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Similar to The Muppet Movie this instalment is about the Muppets themselves as an entertainment group seeking fame. This time they are just finishing college and want to take their final year musical, Manhattan Melodies, to Broadway. After initial failure to find a producer they disband and Kermit is left alone (or so he thinks) to try to get the show off the ground.

I’m finding it harder than expected to write about these early Muppet films, somehow I don’t find them distinctive enough from one another to comment effectively. Similar to the two previous films I found the songs forgettable and the plot a little lacking. With the Muppets spending the majority of the film disbanded a chunk of the film feels like a series of sketches rather than a coherent whole.

More continuing themes include the meta in-jokes, much less heavy-handed this time round, and the occasional celebrity cameos. Joan Collins makes an appearance with a face so different to that which she has now, I could barely recognise her. Again they include a bit of impressive bike riding, and again the appearance of Rizzo and his fellow rats provide by far the best moments.

One highlight, so this doesn’t get too heavy, is a wonderful song (yes, I liked a song!) in which Miss Piggy sings about what life would be like if she had known Kermit all her life. Cue adorable baby Muppets and the inspiration for Muppet Babies.

It’s hard not to feel sorry for Kermit in this film. With success not coming easily the majority of the Muppets leave him behind, their faith in his vision apparently not strong enough to keep them in Manhattan. Apart from Miss Piggy of course, her love for Kermit leaves her keeping an eye on the green fella, never leaving him unloved.

Kermit, as ever, is the rock holding this film together, he is the true stalwart trying to make The Muppets happen, and realise the promise of the “standard rich and famous contract”. It’s not so much The Muppets Take Manhattan as it is Kermit Slowly Works Hard to Get a Musical Off The Ground While The Muppets Try to Get On With Their Lives. Obviously that is much less catchy.

Still, this is a Muppet film so I’m probably being too harsh. Thanks to Rizzo and the Muppet babies, it’s my favourite so far.

I’m staying! You hear that, New York? THE FROG IS STAYING!

Muppet Movie Ranking:
1. The Muppets Take Manhattan
2. The Great Muppet Caper
3. The Muppet Movie

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This isn’t the end. Pop the film disc for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 into your DVD player and once past the obligatory copyright notice, first you will see an advert for the Lego games for years five to seven, and then the introductory video for Pottermore. So every time you’re reminded of tiny Harry, all wide eyes in Philosopher’s Stone, and start welling up a little at the idea that it’s finishing, you can always book your studio tour during a break in watching your Elder Wand DVD boxset and know that this franchise isn’t going anywhere.

But even while I am cynically half-expecting a reboot to be announced within a year, I was hard-pressed to stay completely dry-eyed while watching this two-disc package. We’ve reviewed the film itself pretty extensively so this post will focus on the special features. Like Part 1, the one difference between the Blu-ray and DVD is the Blu-ray version has Maximum Movie Mode, which interrupts your film-watching with extra behind-the-scenes information. It’s a shame there isn’t a more conventional commentary, which would be informative without being overly intrusive.

The Special Features disc is more satisfying, if not exactly overflowing with extras, and there are adverts scattered all throughout as if someone watching might actually be surprised that it was possible to get the other seven films on DVD and Blu-ray too. The Focus Points section contains nine behind the scenes featurettes (well, eight and a soppy farewell sequence) which provide interesting extra details on different aspects of the film, such as the Room of Requirement set, the Molly and Bellatrix fight and evolution of the costumes.

The most meaty feature is the 45 minute When Harry Left Hogwarts – a documentary with some behind the scenes coverage and a lot of banter and reflection on what Potter has meant to everyone. An air of melancholy colours all of their musings – Emma Thompson recommends therapy for the “kids”; Julie Walters declares the set as one of the least dysfunctional places they could have grown up on. Of Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, Emma is by far the most eloquent and thoughtful an interviewee, but all of the young adults speak about the pressure of being child stars and how it feels with the world waiting for them to screw up and what they have missed out on through not having a “normal” life – while all the time emphasising how happy they are and grateful for the opportunity. It’s also evident how much work the Harry Potter franchise has provided for people and I was left fretting about what the setbuilders and stunt people are going to do next. Stick with it through to the closing credits though, which might be my favourite part of the whole disc.

The Women of Harry Potter left me feeling similarly sad, even as Joanne Rowling speaks of being rightly proud of creating a wide range of well-rounded female characters. It’s the interviews with the dwarves in the main documentary and the additional The Goblins of Gringotts that provide a bit of relief from all the goodbyes and retrospection. This is partly down to getting to see Warwick Davis chat as himself and not as his Life’s Too Short character, but also because all of the actors playing goblins seem so good humoured and the excitement of Warwick Davis’ kids is very cute.

