Immediately after watching Ralph Feinnes Shakespeare-to-screen film, Coriolanus, I thought, “I kind of liked Maid in Manhattan better. I am totally joking…kind of.

As I was talking with a fellow movie writer about the film, he was commenting on how the movie wasn’t that great. He was venting about how it is so difficult and sometimes a mistake to try to adapt Shakespeare to a modern times as the film did. My response was, “I thought the film was pretty.”

Nonetheless, as I was trolling the internet, I came across a review of the movie by Matt Bochenski from a UK-based site called Little White Lies. Seeing as though the movie is rich with UK “style” and actors, I thought his review would be ideal to discuss. Also, Matt was one of the only ones didn’t contribute to the movie’s “certified freshness” on RottenTomatoes.com. His pull quote featured on the site said the following:

No more Shakespeare until we agree it needs to be translated into real English, please.

This is almost EXACTLY what my fellow movie writer was saying. The archaic language makes Shakespeare movies very difficult to digest.

Matt’s review uses this as the core of his opinion — and a strong opinion it is. He even goes to say that “…there’s no place for William Shakespeare in cinema.” That is a tad extreme, but I do see the validity in his rant. If you’re going to do Shakespeare, DO SHAKESPEARE. Do it in the appropriate time period. Make it a period piece. (let’s hope that Carlo Carlei’s upcoming adaptation of Romeo and Juliet follows this rule).

If someone does a modern-day interpretation of a Shakespeare play, make it exactly that: an interpretation. 10 Things I Hate About You did it with Taming of the Shrew and it turned out to be the most AWESOME movie. Or if people must insist on doing a word-for-word adaptation of a Shakespeare play — do it in a hyper-reality. Make it a fantasy that distracts us from the archaic language. Julie Taymor did it with Titus and Baz Luhrmann catered to the MTV generation with his music video take on Romeo + Juliet. They weren’t the greatest movies, but they did manage to make us visually happy.

Matt goes on to talk about the “dull drone of a dead language” and the movie’s plot, which I got lost in because I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell they were talking about. In other words, the movie will make many feel dumb and stroke the egos of those who love to hang on Shakespeare’s nuts.

And so Coriolanus unfolds in agonising monologues as the savagely patrician General wins and loses the support of the citizenry in a time of crisis, turns traitor and is in turn betrayed for his sins.

So basically, some big-time general gets hated on by the people of Rome during war time; then gains their love; then loses their respect; then gets banished; then meets up with Rome’s enemy; then joins their side, making him a traitor and then eventually gets (spoiler alert) killed by the enemy. All of this and we are treated to the screen presence of Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain, and Gerard Butler.

Good Lord, typing that explanation gave me an aneurysm.

Matt goes on to say:

The problem is that Fiennes has failed to inject one of the Bard’s most talky texts with any cinematic impetus. On stage, all that posturing, that capital-A acting – that fucking monologuing – may well be spellbindingly powerful. But cinema is, well, many things but it’s not a stage – it doesn’t reward impassivity and grandstanding. And it especially doesn’t reward it in what is, essentially, a foreign language.

That’s some prolific writing there.

I do get what Mr. Bochenski is saying here. Sure, the script for this movie was groomed for an “actor” — it IS Shakespeare. But it was written for stage, not screen and perhaps this kind of language should stay on the stage. Fiennes deserves a round of applause for his directing skills and all of the actors acted the shit out of this movie, but too bad it was a movie whose language has as much significance as an Discman in 2012.

Coriolanus is currently playing in select theaters and opens in wider release on Friday

For me, Red Tails was sanitized, mildly entertaining, and the actors in the movie felt like they were acting. It was like watching cool teenage boys play fighter pilots — but enough about my opinion. I want to see what other critics had to say about this movie about a crew of African American pilots in the Tuskegee training program during World War II. In turn, I will review their review. That said, let’s take a look at what Peter Paras at EOnline.com had to say.

