A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa
Review: The newest of the movies we watched, this is a fairly fun bit of hokum. Kermit and the gang have to get a few undelivered letters to Santa on Christmas eve as the post office is closed. Wackiness ensues.
Seriously, that’s the story. That’s it. There is nothing else to see here and cue an excuse for a series of cameos and musical numbers. But personally I have no problem with that. With some fairly recognisable faces cropping up and a frankly movie stealing performance from Nathan Lane these make the film watchable enough. As an aside, a little game I’ve started playing when ever I see Jane Krakowski in something these days is pretending she’s actually Jenna Maroney, the actress she plays in 30 Rock, playing the character in the movie I’m currently watching. You know, now that I’m typing that I’m not sure it’s such a cool thing…
So anyway, the cameos are fun, how about the songs? Not to bad I suppose. I don’t expect another ‘Rainbow Connection’ anytime soon, but I’d like to at least be able to hum them to myself the next day. Other than ‘My Best Christmas Yet’ the songs are just a little to forgettable. The only one that really sticks out is actually the ‘miming’ the Muppets do to ‘Things we said Today’, which runs over the closing credits, as does a bunch of ‘gaff’ takes. It seems that Kermit and Co. have been taking lessons from Jacki Chan because we get to see them fluffing lines, missing cues and generally just messing about a bit. Which is a whole heap of fun. It’s quite obvious that the performers are having an absolute blast here and love their work and the characters they are creating. Considering it’s the Muppets, that is only as it should be.
The writing is nice, with some great one liners and fun word play. I like this movie, there just isn’t a whole lot I think I can say about it other than it’s enjoyable.
Year of Release: 2008
Country of Origin: US
Studio: NBC
Running Time: 80 min
Aditional Information: Made for TV
Director: Kirk R. Thatcher
Producer: Anthony Katagas, Martin G. Baker
Screenplay: Hugh Fink, Andrew Samson, Scott Ganz, Paul Williams
Photography: Luke Geissbuhler
Music: Chris Casewell, Paul Williams
Cast: The Muppets, Uma Thurman, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin, Madison Pettis
Film Links:
IMDB
Amazon.co.uk
Seriously, that’s the story. That’s it. There is nothing else to see here and cue an excuse for a series of cameos and musical numbers. But personally I have no problem with that. With some fairly recognisable faces cropping up and a frankly movie stealing performance from Nathan Lane these make the film watchable enough. As an aside, a little game I’ve started playing when ever I see Jane Krakowski in something these days is pretending she’s actually Jenna Maroney, the actress she plays in 30 Rock, playing the character in the movie I’m currently watching. You know, now that I’m typing that I’m not sure it’s such a cool thing…
So anyway, the cameos are fun, how about the songs? Not to bad I suppose. I don’t expect another ‘Rainbow Connection’ anytime soon, but I’d like to at least be able to hum them to myself the next day. Other than ‘My Best Christmas Yet’ the songs are just a little to forgettable. The only one that really sticks out is actually the ‘miming’ the Muppets do to ‘Things we said Today’, which runs over the closing credits, as does a bunch of ‘gaff’ takes. It seems that Kermit and Co. have been taking lessons from Jacki Chan because we get to see them fluffing lines, missing cues and generally just messing about a bit. Which is a whole heap of fun. It’s quite obvious that the performers are having an absolute blast here and love their work and the characters they are creating. Considering it’s the Muppets, that is only as it should be.
The writing is nice, with some great one liners and fun word play. I like this movie, there just isn’t a whole lot I think I can say about it other than it’s enjoyable.
Year of Release: 2008
Country of Origin: US
Studio: NBC
Running Time: 80 min
Aditional Information: Made for TV
Director: Kirk R. Thatcher
Producer: Anthony Katagas, Martin G. Baker
Screenplay: Hugh Fink, Andrew Samson, Scott Ganz, Paul Williams
Photography: Luke Geissbuhler
Music: Chris Casewell, Paul Williams
Cast: The Muppets, Uma Thurman, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, Jesse L. Martin, Madison Pettis
Film Links:
IMDB
Amazon.co.uk