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crowdvscritic · 2 years ago

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round up // APRIL 23

A selection of words capturing my April pop culture experiences:

Museum

Podcast

Amy Sherman-Palladino

Muppets

Vampire

Nike

American Girl dolls

Read on for everything that brought me joy this month!

April Crowd-Pleasers

1. Renfield (2023)

Did I write a review of Renfield, an ode to the two Nic(k)s, or analysis of the Great Resignation? Yes, yes, and yes. Read whatever, in fact, I wrote at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

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2. SNL Round Up

Whether they’re spoofing my childhood toys, my young adulthood wedding commitments, or my love for the Jonas Brothers, the crew in Studio 8H has been keeping me laughing this Spring.

“Southwest Airlines Announcement” (4811 with Michael B. Jordan)

“The Big Hollywood Quiz” (4812 with Pedro Pascal) - A great example of how no one watches the same things anymore

“Waking Up” (4812)

“Protective Mom” (4812)

“Lisa From Temecula” (4812)

“American Girl Café” (4814 with Travis Kelce)

“Bridesmaid Cult Documentary” (4816 with Quinta Brunson) - I feel seen

"Weekend Update: Co-Worker Who's Extremely Busy Doing Seemingly Nothing on Returning to the Office” (4817 with Molly Shannon) - I feel attacked

“Sally O'Malley: Jonas Brothers” (4817)

“American Girl Doll Movie Trailer” (4818 with Ana de Armas)

3. Descanso Gardens

Because I can’t resist a botanical garden! Gardens are becoming a go-to attraction for me on vacations, and the Descanso Gardens in Los Angeles did not disappoint. The day we went was not too crowded but was impressive enough to earn a huge crowd—a hidden gem for LA tourists!

4. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Panel at PaleyFest

The gardens were lovely, but there were two other attractions that were the real reason for my visit to Los Angeles. The first was PaleyFest to see Amy Sherman-Palladino, Daniel Palladino, and the cast of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel! Just before the fifth and final season started on Amazon Prime, we heard Alex Borstein and Rachel Brosnahan share their mourning process for the show’s ending, Caroline Aaron and Michael Zegen reflect on what these roles have meant to them, and Tony Shalhoub crack up the crowd. (And who knew I would be so starstruck by him? When he came on stage I wanted to scream, “YOU WERE SO GOOD IN GALAXY QUEST!”) Check out SO IT’S A SHOW’s Instagram for more highlights from when my podcast co-host Kyla and I visited the Dolby Theatre (home of the Oscars!).

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4. John Mulaney: Baby J (2023)

A full year ago I saw John Mulaney on his From Scratch tour, and now you can enjoy the set at home. His joke about not being interested in science “from magnets to ducks” did not make the cut (and alas now I can’t remember the setup for that punchline), but the other 90% of a show that made me laugh so hard I cried is preserved forever.

5. The Muppets. (2015-16)

Why did this gem only last 16 episodes? In this one-season single-cam sitcom, the Muppets are working on Late Night with Miss Piggy, a setting that could’ve produced comedy gold for years. With the frazzled Kermit producing, the Electric Mayhem as the in-studio band, and celebrity guests through the felt nose, I’m glad I checked out these 16 eps even though they ended on a cliffhanger. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like for Miss Piggy to date Josh Groban or to hold grudges against every blonde actress in Hollywood, you won’t want to miss it either.

7. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. (2023)

Special in the way that the best coming-of-age movies are. I suspect Margaret’s insecurities about boys, bras, and besties will feel relatable to Gens Z and Alpha if for no other reason than this movie’s depiction felt scarily accurate to my own experience in the mid-2000s. I promise I will never start a review with the story of my first period ever again! At least, probably—at the rate we're going, it will never be apropos again. Read the full review at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10

April Critic Picks

1. AIR (2023)

Is it controversial to say Matt and Ben’s collabs only get better? If we're playing Greatest/Best/Favorite, this might be my new ranking:

Greatest: Good Will Hunting

Best: The Last Duel

Favorite: AIR

Read my full review for ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 9/10

2. The Academy Museum

The other reason I went out to Los Angeles: After years of pandemic-caused delays, I finally made it to the Academy Museum! Six floors of movie and Oscars history and memorabilia? You know I’m in my happy place, but casual movie fans will find something for them, too. Some of my favorite exhibits included the several-stories high Mount Rushmore backdrop used in North by Northwest, the gallery that used The Godfather to show each element of filmmaking, and the pianos from Casablanca. Fanny’s (named for Barbra Streisand’s character in Funny Girl) serves exceptional museum food, and I learned about deep cut filmmakers and movements I was only vaguely familiar with before I went. I’d give the Academy a gold statue for museum execution if I could!

3. Good Reads

A miscellaneous round up of good stuff I’ve read lately…

Final thoughts on 2022 Awards Season:

“How Avatar: The Way of Water Can Make $2 Billion and Still Feel Irrelevant,” Vox.com (2023)

“How Did We Let the Golden Globes Back In?” LATimes.com (2022)

Unexpected responses to Cocaine Bear:

“An Attempt to Define the ‘Good for Her’ Cinematic Universe,” Vulture.com (2023)

“The Case for Cocaine Bears,” Slate.com (2023)

Glitches in the Sports Industry Matrix:

“America’s Bad Bet on Expanding Legal Sports Gambling,” Vox.com (2023)

“Will Damar Hamlin’s Injury Change the NFL? Why a Safer Game Could Turn Away Fans,” LATimes.com (2023)

Watching trends that need to be fixed:

“Mumbling Actors, Bad Speakers or Lazy Listeners? Why Everyone is Watching TV With Subtitles On,” TheGuardian.com (2023)

“Television Is Going Exactly the Wrong Direction. I Know the Solution.” Slate.com (2023)

Explorations of our malaise at work:

“How to Care Less About Work,” TheAtlantic.com (2021)

“The Age of the Crisis of Work,” Harpers.org (2023)

All the ways—okay, just some of the way—social media is on the struggle bus right now:

“Why Every App Now Feels Like TikTok, but Worse,” NYMag.com (2023)

“How Elon Musk Turned the Blue Check Mark Into a Scarlet Letter,” Slate.com (2023)

“Commentary: If Twitter Finally Dies, Where Do We Find the Smart People?” LATimes.com (2023)

And even more miscellaneous good reads:

“You’ll Feel Better if You Go Outside,” NewYorker.com (2021)

“The Oral History of Helm’s Deep,” Inverse.com (2022)

“I’ve Had It With Stunt Ice Cream Flavors,” Eater.com (2023)

“Clothes Make the Con Man,” NYTimes.com (2023)

“Hailey Bieber, Selena Gomez, and the Easter Egg-ification of the Hollywood Feud,” Vox.com (2023)

“Why Are TV Writers So Miserable?” NewYorker.com (2023)

4. Current Exhibits at the St. Louis Art Museum

My membership to the SLAM always pays off. In April I indulged in two special exhibits:

The Age of Armor, which showcases the history of armor and battle gear with an emphasis on suits of armor. The galleries did a great job explaining how the armor functioned and provided model pieces to try yourself, but you know my favorite part was the Black Panther and Star Wars costumes at the end!

Monet/Mitchell: Painting the French Landscape compares the work of Claude Monet and American expat Joan Mitchell, and it brought me back to my magical trip to Giverny last summer!

5. The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex (1939)

Sumptous costumes and sets, Bette Davis doing the most acting, and Errol Flynn at his handsomest. This Queen Elizabeth I costume drama from Michael Curtiz is maximalist in aesthetic and romantic at its heart. Crowd: 7/10 // Critic: 9/10

6. Under the Umbrella: A Little Women Podcast (2023-)

Little Women superfans unite! Kate and Kelsey (friends and both teachers) are analyzing the book and film versions from every angle, and if you love the March sisters, Louisa May Alcott, or Greta Gerwig, they are going to be your new best friends.

7. Just Like Us: The Tabloids That Changed America (2022)

Last spring the Ringer Dish podcast did a deep dive into the ‘00s tabloids and their obsession with Brangelina, Bennifer, and ‘90s child stars gone wild—so basically everything I obsessed over in middle school. Bottom line: They probably didn’t make our world better, but those mags (and emerging online blogs and reality TV) sure tapped into parts of our brains that made them addictive. This eight-episode series challenges any assumption we have about about celebrity gossip being harmless—or frivolous.

Until May’s Round Up…

In spite of the current state of things, I’m still tweeting in denial as @tblake24. Come join me until this platform burns to the ground!

If you want real-time updates on what I’m watching and loving, you can also find me as @tblake24 on Letterboxd.

Photo credits: Good Reads, Under the Umbrella, Just Like Us. Descanso Gardens, PaleyFest, Academy Museum, and SLAM my own. All other IMDb.com.

#Round Up #Renfield #AIR #SNL #Saturday Night Live #The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex #Descanso Gardens #Are You There God? It's Me Margaret.#Just Like Us: The Tabloids That Changed America #John Mulaney #Baby J #The Muppets.#The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel #PaleyFest #Academy Museum #St. Louis Art Museum #Little Women #Ringer Dish

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nightmaremp · 8 months ago

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Weremayhem: Song of Beasts. Ch 14: Demo and Picture of Hope

Moog was watching some of the old episodes of the Muppet Show that had the Electric Mayhem playing their music. Zoot was asleep next to him on the couch. Nora comes in with a pissed off look on her face.

“You!” she said in an angry tone to the black haired male.

“Nora, hey, before you kill me, listen to me. Just hear me out-” he started to say before Label Lady cut him off.

“No! You went rogue, okay?” said Nora.

“I needed to play Penny, our new song, and instead it was, God knows what” she added.

“You’re welcome. That was my cool version of the mayhem’s Rockin’ Robin.” replied Moog as he got up from the couch. Zoot look at both of them, confused.

“No, Moog. Listen to me, okay?” the black haired female replied. “You are not making this album with us,” she added.

“All you are is some loud, clapping super-groupie who lives in a rented trailer in the driveway” said Nora in a hateful tone.

“First of all, I own it” he said. Moog looks a bit hurt by her words.

“Oof” said Zoot as he watch the two fight.

“And at least I’m not a fake pillow-pile-sleeping poser who’s so desperate for success. She doesn’t even realize the perfect sound for her band is right in front of her” Moog said.

“I like this show. Lots of drama” said the saxophonist.

“Wow” she said. “You actually think you know what’s best for this band?” Label Lady asked.

“More than you!” he replied.

“At least I know their history and what really makes the Mayhem the Mayhem,” he added.

“Maybe if you actually listened to my demo, you’d realize that” the black haired male said.

“This is a narrative of very heavy-duty proportions,” said Zoot.

“A few songs you cut together in your car will never convince me. You’re the future of this band” she replied.

“My demo is the band,” Moog replied. The dark blue haired male gasped.

“It’s remixes of all their songs from all the concerts I’ve been to” the black haired male said.

“Oh” replied Nora. “I didn’t know that,” the black haired female added. Her tone of anger had went down.

“Yeah. When it comes to their music, there’s a lot you don’t know” he replied, still upset.

“Well, that was a plot twist,” said Zoot in shock. Moog picked up his demo CD and tossed it on the table in front of Nora. He leaves and heads upstairs. She picked it up and took it out of the case. Label Lady place the CD into a player and turns it on to play.

“God only knows” by the Electric Mayhem starts playing. “Hey, they’re great. Who are they?” asked Zoot. Nora looks down and picks up a VCR tape and puts it in the TV’s player. The Tv starts to play all the events the mayhem have played at or during.

Label Lady kept putting VCR tape after another after one ends. She kept watching them as she kept a pillow in her arms.

Later, Floyd came downstairs. Zoot was out cold on the couch with his hat off and Nora still having the pillow in her arms. He nods his head before looking over at the black haired female. “Good times. Seems like yesterday” Floyd said.

“I didn’t realize how lucky you are,” replied Nora.

“ I mean, you’ve spent a lifetime making music with your friends,” she added.

“Yep” replied the red haired male. “And I wouldn’t change it for the world,” he added.

At Hannah’s house, the doorbell rings. Hannah opens the door to reveal Janice. The black haired female sighs. “If you’re back to heal me, you can forget about it.” said Hannah.

“My ears finally stopped ringing from the gong,” she added.

“Okay, so, like, this is my last attempt” replied Janice.

“Janice, please, just let it go already” replied Nora’s sister.

“I will. But first, I just need to look at this one little photo that I brought” the blonde female replied as she held the picture in her hands.

“Let me guess, you went through our old family album and wanna use some childhood snapshot to remind me that Nora and I need each other?” asked Hannah.

“Well, if you ask me, we need each other for all the wrong reasons.” she added.

