The Pop Life panel, Constantine chef Craig Harding, NYC’s Dirt Candy chef Amanda Cohen and Carnival Eats and The Bachelorette Canada host Noah Cappe, share how they are breaking rules in the culinary industry and thriving.
Watch the whole thing HERE!
The Muppets came bounding back into theatres in 2011 with a sweet movie starring humans Jason Segel and Amy Adams that blended the right amount of nostalgia with just enough corny jokes to make it one of the year’s frothiest confections.
The new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations, “Muppets Most Wanted,” is being billed as a sequel to that film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman.
It’s more akin to “The Great Muppet Caper” than Segel’s (who did not return for this film) vision.
The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.”
What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
The movie’s opening song, “Sequel,” is a tongue and cheek tune that melodically states, “everybody knows sequels are never as good.” Maybe so, but since this doesn’t feel like a sequel it’s hard to compare it to the last film.
The puns are back—“It’s not easy being mean,” says Constantine—and so are the tunes from Academy Award-winning songwriter Bret McKenzie and all the characters you know and love, but the movie feels different.
Whereas Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have.
The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin.
Still, the Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.”
By Richard Crouse & Steve Gow – Reel Guys Metro Canada
SYNOPSIS: The story picks up one second after the last one ended. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang are on Hollywood Boulevard after their big comeback, wondering what to do next. A meeting with talent agent Dominic Badguy (Ricky Gervais) seems to provide an answer. Against Kermit’s best judgment the Muppets accept Badguy’s offer of a European tour to open in “the world capitol of comedy, Berlin, Germany.” What they don’t know is that Badguy is an associate of Constantine, the planet’s most notorious criminal and a dead ringer for Kermit. The evil plan is to replace Kermit with Constantine, and use the Muppets as a cover for an ingenious plan to steal the Crown Jewels.
STAR RATINGS:
Richard: 3 Stars
Steve: 3 Stars
Richard: Steve, the new film from Jim Henson’s felt and fur creations is being billed as a sequel to the 2011 Jason Segel Muppets film, but it isn’t really. It’s more a return to the Muppet movies of old, packed to the gills with show biz in jokes, puns, songs and even a Swedish Chef homage to Ingmar Bergman. It’s more akin to The Great Muppet Caper than the most recent movie. Segel’s Muppet movie played heartstrings like Eric Clapton strums the blues, “Muppets Most Wanted” has more of an edge. Well, as much of an edge as a movie starring Kermit and Miss Piggy could have. Did you sense that?
Steve: I don’t know if edge is quite the word I’d use to describe it. It’s definitely got darker elements but unfortunately, the gimmicky plot of replacing Kermit with an evil doppelganger felt forced and less natural than Segel’s earnest version. Of course even the filmmakers were aware of that and smartly addressed the impossible expectation of sequels in the opening number. That kind of self-consciousness worked better in the last movie but I certainly thought the songs in Muppets Most Wanted surpassed the 2011 film. We even get to hear Ricky Gervais sing!
RC: I’m not sure I agree. The human characters—notably Gervais, Tina Fey as Nadya, a lusty Russian prison guard and Ty Burrell as an outrageous Interpol agent—are just as broad as the puppets which provides some laughs, but the emotional impact is blunted. To place it in an old Hollywood context, it’s more the slapstick of Abbott and Costello than the restrained, sweet comedy of Charlie Chaplin. I liked Segel’s take on the sweetness of the Muppets, but having said that, this movie made me laugh.
SG: It’s true. It is fairly funny all the way through. It’s probably slightly unfair to measure this film against its predecessors anyhow – even if it does lack some of the pure warmth of Segel’s. And it was fun to see all the talent showing up in clever cameo appearances – especially Ray Liotta and Danny Trejo as prisoners-turned-aspiring showmen. However, even the sheer bulk of celebrities feels slightly distracting. They should just let the Muppets do the work.
RC: I agree. The Muppets bring a good deal of goodwill with them and the movie shines brighter as a result. It’s hard not to giggle at the gags but an exchange between Fozzie and Walter hits a bit too close to an uncomfortable plot truth. “Looks like he’s planning some kind of heist bit,” Fozzie says of Constantine. “I hope not,” replies Walter, “they never work.” That’s a gag, this one works, but because of the Muppets, not because of the human stars.
SG: In the end, the fans that are going to pay to see Muppets Most Wanted will already have a good idea what they’re in for. Besides, as that aforementioned opening musical number states, “everyone knows the sequel’s not quite as good.”
Every ten years or so Keanu Reeves makes a movie where he battles the devil. In 1997 he starred in The Devil’s Advocate in which he played a lawyer employed by Lucifer and now in Constantine he plays the title character, a chain-smoking supernatural detective who patrols the border between heaven and hell in an adaptation of the Hellblazer comics. Doomed to hell when he dies for a mortal sin he committed as a young man he battles demons on earth to earn his way into heaven.
I was a little confused by the movie’s mumbo-jumbo mythology, and I don’t think I was alone. Keanu has kind of a blank look on his face throughout the film that might imply that he didn’t really get it either. For a movie that is about large concepts like good and evil the film seems a little restrained—the action sequences never really take off; much of the CGI is video game fake and the occasional funny line seems out of place.
