The Muppets

Expectations:
I absolutely love The Muppets! I spent like a billion hours, as a child, watching Muppets Treasure Island over and over and over again. To be honest, I never thought there would be a large renewal of interest in The Muppets. The world revolves around digital everything, and Pixar has redefined PG animation. Who would have thought that a bunch of puppets could pull in almost thirty million dollars on opening weekend? Certainly not me. Regardless of my surprise, I had great expectations for The Muppets. Jason Segel is one of the funniest men alive, and Kermit is one of the wisest. That combo is destined for success, as far as I am concerned. So I figured it was "time to see The Muppets".....

Plot:
Well, amazingly enough, the storyline for the new Muppets was quite good. Segel did a great job of using the classic Muppet storylines, characters, and themes. Obviously, it is much easier to make a remake with puppets rather than people. You don't have to worry about finding the right actor. You just take them out of the closet and turn a camera on. The Muppets were trying to get back together, after having all gone their separate ways. It was very realistic. I'm just glad they didn't start at the beginning or just act like there was never any kind of break or anything. It was sort of goofy and kidsy, but that's what you have to expect with a show about puppets.

Best Scene: The singing of "Rainbow Connection" will make anybody smile.
Characters:
Gary, played by Jason Segel, and his brother Walter, voiced by Peter Linz, are the main characters in the story. The two head off to Hollywood with two very different intentions. Walter eventually sets the whole plot into motion, and his character was great in the lead. You really wanted his wishes to come true, even though he was only a puppet. Segel certainly wasn't his normal kind of funny, which absolutely dissapointed me. I know that he tends to be crude, but I believe they could have made him more funny and less serious/dorky, even without losing the PG rating. Amy Adams was a little annoying as the female lead, but that is her job. There were multiple actors who popped in for a scene or two, making for a very nice surprise. It's sort of hard to go wrong with puppets.

Best Character: I thought that what they did with Animal (voiced by Eric Jacobson) was absolutely brilliant. He was sort of recovering from his past, which certainly made for the most interesting plotline for any of the puppets.

Worst Character: I will never EVER say that Kermit the frog is the worst character in anything, but I really hated his storyline in this new Muppets movie. They made Kermit look weak and emotional, which is absolutely false. He is supposed to be the one who has it all together!!! You just don't know how much this pissed me off!

Conclusion:
I honestly did not care for this movie. Everybody I talk to says how much they loved it, which probably means that none of you will agree with me. Maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe I just loved Arthur Christmas too much to appreciate anything soon after. Nevertheless, that's my opinion. While I do like the traditional Muppet toons, I usually dislike movies with a lot of music worked into the story. The music certainly could have been the reason why I didn't fully appreciate the movie. I really didn't care for any moment when humans were on screen. The puppets were fantastic, but Segel and Adams just got in the way most of the time. Now that I have vented, I will give The Muppets 2.47 out of 5 stars.

Arthur Christmas

Expectations:
While I do love Christmas and animation, I must admit that I was not impressed by the trailer for Arthur Christmas. There were just really no laugh out loud moments in the scenes I had seen prior to watching the film, which had me a bit worried. If you haven't realized, 2011 has been a horrific year in the genre of animation, and I really expected Arthur Christmas to be yet another mediocre kids film. We've all seen movies that somehow involved Santa's son and his taking over the job. The storyline has been run into the ground. Nevertheless, I was curious of how funny Arthur would actually be and longing for another new Christmas movie. So I decided to watch Arthur Christmas...

Plot:
As I said in the intro, the story of Santa and his child/children is a bit old and over-used, but Arthur Christmas did a good job of at least making it interesting. Unfortunately, the movie was a bit predictable, but it made up for its predictability in its hilarity. You can't expect animation to have many great plot twists, but funny is a requirement, particularly for children, and that's what Arthur did best. Along with the funny, Arthur Christmas also had a nice, deep story about Christmas and what it should mean to everyone. Also, it was the most believable explanation of Santa Clause I have ever heard. Using one simple thing, they made the story simple, and that thing was technology. This is the Santa story I want to tell my child one day, mostly because it's almost flawless! I think, for you parent's information, the comedy was a bit grown-up. It certainly wasn't vulgar, just probably difficult for really small children to understand.

Best Scene: Basically any scene with an elf in it.