“So, if anything, the one thing we need right now is space” said the black haired female.

“Actually, it’s not a picture of you and your sister, It’s me and mine” replied Janice as she handed Hannah the picture. The picture was Janice and her twin sister hugging each other with huge smiles on their faces in a park.

“You have a twin?” she asked.

“I do,” replied the blonde female. “Somewhere” she added in a sad tone.

“I hope you’ll believe me when I say that the distance may, like, totally feel good right now because you think you don’t need your sister but at some point, you will” said Janice.

“She won’t be there for you because you’ve drifted too far apart,” she added.

“Trust me. I know” the blonde female said before she walked away. Hannah was still holding the picture and look back at it.

Meanwhile, Nora was at Moog’s trailer and knocked on it. He opens the door to see Nora with his demo in her hand. “Hey” said Nora with a soft smile.

“Let me guess. You’re here to give me my demo back” Moog replied, sounding like he just got up from a nap.

“No,” replied Label Lady. “I’m here to…” she started to say. “Admit you were right” the black haired female finished her sentence.

“What?” he asked in shock.

“Your sound. It’s the perfect bridge between their past and their future” she replied.

“Yeah. No, that’s exactly what I was going for” replied Moog.

“All this time, I’ve been searching for a producer that gets the band. He’s been parked in our driveway the whole time” Nora replied.

He smiles. “Look, I will not let you down, Nora,” the black haired male replied.

“We start tomorrow. 9:00 a.m., sharp” she replied.

“Yeah, the band doesn’t do anything before 2:00 p.m.” he replied.

“Still learning,” replied Nora. “I’ll see you then” she added.

“Yeah” replied Moog with a huge smile on his face.

Back at the Shack, Nora lay down on the massive piles of pillows. Janice walks in. “Hi, roomie,” said Janice.

“Hey” replied Label Lady. “This free-range sleeping is hard on the back,” she added.

“I have something that totally might help” replied the blonde female. She turns and Hannah walks in. Nora gets up from the pillows to face her sister.

“Hi,” said Hannah.

“I’ve been calling,” replied Label Lady.

“I know,” her sister replied. “I just…” she started to say as she tried to keep from crying.

“I wanted to..” it seems like Hannah couldn’t find the right words.

“What? Do you need something?” asked Nora worriedly.

“Yeah” replied Hannah. “I need my big sis,” she added.

The two start to cry a bit, happy to make up for their big fight. They hug each other. Hannah looks back at Janice. “Thank you,” she whisper.

“For sure” whispers Janice with her hands up to her chest.

The next morning, down in the basement. Moog gets ready to record some music. “All right. Let’s get back to the basics” said Nora as she turned to the band.

“Okay, no more collabs. Just you doing what you do best” she added.

“How about we start with some new stuff?” asked the black haired female

“Yeah, the new stuff!” they all replied.

“Count us in with the new stuff, o’ fearless leader” said Floyd to Dr. Teeth.

“A one, a two… A one, two, three…” he started to say. “And a half,” he added. They were silence.

“Four?” asked Teeth as his eyes got wide. His voice went to a high pitch like a nerd in front of his classmates.

“Okay, so, update,” said Moog. “It seems there is no new stuff," he added.

“It’s a work-in-progress” replied Janice.

Teeth look nervous before he coughs up a fur ball. “Oops,” he said.

Nora looks upset and tries to take some deep breaths.

#the muppets #dr teeth and the electric mayhem #dr teeth #weremayhemau #lips muppet #zoot muppet #muppet mayhem #floyd pepper #animal muppet #janice muppets #nora singh #Hannah muppet mayhem #moog muppet mayhem

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popculturebuffet · 2 years ago

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Monthly Muppets: The Muppets Haunted Mansion (Comissioned by Emma Fici)

Happy Halloween all you happy muppets! Welcome and welcome back to Monthly Muppets, my regular look at all things muppety. Today we have something perfect for the spooky season as we take a look at last year's D+ Halloween Special and at the time of this writing the latest full on muppet project, with Mayhem coming oh so soon, The Muppets Haunted Mansion!

Just to get this out of the way upfront I DID do my due dillgence on the haunted mansion, watching a two part video from offhand disney on it that nicely covered the ride's structure and varoius ghosts so I knew who was who, and I got more info from my good friend Jess, who watched this with me this year and the last. I didn't end up needing most of it, but I felt it was prudent. That said i'm as you can tell not a hardcore fan having not gone on the ride hwen I was in Florida (having been really scared of spooky things at the time and overestimating how terrifying this). At most I suffered through the Eddie Murphy movie when it came out. Will i review that for halloween next year?

i'm not touching it unless someone comissions it. Do plan to review Werewolf By Night, next year though time permitting. So look forward to that.

That said what I have seen of the ride is delightful and i'm bummed I missed out on it: it's creative, wonderful and has evolved considerably. Also gonna look into the vastly diffrent paris version. So while I'm not exactly a haunted mansion superfan I do love and respect the ride and thanks to defunctland disney parks and ride design as a whole. And as far as ride accuracy goes they did a smashing job.

It takes bits from both the florida and calfornia versions, and the results re gret and while a few things are missing, it's likely because this special was cut down rather than a lack of love. It's clear the writers loved this ride and wanted to do it justice and the results made me more curious about the ride after both watches as a result. It's a clearly loving tribute.

As a special itself it's decent and with a simple setup and plot: Gonzo is invited to a mansion to try and last the whole night there and being Gonzo naturally responds to a creepy invite to a mysterious mansion where a famous magician famously vanished in the less fun way with a resounding

While Pepe tags along because Gonzo needs a sidekick and they coudln't get Rizzo apparently. After getting warnings from both Shirley and Harry Frickin Potter, their greeted by the Ghost Host, the usually disembodied voice of the mansion but since a in person celebrity gets residual non muppets fans to watch, we have Bojack Horseman himself to greet our heroes and issue a challenge: survivie the house, exit by sunrise or stay forever. It's a simple spooky premise and allows the rest of the muppets to show up as the various ghoulies and ghosties. Except Alice Cooper. Satan must've had him working overtime.

The simple concept works decently enough , just a simple setup to get two muppets into the mansion so the rest can play the various rolls with Fonzie as the Hatbox Ghost. Which confuses me. Not Fonzie as HBG, he looks really awesome and creepy despite having a very small roll and the HBG has an interesting history having been always intended for the ride but due to faulty animatronics not being used initially and only being reinstated with a new animatronic in 2015. No I wondered what a hat box is.. it's a box for storing and transporting hats.. Why this was ever necessary I don't know.

The muppets for the various Haunted Mansion varatious are incredible. While the Muppet Crew always put great work into temporary models for our classic troupe, they really outdid themselves this time and the results are visually impressive and fun to watch and there are a few good gags here or there. THe limo Drivers snark, two ghosts who accompany the ghost host constanlty getting the cute to go dun dun dun wrong, and of course the ballroom scene having a brief touch of one of my faviorite recurring muppet show bits, at the dance. THe problem is while this isn't a TERRIBLE special it does feel rather.. flat a lot of the time. Part of it is likely the shaved run time but a lot of it feels like they just don't knwo what to do beyond "put x muppet into the roll of x ghost". It works a lot, and it's still visually great but there's not a ton of the heart or madness that makes the muppets the muppets. The heart that is there isn't bad, as Gonzo faces his greatest fear and it genuinely gets horrifying as he rapidly ages him, with Gonzo worrying about being forgotton.. only for Kermit,as naturally bein ga ghostly trap it's showing him the party to rub it in, saying Gonzo dosen't need to be worry about being great. He's great as is. It's genuinely sweet if not set up well enough. Also it has to be said Matt Vogel HAD NOT gotten Kermit down yet. This has been talked about a lot, especailly before WHY Steve Whitmire was let go went public, but I can't really dance around it: Whlie Matt seems to have settled into the roll he clearly wasn't given any traning, Steve's fault, and thus sounds VERY awkward. Like he ALMOST has the voice but just not quite. I really do feel for the guy as he had ot take the roll suddenly, while Steve was trained personally by jim for it and while I don't want disney to corpratize the muppets more than I have, I do hope this conviences them to prepare succesors better much like they have for the various performers for mickey and friends. And tbf on that front Tony Anselmo, THE BEST Donald Duck, took a while to get comfortable too. I have faith matt will.

The problem is it's just a lot of style without subtance. Good production but not a lot of great gags to back it up. NOt terrible.. but nothing really amazing like some of the productions we've covered here. It's not TERRIBLE, but outside of a few shining moments it's not memorable. I forgot a lot of this till the rewatch. It's not BAD nor was it unplesant to watch, but i'll likely forget it again and didn't have a ton to say on the quality: it's .. fine.

The only other major problem with Pepe whose VERY clearly here because no one else would date the walking flag of a black widow tha tis Constance Hatchaway, played incredibly here by Taraj P Henson who luckily is one of those performers game to ham it up and thus fits in fine, and her various husbands trying to warn him, as well as Uncle Deadly just.. resigned to the fact pepe is likely going to die and not carrying as the minister is fucking great and a highlight of the special. I just wish it was rizzo instead of pepe. Nothing against Pepe but he spends most of the specail eithe rignoring red flags or whining that this isn't a celebrity party which gets old fast

Speaking of celebrities we have a lot of cameos to adress: First up is Yvette Nicole Brown whose adorable as the LImo Driver who is positive our heroes won't make it out alive and is plesantly suprised when they do. When then have OG Starkid and music maestro Darren Criss who sings a wonderful song highlighting all the ghosts represnted by the tombstones in the ride queue. While he is a weird choice for the graveyard man as he's you know, not an old man and not dressed in old man makeup or anything, his voice, commitment ot the bit and general charm make up for it. I mean it's Darren Criss. I"m not going to say no to him singing to me in his lovely voice. No one is. He's the man.

The graveyards also where we get most of the celebrity cameos: I genuinely care about most like Danny Trejo (Who apparently is just welded to the muppets and i'm on board with that), the late great Ed Asner, this is us now alumnis Crissy Metz (that show was good cheesy sappy fun) and of course this beautiful son of a bitch

We also have Jeanie Mai. We also have some busts cameo: child actress skye jackson, some guy who hosted the game awards, Justina Machedo from the criminally cancelled one day at a time reboot and the pontaic bandit himself Craig Robinson. Most are just short and there and gone. We also get a quick cameo from

So that's nice. Finally we have Will Arnett as the ghost host. I'm on record being a fan of Wills so it's no suprise I like his performance: he's nicely chilling and while not as hammy as the actual ghost host, does a good job adding spooky atmosphere while also being hilarously deadpan. He's really effective in the part, truly supporting gonzo when he leaves and helping him ocne he's won to save pepe. I don't know WHY he's saving pepe but he is.

So for our final bit it's onto the music:

Starting and ending us off we have a BITCHING cover of Dancin in the Moonlight by electric mayhem that's also in the credits and i'm happy to learn later got released so i'll be listening to that on loop. It's both perfect for the halloween theme and just a great song already that's naturally made better with Dr. Teeth's vocals. Amazing stuff.

Rest in Piece is a lovely cameo filled diddy by Darren. As usual with anything he sings it's great, and the various cameos are really hilarous. It's truly haunting and yet also fun, just like the mansion itself

Life Hereafter is a fun ballroom diddy with all the muppets and one of the highlights of the special, especially since it's that rare opportunity Will Arnett gets to sing. Why Bojack never did a full on musical episode given all it's creative swings for episodes is beyond me.

Finally we have Tie the Knot Tango, Constance and Pepe's duet. It sure did happen

So that's muppets haunted mansion. l'm honestly sad I didn't have more to say: the haunted mansion itself is a deep hole of intresting I hope to dive more into and it had great cameos but ultimately it suffers from the era it came out in: ti's clear that after the commerical failures of Muppets Most Wanted and "The Muppets" tv show, Disney didn't know WHAT to do with it, not having the faith to do anything more with it and thus trying smaller projects to see if those took off. Thankfully they are trying something creative and new iwth the Muppets Mayhem so we'll see how this goes.

As for how this ranks it's pretty easy this go round

MHM goes right next to our last feature, The Muppets Take Manhattan. So not rock bottom but The Muppets Wizard of Oz set a very high bar for the worst on here and it'd take a LOT to be worse than that, just as it will take a lot to beat out david bowie at his david bowiest.

Next time i'm getting to sesame street just in time for thanksgiving with Follow That Bird .Until then thanks for reading, follow for more, reblog this to pass it around and join my patreon to help me keep making these.. and watch out for hitchhiking ghosts.

#the muppets #haunted mansion #will arnett #darren criss #disney +#disney plus #disney #halloween

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kootenaygoon · 5 years ago

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So,

I wasn’t quite asleep yet, and the swirling night wind smelled like smoke.

