Two Movies in Four Days

I would be remiss if I did not mention that over the Thanksgiving holiday I went to see two movies. On Wednesday I took the kids to see “Hugo,” which, as you all know, I really wanted to see. I had been reading the book each night with the kids and they were as excited as I was as we shuffled into the theater on its first day of release in the theaters.

People, that movie did NOT disappoint. It was absolutely amazing. Martin Scorcese did an amazing job with this film. It’s breathtaking and gorgeous and lovely. The adjectives I could use are all superlative – enchanting, delightful, fantastical, nostalgic. From the opening shot to the final scene, I was entranced.

The kids were, too. At some point Cootiegirl turned to me and said, “Mama, I love this movie.”

While Scorcese did change a few things, they were modest changes. A character was removed, one character was enhanced, and one situation with the kids was removed. Other than that, it was spot on and I can’t wait to buy this movie on Blu-Ray.

Let me add that the 3-D effects were the best I’ve ever seen. One thing I hate about 3-D movies are the “let’s throw a ball at the camera” type of 3-D effects. They are cheese and annoying. However, Scorcese’s 3-D venture merely enhanced lovely scenery. A scene in which we look down a clock’s pendulum into the base of the clock is spectacular in its 3-D beauty. So simple, and yet so perfect.

I easily give this movie 4 croissants out of four. Easily my favorite film of the year.

Now, the second movie we saw was “The Muppets.” I’m a huge fan of “The Muppet Movie” (which came out in 1979 when I was ten years old) and I know how much Jason Segel loves the Muppets, too. So I had little doubt that this would be a great movie. And it was! It had me from “Life is a Happy Song” and I admit that I had tears well up in my eyes when a certain song started playing about 2/3rds of the way through the movie.

I loved every song, I laughed at all the jokes, and I enjoyed all the cameos. Not only that, but I am in complete agreement with Adam Bonin’s Unified Muppet Theory and how this new movie fits into the Muppet timeline. Supposedly Frank Oz left the production of this movie because he disagreed with how the movie was going – but he obviously left too soon and really missed out on a wonderful opportunity to be part of something special.

Upon arriving home I promptly added 3-4 discs of “The Muppet Show” to my Netflix list, and we also watched part of “The Muppet Christmas Carol” which has now been demoted to my third favorite Muppet movie of all time. “Muppet Movie” still rules, but “The Muppets” is a close second and “Carol” a fantastic choice for third.

3 1/2 banjos out of four. I take away 1/2 a banjo because it did get a little slow about halfway through the movie, but fortunately it still held me in it’s thrall and I loved it.

All in all, two excellent movies that I highly recommend you go see, if you haven’t already.