Characters:
The coolest aspect of the entire film was undoubtedly the fact that everybody had a Scottish accent. Now, this may seem a bit funny for the main characters, but the Scottish elves are really what made the difference I believe. Arthur, voiced by James McAvoy, was very goofy and likable. His brother Steve, voiced by Hugh Laurie, was probably the least evil villain in the history of animation. While he certainly was causing the trouble, he never did that greatly bad deed like most animated villains tend to do. I really liked that he was not looked at as an awful person. I think, for the kids that do see the film, there will be a sort of "family should always be loved" feel about Steve, which is very good! Grandsanta, voiced by Bill Nighy, was also freakin hilarious as an old geezer who didn't like technology. He ended up teaching a valuable lesson too! There were really no bad characters in the entire movie, which is very very rare.

Best Character: Bryony, voiced by Ashley Jensen, was certainly the coolest Scottish elf of them all. I really loved how funny the elves were and how many of them there were. Bryony was a gift wrapping expert, and her abilities came in handy as the story went along.

Conclusion:
My expectations of Arthur Christmas were absolutely shattered! This film was amazing, certainly taking the best animated picture of the year, in my book at least. I haven't laughed at a movie this much in a while, and I certainly enjoy laughing. Although I did know the entire storyline after five minutes of watching, I never lost interest. Even with the predictable storyline, the filmmakers did a good job of giving the story a nice, uplifting message that is certainly needed during the holiday season. After thinking about it, I will probably be picking this one up on DVD when it hits stores next year. Even if you don't like Christmas or animation or Scottish people, I promise that you will laugh your butt off at this movie. I give Arthur Christmas 4.01 out of 5 stars and wish you a Very Merry Christmas!

A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas

Expectations:
I don't know about you, but I love Harold and Kumar. They are undoubtedly the funniest potheads, this side of Cheech and Chong. But, even more than that, I freakin love Christmas movies. It is certainly a weakness of mine. Now, what could make Harold and Kumar better than a little bit of Christmas cheer? The answer: a little bit of dirty, Christmas hilarity. As I said, I do love these guys, but I was a little skeptical of how far they could really take the series of films. Sure, people watch, but Harold and Kumar aren't as important to society as people like The Hangover guys. Nevertheless, they press forward, using a brilliantly creative theme.... CHRISTMAS!!! I didn't expect this movie to be the greatest of all time, but I really wanted to see how much they could pick at traditional Christmas movies and 3D.

Plot:
The biggest surprise of the entire movie was the fact that there actually was a plot! If my blog would have existed when the first two films hit theaters, this entire section would be empty. The first two films were filled with random, funny, dope-smoking moments that somehow became a movie. This film actually taught a lesson: don't forget the people who mean the most to you in your life. You might would expect this from any other Christmas film, considering the holiday season brings families and friends together, but you wouldn't expect that to coincide with these crazy characters. Regardless, it happened, and I was shocked. Of course, there were many jokes that would offend sensitive Christmas lovers. Also, make sure that you don't watch this film with your kids or parents.

Best Scene: Harold shoots Santa Clause (Richard Riehle) out of the sky. That was pretty funny. But, knowing that was in the previews, I don't want to discourage you. There were many other funny parts that the trailer doesn't show.

Characters:
The characters obviously drive the plot along, with their name being in the title and all. Harold (John Cho) has finally grown up and become more mature, but Kumar (Kal Penn) continues to struggle with his life. The two have been separated, and a little Christmas magic reunites them in an unpeaceful way. The pair, as usual, encounter a few crazy individuals along the way. Neil Patrick Harris is crazy as himself, and both Harold and Kumar have replaced one another with new friends Todd (Tom Lennon) and Adrian (Amir Blumenfeld), who turn out to be rather hilarious. Overall, the cast was great and funny.

Best Character: Ava, who was Todd's baby daughter, was undoubtedly the funniest character in the movie. Played by Ashley, Chloe, and Hannah Cross, Ava was always getting into some sort of illegal substance. While this may sound a bit rough, it is. But it's freakin hilarious!

Worst Character: Kenneth Park, played by Bobby Lee, was the most useless addition to the cast, hence his landing in the worst character spot. You might know him as the guy in the trailer that points at the screen and says, "It's gonna be amazing!" That's about all he does.

Conclusion:
I was very pleased. I think the addition of a plot really helped this movie avoid being just stupid-funny, not that it didn't have those qualities. Also, the 3D was rather cool at times. It did what 3D is supposed to do, by jumping out at the screen and having stuff fly at your face. If I wanted to look at a person walk around in 3D, I would just go to the mall. The characters were hilarious as usual, and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a fourth installment in the Harold and Kumar series. It was a nice start to the Holiday movie season. I give A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas 2.81 out of 5 stars and ask you to be patient, as Arthur Christmas is on its way!