It was too warm on our back porch for my sleeping bag, so I was laying on a foamie with Muppet nuzzled into my bare chest while the shadows deepened around us. Paisley had been working on her desserts for hours now, stressed and playing Workaholics in the background, and through the open windows I could hear those fictional stoners up to their typical shenanigans. I was sunburnt and half-drunk, feeling satisfied with our summer life and ready for slumber. We’d been in Nelson for over a year now, and I was really starting to feel like this was becoming my real, true home. A refuge from the rest of the world.

The back door banged open, and Muppet jumped to attention in alarm. Paisley was cradling her open laptop, and she thrust it in my direction.

“There’s like a huge forest fire on the other side of the big orange bridge, everyone’s posting about it on Facebook,” she said.

“Look, see? You can actually see it from here.”

I quickly clambered to my feet in my boxer shorts, a little unsteady, and squinted off into the distance. There was a diagonal stripe flickering beyond the right flank of Elephant Mountain, a mix of deep oranges and blood reds, and it seemed to be growing downhill towards the lake. The flames gave off an ominous Mordor-style glow. Pink smoke billowed above the black landscape. Right away I realized it must’ve started during the windstorm we’d reported on days earlier, which featured multiple lightning strikes. Things were getting apocalyptic around here lately.

I took the laptop and examined the pictures that had been posted on social media, trying to will myself toward sobriety. People were in panic mode, talking about evacuation, sending out updates about road closures and successfully retrieved family members. I took a deep breath through my nostrils.

“We gotta head out there, like right now. I’ve gotta call Greg,” I said, handing back the laptop and searching for my pants.

“Are you coming?”

Paisley loved to come on assignments. Sometimes she took pictures, other times she actually suggested who I should interview or what I should pay attention to during a community event. Comp tickets were always flying at me, so I took her to free movies and free plays and free fundraisers. She worked her way into my columns as a character, and though she pretended to be embarrassed by the attention that earned her at work, I liked to think she enjoyed having this public persona. She was that Paisley, the girl from the newspaper, the Kootenay Goon’s girlfriend. She’d made a name for herself with her dessert company and her burlesque performances, and I figured one day she would end up being a YouTube chef or something like that. At the very least she would release a cook book, or start a blog. Supporting her ambitions was my favourite thing, and I liked puttering off to pick up ingredients for her on lazy Saturdays, knowing I was helping her achieve a dream.

We stopped at the 7-11 in town before driving out to the fire, where we picked up Red Bull and Doritos. I needed something to wake me up. I wasn’t sure if the highway would be blocked off, if we’d even be able to make it all the way to the blaze, but I was determined to get as close as possible. We drove with the windows down, talking about Tolkien. We’d seen each of the three Hobbit movies together in succession, as an annual tradition, and we’d been increasingly disappointed. That being said, we still considered ourselves aspiring hobbits and spoke longingly of a future world that was a little more like the Shire. The Kootenays didn’t seem too far off that, actually, as it seemed to be full of fairy hideaways and pastoral communes. If we could make things work long term here, we figured, we could become increasingly hermit-like as the years progressed.

“You’re my Samwise Gamgee and I’m the little Frodo, and we’re on our way to Mount Doom,’” Paisley said.

“You sure I’m not Gollum? Or maybe I want to be Boromir, since he’s my favourite character. I could even be a dwarf, maybe.”

“No, you’re Sam. You even kind of look like him, but with a beard.”

“You think I look like Sean Astin?”

“Yeah, you’re burly like him. And kind like him. And innocent.”

“I’m not fucking innocent.”

She shrugged, then leaned out her window to get a better look at where we were heading. As we rounded corners the fire came into and then back out of view. It was nearly midnight and there was no traffic, no noise, no spectacle. Just a looming threat. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t seen emergency vehicles yet, or heard choppers. Was the whole firefighter apparatus working like it was supposed to? Were people going to be losing their houses here? I clenched the steering wheel and wondered how much mayhem I could expect to encounter. That’s when I started seeing cars lined up along the side of the road, with people crowding the dark shoulder in packs. There were houses to both my left and right, and I found a place to park that had a sight-line of the burning slope. I left Paisley the keys so she could wait with the car, and she stood taking videos with her phone for social media as I hiked across the street. My main goal was to get some quotes from a resident, someone who was being menaced directly. I decided to walk up the driveway of the first property I saw, where I found a woman uncoiling a hose by a row of vehicles.

“Excuse me, sorry to bother you. I’m a reporter with the Nelson Star, do you live here? Can we talk?”

She was an older woman, and seemed shy. She waved her arm in the direction of the backyard and told me to head back there to find her husband Bob. I took out my phone and used it as a flashlight to work my way around the side of the house, wondering for a moment about the safety of what I was doing. When I rounded the corner to the backyard I saw multiple sprinklers methodically spraying all along the perimeter of the lawn. In the middle of the grass was Bob, calmly gazing up at the conflagration. It was like he was watching a drive-in movie, one the universe had arranged just for him. There was an empty chair next to him, and once I introduced myself he invited me to sit down.

“I don’t know how they contact you in situations like this. I think they resort to going door to door,” he said. “But I haven’t heard anything yet.”

He said there was a plan for if things went truly awry, but he was hopeful the fire wouldn’t be able to make it all the way down the hill. There was a lot of wind, he said, and the firefighters were on their way. They must be. He went through all of this in a monotone, never glancing over, just staring up the hill with a muted look of dread in his eyes. The sprinklers continue to hiss and spray, creating a contrasting soundtrack to the flames’ crackling, which somehow sounded a bit like boiling water.

“Aren’t you scared right now? Like this thing could wipe out your house, your possessions? The wrong wind and it’s game over, right?”

He snorted, smiled. “That’s one of the most important things you have to learn in life, Will. There’s some things you can control, and there’s some things you just can’t no matter how hard you try.”

“That’s pretty Zen.”

He smiled, turned to me. “What, you think it’ll make a good quote?” The Kootenay Goon

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mashitandsmashit · 6 years ago

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America’s Got Talent: The Champions - Final Results

I’VE BEEN LIED TO!!!

Like I said, I heard the final results from some random Youtuber(s) commenting on various videos, and they said that the winner was Darci Lynne...They also said that Angelica Hale came in Fifth and Susan Boyle came in Fourth, which would have made sense since the former has become stupid popular for some reason and the latter is practically Got Talent royalty...While I would have been fine with those results (even if I disagreed with Angelica’s ranking), the actual Top 5 was more like it!

Preacher has always been more personality than laugh-out-loud jokes, but he’s easily one of the most (if not THE most) memorable comedians we’ve seen on this show, and I’m very happy that he made the Top 5 this time...As for Cristina, well, I think she speaks...or belts out at the top of her lungs...for herself...

Of course, the Top 3 was still Shin, Darci and Kseniya as I was told, and Kseniya still came in Third...But by the time Shin and Darci were the last two standing, I did start to put those other comments saying that Shin actually wins into consideration...And in the end, is it really any surprise that the pretty-boy magician fresh off of his victory from the previous season of the main series was crowned champion? (And I love how they built up whether he or Deadly Games would get the last spot in the Top 5, as if ANYONE thought it could go any differently!) Maybe Darci would have had a better chance if she wasn’t only the third act of the night last week, but still...

As I was gonna point out, when I “knew” Darci was gonna win, first of all it would have made her the first wildcard to win on this show...But I guess second place is still a record! Also, the main reason why she was at the top of my “rooting for” list prior to last week’s show was because “knowing” she was gonna win, I was REALLY hoping she’d do something special to earn that win...And I’d say she didn’t disappoint...

Nonetheless, Shin was my favorite last week for taking the mind-blowingness to a new level, and I’d say he very well earned his victory! Had he done that for his final performance last season, I’d have been less conflicted over him winning over Zurcaroh and Brian King Joseph...Hell, I might have been about ready to name him my favorite of that season, but against those two acts, it’s hard to say...

And Kseniya is the newest entry in a series of Third-Placers who were arguably the most unique and creative of the season...The only difference this time is that the two who beat her were indeed superior in my opinion...Nonetheless, like last season, the Top 3 were also MY Top 3...except this time they actually ranked how I would rank them! Hell, even #4 was pretty much my #4! And I like #5 enough to have no complaints...

Quite ironic that such a poorly-handled “season” had the most satisfying final results to date! Sure, I would have loved a winner who didn’t already win in the past, especially a recent AGT season (as I’ve been detecting bias towards acts from the last three seasons...when Simon was a judge...as well as BGT, where Simon is also a judge...) But again, said winners were the ones who rose above and beyond for the final round!

And despite all the singers in the finals who I would have traded for someone like Tape Face, Prince Poppycock or even Kenichi Ebina despite his recent limitations...Well...None of them made the Top 5! The only singers who made the Top 5 were the young ventriloquist and the rock opera diva, singers who have unique quirks that make them MEMORABLE!

This might be a sign that despite Simon’s constant pushing for homogenization with singers meant to inspire you...to take Prozac, voters are starting to push back and make it about who THEY came to see! Perhaps Cowellization (Copyright, frankensteindr, 2016) is finally starting to lose its power over America! But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how things go next season before I jump to conclusions...

As for the performances, they were pretty much all great! Some people have picked apart The Clairvoyants’ trick, and when you get down to it, I guess it’s not THAT impressive...But they definitely had me going for a moment...That said, they’re no Shin Lim...

Speaking of whom, of course he performs his trick with a random celebrity, and since they couldn’t afford Andy Samberg, they got the next name down on Terry’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” connections...Like last week, it started off simple, but got pretty nuts by the end...Not his best trick, but overall pretty solid! Also, it looks like Shin’s finally gaining some confidence in speaking during performances...He’s no Jon Dorenbos in THAT department yet, but he’s getting somewhere...

Preacher’s video package of him trying to team up with the other acts was just great! Even putting him aside (and believe me, he DESERVES to have a TV show or something), it’s just great watching all the other acts (and Terry) take part in his little comedy video...They should do something like this more often!

Also, Brian Justin Crum needs to team up with Cristina Ramos more often, because that performance was beyond electrifying! Easily Brian’s best singing so far, and his harmonies with Cristina only boosted it! I guess it makes sense seeing that both of them sang Queen in the past...Oh yeah, and they tacked Deadly Games in there...Well, I’ll give them credit for speeding through all those stunts while two people were belting it out behind them; It must have been a LITTLE distracting...But it was all tricks we’ve seen them do before...For once, I was paying more attention to the singers than the danger act...

Speaking of awesome acts boosting less awesome acts...Or perhaps the other way around...I guess while Voices of Hope was not the act from last season I was hoping to see perform with Tokio Myers (I already named who two weeks ago, so I won’t bother), this really is what they were always meant for: Performing back-up! Overall, it was still all about Tokio, but I guess the choir is a nice touch...Much better than just them performing...

Glad to see they’re at least showing SOME appreciation for the impact Jackie Evancho has had on the show by bringing her back as a guest to promote her new album...And once again, a beautiful performance! I’m not gonna lie, when I first heard the line-up, I was actually kinda rooting for her to win Champions (because as a non-winner, she had a better chance than Susan Boyle, let’s be honest here...) At the very least, again, I would have loved to have her in the finals, instead of all these last-three-seasons acts who WISH they could have a FRACTION of the impact that Jackie has made...(The best of the best, my tailbone!)

Cirque du Soleil was awesome...In other news, the sky is blue...A MYSTIC BLUE!

And finally, since they used up both Terry Fator AND Jeff Dunham on the same night for Darci, that just left the Muppets...I guess Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie and the Electric Mayhem weren’t available, but I like Rowlf...Rowlf is cool...And he worked really well with Edna! Not much else to say: Darci Lynne plus even just ONE of the Muppets equals magic! Not Shin Lim magic, just...Never mind...

As for the OTHER half of the acts...(Cue crickets chirping.) I guess there’s only so many guests you can bring in during the winter to perform duets with most of these singers...But they didn’t even let Dorenbos perform with Shin!? The only thing we got with those two together was that segment of the Preacher video...They didn’t even do the obvious thing and match them up when one made the Top 5 and the other didn’t...Whatever, this show’s made far more questionable decisions in the past (many of them in this “season” alone), and if it means not slowing the night down with less interesting singing performances, I’m not complaining...

Anyway, good show, good results...But if they’re ever gonna do Champions again, they should make some adjustments to the format...But knowing AGT, they’ll instead introduce even more head-scratching decisions...Still much better than Season 4, even though at some points I was debating whether or not it’s even worse...But I guess seeing the actual performances made enough sense of everything...

