy Story ten years before Toy Story happened -- toys come to life and interact with each other when humans aren't around, and the "favorite" toy is highly concerned because Christmas is bringing a favorite toy into the playroom. The new toy is an impressive outer-space action figure who has yet to realize what a "toy" is. Together, the rest of the toys teach these two how to deal with the new situation. ...
A Muppet Family Christmas. This film is a tour de force for Jim Henson and the Muppet team. Henson has created a very large world at this point, and he uses this special to show it all off. Fozzie and the gang (almost the entire gang) visit Fozzie's mom for Christmas. The Sesame Street gang shows up as a band of roving carolers (with Elmo in the background only, and not actually saying a word), and the Fraggles make a short appearance via a Fraggle hole in Emily Bear's basement. There is no real plot, except for a weird thread about the Swedish Chef cooking Christmas dinner and wanting to baste Big Bird, which ends in a Bird/Chef duet you have to hear to believe. If you like anything the Muppets have done, you simply must watch this special. You can find it on DVD, but you're better off hunting down a friend who recorded it from TV back in the day, because several really amusing scenes got hacked out of the DVD release.
Muppet Christmas Carol. This full-length feature film breaks your heart right off the bat, because the opening "in memory of" reminds you that Jim Henson and Richard Hunt have died. This movie begins an era of without Electric Mayhem, Rowlf, or Scooter -- an era which the Muppets are still struggling to emerge from. The Muppet team does a great job crafting a tribute film to Jim Henson, and the Muppet cast is a fantastic fit for the classic Christmas tale. This film was when Muppet writer Jerry Juhl (God rest his soul) found the friendship between Gonzo and Rizzo; a team-up which allowed Kermit to take a non-lead role for a bit while Steve Whitmire got used to bringing him to life. "It Feels Like Christmas" is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and the whole movie aches with Christmas spirit. A great job of pulling together the Muppets and showing the world the characters could go on in a post Jim Henson world (at least, for a while -- we'll not talk about the state of the Muppets right now, as it makes me very sad).
A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. This was a brief Christmas special from just a few years back, and the last thing they put together which was even arguably worth watching (although I still hope they can return to some measure of greatness eventually). Yes, it has Whoopi Goldberg in it, but she's not in it much. The special has quick throw-away parodies of a lot of classic Christmas stories, and is obviously an overall parody of It's A Wonderful Life. After a plot set up which puts the future of the Muppet Theater in jeopardy, we're treated to a view of what the world would have been if Kermit the Frog had never been born. Let me tell you, this kid would never want to live in a world without Kermit the Frog. This certainly isn't the Muppets at the top of their game, but it is a solid TV movie Muppet production.
Geek news culled from the great harvest of the internet while I was watching Angry Beavers reruns:
It just wouldn't be a Geek Bytes without some new eye candy from 300, now would it? Okay, maybe it would, but it wouldn't be a good Geek Bytes. Swing by CanMag for a new 300 video journal showcasing some of the creatures which will appear in the film. As always, be warned: viewing the material will only make you more hungry for the full film.
Speaking of movies we love to talk about, Sci Fi Wire has a new chat with director Chris Nolan in which he breaks down the structure of The Prestige. As always, Nolan is entertaining and instructive.
Still at Sci Fi Wire, Henry Czerny says his new horror/comedy Fido is "the thinking man's zombie movie." I only point this out because there seems to be an irony there, what with zombies loving to eat brains and all. Zombies would feast on the thinking men who watch this film.
For those of you who share Cinematical's love of all things Muppet, you may want to know they've released a new CD of Christmas music this week. Yeah, yeah, it is way to early for Christmas ... but it features new music from Rowlf the Dog and Doctor Teeth and the Electric Mayhem -- characters who have been sadly silent since the passing of Jim Henson. Familiar muppeteer Bill Barretta has worked long and hard on the voices, so it oughta be interesting to hear what he has to say.
"Golden teeth and golden tones, welcome to my presence."
