the reason Michael Caine and Tim Curry are so good in their respective Muppet movies is that Michael Caine treats the Muppets as fellow actors, and Tim Curry treats himself as a fellow Muppet
It’s really sad Tim Curry had a stroke.
He was always a great villain even in the cheesiest roles
The Three Musketeers is basically unwatchable without Tim Curry hamming it up in a cape.
The lead actors are all terrible.
If I’m not mistaken, he reads audio books! Unless those are all pre-stroke as well. He is, however, comfortable making public appearances again, so that’s pretty good too, at least.
He was even good on TV as Nigel St. Nigel.
It took me until I saw that guy on tiktok who does a Nigel impression to learn that Tim Curry was the voice
Edit: So I misunderstood this comment and came to the wrong conclusion. I thought they were talking about Nigel Thornberry from Eliza and the Thornberry’s
You know that’s right!
This is a powerful observation.
Man… I love this description so much, like a glimpse into the intellectual processes that go into the acting on screen, in best case scenarios like this one - top actors surrounded by sock puppets - there are crucial and consistent choices to be made.
It’s like what they say about dogs and cats.
Dogs see themselves as fellow humans.
Cats see humans as fellow cats.I wish the “top serious actors being in Muppet films” continued to be some kind of badge of honor. (Kinda like how getting a Weird Al cover means you’re officially big time).
C’mon I wanna see Muppet shenanigans with Liam Neeson, Hugh Jackman, Ryan Reynolds! There should’ve been one with Alan Rickman!
I’m aware I’m missing a ton of talented names and I’m quite impressed I remembered those off the top of my head, but you get my drift lol.
However, in most cases, Curry and coCaine will probably send you to the nearest bathroom.
So close. It should’ve been Curry and My Cocaine.
The Muppet Christmas Carol is the best film version of A Christmas Carol. I will gladly die on this hill.
The only way you die on that hill is from crushing as we are all crowded on there with you.
Hell, I picked up the book last year and had forgotten that Marley was a single (former) partner, not two brothers.
Must have been a typo in the book.
I work in a hospital and sometimes people have these air pumps on their legs that prevent blood clots. I often joke when disconnecting them, “We have to take those off so you aren’t dragging it behind you like Marley and Marley.”
Then i remember that’s not the original version.
I know people who worked on it.
I have a decade of experience in film and have worked on some cool shit and I logically know that just like what I have done at the end of the day it’s basically a job like the one that I am doing… But I envy them that one credit so fucking hard and will beg them for stories of what it was like as though I am a starry eyed child who wants to be them when I grow up.
I mean, isnt this a thing in comedy, where you can make the jokes of the one being funny have more impact by contrasting them with a super serious character? Scrooge is already a normally quite serious character, and the muppets are known for their antics, so leaving the comedy to them and acting serious makes a lot of sense.
Yea, the term is a “straight man” although this is slightly different in that the straight man is usually allowed to acknowledge the antics of the comedic characters, where-as Michael Caine treats the comedy as done straight.
I guess it would be a sub-category of straight man though, not a different thing to itself.
Fans of Brooklyn 99 will recognize Captain Holt as the straight man in the show, which is made hilarious since he is a gay man. He is the gay straight man.
RIP Andre Braugher
Even in season One he was more about being funny because of how “not comedic” he was. And that went out the window fairly fast and he was just as zany as everyone else. Ironically, in a lot of the earlier episodes, Peralta served the role of “the straight man” because the ambient level was so absurd.
A better Braugher example may be House where he mostly existed for House to bounce off of
Which is funny in itself because in previous Hugh Laurie roles, such as Blackadder and A Bit of Fry and Laurie, he was the funny guy to Atkinson and Fry’s straight men
Those “heist” episodes will always have a place in my heart.
Surely u go ou can’t be serious.
I’m sorry but it’s my favorite Michael Caine movie. Yes, yes there’s a plethora of amazing movies, but this one is the one I fell in love with as a child and it’s stuck with me now. He’s stellar in it too.