So with this...complicated spin-off season behind us, it’s time to talk briefly about what to expect in Season 14 of the main show...First of all, Terry Crews will be staying as host since Tyra’s out...So far, he seems like a likable presence as host, but we haven’t seen a whole lot of his persona yet, so I’ll wait until the following season to decide what I think...But as both Nick and Tyra have shown, if he’s gonna be the host, he NEEDS to brush up on his wacky neon outfits!

I know next to nothing about the two ladies replacing Mel and Heidi, but I DO know that Julianne Hough is a professional dancer who has some experience in reality TV from “Dancing with the Stars”, and she sings as well, so that might give her some credibility to consider...And I’m sure Gabrielle Union is capable of being funny and likable...HOPEFULLY they do more than just look pretty and make useless comments, because if not, I’m gonna be more suspicious about this show than I already am...

And I can’t help but wonder if this is going to be like “The Voice”, where they keep switching out the black/female judges while the two white guys remain...I hope not, since I think Howie could use a replacement sooner or later, and don’t even get me started on Simon!

Right now, I’m still considering my previous ideas of doing Youtube streams as the omnipresent fifth judge, as well as going back to the beginning of the show and reviewing earlier episodes...But they’re still just ideas, and since I’m still working retail, it’s gonna be hard if not impossible to prepare them...

I’ll see what I can do...For now, I guess all that’s guaranteed is looking forward to Season 14...So with that said, I’ll see you all (or at least FrankDoc) in three months! Until then!

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adultswim2021 · 3 years ago

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Robot Chicken #8: “Plastic Buffet” | March 13, 2005 – 11:30PM | S01E04

Another bad one! We have, in some order: Senor Clean, who is like Mr. Clean, but in the commercial we see here he sends the kids out to see a movie so he can rape the dad. I didn’t laugh, but it’s my favorite gag in the whole episode.

An Armageddon-style asteroid movie where Harrison Ford is shot into space with Aerosmith (for the theme song). Not sure what Harrison Ford has to do with any of this. Did they just start writing this with the thought of “maybe we could get Harrison Ford?”. I’m not even sure that is or isn’t Harrison Ford and I don’t even care enough to look it up. Mark Hamill is in this and I can tell it’s really his voice, and he’s probably also the voice of Chucky in the next sketch. The best gag in here is they cut to a live-action Adult Swim fan watching the show objecting to the jokes about Steven Tyler being a junkie. None of it did much for me.

Then there’s a sketch where Chucky gets killed by evil cabbage patch dolls, but it’s like Invasion of the Body Snatchers? And then the reveal is that it’s Sarah Michelle Gellar claiming this is how season 8 of Buffy would have began. Okay!

Winter Pet Games is a weird one where the entire joke is that it would be mean of you to strap skis on your pet and make them ski down a mountain at the same time.

To cap it all off is a Behind the Music like show about the Electric Mayhem, the rock band from the Muppets. It dutifully hits the tropes of Behind the Music in a very capable way, but I didn’t crack a goddamn smile.

I just think I hate the way this show looks, which is unfair to say about a show that probably takes a tremendous effort to animate. I don’t think the comedy works for me when it’s animated this way. It’s specific, and popular, so I’m guessing they’re on to SOMETHING. I am compelled to give it some kind of credit for engaging with tedious stop-motion animation, but why should I care? They don’t need me to like it. Plenty of people like it. I’m gonna just keep hating it.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast #4: “CHiPs” | May 13, 1994 | S01E04

I consider this on the weaker side, but there’s so much fun stuff in here. Moltar is distracted from his duties directing the show because he’s busy watching CHiPs on the monitor. I think I literally started watching CHiPs on TNT because of this episode. It came on at like 7AM when I was going to college. I’d wake up earlier than necessary just to watch it, and chat with east coast AIM friends who hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Space Ghost interviews Bill Carter, the author of The Late Shift, and Joe Franklin famous for appearing on Spinal Tap DVD extras. The Joe Franklin interview is fairly straight, the Bill Carter one has a fun bit where they use footage of him post interview kinda beside himself wondering how on earth the interview could possibly be woven into comedy. Johnny Carson is supposed to be on the show, but instead it’s a alien probably taken from Ultraman or something. Speaking of stock footage, this is the first use of the Dilly Sisters from The Banana Splits. They’re the little girls who sing that tra-la-la song while strumming guitars. There’s a really nice compilation on YouTube you can find of just them and the Sour Grape Bunch. It’s good shit.

#space ghost coast to coast #robot chicken #adult swim #adultswim2021

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nailsoftheheart · 5 years ago

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I sware watching The Muppet Movie everyday, sometimes multiple times a day healed my heart chakra. I don't have as many issues recently and I'm feeling so very blessed. I was obsessing over this image of a butterfly, it said the butterfly, I am the bliss of the universe, I am without form, without limit, it spoke to the part of me that radiates out of my skin, the second self with in. The vibrating feeling you get when the hair on the back of your neck stands up, the energy you feel when you get goosebumps. It rises from under my feet and makes my knees weak. We visited the only metaphysical store near us, our friend of 15+ years works there, he gifted us a book, called REMEMBER, BE HERE NOW. He also gave me incense, two Starburst two packs, and both packs had two pink starburst inside!! Went out to get vegan pizza after, and it was buy one get one free day so we got a free pizza! I brought the book we were gifted in and read the introduction quickly and got into the art right away. A few pages in, it was beautiful, moving, images of doves and ideas of the higher self and there on the brown paper page was the butterfly. I AM WITHOUT LIMIT. Do you ever sometimes feel destiny gently guiding you back to your purpose? So the Muppet movie is my favorite movie right now, a few reasons why; the rainbow connection, a song i have always adored. Kermit is moved by the idea of making millions of people happy, so he leaves the swamp, pushing himself out of his comfort zone for the greater good. When they introduce the electric mayhem they do a song about visualization, imagining the impossible and imagining yourself being a better you. When stuff gets rough Kermit has a talk with his higher self, at the end of the discussion he says he didn't promise anyone anything, they came because they wanted to come and they believed in the dream, Kermit says "well so do I" his higher self saying back, "you do?" And he's like yeah, I believe in the dream and I guess I did promise someone, I promised myself. 💣💥!!! You have to keep promises to yourself to build your self worth since I've been working on not betraying myself because I'm a chronic self neglecter, it speaks to me deeply. Then at the end they sing; life's like a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending. More manifestation and more rainbows 🌈💓 I use to think very little of what I could do, who I could be, but I started to dream that I could sing for a band, I could share my written work, I could be beautiful too. DONT DREAM IT, BE IT. live out your dreams, stretch your imagination. 2+2=3 Hey Alice, where's your wonderland? Don't stop believing. 💚💚💚

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arsenicolada · 7 years ago

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2, 6, 18 (re: Muppet meme) (sorry if this sends twice, or not at all before this)

2. Which Muppet character that has not been seen in a long time do you want to return on TV?

Oh man there are quite a few. Johnny Fiama and Sal I miss a lot, it’d be amazing for them to come back. And the entire JHH crew, Digit, Vicki, Zondra, Lindberg, the rest of Solid Foam, all those people. Including Clifford.

We haven’t seen Annie Sue in a while too. Like basically all the muppets we haven’t seen in ages. I mean if they can bring back frikkin Andy and Randy then they can bring back the others.

I also want the Moopets to come back jfc

6. What song would you want the Muppets, or a particular Muppet to sing?

Rowlf singing “Piano Man” by Billy Joel. Please, that’s all I want.

And I think the Electric Mayhem doing a tribute to the “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album would be cool, considering that was the inspiration for Floyd.

18. How’d you get into the Muppet fandom?

Ok so it was my first year of college. I wasn’t doing too great mentally and emotionally, I was fresh out of high school, it was my first time living away from home, I was overwhelmed by the work, it was just a bad time for me.

I was browsing on youtube one day trying to find a video that would cheer me up somehow and I found a few episodes of “The Muppet Show” (before everything was taken down). I recalled my mom saying she loved the show growing up so I figured ‘what the heck’ and gave it a shot. And I gotta say, that was the first time I genuinely laughed in months.

I watched more episodes and before I knew it I was browsing the wiki, watching old clips from “Sam and Friends” and “The Jimmy Dean Show”, and learning about their history, Jim Henson and who he was as a person and creator, both of which I grew to really respect, and all the original muppeteers. But it wasn’t until the 2015 show came out when I discovered that there was an actual fandom on here. I posted in the main tag, drew fanart, and through that I discovered that the muppets fandom was filled with some of the nicest people ever.

Both the muppets and their fandom got me out of a pretty bad depression slump and I couldn’t be more grateful

#animatedc9000 #ask memes #pirate fabbles #muppost

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groovycat18 · 7 years ago

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2, 4, 18 for the Muppet meme!

2. Which Muppet character that has not been seen in a long time do you want to return on TV?

Oh jeez, there’s quite a handful! For one, the rest of Gorilla Television, so Chip can hang around his old friends, Zondra and Ubu again.

Then there’s Clifford, who kind of disappeared after 2005. I know Kevin Clash retired, but you’d think they would’ve found him a new puppeteer by now. I always thought he was a pretty cool character! Especially when he was with Solid Foam

Oh, and the rest of the Solid Foam band too! I always wanted to know what their relationship with the Electric Mayhem was like, since it hinted that Dr. Teeth was their manager or something. And maybe they could’ve explained why Zoot and Animal took Flash and Drummer Girl’s places

4. Who’s your Muppet crush?

Clifford, because like I said, he was a really cool Muppet!

18. How’d you get into the Muppet fandom?

Okay, long story, so my followers may want to sit down for this.

I had vague memories of the Muppets until kindergarten. Like i think I remember seeing the In the Navy sketch on the Muppet Show when it was still being shown on Disney Channel, and maybe parts of Muppet Treasure Island when my older brother Josh had it on VHS, but after that, I didn’t really see anything Muppet-related.

Then, for a while after kindergarten...I was actually scared of the Muppets! It started when my grandmother got the season 1 DVD set for the Muppet Show when I was 6 years old, which as we all know, most of the characters looked kind of scary back then, especially the monsters. Apparently, something from the show scared me away from the Muppets, but I can’t remember if it was Mahna Mahna, Animal, or the Sherlock Holmes sketch where Miss Piggy and Baskerville got eaten by the big purple monster.

It scared me so badly back then, that I ran down to the basement screaming (The TV was upstairs in the living room).

For a while, the only things produced by Jim Henson that I was cool with watching was Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock, but NEVER the Muppet show or any of the Muppet movies

Then, in 6th grade, my chorus teacher decided to let us watch a movie because we had just sung in a school holiday concert, which delighted us. The movie ended up being The Muppet Christmas Carol. I was really scared but I didn’t say anything because I thought people would laugh at me. When it came to the part where Jacob Marley (Statler)’s head had morphed from the door knocker, I actually did shriek, but for some reason, I didn’t run out of the room.

Then, when Animal’s part when he walked onscreen to yell everyone to be quiet, I got scared again, not sure what he would do since I’ve never seen this film. When he said his line, “QUIET!!!!” I didn’t scream or anything, but I didn’t laugh either I just stayed quiet and watched on.

Then, in my 6th grade English class, our teacher was having us read the Christmas Carol and guess what movie we watched? Yep, he wanted us to compare the actual book to the Muppet adaptation of it. When Statler’s part came up again, I braced myself for it, but this time...I didn’t freak out, in fact, as I watched the rest of the movie, I actually began to enjoy because i realized the Muppets weren’t as scary as I past believed.

Then, began my whirlwind Muppet craze!!! After watching the movie, I was hooked on Muppets, so hooked that I wanted to see all the other movies and shows they made. First, I found an old VHS tape for Muppets from Space (we had a VHS player back then, but we’ve since upgraded to Blu-Ray), where I saw the movie, and also the trailers for all the past Muppet films. I was really intrigued by the Great Muppet Caper one the most (which became my favorite Muppet film after watching it!).

Then, i started getting all the Muppet films on DVD from my grandfather, including Muppets from Space, then the three Muppet Show seasons DVD packs, the 2nd one i got in March and the other two I got on Easter, and when we got internet and i got a laptop, I found the Muppet wiki and found out about Muppets Tonight and Jim Henson Hour, not to mention a lot of Muppet fanart and fanfiction on Fanfiction.net and Devientart (Some of it was actually your art!) and I met my first online Muppet friends.

When The Muppets premiered when i was in 7th grade, I was very excited to see it! And when Muppets Most Wanted was being made, I wanted to see that too! Then, when my family got Wi-Fi, I used my laptop to look up anything Muppet-related, where i found out about Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight. By then, I began to read about Jim Henson himself, the creator of the Muppets and learned about all his past works, where I became a Muppet history expert.

