“The Muppets”

Growing up watching “Jim Henson’s The Muppet Show” and “The Muppet Babies” I was curious to see Jason Segel’s movie “The Muppets.”

Jason Segel & Amy Adams with “The Muppets” crew

Jim Henson is the ‘o.g. of o.g.’s‘ when it comes to puppets.

Jim Henson and a few of The Muppets characters

Jim Henson was inspired by early Disney cartoons and his first major puppet work was “Sam and Friends,” which was a daily live 5-minute program that aired on Maryland public television. As his popularity began to grow, he was approached by British producer Lord Lew Grade to create “The Muppet Show” for England. From there, it was redistributed in the United States where he then created “Sesame Street,” “The Dark Crystal,” “Labryinth,” etc. Jim Henson has made a big impact on the entertainment industry. He was and is, a big part of it. There’s many fans that love his unforgettable work.

Star Wars; Luke Skywalker; Miss Piggy

Quentin Tarantino & Miss Piggy

Mr. T {The A-Team}, Animal, Kermit the frog; Miss Piggy & Detective James Crockett {Miami Vice}

I loved Jim Henson’s work growing up and it was a big part of my childhood. As I got older, I (unintentionally) achromatized the entertainment I once loved as a child, but when I heard that Jason Segel was creating a children’s movie based on Jim Henson’s muppets I was enthusiastic about seeing the puppets brought back to life.

I feel Jason Segel is not only a talented actor, but I believe he is a gifted screenwriter & musician. I was actually fortunate enough to see him perform his song “Dracula’s Lament”  live a year before “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” was released in theater.

Jason Segel & Jack Black performing “Dracula’s Lament” at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA

He played the piano & sang for 92 of us and it was majestic. I usually fear meeting celebrities that I admire, respect and love because there’s a chance they could be obnoxious egotistical ungrateful pricks and I never want to ruin enjoying an actor’s work… although it shouldn’t… when I meet someone and they end up being not so amazing… I’m easily distracted thinking, “dangit… why’d you have to be such an imp???”

(i.e. Zach Galifianakis; I hate to break it to some of you, but this is just a live journal to speak freely so I’m gonna keep it real… Zach Galifiankis isn’t as friendly & cool without a cute baby or dog… I witnessed it firsthand… didn’t happen to me but some really diehard fans/cool-peeps…then again…he could have been having a bad day…but that’s just me trying to find an excuse ‘cuz it bummed me out to have to attest to that)

…there’s far more cool people than mean people anyways ‘cuz to me… the good always outweighs the bad… Anywho… Jason Segel’s seriously one of the most humble & nicest dudes I’ve ever met. As he passed by me while I was waiting for PB I told him, “Good job man!” as he walked by. He then responded with a “Thanks!” while continuing to walk pass me …but he then stopped, turned back around and came up to where I was sitting and said, “I’m Jason, what’s your name?!” …he’s just cool peeps. Enough about my stupid side stories… back to the filmgeeking…

I have this concept on new movies that I follow. Especially because nowadays movies are so expensive me & PB have to be picky about what we watch at the movie theaters (unless we crave watching something on the bigscreen; usually midnight movie releases these days). We unfortunately only watch movies that we feel are ‘bigscreen worthy.’ Mainly movies that are 3-D, action packed and/or must be watched with an audience on a bigscreen to fully appreciate its story. Although I do believe “The Muppets” was watchable… it would only be bigscreen worthy if you have kids… it was one of those movies. I don’t have kids. I’m still on a tight budget… and I forgot when it came out. So instead…I waited for it to come out at the Redbox. “The Muppets” is a movie I recommend if you are one of the following:

• A parent with kids way into the new style/genre of Nickelodeon & Disney shows and you want them to appreciate puppetry of the past (it brings back the oldschool children’s entertainment experience)
• Need something to do with you’re kids that’s not energy consuming & you need a place where you could nap while supervising the kids (…but don’t nap! You’ll smile I promise. Plus you shouldn’t be napping you’re supervising duuuh)
• You like musicals and cheesy moments (the good kinda cheesy thingy… with cute morals & stuff)
• Your an artist that loves to make puppets
• You grew up watching Jim Henson’s work & would love to see how The Muppets were adapted
• You love Amy Adams, Jason Segel, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Rowlf, Animal, Rizzo, Beaker, The Swedish Chef, Scooter and/or any other character from ‘The Muppet Show’
• You’re bored
• You’re obsessed with seeing every new movie
• You want to be able to tell your friends you saw it because you know some of your hip friends might think they’re too cool to watch it (but like “Wild Hogs” why didn’t you watch it?!…well Wild Hogs is more adult worthy with adult jokes… “The Muppets” is definitely a why didn’t you watch it?! if you’re a past Muppets fan)

B3RNTR33 GRADE: B+

B3RNTR33 ENTHUSIASM (on a scale of 1-10): 7

(1 being: You wish you could take back the time you wasted watching & listening to stinky poop-poops full of frivilous annoyances -AND- 10: You wanted to cry, jump up & down, laugh, punch someone in the face ‘cuz you don’t know why your so excited & stoked )

B3RNTR33 AUDIENCE VIEWER ENJOYMENT TYPE: Bring the whole family! …there’s no sex scenes I promise…

Synopsis: Gary (Jason Segel) has a brother who was born a puppet, Walter. Gary plans to take his girlfriend, Mary (Amy Adams) to Hollywood, CA to celebrate their 10-year anniversary and invites Walter to come along since Walter is a big fan of ‘The Muppets.’ Walter, Gary & Mary take a tour around The Muppets Studio, which has been closed down for many years. Walter overhears a deal that’s being made about selling The Muppets Studio. Walter tells Gary & Mary and they agree to let the retired muppets know the situation. From there, each muppet is informed and they decide that they must do something to save the studio.

B3RNTR33’s take on the movie: From the beginning of the movie I kept repeating, “awww…”- “I love this movie…”- “…this is cute…”- “…every kid needs to see this…”- “…I’ve gotta buy a copy for each of the kids for Christmas…” etc… I’m very open minded when it comes to movies because each movie is different and for me, I can’t categorize nor list requirements for a movie to be claimed “great.” I don’t go by hype. I don’t go by bad reviews. I do make sure to understand that my mood or energy can make a difference when watching a movie, but “The Muppets” was entertaining. I like musicals (i.e. Grease 1 & 2) and this movie had many cute songs. There’s even a cameo from Jack Black & Dave Grohl. It was the perfect story plot in recreating a story that might seem outdated. Children’s movies & shows are so different from 10-15 years ago so bringing back puppets was sentimental in some aspects. I definitely recommend families to watch “The Muppets” and hopefully we can bring back a simple yet very artistic form of children’s entertainment. Who doesn’t miss “Sesame Street” or “The Muppets”?!