Bill Barretta

The Happytime Murders (2018)

Happytime Murders

The Happytime Murders (2018)

Director:

Brian Henson

Starring:

Melissa McCarthy

Elizabeth Banks

Maya Rudolph

Bill Barretta

Plot:

When the puppet cast of a ’90s children’s TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.

Review:

This is a dirty, filthy movie. If you want to see puppets do stuff you’d never see on Sesame Street than feast your eyes.

The Happytime Murders is a noir film with puppets. Phil, Bill Barretta, is a disgraced cop turned PI. He was the first puppet to ever become a police officer and he botched it because he missed a shot and accidently killed another puppet. The movie opens with him going into his office and discovering a curvaceous broad with a sob story. It hits all the usual noir tropes, with the addition of puppets and their weird quirks.

It was at times funny and entertaining, but mainly because you were seeing puppets in weird places. The story wasn’t original and wouldn’t have been worth watching without the puppets. It was just, kind of, weird.

3/5

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The Muppets (2015-?)

The Muppets

The Muppets (2015-?)

Network:

ABC

Starring:

Steve Whitmire

Bill Barretta

Dave Goelz

Eric Jacobson

Plot:

Jim Henson’s loveable puppets return to the small screen in this mockumentary-style series that follows their personal and professional lives.

Review:

I’ve only seen a couple episodes of the original series and honestly don’t remember much about them, so my thoughts on the episode are based purely on the pilot and how it compares to the most recent movies.

There’s a lot more adult material and themes in the TV series. Not to the point where you wouldn’t want kids to watch, but they aren’t going to catch on to everything. Fozzy is dating a human which causes problems between him and her family. Kermit and Miss Piggy have broken up and he’s dating a new pig. I never understood why Kermit was with Miss Piggy but whatever floats his boat. He’s apparently into pigs since his new woman is one too. I’m not sure how I feel about the new girl. We’ll see.

The show wasn’t awesome and it wasn’t bad. I’m really noticing a theme with these new shows. Nothing has really blown me away or made me excited to see more. It’s kind of sad.

3/5