And now I’ve seen almost everything Muppet-related and I have a lot of Muppet fan friends, some from Deviantart and a few new ones, that I can talk about it with. Now I’m just impatiently waiting for The Muppet at the Hollywood Bowl thing to occur and hope that someone films it and hope the Muppets will do more in the future.

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palettepainter · 1 year ago

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Any HCs on Floyd being a parent to Animal?

This is an ask after my heart I could happily sit here and babble about this father son duo for hours!!

-So in Muppets Mayhem Floyd says he never lost Animal once, I'm calling this slander and lies. Animal was the type of kid where if you made the fatal mistake of looking away for just a second, he was gone. This happened a LOT when Floyd first took him in, Animal was curious of the unfamiliar environment and often ended up giving Floyd several heart attacks when he'd toddled out of sight. He was of course perfectly fine when Floyd found him, but Animal never quite caught onto the stress he was unintentionally giving Floyd

-Baby Animal was a biter. He chewed on furniture, chair legs, curtains, coasters, the remote - and most of all, Floyd himself. Animal bit and nommed on Floyd's hand/fingers all the time, thankfully 9 times out of 10 it was never enough to scar, but Floyd still has a few very faint scars from when Animal was beginning to teeth

-Again in Muppets Mayhem the band compare Animal to a cat by saying that he brings random treasures to them, and this was still the case when he was little. More or less it was random junk that Floyd didn't know what to do with, and other times Animal would bring him a bird, mouse or - god forbid - a giant rat. Eventually Floyd had enough of Animal dragging in rodents and got him a bell, like the type you put on cats to scare away birds. Animal hated the bell, and for three hours after Floyd put it on he basically threw a tantrum while trying to get it off. He had the bell for a few months before Floyd decided to take it off

-Floyd tried baby reins, but Animal proved very quickly that they wouldn't be enough to hold him. He chewed through them in under five seconds

-I imagine at some point, when Floyd was on the road with Teeth, they tried to put Animal through some kind of public schooling. Teeth was the one to bring up the idea but Floyd needed some convincing. Eventually they settled on a daycare, that way Floyd and Teeth could focus on getting money for the road with their music while Animal was being watched. Floyd was very anxious about the idea because he knew Animal wasn't exactly a normal kid - and as he expected, Animal's time at daycare lasted one afternoon before he got banned. He brought a wild rabbit into the classroom which proceeded to cause chaos. Floyd was just relieved to have his little buddy back (he may have missed him more then he let on). Animal did make one friend while at daycare though, Summer the penguin! (after this Floyd had to plan many, many playdates with Summer on Animal's insistent demand)

-Back when Floyd first found Animal he rarely got enough sleep, often conking out on his sofa or arm chair. He'd always fall asleep by himself but would wake up with Animal curled up on his chest like a dozing cat

-Naturally I imagine Animal has called Floyd dad before, the first time it happened was when he was still very young and was just grasping onto pronouncing words. Floyd's reaction was to always laugh, a little nervously, before trying to get Animal to say his name. For a handful of his baby years Animal switched between calling Floyd by his name and dad/da, but he eventually stuck with just calling Floyd by his name as he got older. Sometimes, and this happens rarely, Animal slips and calls Floyd da, but to Animal referring to Floyd by his name or da is the same thing

-Floyd had a habit of carrying baby Animal everywhere when they where out in public, out of fear he'd run of and he'd get lost. Animal at first would always squirm cuz he'd want to run about, but he got used to the attention, sometimes just jumping right into Floyd's arms

-Worried a LOT more then people assumed. Since he had no idea what Animal was or where he came from, it was a mystery how he was supposed to raise him. This stress led to a lot of sleepless nights before he joined Teeth on the road

-I'm not sure how Floyd decided to sing Bridge Over Troubled Water to Animal, but he used to sing it to him whenever Animal was sick or had a nightmare. It's one of Animal's most strongest memories and is the fastest way to calm him down

#Muppets #The Muppets #Floyd #Floyd Pepper #Animal

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onthegoinmco · 5 years ago

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DISCLOSURE: I was invited by the Walt Disney Company to attend the 2019 D23 Expo, however all opinions and over-use of exclamation points are 100% my own. Also I purchased the Disney Plus Founders Circle, so I have put my money where my words are.

Disney Plus is making its debut at the 2019 D23 Expo, and the response to the new streaming service has been incredibly positive as excitement builds for its November 12, 2019, launch.

During its first-ever showcase presentation stars, directors, and writers filled the D23 Hall stage as announcements on new series in development were made and key details were revealed.

“With less than three months until launch, Disney+ will soon entertain and inspire audiences of all ages for generations to come, and we’re excited to preview some of the amazing original content being created for the service exclusively from our world-class brands today at the D23 Expo,” said Kevin Mayer, chairman, Direct-to-Consumer & International. “Storytelling is the cornerstone of The Walt Disney Company and we’re thrilled to unveil a new slate of original shows from the Star Wars and Marvel cinematic universes, along with popular television franchises set to return with all-new series streaming only on Disney+.”

With that in mind let’s look at ten of Disney Plus’ slate of originals from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic programs that I can’t wait to watch (in no particular order) with details from the 2019 D23 Presentation!!!!

Disney Plus Original Programs I Can’t Wait to Watch

Marvel Studios’ What If…?

For Marvel Studios’ “What If…?” Hayley Atwell was on hand to greet the audience. Atwell will voice Peggy Carter in Marvel Studios’ first animated series that focuses on different heroes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and imagines what would happen if the events in the films worked out differently.

Kevin Feige also introduced director Bryan Andrews and head writer Ashley Bradley to the crowd.

“What If…?” premieres on Disney+ in 2021.

Muppets Now

Forty years after leaving the swamp in his big screen debut in “The Muppet Movie,” Kermit the Frog is heading upstream with Miss Piggy, and the gang, bringing a new kind of mayhem and laughter to Disney+ with their first-ever unscripted short-form series, “Muppets Now.”

The Mandalorian

For Lucasfilm’s “The Mandalorian,” executive producers Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni joined series stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers and Giancarlo Esposito, along with Taika Waititi, who brings the droid IG-11 to life, to premiere the teaser trailer for the first Star Wars live-action series.

At the Disney Legends Awards Ceremony during the 2019 D23 Expo, Robert A. Iger, chairman and chief executive officer, The Walt Disney Company, announced that new Disney Legend Ming-Na Wen will join the cast of the series.

Set after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order, “The Mandalorian” follows the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.

Wanda Vision

Stars Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen were on hand for their new series, Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision.” Bettany returns as Vision and Olsen as Wanda Maximoff—two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives who begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

Kevin Feige surprised the audience by bringing to the stage Kat Dennings and Randall Park who will reprise their roles from “Thor” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” and then he introduced Kathryn Hahn who has been cast as a new character in the series. Director Matt Shakman and head writer Jac Schaeffer joined everyone on stage to reveal that the streaming series will blend the style of classic sitcoms with Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“WandaVision” premieres on Disney+ in 2021.

The World According to Jeff Goldblum

Jeff Goldblum, who stars in and hosts “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” from National Geographic, gave fans a peek inside the series including a new trailer for the show. Through Goldblum’s always inquisitive and highly entertaining mind, nothing is as it seems in this new 12-episode series.

Forky Asks A Question

Tony Hale, who reprises his craft project turned toy role from “Toy Story 4” in the new collection of Pixar animated shorts “Forky Asks A Question,” premiered the first short (“What is Money?”).

In the 10 shorts, Forky explores important questions about how the world works, such as: What is love? What is time?

Noelle

“Noelle” stars Anna Kendrick and Billy Eichner joined Sean Bailey to announce their film will premiere on Disney+ on November 12 before sharing a new trailer. In the upcoming holiday comedy, Kris Kringle’s daughter is full of Christmas spirit and holiday fun, but wishes she could do something “important” like her beloved brother Nick, who will take over from their father this Christmas.

When Nick is about to crumble like a gingerbread cookie from all the pressure, Noelle suggests he take a break and get away…but when he doesn’t return, Noelle must find her brother and bring him back in time to save Christmas.

Untitled Cassian Andor Series

Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney

Stars Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk joined Kathleen Kennedy to introduce the audience to the second Lucasfilm live-action series for Disney+, which is now in development.

Both actors are reprising their roles from “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” and the stories follow Cassian Andor’s adventures as a rebel spy during the formative years of the Rebellion, before the events of “A New Hope.”

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier

Director Kari Skogland introduced Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, the stars of Marvel Studios’ ”The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” which finds Falcon and the Winter Soldier teaming up after “Avengers: Endgame.”

Emily VanCamp came on stage and Feige revealed that she will reprise her role as Sharon Carter.

Then, he introduced the crowd to Wyatt Russell who will play John Walker—a character from the comics coming to the screen for the first time.

Head writer Malcom Spellman was also on hand to greet the crowd.

“The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” will launch on Disney+ in 2020.

Monsters At Work

“Monsters At Work” stars Ben Feldman and Aisha Tyler unveiled the latest design of their characters Tylor and Millie. Inspired by Disney and Pixar’s Academy Award-winning feature film “Monsters, Inc.,” the new series from Disney Television Animation returns to Monstropolis and follows a new cast of monsters with special appearances from Mike and Sulley (voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman).

And I mean I can’t not have an honorable mention for just one more…

Ewan McGregor made a surprise appearance to announce his return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in a new untitled series from Lucasfilm.

I HAVE NO CHILL ABOUT DISNEY PLUS, AND YOU SHOULDN’T EITHER!!!

I’ll be bringing you more Disney Plus details soon!!!

The post 10 Disney Plus Original Programs I Can’t Wait to Watch appeared first on On the Go in MCO.

#IFTTT #WordPress

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rob-blog1234 · 7 years ago

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BUMPER CHRISTMAS EDITION TV HOT FILM PICKS!

Welcome to my Christmas film round up!

14 Days of TV trawled - Friday 22nd through to Jan 4th.

196 films. 42 HOT PICKS! for all your festive film needs and more.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Let's put the telly on. I think there's a film on somewhere.

FRIDAY 22nd DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

BBC1 @ 1345 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) *****

The LAST Crusade. The third and last of the Trilogy. No fourth… Nope, definitely the Last Crusade… (weep). Spielberg! Why!?! You should have took advice from your own film title. A funnier and action packed END to the TRILOGY.

Film4 @ 0025 Source Code (2011) *****

Duncan Jones is a fantastic Director. After the great success of his 2009 directorial debut Moon, I was hot on his trail and looking forward to his next film. Source Code has bigger ambition and is an extremely entertaining film, it’s just not as Sci-Fi pure as Moon. Source Code is a complex, compelling and a great mystery. Not sure of the idea of the recent Warcraft film as there’s only so much Orc special effect extravagance a man can take, but I’ll still give it a pop based on his previous work.

Jake Gyllenhaal is Captain Colter Stevens, a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man on a train, here begins the mystery of who he is and why he is here. Gyllenhaal is fantastic and Jones drip feeds the story and keeps the mystery running with great skill. This is one of my Top 10 films of 2011…. and I thought it was very believable… until Captain Colter Stevens used Bing as his search engine. :)

Best of the rest:

TCM @ 1740 The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) ****

5* @ 1855 Dirty Dancing (1987) ***

Film4 @ 1905 Men in Black (1997) *****

Syfy @ 2250 The Signal (2014) ***

Quest @ 2300 The Omen (1976) *****

SATURDAY 23rd DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

TCM @ 1305 What's Up, Doc? (1972) ****

Why it took me so many years to see this gem of a comedy I simply do not know. It’s also responsible for a serious crush on Barbara Streisand. This is a crazy comedy caper that really doesn’t take itself seriously. It almost verges on slapstick at some points. Its main strength lies in the interactions between the 2 leads - the situations they get themselves into and the carnage that ensues - it is a pleasure to watch. You’ll have a laugh on your lips and a smile on your face throughout. Classic screwball comedy.

Gold @ 1325 It's a Wonderful Life (1946) *****

This is one of the greatest Christmas films ever made - it defines Christmas. It is a feel good film - plain and simple. A perfect Christmas film. No matter how you are feeling - It’s a Wonderful Life is sure to lift the spirits. Merry Christmas!