Apart from these features (and more adverts) there are eight deleted scenes, which are mostly small character moments that would have added a bit more emotion to the film’s existing action, including Tonks and Lupin reuniting on the Hogwarts’ battlements and a Ginny and Harry moment that I found more touching than any kiss they had in the films.

If you’re a fan, it’s hard to imagine you wouldn’t want this DVD in some form, whether it’s to join your existing seven others, or if you intend to buy all eight in one set. Although then you have to choose between a no-frills version, or a special numbered edition, or whether to hold on for a year if you believe the rumours of the “Ultimate” boxset, expected to come out at the end of 2012. (I told you the franchise wasn’t going anywhere).

And if you haven’t followed these films from Philosopher’s Stone to Deathly Hallows, I have no idea why you’re still reading this. You definitely don’t need me to tell you this isn’t the purchase for you.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is out on DVD and Blu-ray on Friday. And then gets recalled on 29th December. Then will get re-released again and again and again ad infinitum.

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When asked by a man called Jon whether I wanted to check out the We Love Anime Festival screening at Stratford East Picturehouse on Saturday I was tentative. All I knew of anime was Pokémon and feared that true, hardcore anime would involve more amorous tentacles than I can handle. Curious to try a new genre of film, I went along and did enjoy myself, though it was a shame the two screenings I attended were struggling to get audience sizes into the double digits. Where’s the anime love Londoners?

Here’s what I saw:

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

A children’s film based on a Nintendo DS game is a worrying prospect but Eternal Diva turned out to have the ideas and visuals to turn a simple spin-off into a solid film of its own. Professor Layton (lover of puzzles, renowned archaeologist and a true gentleman) and his apprentice Luke reminisce about an old case, one which involved both puzzles, archaeology and being a gentleman.

A trip to see one of Layton’s old students perform turns into a quest for eternal life as the concert hall sets sail on the sea and its inhabitants are set a series of puzzles. The winner, last man standing, is to be given eternal life, while all other contestants will receive instant death. Oh no! With a surprisingly complex plot, entertaining dialogue and gorgeous backdrops, this is a surprisingly great family film.

Mardock Scramble Parts 1 & 2

Mardock Scramble is a trilogy of short(ish) films based on the manga series based on a series of novels by Tow Ubukata. After being left for dead by Shell, fifteen year old prostitute Rune Ballot is rescued by Dr. Easter and made into a semi-cyborg so that she can testify against Shell and his gang. With a robotic mouse, Oeufcoque, Rune must come to terms with what happened to her and fight to stay alive so she can win the case against Shell.

Much more in keeping with my assumptions about anime these films are like no court room drama I’ve ever seen. What we have is extreme violence, constant nudity and plenty of talking cyborg animals, including a gay dolphin who seems to be dating a small boy. I could go on listing the bizarre things we witnessed that day (Shell’s gang is headed up by a man called Boiled and consists of men who graft various body parts to themselves) but that would spoil the wonder for anyone hoping to see it one day. Though I will admit to drifting off during the first of these two films, they were beautiful, horrific and mesmerising. While I may not be launching into the world of anime any time soon, I will happily watch the third film once it is released.

That Girl in Yellow Boots (limited release)
With a Sunday release leaving one day in its opening weekend, this is one film not chasing box office success. A British woman goes to India in search of her father and has a traumatic (18 certificate rated) time going about it. As a Sunday treat, here’s a trailer:

Earlier this week Movie Mavericks noticed that the positive comments on their Mirror, Mirror trailer post had all come from the same source and were duplicated across the internet. Could social media marketing have reached the depths of posting fake comments? We can’t really tell, but whatever is going on it seems that Take Shelter is getting in on the act if a look at five of our followers is anything to go by.

Last month when I was pushing our review of Take Shelter on Twitter we picked up a few followers and some appreciative tweets, a rarity in itself.

@mild_concern I really liked Jessica Chastain in it.

Tuesday, 25th October 2011 8:36 pm via Simple Personal ClientReplyRetweetFavorite

@TyBodenhamer

Ty Bodenhamer

Out of curiosity I had a look at these new followers and they seemed an odd bunch but that’s to be expected. On closer inspection they were all tweeting in an odd way, most repeating a similar tweet about the weather and what to have for dinner, the rest made up of random retweets and identical messages to people about Take Shelter. Could this be a coincidence? There’s nothing too suspicious about a group of passionate movie fans. But then it turned out that they were lying to us.

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