First off, he gave it a generous “B”. Secondly, he said this:

Less gritty than Saving Private Ryan, more squeaky-clean than Captain America, Tails zips like a speedier, higher flyin’ Top Gun.

I was with Peter until he referenced Top Gun. Unless an airplane movie has a homoerotic volleyball scene and a Kenny Loggins soundtrack, nothing will ever top Top Gun.

Peter goes on to say cheerleadery things like “rush of energy” and makes a good point by saying that this movie has George Lucas splattered all over it — mainly because of the visuals:

Say what you will about Lucas’ tin ear, when the bearded one makes it visceral he’s hard to top. Flying high above Europe, swooping and darting with an endless array of planes, the cutting style delivers a terrific sense of urgency.

The only sense of urgency I had in this movie was when it was going to be over so I could go home and eat dinner. Other than, Peter gets a high-five from me for referring to Lucas as the “bearded one”.

Peter seems to be really into the “visceral” feeling of the movie. I didn’t get that. The movie, as he said, was too squeaky clean for me. It was almost like being in a cartoon. A little more grit would have made me feel like I do when Maverick and Goose are having a high-octane dog chase.

I 100 percent agree with Peter about all the one-liners in the movie. There were many, many moments in the movie where the dialogue made me groan or give an eye roll or two. As for the unknown cast being “terrific”, I have to disagree with homeboy. As I said before, there was a lot of “acting” going on. Although the cast is quite charming, there was a child-like sheen that needed to be stripped away in order for me to actually believe people like Ne-Yo were pilots. Each time he came on the screen, I kept on humming “Closer”. Then there were the headlining stars Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terence Howard — they did their job, but I wasn’t jumping out of my seat and saluting their authority.

Mr. Paras seemed to have liked the movie, but as a Top Gun enthusiast, I wasn’t all a twitter over it. It did not take me to that “Highway to the Danger Zone” like Maverick and Goose did. (*rolls eyes at self*)

Red Tails opens in theaters today.

The first movie I screened for 2012 was Angelina Jolie‘s In the Land of Blood and Honey…and it was quite an intense experience to start the new year. I kind of wish I would have started with something a little lighter…like Joyful Noise or something else that put a vacant smile on my face. Instead, I got slammed with a case of the Debbie Downers via Angie’s directorial debut about a destined-for-doom love story set to the dissonant tune of the Bosnian War in the 1990s.

In the Land of Blood and Honey starts with an artist named Ajla (Zana Marjanovic) going on what seems to be a blind date with a police officer named Danijel (Goran Kostić). They are sharing a special romantic moment in a night club when it all of sudden gets bombed. Fast forward four months later and they are neck deep in the Bosnian War where genocide is taking place. Ajla gets abducted and is hauled off to a camp that is overseen by — you guessed it — Danijel. From there, lots of things happen. Things that are hard to digest. Women get raped and humiliated. Men are treated like game and shot by Danijel’s vile band of soldiers. Their world has turned into a wasteland of debris and war-torn hell.

Even when Danijel tries to protect Ajla by hiring her as his personal painter, their relationship is a toxic hybrid of Revolutionary Road and Romeo and Juliet proportions and it is so difficult to find the warmth because you’re on the edge of your seat waiting for something bad to happen. Based on what is going on around them, nothing good can come of their relationship. Nothing. At. All. It’s not exactly a story that to commence my year of moviegoing — but the movie does deliver in terms of cinematic panache and storytelling.

I saw a headline in the “San Francisco Bay Guardian” for an early review of Blood and Honey and it read, “Sorry, Haters! Angelina Jolie’s In the Land of Blood and Honey does not suck.” Rightfully so. I know that people are DYING to rip apart the Goodwill Ambassador’s work with a passion. But the truth of the matter is that she handled the material with an even hand. Angie (who also served as the movie’s screenwriter) had a vision and committed to it. In some ways, the English-subtitled movie is an anti-war anthem and in other ways it’s an anti-love story. From all angles, it tells a very enriching tale that turn your smile upside down. Zana Marjanovic brings a vulnerable yet strong presence to the screen as the damaged Ajla while Goran Kostic, with his waify Daniel Craig stance, has a stone-faced, conflicted demeanor. Both give emotional girth to Blood and Honey and provide the chops needed for a poignant movie of war and the toll it takes on humanity. Still, I wouldn’t have disagreed to watching something with a bit more levity to start my 2012.

