Refueling, revving the engines...
A Surprise Package post full of recent highlights — Muppets! Anna Tivel! Rian Johnson! Catherine O’Hara! and much more.
— a Surprise Package post full of recent highlights (Muppets! Anna Tivel! Rian Johnson! Catherine O’Hara! and much more) as I strive to revive my momentum and mission here at jeffreyoverstreet.com —
Well, I approached January with the best of intentions for this new website and a long list of writing projects — for me, for you, for whatever difference I might make on this little street corner of the Internet where I busk for the love of it.
I was excited about that. And then it was all completely swept away by an unforeseen flood of obligations at work and at home. That was a heavy blow to my hopes. And — let’s mix more metaphors, shall we? — any refueling I might have managed during the “Christmas break” has already burned away and I’m back to Square One.
Enough about that. It’s behind me. Now that I have a moment in which I can make new changes, I’m going to give it everything I have. My new book arrives in May. I’m preparing a series of special events for anyone who wants to celebrate that with me. I have promises to keep when it comes completing my writing about 2025, even though that turbulent year is already fading in the rearview mirror. (I started that series of posts almost a month ago now, and it’s time to pick up where I left off.) And I have stories that I need to write now or else surrender them to the compost bin.
I feel inclined to make sweeping New Year’s resolutions. But I know better — the world is in a state of disruption and apocalypse, and I’m trying to serve higher callings than my own whims and impulses. So, rather than overreach with my personal wish list, I’m going to stake a claim to some time and some space right now, here, in February (and hopefully into March), to deliver what I promised
- to those who support this site;
- to those who visit it;
- to myself;
and, above all,
- to the Spirit that summons me to show some love to this cruel world.
So — here we go. I’m back on the beat today, drawing attention to signs of hope beauty, faith, and truth in art and culture.
The much-lauded documentary My Undesirable Friends is coming to MUBI’s streaming service! In making this accessible to American audiences, MUBI’s doing God’s work, bringing truthful testimony about Putin’s authoritarian crackdown on journalists documenting his crimes against humanity in Ukraine, and indirectly but effectively warning America about Trump’s authoritarian agenda to silence dissent, arrest and imprison honest and responsible journalists, and cultivate a climate of fear.
Here’s the trailer for the film via SIFF:
Never been a better time to play the music, to light the lights, to get things re-started on The Muppet Show, alright?
I kept my expectations very, very low as I approached Disney’s new half-hour special The Muppet Show, still feeling frustrated with the studio’s last attempt to revive Jim Henson’s vision. (It had its virtues, but the whole affair curdled in its attempt to take on an “edgy” tone that felt dissonant with Henson’s spirit.)
Much to my amazement, all of my worries began falling away within the first five minutes. In fact, I was overjoyed. 2026’s The Muppet Show looks, sounds, and feels fantastic.
While I wouldn’t go as far as others in claiming that it picks up right where the original Muppet Show left off — it’s really weird to see actual humans in the audience of the Muppet theater, and Matt Vogel’s attempt to approximate Henson’s Kermit voice is cringe-worthy compared to Steve Whitmire’s work in previous efforts — the spirit of the affair feels like the best revival since Jason Segal and James Bobin’s brilliant 2011 feature film The Muppets.
\If this becomes a series — and it will be tragic if the singular joys achieved by Alex Timbers and company here don't win them several seasons of work — I can learn to adjust to Imitation Kermit. This is an obvious labor of love.
It seemed right and good that the show premiered just in time for the birthday of one of my favorite authors and artists, a true and faithful Jim Henson disciple, my Muppet-loving, creature-making, world-building, whimsy-cooking friend Ken Priebe, my “brother from another mother.” He posted this as he took in the new production:
My upcoming book features a whole chapter that's a letter of gratitude to Jim Henson. I could say more here about how ecstatic I am about this pilot episode, but I would just end up rewriting that chapter. I hope you’ll all read it soon.
Carlos Aguilar
A surprise second-helping of Animal Poem
Anna Tivel’s album Animal Poem was one of my very favorites of 2025 — you’ll read more about that soon when I publish my Favorite Recordings of 2025. But she’s already back with a surprise extension of that record: Animal Poem B-Sides. It arrives on March 6, but if you pre-order on Bandcamp, you'll get three preview tracks strong enough that they’d have been right at home on the original album. These playful, spirited songs have more explicitly theological references than most of those on Animal Poem, the kind of thing that gets my attention and kindles my curiosity.
When my heroes meet up: Steven Greydanus talks with Rian Johnson
At The Catholic Spirit, Steven D. Greydanus interviewed Rian Johnson about Wake Up Dead Man, a movie that will rank very highly on my Favorite Films of 2025 list when I publish it on the eve of the Oscars in a few weeks.
Don’t let them lie to you about the Kingdom of God
If you don’t already, follow Rev. Benjamin Cremer on Bluesky (or, if you’re still able to stomach it, Facebook) for wisdom regarding what the Scriptures promise about the Kingdom of God, as opposed to the sick and twisted ways in which the Bible is being abused to advance violence and hatred in America.
First great albums of 2026?
It’s barely February, I still haven’t posted my Favorite Recordings of 2025, and I’m already swimming in great new recordings for 2026. I’m loving new records from Lucinda Williams (World’s Gone Wrong) and Beck (Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime). But there are two that I’m playing on heavy rotation with a premonition that these will rank highly on my year-end list for 2026.
One is Tragic Magic, an enchanting collaboration between Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore — one that features a cover that came as a thrilling surprise for me, film-score-enthusiast that I am. I mentioned this one and shared a couple of tracks in a recent post, so I won’t go any farther in repeating myself here.
But the other is called Singin’ to an Empty Chair, by the band Ratboys, whose back catalogue I now need to investigate. Produced by my Seattle neighbor Chris Walla, this record sounds like yarn spun from threads of Wednesday, Waxahatchee, and Sixpence None the Richer. I recommend you sample these tracks, and note that, for all of the troubles — relational and existential — that we sail through on the record’s rough waters, we arrive at a closing track called “At Peace in the Hundred Acre Wood,” the best Milne reference in a song since Cloud Cult’s “Christopher Robin.”
“You Never Forget the Best!” Farwell to Catherine O’Hara
It came as a shock and a deep sadness to say farewell to one of the funniest and most inspired comediennes of my lifetime. If I had time, I’d be setting up a weekend to revisit my favorite Catherine O’Hara films: Christopher Guest’s Best in Show and A Mighty Wind; Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice; and, for O’Hara’s tender voice acting, Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are. Or maybe I should prioritize some Schitt’s Creek binge-watching. Thank you, dear Catherine, for your singular and indelible performances which will continue to bring all of us so much joy.
Ethan Shanfeld