I miss Dr. Teeth. Granted, there is quite a bit I miss from the glory days of the Muppets, when Jim Henson and Richard Hunt were still alive and Frank Oz was not chasing other projects -- but I don't intend to turn this into a complaint piece about where the Muppets are today. In fact, I still love them, even if they aren't quite what they used to be; even if a rather soul-less Disney hasn't quite figured out how to deal with a property which primarily exists on the strength of heart and soul. But that's not the point. The point is, I sincerely miss the Electric Mayhem, particularly their charismatic and verbose leader, Dr. Teeth.
I was only eight years old when Jim Henson died, and although I was a bit young to fully connect the dots on what this would mean for the Muppets, I was old enough to understand it meant something terrible for Kermit the Frog. The thought of Kermit sitting on Jim's coffin at the funeral holding a little sign which read "I lost my voice" is a sad, sad thought indeed. Then, incredibly, Steve Whitmire stepped into the void and brought Kermit back to life. As a kid, this mostly meant the Muppets were going to continue, and Kermit remained more or less as I'd remembered him. As an adult, I can certainly notice small differences in Jim's Kermit opposed to Steve's Kermit, but Kermit continued, and continued in good hands. Whitmire had been with the Muppets for so long, he fully understood the style and magic that is the Muppets. Was he a replacement for Jim? Of course not, nobody could possibly fill the shoes of such a man, and Steve Whitmire would be the first to admit it. But he did a better job than anyone else could, and therefore allowed the Muppets to continue.
Charactor actor Charles Durning has stolen scenes in countless movies since the early 1970s (not to mention various TV shows and Broadway plays). Many of us grew up watching him as Doc Hopper, the evil fried-frog-legs magnate in The Muppet Movie. I always envision him in Hopper's stereotypically Southern white suit. I've pictured him wearing that suit even in movies where, after I did a little research, it turns out he didn't wear it at all, such as The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (where he played the governor of Texas) and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (where he played the governor of Mississippi). The man was born to wear seersucker and string ties.
Durning can steal a movie away from Muppets, for heaven's sake. He can even steal scenes from Robert Downey Jr. in Home for the Holidays, and Downey is arguably one of the top scene-stealers of the past 20 years. One reason is that Durning can sing and dance -- he danced professionally in his younger days. Suddenly, in the middle of a movie like Home for the Holidays, he'll start waltzing around the room with surprising grace. Or he'll just start singing, as in Tootsie or The Hudsucker Proxy, and all attention turns to him.
It's a holiday weekend/week, and some of us wish that local theaters held more special screenings on our days off next week. However, theaters seem to assume that people want to do stuff outdoors on July 4, so many ongoing film series are on hold for the week. Alamo Downtown will be closed on Monday and Tuesday.
A few theaters are celebrating the Independence Day holiday. Alamo Lake Creek is showing Red Dawn on Tuesday night. The Paramount is showing vaguely patriotic-themed films all week: Sergeant York and Pride of the Yankees on Monday and Wednesday, and Patton on Thursday and Friday.
This week's AFS@Dobie collaborative screening is the film Lady Vengeance, which will play all week at the Dobie. Also opening at the Dobie today is Drawing Restraint 9.
The Movies in the Park series has moved to Round Rock this month, and Friday night's film is The Wizard of Oz. The movie starts at sundown at Old Settlers Park and admission is free.
I like to have background noise while I am working. I don't know if it is because I am a product of the age of multi-tasking or simply because I have concentration issues, but my mind tends to get bored when it only has one thing going on. It is not particularly unusual to find me seated at my computer desk typing an article while simultaneously watching television, throwing down some Nintendo action, and chatting with my fiancee (I like to call this "living the dream"). After years of functioning in this manner -- as a college student, it is now nearly impossible for me to be working at my computer without at least one other function happening simultaneously -- I feel like I'm wasting good time if I'm only working. Ergo when I sit down with my laptop to blog, it is almost a guarantee that I'll be either listening to a Pirates game online or watching a film. Sometimes, I'll substitute Gamecast instead of audio for the Pirates; then I can keep track of the Pirates game while watching a movie.