In the Land of Blood and Honey opens in select theaters today.

Just in time for the holiday season, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens in theaters today and is sure to put a smile on the faces of moms, dads, sons, daughters, grandmothers and every other member of your family. Actually, the movie opened last night in select theaters so some of you may have seen it already. To add to that, the movie won’t really put a smile on your face. It will probably leave you cringing a bit. It might even make you lose faith in all of humanity.

Stieg Larsson‘s Swedish crime novel turned foreign language movie turned best-selling American novel turned Oscar bait stateside film follows Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig), a journalist who is trying to shake off the humiliation from a big-time libel case. With all the attention he is getting, a wealthy industrialist named Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) reels him in to write a “memoir” for him — and by memoir he wants him to investigate the mysterious death of his niece, Harriet. Henrik believes that one of the members from his tangled, dysfunctional family tree did it.

Mikael begins to get overwhelmed by the work so he solicits the help from misfit Lisbeth Sander (Golden Globe-nominated Rooney Mara) a bleach eyebrowed, Hot Topic-looking anorexic girl who might have a slight case of Aspergers. Her past is mysterious, she’s a ward of the state, she’s had some fucked up things happen to her, she has an affinity for McDonald’s Happy Meals, and, more importantly, she is an expert hacker and a savant of hoarding information. When the duo teams up, they get a lot done — and I mean A LOT. (That second “A LOT” references that they — spoiler alert — boink).

I remember when I attempted to read the book. Everyone kept telling me “You have to get through the first 100 pages or so and then it gets GOOD!” My impatience made me toss it aside and inhale the literary wonder that is The Hunger Games. The story was slathered with Swedish names and complex history that I did not really care for. I am sure it was crucial to the story, but I am just not that cooperative. With David Fincher‘s movie adaptation, it was just as complex but considering it is on a huge screen, I took it in quite nicely.

The severe soundtrack of Trent Reznor matches the brutal tone of the movie. Fincher and his Finchinian ways sandblasted the movie with razors to make it dark, obsessed, and despondent — and it fits the movie’s content. Lots of tortuous scenes pad the main “Whodunit?” storyline: a disturbing rape scene, images of dismembered bodies, pierced nipples on a waify tattooed body, and mutilated animals — just to name a few. From the music video opening credits, the movie demands your attention — and you WILL need to pay attention for the full 158 minutes (although the final 45 minutes or so may cause you to fidget and look at your watch). Fincher and screenwriter Steven Zaillian handle the intricate source material with a steady hand, keeping the viewer interested enough to stay on this R-rated Nancy Drew ride. If not interested in the story, the audience will have their eyes glued to the screen for the visual glaze of gloom, the shocking violence, and/or Lisbeth’s unpredictable hairstyles (she also says the darndest things!).

The relationship between Mikael and Lisbeth is probably one of the most bizarre yet efficient couplings in a crime film since Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter — which is the fascinating core of the story. Everyone loves an odd couple especially one of this magnitude. They are two peas in a pod — both want something, but have different means of getting it. Mikael is a bit of a bumbling journalist — stressed, burnt out, but committed to finishing what he started. Lisbeth, on the other hand, does it without unflinching filter. She’ll cut a bitch to get what she wants. Together, they make for an unstoppable crime-solving duo like Cagney and Lacey…or Jonathan and Jennifer from Hart to Hart.

