The Muppets

Director: James Bobin
Year Released: 2011
Rating: 1.0

Atrocious 'reboot' of the Muppets - without Frank Oz (with good reason) - follows the basic plotline of the other Muppet movies: getting the troupe back together (by car). The song numbers are flat (though Bret McKenzie did win an Oscar for the one) and the Muppet routines are all too familiar, plus there's this over-arching need to stay "modern" - including cameos by "celebrities" such a Selena Gomez - that is forced. Also heinous: making Chris Cooper rap and doing a barbershop quartet number of "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Not heinous: a show called "Punch Teacher" in which students wail on their instructors (hell, they do it metaphorically every day).