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The Muppets  - Season 1
The Muppets - Season 1
2015 | Comedy, Family
Intelligently funny
The Muppets is a 2015 mockumentary style series that aired for only one season, and is currently available on Disney+ . It follows the personal and professional lives of the Muppets behind the scenes of Miss Piggy's late night talk show.

The Muppets are an institution. There won’t be many people that don’t know of the Muppets, and most will have grown up with them in some form whether it be the original tv show, the earlier films or the most recent film reincarnations with Jason Segel. For me, my fondest memories of the Muppets come from the films (The Muppet Christmas Carol is by far the best Christmas film) and from the Muppet Vision 3D show in Disney World, so I had no preconceptions over what this show would be. And it’s an absolute hoot.

This is a wonderfully funny and smart show, and the mockumentary style similar to The Office and Parks and Recereation works very well. It manages to bring clever adult humour without reducing itself to crudeness. It’s whip smart, witty and full of relevant pop culture references that are often laugh out loud funny. There are so many instances in these 16 episodes where I couldn’t stop laughing, although a particularly highlight involved Bobo the bear and The Revenant. And not only is this funny, it’s also full of heart. It features some fairly meaningful and important topics and for the most part it deals with these well with an appropriate amount of humour.

The great thing about this show is that it isn’t just the Kermit and Piggy show. All of the other Muppets are featured in equal measure and for me personally I loved this as some of my favourite moments were with the likes of Rizzo, Pepe and Chip the IT guy. I also now have a new found love for Uncle Deadly, I never realised how brilliant a character he was before! This show also brings in some fantastic guest stars, from the likes of Reese Witherspoon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to Liam Hemsworth, Ru Paul and Josh Groban, all of whom have no problem in sending themselves up and being the butt of the jokes.

It’s a shame then that this show falters two thirds of the way through due to the storyline and relationship between Kermit and Piggy. I’ve never been a fan of Piggy as I find her very irksome, but she’s bearable in small doses. However the show seems to do a complete u-turn on their storyline midway through and suffers because of it, as it becomes dull and predictable and nothing we haven’t seen before for Kermit and Piggy. The rest of the show and characters are still hilarious, but Kermit and Piggy really bring down the tone.

If you’re an adult and a fan of the Muppets and are looking for some adult, intelligent laugh out loud humour, you can’t really go wrong with this. Just try not to concentrate on the storyline too much.
  
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2018 | Action, Sci-Fi
Worthy of the hype
It's very unusual for a film to truly live up to it's hype, but Infinity War does impressively well.

Considering how many superheroes are in this film, i hadn't expected much but the Russo brothers have done very well to bring all of these strong characters together and integrate them smoothly and flawlessly. The plot itself doesn't have any preamble and puts you straight into the action (I suppose they've had enough Marvel films coming before it to set it up). It had a much darker tone than any other Marvel films and this is actually a refreshing change. This isn't to say it is completely without humour, as there are some very hilarious moments throughout even if they aren't quite as frequent as we're used to. And that ending, wow. Definitely not something you're used to in a Marvel (and technically Disney) film.

Thanos himself is a great bad guy, although it's with him that my main issue lies with this film. He's portrayed as being a little too powerful, which is irritating as everyone knows eventually that the Avengers will come out on top. I also had a slight issue with Vision - he's meant to be all powerful but instead comes across as quite weak.

Despite these few niggles, I would definitely agree & say that this is the best Marvel film so far. So much I feel like I need to see it again to take it all in.
  
The Call Of The Wild (2020)
The Call Of The Wild (2020)
2020 | Drama
7
7.4 (7 Ratings)
Movie Rating
402. The Call of the Wild. The tale of a CGI dog named Buck. With its all too human eyes, and unrealistic facial expressions, Buck is the main character, he doesn't speak, for that we have Harrison Ford narrating, then later becomes a character, John Thornton. Buck is the mayors dog, and everyone loves him for his all too human ways, but danger lurks. In the Yukon there's a dog shortage?? Ok then, Buck gets kidnapped, beaten into submission, in a Disney way, don't worry. Luckily tho, Buck is purchased by a super nice postal worker, Perrault and partner Francois who needs him on his sled, and at this point we realize there must be a dog shortage, because the CGI dogs he has are rough, missing eyes, ears, old as Walk Disney's decapitated head waiting to be reborn with a trillion bucks in the bank! Buck becomes lean and tough, learns to be part of a team and ultimately lead that team! And when that job dries up, Buck meets John Thornton, a sad kinda guy, suffering from a huge loss in the past he can't move past. John saves Buck from another dog sled operator, who seems to be hellbent on going on a suicide mission. The two become the best of friends going on grand adventure off the map, and showing Buck his true place in the world! Filmbufftim on FB
  
McFarland USA (2015)
McFarland USA (2015)
2015 | Drama, Family
9
8.3 (3 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The new Disney movie, McFarland USA, is based on a true story.

I didn’t recognize any of the actors in it, except Kevin Costner, but that didn’t take anything away from the movie for me.

I really enjoyed the film a lot.

I laughed, I cried, I held my breath, and it had me on the edge of my seat in some parts too.

Costner plays Coach Jim White, who, due to an outburst of temper at his previous position, has had to take on a teaching and assistant coaching job in an out of the way tiny town called McFarland, CA.

He has a slight run in with the head coach, and gets demoted.

Discovering the untapped potential in a handful of the McFarland high school boys, Coach White petitions the principal for permission to start a cross country track team.

The principal gives his consent, and the story unfolds.

The kids help the Coach on his ‘life journey’ as much as he helps them.

He helps them realize their potential, and teaches them how to dream big and never give up, and they teach him about the importance of community, that ‘bigger’ isn’t always ‘better’, and that sometimes having the heart and desire to do something means more than a fat paycheck.

I wouldn’t bring very young kids to this movie, but children from maybe 9 and up should appreciate and enjoy it.

I would give this movie 4.5 out of 5 stars.
  
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BookwormLea (3034 KP) rated Pushing Daisies - Season 1 in TV

Feb 19, 2020 (Updated Feb 19, 2020)  
Pushing Daisies  - Season 1
Pushing Daisies - Season 1
2007 | Comedy, Crime, Romance
10
9.4 (7 Ratings)
Does anyone remember this?
Contains spoilers, click to show
I first watched this as a bright eyed primary school child of the ripe age of 10. I remember thinking how strange a programme it was and that I hadn't seen anything like it before. Granted, I was stuck watching barbie and disney movies with my younger sisters but you get my point. This programme single handedly introduced me to death. And is very likely the reason I love horror and thriller movies now.

Don't get me wrong, this show was about love and very much a comedy. There was very little gore if any and from what I remember, I only saw one bloody face. The worst part was probably the dog dying in the beginning or the fact that the ML and FL can't even kiss because she will cease to live(again).

What I loved most about this show was how fantastically stupid it was, as much as I would have loved more seasons I'm really not suprised it only had 2. Have you ever wanted to see a man able to bring the dead to life with his touch fall in love with a dead ex girlfriend? Oh and he helps solve crime with his cop friend? Oh, and the dead stay alive for a minute unless someone replaces them? Well, this is the show for you! And its exactly as it sounds. Amazing!