Best of the rest:

TCM @ 0855 The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) ****

C4 @ 0900 The Boxtrolls (2014) ***

ITV3 @ 1305 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) *****

Film4 @ 1305 The Book of Life (2014) ****

ITV1 @ 1335 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) ****

ITV1 @ 1630 Despicable Me (2010) ***

ITV2 @ 1910 Gravity (2013) *****

ITV1 @ 2000 The Hobbit: the Battle of the Five Armies (2014) ***

ITV4 @ 2100 The Fugitive (1993) ***

Film4 @ 2315 High-Rise (2015) ****

C4 @ 2320 Gladiator (2000) *****

TCM @ 2340 Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) ***

Film4 @ 0135 The Big Lebowski (1997) *****

CHRISTMAS EVE SUNDAY 24th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

C4 @ 1830 The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) *****

Check out the Muppet’s take on the Christmas Carol. I adore this film, it’s full of all the great Muppet characters you know and love as they re-tell this classic Christmas story Muppet style! I dare you not to shed a tear during the rather emotional scene concerning Tiny Tim. It’s full of stunning sets and a host of great musical numbers, this is perfect Christmas film for the whole family to enjoy.

TCM @ 2210 Gremlins (1984) *****

Gremlins is a classic comedy horror. When a father gives a rather unusual pet to his son as a gift for Christmas he got a lot more than he bargained for. Billy has to stick to three important rules with his new pet. Don’t feed it after midnight, keep it out of bright light and keep it well away from water. When he inadvertently breaks these rules, his new pet multiplies and these new additions to the family prove to be quite a handful indeed. Madness, Mayhem and destruction quickly descend on the town as these “Gremlins” go on a rampage the town will not forget in a hurry.

It’s funny, sharp and with some splendid animatronics, Gremlins is a great fantasy adventure with almost slapstick style comedy that always gets a laugh. The stair lift scene will hold its crown as one of the best comedy death scenes put to film. Joe Dante has directed some brilliant films. This is certainly one of my favourites.

Film4 @ 2255 Predator (1987) *****

30 YEARS OLD! Amazing.

According to Letterboxd I’ve seen this outstanding film 18 times in the last 4 years. That’s not even taking into account the early days on VHS and the many wonderful times on TV where it was dubbed and cut to oblivion. It is one of my all-time favourite films and... I think I have a problem. I can’t stop buying it! I have 5 copies now: VHS, DVD, DVD double set with Predator 2, Blu Ray, and now 3D Blu Ray Steelbook. I am an addict. Why? Well - It's goddam awesome. That's why. Everything in this film works so wonderfully together. All I need now is the 3D Blu Ray in a life size Predator head box set to fulfil my crazy addiction. So, the film…

I watched it in 3D for the sixth time. The 3D doesn't really bring anything new to the film, as a conversion it still looked a little flat, I was hoping the jungle would really come alive and take me. But it did not detract from my enjoyment one little bit and I will admittedly always grab the glasses for a slice of 3D action if there is ever a choice.

This classic Arnie Sci-Fi Action-er is ultimately re-watchable. You’ve seen it hundreds of times, you quote each line seconds before they happen, you even know the sound of each and every gun shot and explosion as they are about to occur. This is my most quoted film, at least once a week I shoe horn a Predator quote into my everyday life: from “I’m gonna have me some fun” to “I wouldn’t wish that on a broke dick dawg” … Amazing.

The music is completely iconic. Alan Silvestri’s score is right up there with the greatest scores in film. Coupled with some fabulous sound effects. It’s quite simply perfect. It’s so apt and effective, driving the film forward with an urgency like no other. It gets your blood pumping and puts you right in the jungle maze with them. It’s as if the Jungle just came alive and took him… Sorry.

This is Arnie’s finest hour. Yes he’s fantastic in Total Recall but here he is doing what he does best. Big, bold, mumbling muscle. Wielding a gun as large as a child in one hand and with a list of one liners at the ready, he storms this performance. He is together with a crack team of commandos - an eclectic mix of characters played by an equally eclectic mix of actors. Carl Weathers has either been airbrushed within an inch of reality or is wearing so much make up at the start of this film. His face is just too smooth, almost like he’s made of putty or like the jungle came alive and paint shopped him. Jesse Ventura’s larger than life character just fits right in here. And of course the late and great Sonny Landham as the ju-ju bag fondling tracker whose lines are just amazing, such a mix of muscle must have been hell for McTiernan to direct, but boy did he do well! In such a difficult terrain he pulled it out of the bag in momentous style.

This crack team go on a rescue mission in the Central American jungle. The mission goes from bad to worse as they soon realise a dangerous alien predator is hunting them down one by one. It’s tense, fast paced and full to the brim with enough action and bullets to take down a small country. It has got some great shocks and splattered with some well-placed gore as the team gets picked off in an array of bloody violent ways. It’s ultimately thrilling and will always stand tall as one of the great Action Sci-Fi Thrillers of all time!

“GET TO DER CHARRPARR!” (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Film4 @ 0105 It Follows (2014) *****

Don’t miss David Robert Mitchell’s superb modern Horror on Film4. After a sexual encounter - Jay can’t escape the feeling something is after her. Something relentless. So - yes, it’s probably some statement about safe sex.. but it’s so much more! It’s not often I throw 5 stars at a Horror movie. This one pushed all my buttons. So… why so good? Well, in the eternal struggle of the genre to produce new ideas that move away from either pure paranormal jump scares or intensely shocking gore-fests - It Follows steps confidently to one side with a suspense filled, tension busting, atmospheric, and 80’s saturated thriller. The awesome soundtrack keeps the film bubbling over literally all the way through… I need to buy this soundtrack. It’s bloody fantastic! It’s all wrapped up in such a stylish way, I can’t wait to watch it again. Hit Record!

Best of the rest:

C5 @ 0920 Gone with the Wind (1939) *****

More4 @ 1245 The Jewel of the Nile (1985) ***

ITV1 @ 1255 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) ***

Film4 @ 1500 Jingle all the Way (1996) ***

C5 @ 1615 Scrooge (1951) ****

Spike @ 1630 Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) ****

ITV2 @ 2100 Casino Royale (2006) ****

Film4 @ 2100 Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004) ****

Syfy @ 0100 Akira (1988) *****

CHRISTMAS DAY MONDAY 25th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

BBC1 @ 1320 Toy Story 3 (2010) *****

Another great success for Pixar, they really know how to pull the heart strings of an audience both young and old. Toy Story 3 lives up to the hype with its wonderful characters who we know and love gallivanting through the superbly written story with plenty of drama, comedy, laughs, thrills and, of course, heart wrenching emotion that concludes this great trilogy.

Woody and Buzz are put through their paces when they are accidentally packed off to a nursery, here we are introduced to a host of new characters that all have great merit, especially Ken, Mr. Pricklepants and Chuckles the Clown, who all add some great comedy moments to an already funny film. However I was a little creeped out by Big Baby and the cymbal banging monkey - a little intense for the younger of viewers… and of course me. All the characters are once again excellently voiced by a huge list of equally huge names - but most importantly they become the characters completely - so you are never detracted from the film with the realisation of the voice behind the character which can so often mar the full immersion into an animated story.

As soon as our favourites decide to escape we are thrown into their action packed ride to freedom. The direction, animation and pace are all top notch, never does the story lose pace or interest.

I originally watched this in 3D - which I must add is not a necessity. I thought it would have been another film that suffers with the whole “being created specifically for 3D” and it almost becoming the driving force behind various scenes but I am thankful that Pixar focused purely on the film and didn’t sell out for an obvious 3D showcase.

I was looking for a reason to not give Toy Story 3 the full 5 stars but I could find no such reason. It’s a great success, my favourite of the trilogy and has once again proved the Pixar team are masters of animation and storytelling.

C4 @ 1435 Scrooged (1988) *****

One of my favourite Christmas films of all time: Scrooged. In the pilot seat of this version of the Christmas Carol is the hilarious Bill Murray. He plays the bitter and twisted film executive Frank Cross who is in charge of the TV networks big Christmas Day TV program. He gets visited by three rather different takes on the Christmas Ghosts, from the cigar smoking foul mouthed taxi driver Ghost of Christmas Past to the angelic looking but rather violent Ghost of Christmas Present, you are in for a brilliant ride through Frank’s life. The characters really make this film a success - all of them are perfect, backed by a fantastic script and great directorial vision from Richard Donner - he’s squeezed in enough jokes, tenderness and a hell of a lot of heart that will certainly get you in the Christmas spirit.

C4 @ 1750 Home Alone (1990) *****

Macaulay Culkin accidentally gets left behind by his family over the Christmas holidays and defends his house against two of the worst burglars in history. No matter how annoying the little rascal is and whatever time of year, nothing can ruin this classic family adventure. It is Christmas after all!

Horror @ 2100 Big Trouble in Little China (1986) *****

If I’m ever in doubt of what film to watch to put a huge smile on my face and forget about the woes of the real world then I always reach for Carpenter’s classic Big Trouble in Little China. Most importantly this film is a whole lot of fun. It’s full of laugh-out-loud moments with an absurdly funny script and always raises smiles.

Kurt Russell is Jack Burton, an all American action-hero-wannabe. He’s a fast talking, macho, gambling, truck driver with tons of gloriously cheesy one liners. He agrees to help out an old friend by driving him to the airport to meet his fiancé who…guess what… gets kidnapped… from here Jack gets tangled up in a web of martial-art-fantasy-madness in San Francisco’s China Town.

This is one of the most entertaining Carpenter films that somehow manages to walk the very fine line of cheesy-but-good. It somehow walks this line so well it’s become a true cult classic. It quite simply cannot be missed.

…Okay. You people sit tight, hold the fort and keep the home fires burning. And if we’re not back by dawn… call the president.

Film4 @ 2100 Kingsman: the Secret Service (2015) ****

On release I wasn’t too fussed about this and let it pass me by unwatched. A film that on the surface looked like - just another Spy movie rehash, with a chavvy kid ultimately redeeming himself - it just felt a bit off. Then on recommendation I caught up with it on Blu Ray release - and was very happy I did too!

Matthew Vaughn - who we have to thank for Kick-Ass, Stardust and X-Men First Class - bring us into the crazy world of Kingsman - a Secret Spy organisation here to save the world. It unashamedly mimics the likes of Bond - constantly referring to itself as being “not that kind of movie” and has such huge set pieces and layered with tons of action - you will be hooked from the out. It’s funny too - it has plenty of comedy that made me chuckle. It’s sometimes silly but keeps its feet on the ground just enough to stay credible. It was a riot on my first watch and it holds up to repeat viewings. Need some fun on TV tonight? Get this on the telly.

Best of the rest:

ITV1 @ 0925 National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) ***

Film4 @ 1100 Arthur Christmas (2011) ***

C5 @ 1305 Singin' in the Rain (1952) *****

ITV1 @ 1510 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) ****

C4 @ 1630 Dumbo (1941) ****

TCM @ 1655 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) *****

Film4 @ 1700 Romancing the Stone (1984) ****

More4 @ 1800 Miracle on 34th Street (1947) *****

TCM @ 1855 Gremlins (1984) *****

ITV2 @ 1945 Skyfall (2012) ****

ITV4 @ 2100 The Dirty Dozen (1967) ****

5* @ 2100 There's Something About Mary (1998) ****

Sky1 @ 2200 The Rock (1996) ****

Film4 @ 0120 The Warriors (1979) ****

ITV1 @ 0145 The Dam Busters (19540 ****

Sony @ 0225 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) *****

BOXING DAY TUESDAY 26th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

Film4 @ 1455 Paddington (2014) ****

Who would have expected a live action / CGI cross over of the much loved story of Paddington would work - but it absolutely does. It’s charming, heart-warming and walks the line of sentimentality that never goes too far, it honours the original material and brings an altogether joyful experience to all that watch it. A sure hit with children and adults alike, with enough sequences of absurd action and moments of effective comedy that keep the flow continuously. A truly lovely film. Don’t miss it.

ITV1 @ 1530 ET the Extra Terrestrial (1982) *****

This magical story of a boys love for a lost alien is truly heart-warming and one of Spielberg’s finest films. The family dynamic works wonderfully addressing really grown up themes with a rich and realistic platform that springs an unmissable story of friendship, love and loss. A childhood adventure full of heart and accessible to the whole family. It’s amazing that after all this time that little plastic turd like creature still makes me shed a tear.

BBC1 @ 1545 Mary Poppins (1964) *****

A truly magical story. One of my all-time favourite Disney films. The songs are all iconic and always inspire a sing-a-long. After watching the very impressive Saving Mr. Banks and learning more about this films difficult transition to the big scene, it seemed rude not to immediately watch Mary Poppins. It's big, bright and bold sets, larger than life characters, amazing songs and choreography and most importantly a very strong story, give this Disney a real edge over its peers. Magical for kids and adults alike.

C4 @ 1800 Back to the Future (1985) *****

Numerous filmmakers have attempted to construct a story and explain the most difficult and almost incomprehensible subject of Time Travel but the one that manages to nail it with surprising ease is Robert Zemeckis in this family action packed adventure Back to the Future!

