FRIDAY FILM BEAT: Muppets Most Wanted

Only two words can describe James Bobin's latest effort: pure awesomeness. Ricky Gervais did a good job as Dominic "The Lemur" Badguy (pronounced "budgie" similar to a French pronunciation). The visual effects (the studio worked on 425 shots that included CG builds and set extensions, matte paintings, particle and laser effects, animation, and rod removals) were totally worth it, as was the Monsters University short that played at the start. Now here's something NOT worth it: the captain of the South Korean ferry that sank off the coast of a tourist island has been captured on video slipping away while hundreds of passengers remain on the doomed ship. The clip from April 16, released this week by Korea's coastguard, shows coastguard officers throwing a rope to the steering house and Captain Lee Joon Seok, in a long-sleeved black shirt, jumping off the listing ferry. The clip was taken shortly before the ferry became completely submerged in the Yellow Sea - with hundreds of passengers still trapped below deck. Doesn't that bellend know a captain shouldn't leave his/her sinking ship? The captain needs to stay on board for as long as possible to provide assistance, co-ordinate the rescue efforts, and perform whatever other tasks as may be necessary to keep things running smoothly. You can't do all that once you've left the ship (unless of course you return before it's too late).