Fish and Cherries Productions

It’s difficult to talk about the story of Gone Girl because I want to avoid as many spoilers as possible. What you should know from the get go is that I cannot recommend this film enough. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entire running time, even after a twist in the middle that would normally close out a story. Personally, I was kind of shaky when I left the theater because it was just so intense. The cast in this movie is pretty is pretty amazing too. Affleck’s natural awkwardness works really well in making him seem suspicious, Neil Patrick Harris plays against type really well, and even Tyler Perry is tolerable. The film was directed by David Fincher, the same man behind Fight Club and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. It seems like this guy can tackle any genre and make it seem natural, kind of like The Beatles (or Takeshi Kitano, if you really want to get obscure). When the credits were rolling, someone in the audience mentioned that this was just as good as the book. I believe it, though that may partially be because the book’s author also wrote the screenplay. It’s rather graphic and may be taxing for the faint of heart, but this absolutely needs to be seen.

The Muppets is a movie that’s very odd for me to talk about, since I really liked it and yet still found it incredibly cheesy. And that was probably the whole point. Also, Chris Cooper raps. There exists a page on TV Tropes called Sweet Dreams Fuel for works that will put people in a good mood and make them feel great inside, which describes this movie perfectly. The sets and costumes are bright, colorful, and inviting, the entire cast plays well off of each other, and the villain, played by Chris Cooper, is cheesy and over the top while still being effectual. And he raps. There’s two ways to look at this movie. The first is as the anti-Ted; both have a human and a stuffed being living together in a state of arrested development that perturbs the human’s lady love, but not only is it a lot less raunchy and cynical than Ted, but in this case, it’s more of the stuffed guy’s journey that acts as the pivotal point for their relationship to work. Another is as a meta commentary of the Muppet phenomenon as a whole; in the modern day of the movie (as well as real life), the Muppets have fallen out of favor in the public eye and they have to put on a performance to try and win back the crowd and see if they can get enough money to keep their name alive. Taken out of context, that could easily describe the stakes of the movie itself. In which Chris Cooper raps. Apart from that, I don’t know what else to say. It’s the Muppets. It’s got songs, it’s got really witty humor, it’s got celebrity guests like you wouldn’t believe, it’s got everything that put the Muppets on the map in the first place. And it’s got Chris Cooper rapping. So after all is said and done, especially after the reprise of The Rainbow Connection brought actual tears to my eyes (something very few movies have achieved), I can’t give anything but a glowing recommendation.

Seriously, though, why did Chris Cooper rap? And why did I not know that I needed that in my life until now?