A tribute to treasure

A Sunday morning to remember at the Riverfront Theatre in Newport as the Puppet Folk Experience introduced a special screening of The Muppet Treasure Island with a tribute act. (The film is 30 years old this year.)

The Puppet Folk are puppeteer and singer Liam and guitarist Andy, who also proves to be a handy banjo player as well. Liam performed with Kermit and Ernie who appeared for a rendition of 'Rubber Duckie', which is one of his signature songs.

Costume change for Kermit

I was impressed with the way Liam captured Kermit's vocal inflections in the songs. I have read about plenty of fan criticism of how Kermit sounds in recent Disney productions. It's a hard voice to do well, and Liam gets him sounding like "original Kermit" (Cathy's words).

Overall what came through was the clear love and respect that Liam and Andy have for the characters and the source material. There was a mix of songs, some of them in a medley, covering everything from the original Muppet Show theme through to a song from the 2011 Disney reboot. (Which is itself a shocking 15 years old now!)

After the tribute was over, we watched the movie. It had been a long time since I had watched it. I had completely forgotten one set of characters until they popped up in a proper 'oh, yeah...!' moment. The gags were still funny. I enjoyed it. 

Like several other fans in the audience, Cathy and I wore suitable t-shirts for the occasion. Kermit commented on Cathy's t-shirt after we queued up for the post-film meet-and-greet.

After taking the photos with Kermit we chatted to Andy afterwards as he was on the merchandise stand. He told us there might be another show introducing The Muppet Christmas Carol at the end of the year, so hopefully that will be coming to South Wales!

Recap of the Month - January 2024

The first month of 2024 was very busy. I had two trips to Shrewsbury and two days in London, where I made the most of an evening to myself and visited the new Lego Shop in Battersea Power Station.

But first, a couple of "train" photos. 

New Lego minifigures released!

New silly photo opportunities in Asda!

The first trip to Shrewsbury was to see Shrewsbury play Wrexham in the FA Cup. More details to follow on my football recap thread. The second trip was for a combined birthday weekend, that included my youngest nephew's birthday party at a soft play centre, my brother's actual birthday. and seeing my mum on her birthday eve! So there was lots of present-opening and other fun. 

Mum and Dave shared a cake 

And Fred willingly got wrapped up in a blanket!

There has been some other sporting action as well, with two Blood Bowl games. You can read up on how the orcs lost to the lizardmen here, and how the humans beat the dwarfs here. I also managed to read a hefty science-fiction book (over 500 pages) which was my book of the month. 

On the final weekend of the month the Friends of Grange Gardens supported an activity morning as part the RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch. It was well attended as kids built bird feeders and learned about nests.

I was on bird wrangling duties, looking after Terry Dactil, the orange hoopoe from Newport. (He had a complicated back story.)

Thankfully I survived my encounter! So, here comes February. Let's see how quickly it flies past. 

Big furry film and DVD round up

Had the luxury of seeing a few films recently, so here are some reviews - starting with one we saw in the most apt cinema ever.

Being Elmo
This is a documentary about Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who pretty much created the character of Elmo on Sesame Street. Despite the title, it was more about the man behind (or inside) the muppet, rather than about Elmo. His obvious love for his craft and for the character that is really a part of his soul is evident throughout, and his story of achieving his dream of joining the luminaries of the Jim Henson Company, including the late Jim Henson himself.

We saw the film in a most suitable location - Sinema 2 at Chapter Arts Centre, a room that is decked out in a very Elmo shade of red. The seats were very comfortable too.

As a documentary I'd really recommend it. It's an encouraging story about how if you love something really enough to pursue it as a dream, then you can make it. Seeing Kevin giving a tour of the studio to a small kid with a similar love and fascination of puppetry at the end of the film was touching - as he passed on his secrets, hints and tips to possibly the next Sesame Street wunderkind.

Jongudmund's rating: 8/10

Captain America: The First Avenger
I've been wanting to watch Captain America since it came out last year, partly because I really liked Chris Evans in The Losers, and partly because it looked cool. I've enjoyed how they have been setting up for the full Avengers movie that is in cinemas now, but actually taking the time to set the scene. It struck me today that what I really appreciate is that they've gone and made the prequels first. (I know, that means they aren't technically prequels, but you know what I mean!)

So, this is the Captain's back story, as he battles the villainous Red Skull, head of the Nazi Hydra organisation, during World War II. Chris Evans and Tommy Lee Jones are excellent, as is Hugo Weaving as Red Skull. The story is cogent and very well-executed. Marvel movies seem to be absolutely top drawer these days - ever since Iron Man. The script is witty and understated, and I really enjoyed it, although (spoiler alert) the denouement is a bit of a downer, which made the film quite melancholic.

On the DVD there is also a very interesting extra about the Captain America costume. I did like how they included the classic Captain America look into the movie, and allowed it to naturally evolve into something that looked 'real'. Marvel are clever at referencing the original comic book look and feel, and I'd go as far as saying this film is almost the perfect comic book adaptation. (Although not quite as perfect as Hellboy.)

Jongudmund's rating: 8/10

Thor
And so, on to my other pre-Avengers catch-up: Thor. I knew very little about the Thor backstory, so I was glad that this film really got into it quickly.

There was an added bonus as well, with Natalie Portman as a rather glamourous scientist who gets caught up in the craziness of Thor's quest to find true heroism while exiled to Earth. I like Natalie Portman and will watch pretty much anything with her in (even the Phantom Menace!), so to find out she was in this was a real plus. Anthony Hopkins was very good as Odin as well.

So now I know the stories of Thor and Captain America, I can get on and watch The Avengers Assemble (or whatever they change the title to next), but I would say Thor is worth watching on its own terms. Again Marvel have got a pretty good script, it's interesting to see how they meld comic book fantasy in with Norse mythology, and there aren't too many overblown headache-inducing action scenes. A good all-round film, with some interesting stuff about what makes a hero heroic.

Jongudmund's rating: 7.5/10

Limitless
I sawthe trailers for this and was quite excited by it. Bradley Cooper is very watchable. It had Robert De Niro in. And it seemed an interesting concept - if you could take a pill that would make you superhuman, would you? So, with all that in place for the film, what could go wrong?

Well, quite a bit actually. There is one classy bit of filmwork - before Cooper's character takes the magic pill the world is washed out and grey. Afterwards, everything is in bright technicolour, as if he's landed over the rainbow in Oz. And that's where the cleverness stops. The big problem is that most of this film is narrated - e.g. a threatening underworld type menaces Cooper and he tells us in a needless voiceover.

It's not that he's got a boring voice, but eventually I grew tired of it because it felt like I was listening to a long rambling anecdote. While it's an interesting concept - you take a pill that allows you to use the bits of your brain you don't normally use to become mush more smarter and perceptive, the protagonist goes off and plays the stock markets with his new found talents. It's hard to make that interesting. And De Niro grimaces his way through his few lines like someone doing an unconvincing impression of Robert De Niro.

So, all in all, it was a bit of a snore off. And (spoiler alert) it does contain a rather gross scene involving blood and use of a hypodermic needle as a close combat weapon. So be warned.

Jongudmund's rating: 4.5/10