http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/8005/the-dark-crystal/ Where Pornographers Debate Nihilists About Pop Culture Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:14:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/8005/the-dark-crystal/comment-page-1/#comment-992 Ruthless Reviews » THE MUPPET MOVIE (1979) Thu, 24 Nov 2011 03:14:41 +0000 http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/?p=8005#comment-992 [...] On the way, the Muppets are beset by problems as inexplicable as they are hilarious. Doc Hopper pursues Kermit with fanatical greed – he wants the talented frog to help advertise his Frog Leg franchise. This is fucked up in that even before he is  a star, he is pressured to sell out his talents and his species. Presenting such a concept as negative is almost quaint today, but such a temptation is an important part of any story about success. We all have abilities, and determining when and on what terms to sell them is a universal struggle. Later, Mel Brooks does a cameo as a mad German doctor, one of my first exposures to Nazis as cinematic villains, along with the face-melty guys from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The machine he has designed for Kermit is as creepy as it is awful, intending to turn him into a mindless model. The suggestion is that greed brainwashes us all, although I’m not sure how the Third Reich figures into it. I like to think of his device as a television, designed to insulate and amuse rather than enlighten while robbing you of your essence, much like the Scientist’s diabolical machine from The Dark Crystal. [...] [...] On the way, the Muppets are beset by problems as inexplicable as they are hilarious. Doc Hopper pursues Kermit with fanatical greed – he wants the talented frog to help advertise his Frog Leg franchise. This is fucked up in that even before he is  a star, he is pressured to sell out his talents and his species. Presenting such a concept as negative is almost quaint today, but such a temptation is an important part of any story about success. We all have abilities, and determining when and on what terms to sell them is a universal struggle. Later, Mel Brooks does a cameo as a mad German doctor, one of my first exposures to Nazis as cinematic villains, along with the face-melty guys from Raiders of the Lost Ark. The machine he has designed for Kermit is as creepy as it is awful, intending to turn him into a mindless model. The suggestion is that greed brainwashes us all, although I’m not sure how the Third Reich figures into it. I like to think of his device as a television, designed to insulate and amuse rather than enlighten while robbing you of your essence, much like the Scientist’s diabolical machine from The Dark Crystal. [...]

]]> http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/8005/the-dark-crystal/comment-page-1/#comment-169 Ruthless Reviews » AVATAR Sat, 19 Dec 2009 19:54:40 +0000 http://www.ruthlessreviews.com/?p=8005#comment-169 [...] from Jar Jar Binks, and the plant designs are cobbled from basic tropical leaves and the forest of The Dark Crystal. Avatar comes off as oddly incidental, a $250 million side effect, and the last great hangover of [...] [...] from Jar Jar Binks, and the plant designs are cobbled from basic tropical leaves and the forest of The Dark Crystal. Avatar comes off as oddly incidental, a $250 million side effect, and the last great hangover of [...]

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