Hour 21: A Film and Interactive Media Blog

“Screw the mountain bike, my daughter is getting a Prius.” “When one person is very powerful they make the other person change who they are.” “I'm telling you this because we are friends. ‘We are no longer friends'. " -The Muppets (2015 TV series) It's rare that an actor achieves worldwide fame, and it is even rarer that a troop of actors receives that same level of honor. They achieve such respect that their very names become synonymous with the idea of quality. The Muppets are among these rarefied few. Encountering fame and fortune with a grace and poise that draws all into their orbit. Perhaps that is why a documentary crew has seen fit to delve into the inner workings of The Muppets most ambitious, yet intimate come back yet to date. Kermit and the gang have certainly outdone themselves this time. Allowing Miss Piggy to poke and prod at the upper crust of Hollywood's most glamorous elite. Though, Up Late with Miss Piggy isn't your average late-nig...

  The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) “Quickly, it’ll be warmer in there.” “Mr. Scrooge I. Presume?” “A life can be made right.” -The Muppet Christmas Carol Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is almost synonymous with the better parts of our human nature. The tale of a wretch of a man who is visited on Christmas Eve by three spirits in the hopes to unearth his dormant humanity. Ebenezer Scrooge's journey from a miserable sinner to a siren of goodwill, may be as much a staple of the Christmas season as Jesus's Nativity, at least in the nonreligious sense of the season. A Christmas Carol represents humanity at its highest potential. This little novella achieves an aspirational view of the human condition without ever downplaying its hardship. In short, A Christmas Carol is humanity in almost perfect microcosm. That may be the reason for its longevity and its countless adaptations into other media. We will always need the aspirational humanity that A Christmas Carol provid...