Results tagged “muppets”

Your Weekly LAist Film Calendar

We featured The Day The Earth Stood Still when it ran back in May, but this week the Aero cements director Robert Wise's genius by replaying that sci-fi classic, alongside timeless musicals West Side Story & The Sound of Music. West Side Story and Star! (his post-Music reunion with Julie Andrews) are even presented in earth-standing 70mm! Another genre-defying artist receives his due every weekend this month at the Not-So-Silent Theatre. Jim Henson effortlessly melded puppets & live actors, reality & fantasy, commercialism & chaos. His work is that rare breed which can be called "magic" with a straight face. And it's hilarious for viewers of all ages. The Old Pasadena Film Festival also kicks off a three-weekend extravaganza of films on Friday with free screenings of Notting Hill and The King and I. Check their linked website for the full schedule.

Remember how we mentioned that Jack Black will be on the post-Super Bowl episode of "The Office"? He will also have Jessica Alba, and America's new dance sensation, Cloris Leachmen as company at Dunder Mifflin.

, which I have since discovered was not actually created by Henson himself, but by the Children's Television Workshop, who then asked Henson to create characters for it. The episode was enjoyable not only as a flashback but also because the puppets were cruder versions of favorites, like Oscar the Grouch (who was oddly orange) and the little blond Mary Louise type, who was present in a gender-bending bit where the puppets popped up with no features and asked Gordon to give them noses and eyes, etc, for whatever they felt like being today. What kind of show could get away with that these days?

If, like me, you were such a huge fan of Muppets and costumed creatures growing up that you're practically anti-CGI, you should head over to the Silent Movie Theater on March 18th for "Jim Henson's Commercials & Experiments"! The screening starts at 8pm and will feature rare clips, shorts and commercials from Jim Henson's studio archives, including experimental animation and "a 35mm print of Time Piece, an Academy Award nominated 8-minute masterpiece that showcases Henson’s talent for making music out of everyday sounds."

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