BuzzSugar

Would You Watch a New Muppet Show?

BuzzSugar — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 15:30:36 -0700

You know, I was already really excited about the news that Jason Segel was working on a new Muppet movie. But could he also be plotting a new version of The Muppet Show? According to a report from the UK, the answer is yes. Segel's movie script apparently "involves all the Muppets uniting to save their studio with one last variety show," and it leaves open the possibility of continuing in TV form - presumably if the movie does well.

Maybe it's just because I recently watched a few vintage Muppet Show episodes (with guests Peter Sellers and John Cleese!), but I think a modern-day Muppet Show could be fantastic - if it could recapture the spirit of the original. (That's where I think the 1996 ABC/Disney update, Muppets Tonight, fell short.) What do you think?

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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 20 May 2008 08:15:57 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. Pickings were a bit slim, I have to say. But hey, it's nice outside. We should all get some fresh air anyway this week, right?

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Just as the big action-adventure blockbusters roll into theaters this summer, here's a blast from the past (er, a blast from last December). National Treasure: Book of Secrets is available for home viewing, just in case you want more of that genre right now. This is the second in the successful Disney franchise about a group of adventure seekers looking for treasure via American history. In this installment, Nicholas Cage stars as Benjamin Franklin Gates and goes on the hunt with his pals for the truth behind the assassination of President Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth.

It's a wee bit hokey and a lot goofy, but at the end of the day, a lot of moviegoers really like these flicks. Plus, it is nothing if not a family-friendly PG-rated action-adventure that kids will get a kick out of. Special features include cast bloopers and outtakes and featurettes titled "The Book of Secrets: On Location," and "Street Stunts: Creating the London Chase." One featurette struck me as particularly funny: "Inside the Library of Congress" (woo-hoo!).

One more kid-friendly title so read more.

The Muppet Show: Season Three
It's hard to believe some of my favorite shows of the past are still not completely available on DVD (hello, people in charge of Ally McBeal: come on already!) and The Muppet Show is no exception. The show was on the air from 1976-1981 and and now Season Three is yours to love and adore at home. Season Three took place from 1978-1979 and included guest stars ranging from Gilda Radner, Raquel Welch, Sylvester Stallone, Big Bird, and Alice Cooper. I'm still amazed at the diverse group of celebrities the creators of the show were able to convince to hang out with a bunch of Jim Henson puppets.

It's a great show to introduce to a new generation of kids and so much fun for those of us raised on it to take a trip down memory lane. Special features include featurettes title, "Muppets On Puppets" and "A Company of Players" as well as some muppets commercials.

Where the Wild Things Are: A Passionate Ode to Childhood

BuzzSugar — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 04:30:00 -0700

There's been a bit of a controversy over how to market Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's book, Where The Wild Things Are. Is it for kids? Adults? Adult hipsters?

The answer is anyone who wants to feel what it's like to be a child, and not in the fun-loving, no-responsibilities way. As adults, we tend to forget the insecurity and fears we had as kids, which the film's young character Max is in the throes of. There's just enough exposition before the fantasy begins: Max has a single mom (Catherine Keener) and an older sister who has recently outgrown him. His first few acts at home show his innocence and the savage emotions under the surface. He knows it as being "wild."

Where the Wild Things Are isn't a heavy-handed allegory, or an edgy children's movie; it's a loyal tribute to the way kids think and feel. To see what else I thought of the film, just read more.

Max reaches the world of the wild things after throwing a particularly heinous fit, prompting his mother to yell, "You're out of control!" After running away, Max finds himself on a boat that finally brings him to a strange land. This is where the wild things are. The creatures Jonze has created are aesthetic wonders: creepy, hostile, and huggable at once. These aren't Jim Henson's Muppets, but real characters, led by Carol (voiced by James Gandolfini). The rest of the group is comprised of Lauren Ambrose as aloof KW, Catherine O'Hara as prickly Judith, Paul Dano as timid Alexander, Chris Cooper as Douglas, and Forest Whitaker as Ira.

Each creature has a fully realized personality, with flaws and varying temperaments; their faces are so emotive and their dialogue so human that their scenes with Max are as real as those with his mother. This group is not easily classified as friend or foe - they're dysfunctional in their relationships and don't always treat each other well. One of the most successful elements of the movie is the dialogue of the wild things, which is rooted in Max's head.

In many ways, screenwriter Dave Eggers's job was tougher than Spike Jonze's, because it's imperative to remember the way children think. Max's interactions with Carol and his new clan are made up of the kind of things a kid would hear from his parents and peers and then internalize. In fact, in the wild world, Max declares himself king to bring order, and he summons up speeches from the authority figures that he's pulling away from in his real life. Naturally, he's too young to recognize how his subverted position is significant.

Max's relationship with Carol is most telling. As the de facto leader of the group who can't handle sadness, loneliness, or jealousy, he acts out as a mirror of Max while still being his own character. The richness of Carol and the creature cast stays with you; when Max has to say goodbye to his friends, your heart breaks.

Jonze impressed me with his non-conformity; in another movie, Max would have demonstrated the grand lessons he learned from his time on the island, but in this one, he doesn't have to learn anything. He just gets to feel and experience and appreciate his emotionally fragmented new friends. It's devastating as a viewer, especially if you can put yourself back in that childlike place when your feelings were so raw and simple.

Photos courtesy of Warner Bros.