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The world needs [The Muppets] now more than ever

cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
edited November 2011 in Debate and/or Discourse
Quick storytime for you.

Jason Segel struggled in Hollywood for years, with big roles in not one but two TV shows cancelled after one season (Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared) before landing a role in the long-running How I Met Your Mother and, finally, the starring role in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. The movie did well enough to give him some hard-earned clout in the industry, and he found himself the opportunity to pitch his own movie ideas to Disney execs. So, after finally earning success after years of hard work, what pet project did he want to cash it in with?

This:

The-Muppets-movie-poster-403x600.jpg

Yes, Segel pestered the right people to bring the Muppets back, co-wrote it and starred in it. Directing duties went to James Bobin, co-creator of Flight of the Conchords.

Now, the Muppets have been spinning their wheels for the last decade or two in meh project after meh project, and Disney seemingly haven't known what to do with them since they bought them in 2004. But by all accounts, the new movie (simply "The Muppets") finally brings back that old Henson magic.

So what happens in the flick? Well, Gary (Segel) and Walter (Peter Linz) are a pair of happy-go-lucky brothers. Here's the happy siblings:

2011walter-600x317.jpg

Now these two are the world's biggest Muppet fans, so the two of them drag Mary, Gary's long-suffering girlfriend, to a pilgrimage to visit the old Muppet Theater. Unfortunately it's a wreck, the Muppet gang has long-since broken up and moved away, and the theater's about to be purchased and demolished by Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), a stereotypical rich Texan.

So you know what that means. Road trip!

Muppets2011Trailer01-1920_52-600x323.jpg

The new character is named 80's Robot, by the way. There's also fart shoes, explosions, "The Moopets," more cameos than you can count and pretty much every single damn Muppet ever. Did I mention music? Oh my yes, there's original songs that are very much in the vein of the original Muppet Movie, along with a few wonderful twists on probably the last songs you'd expect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joNgkOl903o

Looks like it's been pulled from Youtube, but the other one is a barbershop quartet version of Smells Like Teen Spirit.

So far it's looking like everyone's digging the movie... as of right now it's fully 100% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 17 reviews.

It comes out the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. So why spend a boring time with turkey, when you can have pigs and chickens and... whatever!

830px-Muppets_Group_FilmMakers_comp.jpg

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cloudeagle on
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Posts

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    In the meantime, these guys have been appearing all over the place. Check out their guest appearance with Segel during the opening monologue with Segel:

    http://www.hulu.com/watch/302534/saturday-night-live-jason-segel-and-muppets-monologue#s-p1-sr-i1

    And then they went on WWE. Yes, WWE. It actually worked:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hky_NZBmhOs

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X982t8v_1Fs&feature=related

    cloudeagle on
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  • RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    Muppets are the heroes this planet deserves.

    (Looking forward to this)

    RMS Oceanic on
  • JoolanderJoolander Registered User regular
    well, I can safely say that I never, EVER expected the Muppets to be guest stars in the WWE

    and I will definitely go see this movie

  • Skoal CatSkoal Cat Registered User regular
    Does WWE really have a leprechaun wrestler?

  • Gigazombie CybermageGigazombie Cybermage Registered User, __BANNED USERS regular
    Yup. I think his name is Hornswaggle.

  • Skoal CatSkoal Cat Registered User regular
    That's kind of racist, right?

  • see317see317 Registered User regular
    Skoal Cat wrote:
    That's kind of racist, right?
    Have you watched professional wrestling recently?
    Political correctness isn't exactly part of the venue.

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Remember when I posted that the movie was 100% fresh with 17 reviews? Well, the flick now has 82 reviews, and its freshness rating has dropped a bit.

    To 98%.

    This flick is out today, and I absolutely can't wait.

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  • KalTorakKalTorak One way or another, they all end up in the Undercity.Registered User regular
  • XaquinXaquin Right behind you!Registered User regular
    Well they're not quite mops and they're not quite puppets, but man

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    Taking the kids to see this today, oh yes.

    :)

    spool32 on
  • RMS OceanicRMS Oceanic Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote:
    Remember when I posted that the movie was 100% fresh with 17 reviews? Well, the flick now has 82 reviews, and its freshness rating has dropped a bit.

    To 98%.

    This flick is out today, and I absolutely can't wait.

    I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark, and guess that at least one of the negative reviews will explain about how this film doesn't meet his expectations of responsibilities in a pseudo-capitalistic society, and possibly complain about Pixar while he's at it.

  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote:
    Remember when I posted that the movie was 100% fresh with 17 reviews? Well, the flick now has 82 reviews, and its freshness rating has dropped a bit.

    To 98%.

    This flick is out today, and I absolutely can't wait.

    I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark, and guess that at least one of the negative reviews will explain about how this film doesn't meet his expectations of responsibilities in a pseudo-capitalistic society, and possibly complain about Pixar while he's at it.

    So you're waiting for the Armond White review.

  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    I hope this movie doesn't turn out like the Simpsons movie!

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Godfather wrote:
    I hope this movie doesn't turn out like the Simpsons movie!

    ...surprisingly awesome? That one was 90% fresh on RT, and that's despite the fact that it's now cool to hate the Simpsons.