This is my all-time favourite film and is complete cinematic enjoyment. We follow the unlikely friendship between school teenager Marty McFly and the eccentric scientist Dr. Emmett Brown. As Doc reveals his latest experiment, the iconic nuclear powered DeLorean time machine, things turn dangerous as the gun-toting terrorists Doc ripped off to get the plutonium, arrive on the scene. In an attempt to escape Marty jumps in the DeLorean and is sent back to the year 1955. We follow Marty’s adventures as he attempts to get back home to 1985.

Oh - and check out my Christmas Jumper! Secret Santa WIN. Thanks Rebecca Carver. :)

ITV1 @ 1840 Jurassic World (2015) ****

I could watch Bryce Dallas Howard running across rough terrain in her heels all day long. Welcome to Jurassic World - in a universe where previous massive disasters at creating dinosaur parks are completely ignored... again. It's a bigger, better and more exciting park but the money mad corporate suits want bigger, scarier and more dangerous. What could possibly go wrong? Well it does - obviously and Star Lord and our ginger high-heeled Howard go about saving the day. With enough nods to the amazing original it keeps the show on the road, by no means reaching the standard of Jurassic Park it is still a lot of fun and very worth a gander.

TCM @ 1910 Airplane! (1980) *****

Essential comedy viewing. Airplane! stands tall as one of the funniest classic comedies to date. Yes - it’s politically incorrect in parts but this 80’s comedy has hundreds of reasons to be forgiven. Leslie Nielsen’s ability to dead pan jokes was phenomenal. This disaster spoof is one of the best comedy greats and will surely remain up there with the best for many years to come… and don’t call me Shirley.

Film4 @ 2100 Ex Machina (2014) *****

I can’t believe this was Alex Garland’s directorial debut. He was the writer on 28 days Later and Sunshine - so here’s his directorial debut and it’s unmissable. It’s hard to even think this is his first film at the helm. The film oozes beauty in every shot - the clinical setting and awesome camera work produce some fantastic visuals in what is in essence a very tight and small set with 3 main characters in the most part. Ex Machina is one of the best Sci-Fi films to come out in recent years. It follows Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb, a 26 year old coder for the world’s largest internet company. He wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain retreat of the company CEO - Nathan (Oscar Issac). Nathan is a recluse and the social interactions between the two are fascinating. Caleb finds out that he is to participate in an experiment interacting with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl played by Alicia Vikander. This is true Sci-Fi. It could very easily be set right now. It’s only a matter of time before one of the big players launch something truly stunning. Thought provoking, brilliantly story telling that keeps your eyes glued to each interaction and the wonderful script wraps its way right through you. It lingers long after the credits roll. Don’t miss this. Look out for the trailer for his next step into Sci-Fi that I for one am very excited about… Annihilation.

Best of the rest:

TCM @ 0855 Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) *****

ITV1 @ 0925 Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) *****

C5 @ 1150 Chariots of Fire (1981) ****

TCM @ 1215 Singin' in the Rain (1952) *****

TCM @ 1415 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) *****

ITV2 @ 1435 A Bug's Life (1998) ****

TCM @ 1615 The Dirty Dozen (1967) ****

C4 @ 1620 The Little Mermaid (1989) *****

ITV2 @ 1640 Despicable Me (2010) ***

ITV2 @ 1900 Uncle Buck (1989) ****

Sky1 @ 2100 Minority Report (2002) *****

W @ 2100 The Beach (2000) ****

Syfy @ 2100 Serenity (2005) ****

More4 @ 2100 The Green Mile (1999) ****

Sony @ 2100 A Few Good Men (1992) ****

5* @ 2100 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) *****

C5 @ 2200 Dirty Dancing (1987) ***

C4 @ 2310 Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) ****

Film4 @ 2310 X-Men: First Class (2011) ****

Horror @ 0040 They Live (1988) ****

Film4 @ 0145 The Breakfast Club (1985) ****

WEDNESDAY 27th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

Film4 @ 1100 ParaNorman (2012) ****

Check out this impressive stop motion animated adventure from the makers of the dark and quirky Coraline. I was immediately taken aback by the sheer detail - it is beyond comprehension. With Norman having over 40,000 different printed facial expressions you can see the level of detail they were aiming for here. You’d be forgiven for not realising this is stop motion animation. With a cracking script and great balance of comedy, horror and drama this is definitely one to stick on your watch list.

Norman is an 11 year old boy who can see, hear and talk to the dead. We follow him on his personal journey against adversity and ultimately on to saving the town.

This is an extremely well presented animated feature. Slightly scary for very young viewers but a welcomed darker side to the genre.

C4 @ 1630 Back to the Future Part II (1989) *****

Check out this wonderful vision of the present day in BTTF2. An amazingly ambitious paradox filled second film in the trilogy. Equally intelligent and makes time travel easily accessible to all ages, one thing of note is what the first film had in amazing character credibility the second focuses heavily on style. It’s all about a visuals. However you feel this compares to the amazing original - it still stands strong as a brilliant, solid, fascinating and downright exciting sequel in one of the greatest adventure trilogies put to film.

ITV4 @ 2205 Jaws (1975) *****

The birth of the blockbuster. Spielberg’s suspense filled thriller is packed with shocks and surprises. Such a simple premise executed perfectly. With such iconic music, both kids and adults alike can’t stop themselves humming the tune as they creep up on someone in a swimming pool with their hand on their head like a rudimentary fin. Classic. One of the best. Perfect holiday film fodder.

Best of the rest:

TCM @ 0955 The Dirty Dozen (1967) ****

BBC1 @ 1420 Shrek 2 (2004) ****

BBC1 @ 1610 Big Hero 6 (2014) ****

Film4 @ 1635 Scrooged (1988) *****

C5 @ 1655 The Guns of Navarone (1961) ****

Film4 @ 1845 Super 8 (2011) ****

E4 @ 1930 I, Robot (2004) ****

Syfy @ 2100 Waterworld (1995) ****

ITV1 @ 2000 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) ****

5* @ 2200 Django Unchained (2012) *****

C4 @ 2305 East is East (1999) ***

TCM @ 2325 Apocalypse Now (1979) *****

Horror @ 0055 We are Still Here (2015) ***

THURSDAY 28th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

5* @ 1505 The Burbs (1989) *****

Tom Hanks is in his comedy prime starring as Ray Peterson in this hilarious 80’s comedy classic. It’s way up there in my favourite Hanks comedy performances.

Ray is on holiday from work and to the annoyance of his wife decides to spend his vacation investigating the odd goings on of his creepy new next door neighbours: The Clopeks. When an old man who lives at the end of the street appears to be missing, Ray, together with some other neighbours in his street, are certain the Clopeks have something to do with it. They go on a mission to find proof.

It’s absolutely hilarious throughout and the characters are all nothing short of superb - from Rick Ducommun’s “Art Weingartner”, the childish, gossip-mongering buffoon, to Bruce Dern’s “Rumsfield”, the paranoid ex-Army, flag flying Lieutenant. It really is a neighbourhood full of quirky and interesting characters that fill this film with top class comedy situations, both verbal and physical - I adore the scene at the beginning of the film where Art is eating all the food in Ray’s house and accidentally eats some dog food. Subtle and priceless physical comedy. It’s perfectly timed and laugh out loud funny. It’s just one example of this films comedy credentials.

This film always hits the spot and shows Tom Hanks at his very best. It’s a great bit of fun, ultimately re-watchable, and so very quotable. This is a film guaranteed to put a smile on your face. Watch this.

TCM @ 2140 Full Metal Jacket (1987) *****

I’ve had many discussions regarding people’s favourite War movie? …and this is mine. Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is superb. It’s full of classic Kubrick shots and some stellar performances making this a true bonafide classic. The film has 2 clear parts; the first part of the film goes through the marine training from day one of their induction, with a powerful opening scene of each character getting their heads shaved, removing their identity. This training part of the film is bar far the highlight of the movie. The second part, although different is extremely complimentary and deals with their introduction to real army life out in their new various roles, specifically focusing on “Joker” in his role as war correspondent for the Stars and Stripes publication. The film shows the Vietnam War from their perspective and how their lives are consumed by it. It is full of interesting characters, particularly Private Pyle played by the brilliant Vincent D'Onofrio. Lee Ermey’s wild eyed and aggressive drill instructor is almost cartoon in his extremes and pushes the new recruits to the very limit of their capabilities… and in some cases beyond. Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket is a triumph of cinema and a much watch film. Like War films? Love this.

BBC2 @ 2330 Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013) ****

I’ve always been a fan of Steve Coogan’s Alan Partridge, and here we get him in a feature length comedy, packed full of genuinely funny, well written, splendidly timed jokes. The film follows Alan as he gets mixed up in a hostage situation at his local radio station after a corporate take-over pushes a DJ over the edge. Laugh out loud comedy whether you are a fan of Partridge or not - this will get you smiling from ear to ear.

Best of the rest:

BBC1 @ 0900 Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists! (2012) ***

Film4 @ 1100 Jingle all the Way (1996) ***

BBC1 @ 1420 Shrek the Third (2007) ***

BBC1 @ 1610 How to Train your Dragon 2 (2014) ***

TCM @ 1815 The Lord of the Rings: the fellowship of the Ring (2001) *****

ITV1 @ 2000 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) ****

ITV2 @ 2100 Casino Royale (2006) ****

Spike @ 2100 Enter the Dragon (1973) ****

Sony @ 2100 Little Miss Sunshine (2006) *****

ITV4 @ 2105 The Fugitive (1993) ***

C4 @ 2305 About a Boy (2002) ****

Sony @ 0130 A Few Good Men (1992) ****

FRIDAY 29th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

BBC1 @ 0900 Monsters Vs. Aliens (2009) ****

I originally watched this purely to get a 3D fix and yes the 3D is excellent as it was made around that concept. I didn’t expect much but I really quite enjoyed this film - mainly down to the tons of movie references packed into this and there were some surprising laugh out loud moments. The one liners from Seth Rogen, Will Arnett and Stephen Colbert are great. It’s definitely no Pixar and really works when watched in 3D and as a 2D film it still holds up well.

BBC1 @ 1425 Up (2009) *****

Yet another amazing Pixar. I really don’t know how they keep doing it. They have set their standards so high that although you don’t want them to - you kind of expect them to fail…. This is definitely not the case with the bizarre story of Up. Amazing animation - a great score and most importantly a great story makes this a top class animation. I was concerned about its bizarre premise but the story is close to perfect and has a great balance of fun, hilarity and the classic Disney sadness / tragedy from loss. Full of smart dialogue and the addition of “Dug” the dog is comedy at its best. This sad at times Pixar is both tender and funny. A classic Pixar success.

ITV2 @ 2000 Skyfall (2012) ****

Skyfall succeeded as it did not feel the need to carry on the story of its previous films - as it kicks off with an amazing car chase we know we are in for a treat. This film does not disappoint and it’s a darker more realistic Bond film that has kept up nicely with current times. After we all witnessed the fantastic Bourne Trilogy our tastes for this style of film got a bit more grown up. Mendes does a sterling job with Skyfall and has reassured me the franchise still has a lot of life left in it. Admittedly it does go a bit “Home Alone” towards the final act but I love the fact Bond films have almost no CGI. A great entry to the Bond franchise.

ITV1 @ 2000 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) ****

If you want big battles, wizardry and spell bounding excitement - you do get a couple of crowd pleasers but this instalment of the Potter films focuses more on relationships. It's full of teenage crushes, giggling looks, teenage kisses and romance which was funny in places but also a little more for the teenage audience. In fact the scene where Ron’s sister kneels down to tie Harry’s shoe lace is pure awkward hilarity.

I have not read the books and I did feel the need for certain clarifiers to some partly explained and explored sub plots. There is a hell of a lot going on in this film. It just about gives enough of everything to keep confusion at bay. It is one of the more busy Potter films.

As always it looks amazing, today’s standard of CGI has allowed for this wonderful fantasy world to feel completely real. The young cast have all grown into their roles and give this film quality clout. I was also particularly impressed with Daniel Radcliffe in this film, especially during the scene where he took the luck potion - It was nice to see something different from him.

Although originally this was not one of my favourite Potter films it was more than good enough to keep the buzz alive, but now after numerous watches this Potter holds strong, and what small things frustrated the first time round, now seem altogether more whole and this has become a quality instalment to the Potter series I always enjoy returning to.