Now as you'd expect from a guy who gets paid to write about movies, I own a lot of movies. However, It'd bankrupt me to own enough movies to have a new one for every time I blog or do other work on my computer. I've written before about my love of commentary tracks, as a good one can double the watchable length of a film. Every now and then you get a great DVD with two or more commentary tracks, and you've got that many more good viewings of the DVD in store. Bonus documentaries, featurettes, and making ofs can also extend the life of a DVD. But what do you do when you've got nothing new on the shelf and are jonesing for a good flick? You go to one of your standbys. We've all got them -- that handful of films you could watch on seemingly endless repeat for eternity and never get bored. It is a quality that video games refer to as "replay value," and although some films (like The Princess Brideand Monty Python and the Holy Grail) have almost universal rewatchability, some are highly dependent on the individual viewer. Here are a select few from the very top of my list, the movies I am most likely to grab off the shelf when I'm in need of something to watch:
While discussing the DVD release of Henson Co's TV show Dinosaurs in a recent interview with Now Playing, Brian Henson dropped a few tantalizing details about two highly anticipated upcoming Henson film projects: Dark Crystal 2 and Fraggle Rock: The Movie. Yours truly is very excited about both these films, although the potential for destroying my childhood memories does make me a bit hesitant. Nonetheless, hope springs eternal! The information is as follows ...
Fraggle Rock, though already announced and definitely coming, is still in very early stages. It is the number two priority right now, but a script is being written. Henson said to consider the movie something of a "revisiting" of the classic characters, updated slightly to reflect the change in time. The characters we all know and love will remain the same -- but the story will likely not be a direct sequel to the old series. Henson indicated the plan is "to do something that sort of stands next to Fraggle Rock rather than [being] a continuation of [it]." This makes me a bit nervous, because I'm always hesitant when people try to "update" classic stories ... but the idea is sound, and the original cast is returning so hopefully it'll maintain the classic Fraggle Rock feel.
Dark Crystal 2 is the top priority for Henson right now, and is moving along with a full head of steam. According to Henson, "that one's pretty far along. It's got a good, strong script, a great vision for how to do it and we're just trying to [put it together]." They're attempting to recruit the original voice actors where possible, and bring in very good imitators when necessary.
And the final, crazy bit of news from Jim Henson's son is the studio's desire to return to the world of their cult classic Labyrinth. Henson described this idea by saying "Actually, we're talking about doing something different with Labyrinth but I can't really talk about it." The existence of such a film is highly contingent upon the success of Dark Crystal 2. This means get out there and watch DC2 at least a dozen times each and encourage your friends to do the same. And by encourage, I mean force.
SXSW is gearing up here in Austin, and it seems like more news is released
about the festival and conference every day. The latest announcement: Charlize
Theron and David Cross have been added to the list of speakers during
the film conference next month. Theron will speak on a panel about
music documentaries, since she produced the film East of Havana, which will
premiere at the festival. Cross will join an interview/book signing event for the documentary Fired!.
Meanwhile, the SXSW prep certainly isn't affecting the number of special screenings
in Austin this week.
The AFS@ Dobie series must be doing very well. Originally planned as one film a week, the Austin Film Society/Dobie Theatre collaboration currently has
three films screening at the Dobie. This week's new film is Les Saignantes, a 2005 French film about
prostitutes in a post-apocalyptic world. Director Jean-Pierre Bekolo will attend the 7:20 pm screening on Friday 2/24.
Before the Fall and Ballets Russes are being held over.
Oh man -- I watched Forgetting Sarah Marshall again over the weekend (I first saw it at SXSW back in March) and the laughs held up beautifully; it really is a comic treasure, even if it does suffer a bit from the typical Apatow bloat. So this is great news for me: director Nicholas Stoller is reteaming with Judd Apatow for Get Him to the Greek, a comedy starring Sarah Marshall's Jonah Hill and Russell Brand. Hill will play a young insurance adjuster assigned to get a wild rock star (Brand) from London to LA's Greek Theater for a gig. I don't dispense headline exclamation points willy-nilly, so you know I'm excited.
Forget Sarah Marshall, hello Miss Piggy!
While I'm sure many people are itching for more big-screen muppets, it looks like we're finally getting a peek behind the puppet superstars. 
Geek news culled from the great harvest of the internet while I was watching 
Charactor actor 
While discussing the DVD release of Henson Co's TV show Dinosaurs in a recent interview with Now Playing, 
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
