Artf'&ulture
aced@clackamas. edu
The Clackamas Print
W ednesday, N ov. 3 0 , 2011
3
Muppets ‘wocka wocka’ across big screen
By Isaac Soper
The Clackamas Print
Directed by James Bobift and co-written
by Nicholas Stoller and star Jason Segel, “T he
Muppets” was a very nostalgic experience for
me; growing up, I used to watch “T he M uppet
Show” on television with m y family, along w ith
all o f the films, m y personal favorite being “T he
Great M uppet Caper.” . T his is the first time
since 1999 s “Muppets from Space” that Jim
Hensons M uppets have been oh the big screen.
In the film, M uppet fans Gary (Jason Segel),
his girlfriend M ary (played by Amy Adams)
and his M uppet twin brother Walter, go on
vacation in Hollywood to celebrate the couple’s
anniversary. Along the way, the trio visits the
now-condemned M uppet Theater, only to find
that Tex Richman, a maniacal oil tycoon (Chris
Cooper), and apparent bad-boy rapper, is look
ing to destroy uie old studio and pum p oil (in
the middle o f Hollywood).
T he three M uppet fans finally come in con
tact with a seemingly retired Kermit the Frog,
w ho after some convincing, is willing to help
the trio get the old gang back, together again for
one last show in an attem pt to buy the studio
back for the $10 million price tag.
As always in M uppet repertoire, there are
many strange stories in the film, including,
b u t definitely not limited to Adams’ character
Mary, who is a kindergarten auto mechan
ics teacher. Fozzie Bear has been living in an
alley and is working with a group o f fiendish
Muppet-like characters known as T he Moopets,
and Beauregard, the M uppets in-house janitor,
who has been living in the condem ned M uppet
Theater for years in a broom closet, along
with a possible attem pted m urder by U n d e
Deadly.
M ost o f the classic M uppet characters
and m any others are portrayed in the film,
including; Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear,
Miss Piggy, Animal and the rest o f Electric
Mayhem, along w ith m y favorites, Gonzo,
Swedish C hef and Beauregard.
Besides the wide array o f M uppets in
“T hè Muppets,” there are also hum ans who
star in the film, induding a kidnapped Jack
Black and crazed hobo Zach Galifianakis,
along with m any cameos, including Emily
Blunt, James Carville, Leslie Feist, W hoopi
Goldberg, Selena Gomez, Dave Grphl, N eil
Patrick Harris, Judd Hirsch, John Krasinski,
Jim Parsons, Rico Rodriguez, Mickey Rooney,
Kristen Schaal, Sarah Silverman, Ken Jeong
and D onald Glover.
It is fairly apparent that the film’s co
writer and star Jason Segel is a fan o f the
Muppets, m ost notably after viewing his
2008 film “Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” in
which his character plays and sings a par
ticularly gloomy rendition o f thè M uppet
Show them e song and throughput the film is
working on a “Dracula” musical for puppets
(which he adm itted in an interview w ith New
York Times was a project he had actually been
working on before he was a successful actor).
Overall, “T he Mupjpets” was a thoroughly
enjoyable experience for me. Although sadly
Frank Q z wasn’t attached to the film, it was
fantastic seeing the beloved characters o f m y
youth upon uie silver screen again, in all
o f their musical, hilarious and sometimes
deranged ways. Just remember “drum s” is
Animal’s trigger word. I give “T he Muppets”
four out o f five Fraggles.
Unique opportunity
opens for creative writers
MUPPETS
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By Chris Taylor
The Clackamas Print
T hroughout history, writers have been prominent. They have
written some o f the greatest speeches, stories and poems. They have
shaped, guided and influenced writing as we know it today. Every
generation has their iconic writers and you could be one o f them.
Clackamas C om m unity College is opening a new position that
holds high merit. T he writer laureate is open to students who are
in good academic standing, responsible, enthusiastic and willing to
retain the position for winter and spring term o f 2012. T he writer
laureate’s duties will be to write creatively for on campus read
ings, Clackamas County events, the "Clackamas Literary Review,”
graduation and open mics, with some other responsibilities..
“We’re looking for someone w ith a vision,” said David M ount,
the English department chair. “We want someone with creative
writing experience, someone w ho is very serious about the job ”
T he writer laureate position was inspired by the Oregon poet
laureate. This position is intriguing to writers across campus. “I
thought it was interesting,” said Ty Spoon, a Writers’ Club mem
ber. it’s full o f prestige, and is a great opportunity to share m y
work and be recognized for it,”
This application process involves providing info including your
full name, phone number, email address and student ID number,
on top o f a letter o f recommendation from a C C C instructor from
whom you have personally taken a course that they have instructed.
Applicants are asked to provide a one-page letter describing
their interest in creative writing and literature, how they envision
carrying out the internship ana their creative ideas that they wish
to snare as the writer laureate and a 10-15 page collective o f your
creative writing.
“Its a pretty hefty application process but people really should
apply,” said English department instructor Trista Cornelius. “It’s
red life work experience in creative writing, which is really rare and
hard to come by as an undergrad.”
“W hen I started at Clackamas, I didn’t know I was a writer but
when I heard about the laureate position, I had no doubt that I
needed to subm it m y work,” said Spoon.
T he deadline for all applications is Dec. 1 at noon. All applica
tions should be emailed to Cornelius as a Microsoft W ord docu
m ent or a PD F file to tristac@clackamas.edu. Make Sure to include
“writer laureate application” in the subject line.
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