Best of the rest:

ITV3 @ 1030 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) *****

Film4 @ 1100 Rango (2011) ****

C5 @ 1320 Labyrinth (1986) ****

TCM @ 1515 The Lord of the Rings: the Fellowship of the Ring (2001) *****

Film4 @ 1630 Arthur Christmas (2011) ***

C5 @ 1710 Footloose (1984) ***

ITV2 @ 1755 A Bug's Life (1998) ****

TCM @ 1840 Bullitt (1968) ****

More4 @ 2100 The Green Mile (1999) ****

Spike @ 2100 Fury (2014) ****

Horror @ 2100 The Mist (2007) ****

BBC1 @ 2115 Gone Girl (2014) ****

TCM @ 2255 Black Hawk Down (2001) ****

Film4 @ 2300 Predator (1987) *****

ITV4 @ 2320 Total Recall (1990) *****

SATURDAY 30th DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

5* @ 1335 Teen Wolf (1985) *****

Teen Wolf always holds a place in my heart… I love it a little more than it deserves, but who cares. Michael J. Fox is Scott Howard, an average kid who plays for his unsuccessful school basketball team and works part time for his Dad in the local Hardware store. He is fed up of being so average and craves for excitement and success, but he could have never prepared for what happens next. Scott soon realises he comes from a family of Werewolves as one night at a party he begins to go through changes that alter the course of his school life, basketball success and relationships with his family and friends, forever. Teen Wolf is a great bit of 80’s family fun; Michael J. Fox is in his prime and really makes this film a success. With a great 80’s soundtrack and a superb story, Teen Wolf has everything you need for Weekend film escapism. It’s great fun, full of comedy and certainly has the feel good factor.

BBC1 @ 2000 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) ****

Whedon managed to cram in a shed load of oldies but goldies, a fair few newbies and a shed load of robot Ultrons and somehow still made this a coherent and enjoyable MCU spectacular. Well done Whedon. It stuck to the age old Marvel formula resulting in a huge over the top sky battle of world ending CGI nonsense - but it was very good wasn't it. You know you loved it. Expectations were set to ridiculous levels and it still came out relatively unscathed by critics and fans alike. In more recent times I am happy to see the MCU films taking on new directions - with Thor Ragnarok and Deadpool taking a step out of the box is a refreshing change. Avengers: Age of Ultron was a fantastic sequel to a fabulous first film.

Film4 @ 2310 The Guest (2014) ****

Adam Wingard dished out a very entertaining romp with 2014’s The Guest. It leans on my love of the 80’s and combined with a cool synth-filled-soundtrack and some nice visuals this hits all my spots.

A soldier arrives at the home of the Peterson family and claims to be a friend of their son who died in action. He is welcomed into their home but soon suspicion arises in the household and some seemingly accidental deaths are coincide with his arrival. Its twists may not be the subtlest but it all gels rather nicely with some good quality action and tension. Watch this.

Best of the rest:

5* @ 1525 *batteries not included (1987) ****

ITV3 @ 1545 The Wizard of Oz (1939) *****

TCM @ 1645 Bullitt (1968) ****

ITV1 @ 2000 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) ****

ITV2 @ 2100 Bridesmaids (2011) ***

W @ 2100 The Beach (2000) ****

Film4 @ 2100 Men in Black 3 (2012) ***

TCM @ 2100 Black Hawk Down (2001) ****

Sky1 @ 2200 Minority Report (2002) *****

Syfy @ 2250 Serenity (2005) ****

ITV1 @ 2300 The Mask (1994) ****

Spike @ 2305 Enter the Dragon (1973) ****

C4 @ 2320 Speed (1994) ****

ITV4 @ 0005 The Dirty Dozen (1967) ****

TCM @ 0000 Goodfellas (1990) *****

Film4 @ 0115 Taxi Driver (1976) *****

NEW YEARS EVE SUNDAY 31st DECEMBER

HOT PICKS!

C5 @ 1700 The Lego Movie (2014) ****

Hilarious, heartfelt a wonderful story of the underdog reaching his true potential. It's a machine gun gag reel of monstrous proportions, you will struggle to keep up from laugh to laugh. Excellently visualised - albeit quite frenetic - Lord and Miller have created something that instead of being an overly long toy advertisement - is a re-watchable comedy classic. This is NOT just for kids - it bridges the age gap amazingly and this should not be dismissed as a simple kids film. Get it on your watch list. The Lego Movie is responsible for me shouting "SPACESHIP" whenever there is mention of a spaceship or in fact any situation involving hysteria. Its fallen short for me many times with strange sideways glances - but for fans of The Lego Movie - one of my favourite scenes is Spaceman redemption. I will continue to shout it until I'm old and grey. Awesome.

ITV1 @ 1950 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) *****

A very satisfying final act to one of the greatest film franchises ever. A suitably grand vision for this final chapter with spectacular action sequences. Everyone gets their moments here and all that troubles me now is how many different types of elaborate limited Blu ray box sets I’ll be wasting my money on… I already have 2!

Film4 @ 2335 An American Werewolf in London (1981) *****

It’s only in the last 7 years that I saw this film for the first time and I was concerned that I had missed the boat and it would be horrendously outdated, but I was pleasantly surprised. It barely shows its age at all!

The story begins with two American back packers on the remote moors of England that lose their way as they turn to a local village for help they find a rather unaccommodating group of villagers and they soon realize they are well and truly on their own. As they cross the moors they are attacked by a huge wolf like creature! The villagers appear to be covering up the true horrors of their encounter.

It has a real interesting mix of horror and comedy that is really quite subtle. The lighter moments offset the horror in a real complimentary way and the 80’s “moon” related soundtrack seemed rather odd to start with but adds yet another layer to the overall experience. Unlike today’s heavy reliance on CGI, director John Landis had to rely on physical effects and make up when putting together the transformation scene. It is an absolutely amazing job - every elongation of limbs and warping of body parts is done with amazing skill that looks very realistic and quite horrifying even to today’s standards.

Overall, the film is based on a very simple idea but is executed in a very accomplished way. If you haven’t seen this film, push it to the top of your to do list.

Best of the rest:

C4 @ 1355 We Bought a Zoo (2011) ***

Film4 @ 1420 Scrooged (1988) *****

C5 @ 1455 Groundhog Day (1993) *****

Syfy @ 1800 Waterworld (1995) ****

Film4 @ 1855 Home Alone (1990) *****

E4 @ 1900 I, Robot (2004) ****

5* @ 2100 There's Something About Mary (1998) ****

Film4 @ 2100 Kingsman: the Secret Service (2015) ****

TCM @ 2100 Goodfellas (1990) *****

ITV4 @ 2200 Total Recall (1990) *****

Sony @ 2305 A Few Good Men (1992) ****

TCM @ 2350 Airplane! (1980) *****

Film4 @ 0130 Quadrophenia (1979) ****

NEW YEARS DAY MONDAY 1st JANUARY

HOT PICKS!

ITV2 @ 1900 Uncle Buck (1989) ****

John Hughes has given us some fantastic 80’s films and here’s one of my favourites: Uncle Buck. John Candy plays Buck, who gets called in to look after his niece’s and nephew due to a family emergency. This unlikely Baby Sitter struggles with his new family role but it always ends in comedy results. It’s lovely, light-hearted, laugh out loud funny with some really memorable scenes - particularly the mole scene. John Candy is comedy gold and I just adore Amy Madigan as Buck’s girlfriend. Need a comedy to watch? Watch this.

Sony @ 0055 Sunshine (2007) *****

Don’t miss Danny Boyle’s splendid venture into the space Sci-Fi genre: Sunshine. I love this film. It pulls from so many influences from Science Fiction greats such as Alien, 2001, and even Event Horizon. The film is set 50 years in the future, a team of astronauts are sent on a mission to reignite the dying sun. They are Earth’s last hope of survival.

Sunshine relies heavily on the quality of the cast to drive this through and they all do a sterling job. Particularly Cillian Murphy and Chris Evans. They all capture the essence of how 16 months cooped up in a confined space must make you feel. The mission takes a turn when they find the original lost ship from a failed mission in a decaying orbit around the sun. This is the beginning of a string of unfortunate and strange events that put not only their lives but their mission to save the world as well.

Boyle dishes out some seriously tense scenes and towards the end of the film it changes from Sci-Fi to Horror as certain things are revealed. Although not everyone welcomed these changes, I think they worked really well and it was a good twist ultimately carrying film to conclusion. Sunshine is a thrilling and very gripping Sci-Fi feast from a great British Director. A must see film.

Best of the rest:

ITV1 @ 0615 Flash Gordon (1980) ***

ITV1 @ 1310 Hugo (2011) ***

ITV3 @ 1315 The Wizard of Oz (1939) *****

Film4 @ 1435 Paddington (2014) ****

5* @ 1700 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) *****

ITV2 @ 1705 Despicable Me (2010) ***

C4 @ 1730 Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) ****

E4 @ 1900 Titanic (1997) ****

ITV1 @ 2000 Spectre (2015) ***

5* @ 2000 Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994) ****

Dave @ 2200 Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004) ****

Syfy @ 2200 The Thing (1982) *****

TCM @ 2310 Blade (1998) ***

TUESDAY 2nd JANUARY

HOT PICK!

Spike @ 2300 Fury (2014) ****

There are plenty of war films with the same old formula, and this film does follow a rather formulaic approach, but here we focus solely on a U.S. Sherman tank crew. Not since the amazing Kelly’s Heroes had I seen a film focus on these tanks. A history lesson in itself for the ignorant and uneducated - the Nazi Tiger tanks they are up against completely and utterly out gun them and with armour so strong - the Sherman’s found it extremely difficult to stop them. Comparatively this film is nothing like the almost light hearted, satirically barbed Kelly’s Heroes, here we have a film attempting to capture the realism of war, the death, the squalor and the sheer inhumanity. It does this very well.

It’s dark, rich colour palette and beautifully framed cinematography certainly keep your eyes glued to the screen. The poor Sherman crews did not have much hope. We are taken deep inside the belly of “Fury” the Sherman tank with crew of 5 led by Don “Wardaddy” Collier played by Brad Pitt. Never before have I seen such oddly perfect hair styling in a war zone since Clint Eastwood’s barnet in Where Eagles Dare.

The claustrophobia of the tank is captured really well but it also somehow creates space with every odd angle when we see times where this crew felt secure in their new found home. The performances are the icing on the cake here with everyone pulling out performances to be very proud of. Not a film that will survive a re-watch mainly down to its bleakness, but never the less a film I am very pleased to have seen.

Best of the rest:

Film4 @ 1445 Antz (1998) ****

Film4 @ 2100 Die Hard 2 (1990) ****

TCM @ 2100 Blade (1998) ***

WEDNESDAY 3rd JANUARY

HOT PICK!

Comedy @ 2100 21 Jump Street (2012) ****

I’m a difficult customer when it comes to comedy but 21 Jump Street hit all the right notes for my difficult tastes. What a great surprise this film was! The trailer looked a little silly, Channing Tatum has had a fair share of negative press, everyone is getting a bit fed up of Jonah Hill these days - it just seemed like a dud from the start. I was very wrong indeed - Even on repeat watches it still stands up really well. Tatum and Hill are a hilarious pairing and they bounce the equally great script around with great comedy timing. It has 100’s of quotable one liners but most importantly it’s all wrapped up with real heart.

THURSDAY 4th JANUARY

HOT PICKS!

Film4 @ 1245 Rango (2011) ****

An absolutely stunning animation. You can certainly see why this won an Oscar. It’s visually flawless. This clever Western is packed with references to the greats and still manages to deal an original and always entertaining animation. It’s thick with interesting characters driving the story, Rango packs an emotional punch. One for adults to enjoy that will also keep the kids entertained.

Film4 @ 2310 Stoker (2013) *****

Park Chan-Wook’s first English language film is a stunning success. Mysterious and beautiful - I was completely hooked to the story at each and every perfectly placed turn. The amazing visuals are nothing short of breath-taking. Chung-Hoon Chung’s eye for Photography cannot be matched and this film seriously showcases his talent. The films pace is refined, almost cautious, never rushing the audience, always delicate and thoughtful, and thanks to the fantastic central cast this very simply story always seems thick, lush and robust to the very end. Experiencing this at the cinema was fantastic and it immediately became one of my favourite films of the year. After then seeing all the average reviews and even some negative press I approached my Blu ray re-watch with baited breath. This was all the more rewarding the second time around. Now on multiple watches I just become more appreciative. The use of sound is fantastic and as important as the visuals. This really is a feast for the senses. It firmly stamped its mark as number 2 in my top films of 2013. I always just want to stay right there and watch it all over again.

Best of the rest:

5* @ 1600 *batteries not included (1987) ****

TCM @ 1630 The Cruel Sea (1952) ****

Film4 @ 1855 Men in Black 3 (2012) ***

ITV2 @ 2100 22 Jump Street (2014) ****

TCM @ 2300 Mad Max (1979) *****

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