With the bushels of information in the book, the movie funnels it fairly well, quenching the need to fulfill our dark side for the holiday season — Fincher tends to be really good at that. Despite the rape, torture, violence, and unsettling eeriness, I like to see this as Fincher’s Christmas card to the world. God bless us one and all.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo opens in theaters today.

In Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Tom Cruise is back as super-spy Ethan Hunt with a brand new band of IMF agents. Actually, the only one back from Mission Impossible 3 is Benji (Simon Pegg). Other than that we are introduced to two new agents: the “by-the-bad-ass-book” Jane (Paula Patton) and the “Is he really who he says he is?” Brandt (Jeremy Renner).

While on a mission at the Kremlin in Moscow, things go a bit haywire for the quartet of spies and — well — the Kremlin ends up getting bombed. The blame gets put on them and the IMF is dissolved, but Ethan isn’t ready to go that easy. He suspects foul play and he and his buddies hop in their Mystery Machine to go rogue to make things right.

I am a fan of the M:I franchise and when J.J. Abrams added his directing magic to the third installment, I had no choice but to love it even more. The fourth one (which Abrams produced) upped the ante and injected a gigantic syringe of adrenaline to a simple story eclipsed by a ridiculous amount of “NO FUCKING WAY” action sequences. With Brad Bird (The Incredibles) in the director’s chair, he raised the bar in just how impossible this franchise could be — and I have no qualms with that.

Nonetheless, I learned a lot of lessons from M:I 4 (Possible spoilers ahead. You’ve been warned):

1.) Say what you want about Tom Cruise, he is good at what he does. People may think Mr. Cruise is a crazy scientology alien baby-eating freak, but if you excise that from your head for the run-time of this movie (or any movie for that matter), you’ll see that he is quite a committed motherfucker. I mean, this dude does his own stunts where he can actually plummet to his death. That’s pretty committed. Is he the greatest actor ever? No. Does he get the job done? Yes — and he manages to do it with a weird mix of zen and crazy eyes.

2.) Chasing a bad guy through a sandstorm IS possible. I am pretty sure that every five minutes there is a high-octane sequence of fighting, a chase, a bout of flying hijinx, brow-sweating tension, a heart-racing stare down, or a “will he or won’t he” moment. In one of the MANY action scenes, Ethan chases a bad guy from the highest building in the world (which managed to scale and leap from) and then a sandstorm hits during the chase — and he braves that storm! That’s straight up gangsta.

3.) The Lost connection. Seeing as though J.J. Abrams created Lost and is a producer of this movie, it only makes sense that he would poach a Lostie to star. The best choice? Sawyer. But this time, Josh Holloway is a good guy and not just a con-man who can give degrading cutesy nicknames to people.

4.) Jeremy Renner is the next Ethan Hunt? It’s a possibility. Sure, Cruise has stayed loyal to his role, but based on the relationship Ethan has with Brandt, it seems that he may be grooming him to be the next M:I it man. That or they just want to include some homoerotic undertones to the franchise.

5.) Female swagger: Paula Patton is the only woman I know who can have swagger and NOT make it look like she is the star of woman’s prison movie full of ruggedly handsome women. Her sensually sharp features, non-anorexic body, and fighting skills make her the perfect blend of sexy, swag, and smart — especially in the brutal (and somewhat arousing) sqwabbin’ scene between her and Léa Seydoux. Robin Thicke is a lucky man.

6.) Every action movie should have Simon Pegg. Again, there is a Abrams connection here. Pegg was in the Star Trek redux. That aside, Simon Pegg is one of my heroes. As Benji, his comedic presence adds a tolerable nuance to the explosion testosteroni. He’s actually valuable and contributes something. In other words, he isn’t a Jar Jar Binks.

7.) Cool gadgets, bad service: Lesson number one when going rogue from a super spy agency and using all their equipment: don’t expect long battery life or reliable GPS service.

8.) Despite the defeatist title of the movie, no mission is impossible. This is a movie. An action movie with guys climbing buildings with electronic sticky gloves, contact lenses that take better photographs than an iPhone, a portable mask maker that makes flawless latex masks and people survive ridonkulous explosions. I’m pretty sure nothing is impossible in the M:I world.

