Quick Reviews: J. Edgar, Muppets, Puss in Boots

Blogging for me is in fits and spurts right now. Either I have to be really inspired or it has to be something quick (such as those featuring a photo or two), and my lack of time (due to work and other issues) makes it worse. As far as these movie posts are concerned, I finally decided that I'm just not going to get to separate posts for these right now. So...

J. Edgar: The story (more like a psychological profile) of infamous FBI director J. Edgar Hoover is well-acted but the jumping back and forth in time made it much too disjointed. I read lots of comment about Leonardo DiCaprio's makeup for Hoover's latter days but to be honest I thought the makeup job done on Armie Hammer was worse. My grade: B-minus.

The Muppets: I loved the old Muppet Show and enjoyed this movie, but it was a bit too much of an exercise in nostalgia to be truly spectacular. I appreciate Jason Segel's efforts in getting the Muppets back on the big screen, but somehow I felt this didn't quite fully win my heart. The best celebrity cameo (and one that got quite a reaction from the audience) was by Jim Parsons as...well, I won't spoil it. My grade: B-plus.

Puss in Boots: It took weeks but I finally got to see this yesterday. Spinning Puss (voice of Antonio Banderas) off from the Shrek films wasn't a surprise, but stripping the film of the "Shrek" barrage of pop-culture references was. It was a wise decision. But why didn't anyone tell me they used a Lady Gaga song in the film? I might have seen it sooner. My grade: B-plus.