Ed's Review Dot Com

The Jim Henson Company, Lifetime,

Mary Steenburgen, Jay Harrington, Genevieve Buechner, Graham Verchere, Reese Alexander, Ludacris

Ron Emmerson (Jay Harrington) and his two children (Genevieve Buechner, Graham Verchere) are off to visit Aunt Cly (Mary Steenburgen) in her home near the forest in Turkey Hollow. Much to the kid’s chagrin, there is no technology there, so their tablets and cell phones are basically useless, the children try to make the best of their visit. But when they hear the legend of the Howling Hoodoo, and how their Uncle believed in this monster, the kids decide to try to find it and prove their Uncle was correct. Unfortunately the children discover more than they bargained for.

This holiday story from Disney who now owns Jim Henson is full of odd looking characters like all Jim Henson stories. It is really a kids show, but it’s one that the whole family can enjoy together. There is action and suspense, a great villain, and some wicked but bumbling henchmen. It’s a great holiday story full of fun with action and suspense. But as in all great stories, especially holiday stories, good and truth triumph after all. This is a new movie for 2015 that is quite out of the ordinary. More of a fairy tale with magic and mystery, this is a lot like some of the great classic stories from bygone days. This is one you can watch with the kids, and so keep an eye out for it on Lifetime who brought it to us. Who would have thought that Jim Henson could bring us such a magical adventure this many years after he was gone. Disney has done a good job of keeping his vision alive. This is one of the must see films of the season.

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Walt Disney Pictures, 21 Laps Entertainment, The Jim Henson Company,

Jennifer Garner, Steve Carell, Bella Thorne, Jennifer Coolidge, Megan Mullally

Alexander Cooper’s (Ed Oxenbould) day is starting out really awful. His birthday is coming, and everything is going wrong. When he gets the chance to make his birthday wish, he simply wishes the rest of the family could understand what a terrible day is like. It appears he has cursed his whole family on a very important day as his wish comes true. See, Alexander’s family doesn’t understand how hard it is to be a young boy today. His Dad, Ben (Steve Carell) is the ultimate optimist. Mom (Jennifer Garner) isn’t much better with her gung ho attitude. But today is an important day for everyone, and it’s going very, very, very badly for all of them. The family needs to pull together to get through this and life through till tomorrow.

This is a family film, and so it follows the line of dozens and dozens of other Disney live action films that go back to the 50’s and 60’s. Likewise, it’s based on a book, like a number of the other films of this genre. But that’s exactly how Walt did it too. He’d find a book that his daughters loved and made it into a film. With this film, you get exactly what you would expect which burns up a lot of people. There are many haters out there. This is not “American Pie” or “Superbad” and it never tries to be. It’s been a good while since we’ve had a good family film like this, and with the appearance of Steve Carell as the Disney family Dad, he’s not bad at all at it. He does his best to be a cool guy, but the bumbling Michael Scott character comes out when he’s trying his best, but everything is literally burning down around him. I thought it was really funny, in a PG sort of way that is appropriate for youngsters, especially boys. There are lots of good pre-teen girl movies out there, but the boys typically get either cartoon superheroes or sports movies, which are good in their own right, but it’s nice to see a family togetherness movie aimed at boys. So if your kids haven’t seen it, it’s out on DVD now, so be sure to spend an evening and watch it with them. It’s not spectacular cinema and special effect explosions, but it’s got a lot of childish humor and it really is a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day!

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National Broadcasting Company (NBC), The Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson Productions,

Steve Whitmire, Dave Goltz, Bill Baretta, Eric Jacobson, David Arquette, Joan Cusack, Matthew Lilliard, William H Macy, Whoppee Goldberg

On Christmas Eve we find Kermit very depressed. He’s lost everything and the famous Muppet Theater is about to be foreclosed upon. An angel, Daniel (David Arquette), upon watching the sad sight, petitions his boss, God? (Whoppee Goldberg) to send someone to interfere and help Kermit feel better. Then via flashback we see the circumstances unfold as to how and why the theater was lost.

I am not sure how I have never seen this movie before. It’s from 2002, so this was a long time ago, but I never have. It seems they recycled the plot in many ways for the most recent film, “The Muppets”. There are many similarities, but this is much earlier in the Muppet’s career, so this would have happened long before the last movie. As in all Muppet films, this one has tons of cameo appearances, and so as not to spoil them, I’ll leave it to you to find them while watching the movie. This is a pretty good Mupett film. It’s nowhere to the level of A Muppet Christmas Carol which is an unbelievably good film, but this is strong, standard Muppet fare. It’s fairly predictable, but the outcome is not the goal. The goal is the journey, as they say, and the snappy one liners, music, and big stage productions, at which the Muppet’s have always excelled. The kids will love this, but so will the parents, and so I feel this is a fabulous family Christmas film, and though you probably won’t want to repeat it over and over like some classics, if you haven’t seen it, it’s sure to be a fun experience.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

The Jim Henson Company, Jim Henson Productions, Walt Disney Pictures

Michael Caine, Dave Goetz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Frank Oz, David Rudman, Donald Austen, Jessica Fox, Robert Tygner, Steve Mackintosh, Meredith Braun, Robin Weaver, Raymond Coulthard, Russell martin, Theo Sanders

Charles Dickens (The Great Gonzo, aka. Dave Goetz) narrates and hosts us to view the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Caine) who is a miserly old fellow who abuses his lone employee Bob Cratchit (Kermit the Frog, aka. Steve Witmire).   The ghost of his former partners,  the Marley Brothers (Statler and Waldorf, aka. Jerry Nelson and Dave Goelz) who warn him of what will happen if he doesn’t change his ways.  Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future who touch his heart to help him realize the wrongs he has done.

This is such a wonderful version of A Christmas Carol.  This one is part life performance and part puppetry of Jim Henson’s Muppets.  This is typical in Muppet performances where the line between real and unreal is often blurred beyond recognition.  Additionally the often break the 4th wall with the audience and talk directly to the audience.  This causes some of the funniest moments in the film.  The choice of the old hecklers Statler and Waldorf to play the Marley Brothers is brilliant.  Most of the Muppets appear in one role or another throughout the film.  They treat the story with great respect, and it is very close to the original story during all the fun and chaos.  Some of the songs in this movie have stayed with me through all these years, and I love to hear them every Christmas when I pull out the old VHS and watch this one once again.  The patter between Mr. and Mrs. Cratchit (Kermit and Miss Piggy) and the kids is great, and who could play Fezziwig better than Fozzie Bear?   This is just about a perfect retelling of the story and one of my very favorites.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog