The Pig Wears Prada

The Pig Wears Prada... and probably has a huge dry cleaning billThree quick things this morning.

1) Guess who feels like a little piggy after Thanksgiving? I was doing okay until divvying up leftovers for guests and kept finding errant pieces of pie that just couldn't fit into tupperware that had to be eaten right then and there. By me. Couldn't let the whip cream go bad either.

poll by twiigs.com

2) Did anyone watch "A Very Gaga Thankgiving"?  Her voice sounded tremendous and the costumes were restrained elegant weirdness instead of standard not-ready-to-wear weirdness (points for mixing it up) but otherwise blech. Every song became a ballad (not every song should be a ballad) and almost no verse could be sung through without multiple stops for self-regarding monologues. The show felt like it lasted 3 hours and Gaga was jumping all kinds of sharks named Self-Seriousness and Absence of Perspective. Let us get this straight Gaga, you felt bullied at school because you a) had to sit at a table that wasn't the cool table off to side with your friends (ewww. who would ever want to eat with their friends?! Gross) and b) because people ridiculed your hair for being too beautiful? Unnhhnh.... 

3) For my weekly column @ Towleroad I've listed 10 great things about this particular Thanksgiving weekend and your movie options at home or at the multiplex. The Muppets got a general spot but after the fact I wished I'd mentioned that Miss Piggy looks hot in Prada but Emily Blunt's cameo only made me wish she'd find another role as worthy of her comic talents as the one she had in The Devil Wears Prada. 

Now it is time to eat breakfast. Breakfast called "Pie".

Happy Turkey (and Muppets) Day

Marilyn Monroe and TurkeyWe've been watching the Macy's Parade while cleaning / cooking and there has literally yet to be a musical number from Broadway that's NOT movie-based as I type this. Should've live-blogged and talked Sister Act, Spider-Man, Priscilla, How To Succeed, Newsies and more... Broadway is basically movies on stage now, with a special emphasis on 1990s comedies.

Meanwhile at the multiplex, it won't just be turkeys slaughtered for today's festivities. In Hollywood's infinite wisdom, three showbiz-centric movies for adults must open simultaneously (The Artist, My Week With Marilyn, Hugo) and three movies children might like (Hugo, The Muppets, Arthur Christmas ...two of which are obviously for adults) must open in direct competition as well. There probably won't be enough dollars to go around which is sad because the same ticket buyer might well like all of those movies. On balance, this is an absurdly high quality crop, not one, well, turkey in the batch [Disclaimer: Arthur Christmas is the only one I haven't seen but I hear good things.] 

If all five of those newly released options weren't enough, Oscar maniacs can also sample The Descendants (expanding) and, in NY & LA, A Dangerous Method and Rampart. In case you haven't been keeping up and since we're hosting a big dinner, here are past thoughts...

THE ARTIST ~ review | all posts | best pic race | interviews soon
MY WEEK WITH MARILYN review | more Marilyn on the way
HUGO  ~ the filmmakers speak | work in progress thoughts |  all 
A DANGEROUS METHOD ~ several reviews from our team
RAMPART - all posts | best actor race 

As for THE MUPPETS... I didn't have time to review the new film before guests started arriving but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I found it quite uneven even within both of the narratives. The Muppet reunion brand relaunch is what I came to see and the nostalgia factor there worked like a charm. But individual scenes didn't always sparkle and I wanted more funny performances and less story beats. Meanwhile the musical comedy factor seemed to fall mostly to the Jason Segel / Amy Adams / "Walter" coming-of-age storyline which I liked much more than I was expecting to -- great sight gags in the beginning and Amy Adams could not be a better fit for the Muppet world -- until I didn't. By the time the three of them met The Muppets I was over it because... THE MUPPETS; stop distracting me from them! So my reaction was all over the place and far more colored by my own childhood fixations rather than the movie itself. But if you grew up loving The Muppets it's a total must-see. I recently rented the DVDs of the original series and it is crazy enjoyable -- like giddy-smile making -- just as we all remember. In fact, after watching three episodes back to back I think TV needs a relaunch of The Muppet Show more than the movies need the muppets. Variety shows are sort of back given the plethora of performance competitions but the variety has gone out of them as they are the same thing over and over again, whether that's contemporary pop karaoke or dancing.

One of the new songs "Life's a Happy Song" (Bret McKenzie --yay!) is a total charmer and should give the felt fuzzy group their fourth music-related Oscar nomination (the first three films all won one nomination in Song or Score categories.)

Do your Thanksgiving plans include movies? Have you seen The Muppets yet?

Curio: Cinema Carvings

Alexa here.  Every Halloween I hope to carve a cool pop culture pumpkin, but inertia usually takes over (although this year I was pretty happy with my Jack-o'-Louis C.K.). Here are some of my favorite cinematic jack-o'-lanterns that have inspired me over the last few years. I'm still waiting for someone to step up and create a great Black Swan or Rosemary Woodhouse, though.

Jack-o'-Lecter!
Pan's Labyrinth pumpkins, seen here and here.

A strong Spielbergian carving, seen here.

Click for more, including Miyazaki, Hitchock and Anton Chigurh...

Click to read more ...

Curio: Horror Movie Posters by Stephanie and Mark Welser

Alexa here. One of my favorite ways to decorate for Halloween is by throwing up a few great horror movie posters. I'm no longer goth enough to have them up all year long (although things were a bit different in the 90s). I've been looking to invest in a few by indie designers, and I'll probably start with Stephanie and Mark Welser.  They make great Saul Bass-inspired designs for some horror classics (and some not-so-classics). You can buy prints here, at a totally reasonable $20 each!

Click for more, including Phantasm and Zombieland...

Click to read more ...

"New Year's Eve" Countdown...

In 45 days Gary Marshall's all star New Year's Eve opens. We haven't talked about it at all. So now a quick correction. A spontaneous train-of-thought light reading of the film's poster, left-to-right / top-to-bottom

"from the director of Pretty Woman" uh, not so much a selling point with me but ooooh pictures...

Hey Halle. Are you wearing scrubs?... Mr. Demi...  "The Jessicas" all seem to be fading career-wise right? Weren't there three of them?... ♫ ohhwhooaaa we're ½way there-ere ooohwhoa livin' on a prayer ♪... STOP MAKING BAD MOVIES. JESUS [related]...

Carrie Bradshaw Back in The City.... who? ohright. Little Miss Sunshine ... Ugh, why must I be reminded me of the existence of Crash?... isn't it weird how people wanted her to win the Emmy so bad back when Sue Sylvester was unstoppable but then only 12 months later it was all about Claire Dunphy?... YES but why this movie, 'chelle, whyyyyyyyyyyyy?...

NO... Remember when he played whatshername's gay fiance in Spring Break? That movie is so fun-derrated.... Hector Elizondo [a.k.a Garry Marshall's fav' actor. Seriously he's in, like, all of them] ... SEXY GERMAN ALERT ... zzz...

<--- No thanks. It gives me a headache...
<--- Also gives me a headache...
omg I didn't recognize her. Who photoshopped these headshots? But they'll be no mistaking it's her once she's singing. Yay!... the luckiest boy in the world as he gets the movie's best co-star all to himself. Also I have such a hard time spelling his name. I don't know why but I'm always typing Ephron or Epfron or Zach Efron ...  which two is this? *smooch* 

... "Let the Countdown Begin". No, we're not going to be counting down, Garry. But yeah, we'll see your movie. You tricked us into it like so:

 Michelle Pfeiffer Til Schweiger Hilary Swank Robert DeNiro Sarah Jessica Parker Sofia Vergara