Muppets in Comedy

"Muppets from Space [Original Score]" (08/10/1999) Comedy Original Soundtrack, Varese (Japan)Original score composed and conducted by Jamshied Sharifi and Rupert Gregson-Williams. A collection of outlandish but well-executed parodies of classic movie themes, Muppets from Space is an odd entry in the venerable Jim Henson franchise -- its broad, often bizarre humor will appeal more to adults than children, unless those kids have recycled their copies of Highights magazine in favor of a subscription to Cahiers du Cinema. Brazenly quoting greats from Herrmann to Goldsmith to Williams, composer Jamshied Sharifi dashes through the history of movie music like an axe-wielding maniac, lopping off familiar melodies and motifs from some of the greatest scores of the 20th century -- half the fun is spotting his influences and inspirations, while the remainder derives from the symphonic bombast of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, which performs with an intensity and grandeur even those ornery old bastards Statler and Waldorf would applaud. ~ Jason Ankeny