9.) A lame villain. Hendricks, the villain in the movie played by Michael Nyqvist has a maniacal glare, but that’s about it. Perhaps it’s what his threat of nuclear war is more of the villain than him. Even so, he can’t compare with the vile douchebag of all that is evil, Owen Davian (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in M:I 3.

10.) IMAX does make a difference. Sometimes the grand scale of certain IMAX movies make me a bit dizzy — but with M:I 4, I did NOT have vomit-inducing dizziness. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. Seeing Tom Cruise swing by a string from Dubai’s Burj Khalifa was quite enjoyable, and who wouldn’t want to see Paula Patton on a HUGE movie screen. And if you’re in the South Bay Area (NorCal that is), perhaps you should mosey on down to the Saratoga 14 and experience all the Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol glory on their new IMAX screen — which was just unveiled yesterday. The movie is certainly magical in IMAX…and it will make you want to become an IMF agent.

Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol opens in select IMAX theaters today and opens nationwide on December 21.

Opening in theaters today, The Sitter delivers Grade A raunch comedy courtesy of director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express), writers Brian Gatewood & Alessandro Tanaka, and, of course, the film’s star, Jonah Hill.

In it, Hill brings his Superbad brand of comedy to the character of Noah, a college dropout who is clearly getting used (mostly orally) by his “girlfriend” (Ari Graynor). Out of a job and lacking a sense of responsibility, Noah is forced to babysit a trio of kiddies — and he gets more than he bargains for! (*groans*)

As his night of babysitting begins, he immediately gets put in a pickle when his girlfriend asks him to come to a party so that she can fornicate with him — on one condition. He must bring cocaine. Sounds reasonable, right? True to form, he brings the kids with him and thus begins an “adventure”.

Despite the R-rating, the movie has surprising similarities to the seminal 1987 Elisabeth Shue vehicle, Adventures in Babysitting.

Let me break it down for you (spoilers ahead).

The reluctant babysitter: In The Sitter Noah groans and moans about babysitting kids. In Adventures in Babysitting, Chris Parker (Shue) ain’t that excited about spending her evening with children. Then again, does anyone REALLY ever want to babysit?

Common tropes of babysitees: In both movies, the babysitters watch after three children who fulfill a specific character trope. In The Sitter, there’s Slater (Max Records), Blithe (Landry Bender), and Rodrigo (Kevin Hernandez). In Adventures in Babysitting, there’s Brad (Keith Coogan), Sara (Maia Brewton), and Daryl (Anthony Rapp). Slater and Brad are older brother-types and turn out to be the neurotic voice of logic throughout the entire evening — and eventually “manning” up at the end of their adventure. Blithe and Sara are the “cute” little precocious little sisters that provide comedic innocence. In addition, both have character-building obsessions: Blithe worships the celebrity culture, while Sara is all about Thor. Finally there’s Rodrigo and Daryl. Both are preverse and deviant in their own special way: Rodrigo loves breaking and blowing stuff up, while Daryl is a hornball.

The crazy (girl) friend: Both groups get called into action because of a crazy female. The Sitter group leaves because Noah’s girlfriend promises sex for drugs, while the A.I.B. crew has to drive to “the big city” from their suburban confines so that Chris can go rescue her crazy friend Brenda (Penelope Ann Miller) who is stranded at a bus station after running away from home.

The bad guys: The bad guys in both movies are after the misfit groups because they “accidentally” stole something from their bad guy headquarters. In The Sitter, Rodrigo swipes a dinosaur egg full of cocaine from Karl’s (Sam Rockwell) homoerotic gym/drug lair. In A.I.B., Daryl boosts a very important issue of Playboy from a gang of car thieves. Both result in a cat and mouse chase for the rest of their adventurous evening.