I still refuse to forgive the asshats at Disney for cutting the “When Love is Gone” scene from the DVD release.
They found the original cut and added it back in a couple years back. You can find the full 4k release in the special features on Disney Plus
I need to find an navally appropriated version. I have both, but the version with the restored song is a 4:3 VHS(?) transfer I think.
No, they found the original reels for the missing track, so it has been remastered to 4k widescreen. The whole alternate version with the song is in the special features on Disney Plus
Like this? 🏴☠️
Well shiver me timbers I didn’t expect it to be on the open seas so readily. May your grog be strong throughout the new year.
I need to find an navally appropriated version
Navally approved? Aye aye, captain!
If you’re not US-based you need a VPN though, for some reason the rest of the world isn’t allowed it.
I’ve seen this film every year since it was on vhs. Last night I took my kids to see it at the cinema and it still holds up. “When Love is Gone” was back in it’s rightful place and having not seen it for a good few years it’s such a welcome return. The pacing is totally messed up by it’s removal.
Seriously! Amazing song.
arse heart
The Man Who Would Be King is my favorite. Also my favorite Sean Connery movie. By Jove.
Right above Jaws 4. Those shorts are a knockout.
‘I’m going to play this movie like I’m working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I will never wink, I will never do anything Muppety. I am going to play Scrooge as if it is an utterly dramatic role and there are no puppets around me.’
I love how he mostly took the role so his daughter could see him in something, since she was too young to see most of his stuff, but he ended up really enjoying it and considered it one of his best roles.
It’s also great for the film because it contrasts with the muppets and makes them funnier.
Here is a really in depth article about why the Muppets version of the Christmas carol is the best video rendition and stays true to the book. https://www.brightwalldarkroom.com/2019/12/20/a-grand-yuletide-theory-the-muppet-christmas-carol-is-the-best-adaptation-of-a-christmas-carol/
Thank you so much for sharing this. Made my Christmas Eve morning brighter.
I enjoyed listening to the essay. Thank you.
Traffic collision. Accident implies there is nobody to blame
No luck catching them swans, then?
Just the one swan
Crusty jugglers
Thanks, policeman Angle.
Nobody makes that distinction aside from a cop or an insurance agent. You a cop?
Surely people don’t actually think he should have played the role all wackedy schmackedy, right?
So this is off topic, but why (well except maybe Scrooged) haven’t there been truly scary versions of “A Christmas Carol?” With the muppets you know what you to expect, and the version with Alistair Sim had a very frightening ghost of Jacob Marley. To me it cries out for a real fever dream treatment, make it as dark as possible. (Well except for the Tiny Tim scenes, obviously).
The original, and many adaptations, use morality to show the horror.nthere is no abject and outright scary shit except for the ghost of Marley who was deliberately scary to Scrooge. But even Marley was soon shown to be a miser in chains who is more grumpy than scary and there’s no way to fix that because he’s a ghost who has to tell Scrooge what’s happening. Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees are scary because they say nothing. Having a ghost give a message instantly undercuts the terror.
I disagree about your last point. Talking ghosts can absolutely be scary if it’s done right. The Exorcist demon is pretty famous for both frightening people and never shutting up, and demons and ghosts often serve similar purposes in horror movies. It could have easily been framed as a ghost possession instead of a demonic possession.
It would be interesting to see a take on the story that went for horror as the genre.
I keep hoping someone will go full scale horror show with it - atmospherically speaking. It’s really quite a frightening story in many ways.
Check out Jim Carrie’s version. It gets dark.
Well being dark doesn’t automatically make something a horror story to be fair, does it have horror elements or presentation? Like does it try to frighten or at least unnerve the audience purposefully?
I did and I especially liked the Marley’s ghost in the doorknocker scene. Really creepy!!
I just watched that
Not many people know that.