Car problems: During a domestic dispute not involving them, Chris’s station wagon in A.I.B. gets a gunshot through the window. Noah’s minivan also gets messed up — but by a gang of oily bohunk bodybuilders with bats. Both cars go missing, but they eventually get them back.

The search for cash: Noah and Chris are in desperate need of money in order to get home. Noah needs $10,000 to pay back Karl for the damaged cocaine goods or else he’s dead. Chris needs $50 to pay a mechanic for the broken windshield on her mom’s station wagon.

Run-in with “gangstas”: The memorable line, “Don’t fuck with the babysitter!” is delivered by Chris in A.I.B. when she and the kids run into some gangsters about to rumble on the Chicago subway. Noah also has a run-in with “urban” dwellers in a bad-part-of-town N.Y.C. pool hall (one is portrayed by Method Man), but he doesn’t necessarily toughen up. He actually gets knocked out. By a girl.

The more likable love interest: Noah and Chris have significant others who treat them like shit. At one point in their insane adventures, Noah runs into Roxanne (Kylie Bunbury) and Chris meets Dan (George Newbern). Both “alternate” love interests prove to be good for them. They part ways during the evening, but at the end of the movie, Roxanne meets Noah just as he’s leaving his babysitting duties. And guess what? Dan meets Chris as she’s leaving! See? You CAN find love during a night of unfortunate and crazy events!

It would have been totally cool if both groups somehow ran into each other during the evening — like a Sitter/Adventures in Babysitting crossover event!

I’m not one for silent movies. In fact, I’ve never really sat through a silent movie unless you count animated GIFs. So when I heard that The Artist was a movie sans dialogue, I groaned. Seeing that I am an open-minded gentleman and this movie has been garnering boatloads of Oscar buzz, I felt that I was obligated to watch the movie — and I sat through it with a silent grin on my face (get it?!).

Michel Hazanavicius is the director and, as IMDb puts it, the writer of the “scenario and dialogue” of The Artist — although there really isn’t any dialogue to begin with. Nonetheless Hazanavicius recreates the heydays of “’20s Hollywood glamour” where silent films ruled movie houses and the Charleston was a flap-happy dance. George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) reigns supreme as the Brad Pitt of silent movies. He has an innocent run-in with a ambitious young actress by the name of Peppy Miller (played by new crush, Bérénice Bejo). George takes her under his wing as a mentor as she has the makings of a cloche-wearing silver screen princess. As the concept of “talkies” enters the Hollywood spotlight, George begins a downward spiral into washed-up obscurity as his artform is fading to black. Peppy on the other hand becomes a cinematic Goddess.

If anything, the The Artist proves that it’s OK for actors to shut up once in awhile. In fact, there are PLENTY of movies that would be better off if the actor didn’t speak at all (Cameron Diaz and her heinous accent in Gangs of New York immediately comes to mind). Hazanavicius’s re-introduction of the silent film is very novel and fresh — which is one reason why it is causing a buzz with Oscar tyrants. The movie also manages to tell a well-crafted story of “growing pains” in a historic era that appeals to modern audiences without a smidge of dialogue. In addition to a cast of familiar American faces that includes John Goodman, Penelope Ann Miller, James Cromwell, and Missy Pyle, there’s another fine actor by the name of Uggie. The little canine is George’s sidekick and is indeed a scene-stealer throughout the entire the movie — and he’s so cute! He’s so on par with his fellow actors that there is a full campaign to get him on the list for awards season. And you know he’s officially a star because he has his own Twitter account.

The Artist deserves the praise its been getting mostly because it stands out as a risk that succeeds (which Hollywood LOVES) and because it has all the layers needed for a fine film: a balance of drama & comedy, a silver-screen romance, a sense of nostalgia, thematic music, an ambitious director, and committed actors.

It really is true what they say: Silence is golden (*groan*).

The Artist opens in select theaters today.

The Muppets haven’t necessarily dropped off the face of the Earth. They have been woven into the pop culture zeitgeist since Kermit made our hearts melt with “It’s Not Easy Being Green” and Miss Piggy yelled her first “HI-YA!”. We just haven’t seen them on the big screen in a long, long time — and their return is more than welcomed.

In The Muppets, all of them are back: Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Animal, Rowlf, Gonzo, and the whole lot of them — but things have changed for our wonderful felt friends.

The crew is estranged and haven’t been in contact with each other for years. That’s when Gary (Jason Segel) and a new muppet by the name of Walter come into the picture. The two are brothers (how that is possible, I’m not too sure — but we’ll go with it) and HUGE fans of The Muppets. When the two travel to Los Angeles to pay a visit to the Muppet theater with Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams), they find the theater abandoned, decrepit and looking like the Grey Gardens house.

Walter and Gary (Jason Segel) brush their teeth together as lil' bro and big bro. Photo credit: Patrick Wymore/Disney

After the trio finds Kermit, they (particularly Walter) make it their mission to round up all the other Muppets to save the theater before the sinister Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) tears down the place to drill for oil.

In the most recent Saturday Night Live hosted by Jason Segel, he performs a song during his opening monologue with the Muppets and they get into a tiny little spat. After Kermit, Piggy, Rowlf, Fozzie, Scooter, and Gonzo find out that they are NOT co-hosting with him, Segel says even though they all just did a movie together, SNL picks only one person to host. Kermit quickly snarks back, “It makes perfect sense that they pick Jason…because when people go to a Muppet movie they say, ‘Gee, I can’t wait to see the human!’” That pretty much sums up this movie. You come for the Muppets and you stay for the Muppets.

I am more than happy that Jason Segel and director James Bobin brought one of my greatest childhood favorites back to the forefront. He co-wrote the movie with Nicholas Stoller and corralled what could possibly be the biggest mishmash of actors to make cameos (Alan Arkin, Zach Galifianakis, Ken Jeong, Jim Parsons, Kristen Schaal, Sarah Silverman, Donald Glover, Jack Black, Emily Blunt, Whoopi Goldberg, Mickey Rooney, John Krasinski, Neil Patrick Harris, David Grohl, Judd Hirsch, Selena Gomez) — but all these humans are just secondary to the greatness that is the Muppets.

Walter, Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) get ready to help the Muppets save their theater. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Disney

To Segel and Stoller’s credit, they did great justice to keeping the Muppet “underdog” spirit. They were clever and witty with the zingers; they made it adult and kid-friendly and they managed to put a silly grin on my face throughout the entire film — but I think it mostly had to do with the Kermit flails, Animal’s grunting outbursts, Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem (Janice is so hot), happy-go-lucky musical numbers (I’ll just try to act like Chris Cooper’s villainous rap number never happened), and, most of all, the comedic absurdity that can only be delivered by the Muppets.

Nostalgia plays a big part of why audiences of a certain age group will eat up The Muppets. The characters have maintained a longevity that many of us haven’t forgotten. Miss Piggy is still, with aggression, trying to steal Kermit’s heart; Fozzie still tells bad jokes, Gonzo is still a weirdo who has a chicken fetish; Bunsen still subjects Beaker to life-threatening science experiments; and the porn star-stached Swedish Chef still speaks an indecipherable “hee-di-do-di-bork-bork-bork” language — all of which can make sons and daughters laugh alongside their moms and dads.

Fozzie, Miss Piggy and Kermit take the spotlight. Photo credit: Scott Garfield/Disney

Despite the lampooning nature of the characters, The Muppets still manage to steal our hearts by balancing comedy with emotion that results in an entertaining story (plus, they are so darn cuddly!). Adults will reminisce about how much fun it was to watch their prime time show back in the day, while new audiences will be treated to Jim Henson’s greatest creations. Top it all off with a heartstring-plucking Piggy/Kermit duet of “Rainbow Connection” and you got yourself another Muppet movie to add the vault of pop culture history.

The Muppets opens in theaters today.