    Anyway, the rotten reviews. Village Voice:
    Desperately trying to appeal to not just the Gen Xers who grew up with Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Dr. Teeth, but also the tykes who've never even heard of Jim Henson, The Muppets has none of the easy confidence of the original TV show or the 1979 movie.

    Globe and Mail:
    The Muppet charm, always more at home within the intimate frame of a TV set, is gone here.

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  • LibrarianThorneLibrarianThorne Registered User regular
    Midnighted this movie, and it's the first comedy in a long time that was getting geuniune laughs out of me. Meta humor abounds, the Muppets are all amazing (GONZO!), and it's just plain one of the most fun experiences you can have at the movies right now. It's good enough that I'm going to see it at least one more time in the theaters here in Austin.

  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    Tickets: bought.

  • KarozKaroz Registered User regular
    Saw it, loved it.

    Muppets delivers the third most precious gift:
    laughter.

    All hail the hobo king.

  • JustinSane07JustinSane07 Really, stupid? Brockton__BANNED USERS regular
    Some of the "Top Critics" on RT need to have their status revoked.

    A guy wrote a one paragraph essay about how much he hated it and is some how a top fucking critic. Fuck that.

  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    cloudeagle wrote:
    Godfather wrote:
    I hope this movie doesn't turn out like the Simpsons movie!

    ...surprisingly awesome?

    Nope! As in all the best jokes are shown in the trailers and the rest is ho-hum!

    Godfather on
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    Good grief, this was hilarious!

    Absolutely fantastic, it delivers 100%. Tons of laughs, great cameos, "Rainbow Connection" made me tear up and the telethon had me laughing so hard at one point that I could barely breathe. Everyone should go see this - you will definitely laugh. Excellent film, I wanted to go back and just watch it all again. A zillion quotable lines!

    "You're ruining one of the greatest songs in history!"

    spool32 on
  • spool32spool32 Contrary Library Registered User regular
    Scooter works for Google! I love that he was heading to TED when the montage grabbed him.

    Also, google maps joke when they travel to Paris!

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    Oh yeah, fantastic stuff. Maybe not the best Muppet movie ever, but at the very least it's in the top three and is easily the best Muppet-related thing we've gotten since the 80s.

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  • wanderingwandering Russia state-affiliated media Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    Pretty disappointing movie. I mean it wasn't horrible but it was schmaltzy and filled with lame meta jokes and at one point an old white guy does a rap number. Also it's pretty self-congratulatory. If you want to make a movie that shows how great the Muppets are - make a great Muppet movie! Don't announce "the Muppets are great!"

    I guess I shouldn't have expected much...the parody ads that everybody loves are about as funny as Friedberg and Seltzer's movies.

    (The best Muppet movie ever is Muppet-Vision 4d.)

    wandering on
  • Der Waffle MousDer Waffle Mous Blame this on the misfortune of your birth. New Yark, New Yark.Registered User regular
    Is Count von Count in this?

    Steam PSN: DerWaffleMous Origin: DerWaffleMous Bnet: DerWaffle#1682
  • Delta AssaultDelta Assault Registered User regular
    edited November 2011
    Okay, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this:

    "The Muppet Babies" is the best version of the Muppets. It is the only Muppets I enjoy.

    Come at me.

    Delta Assault on
  • DarkPrimusDarkPrimus Registered User regular
    There were some quality gags that would have been a lot better had the trailers not ruined them.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Okay, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and say this:

    "The Muppet Babies" is the best version of the Muppets. It is the only Muppets I enjoy.

    Come at me.

    You are wrong. Really, nothing more needs to be said. You are as wrong as a man who declares the world to be flat, or made of cookie-dough.

  • StraygatsbyStraygatsby Registered User regular
    I really enjoyed it. Some fun gags, solid cameos, and most of the numbers were good fun (I particularly liked the muppet/man set). You can tell it was really made with a great deal of love. I don't think I can really compare it to the original(s); it's a different animal, but it made this cynical, jaded 30 something a very giggly manchild for 90 minutes. I really can't complain. That said, I don't really see it generating a great deal of interest in a new generation. We went to a very early Thursday show, and many of the children there were visibly bored 20 minutes in.

    Also,
    Dave Grohl as Moopet Animal = gold

  • saint2esaint2e Registered User regular
    This is fan freakin' tastic and I cannot wait to see the movie.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=jMCCxjRnZC4

    banner_160x60_01.gif
  • APODionysusAPODionysus Registered User regular
    Full Disclosure:

    I'm a massive Muppet fan. I've seen every movie, watched a ton of the Muppet Show, watched Muppet Babies as a tyke. Muppet Vision 3D is my first stop any time I get to MGM. My family watches A Muppet Christmas Carol every Christmas Eve (Gonzo and Rizzo are the best team). I love the Muppets.

    I LOVED this movie. I was like a giddy kid through the whole damn thing. The songs were great, the crowd (a bit sparse as it was a 9pm showing on Thanksgiving Day) seemed really into it - lots of laughs. I loved the cameos, though I was sad NPH didn't get to sing. Coopers rap was fantastic. The little Animal subplot was a gem. All the songs fit well... except maybe Man or a Muppet which seemed a little shoehorned, but was so much fun that I didn't mind (frankly, I suspect the song was written simply because Seigel demanded to be Muppetized at some point in the film, and who can blame him?)

    The only real criticism I have is the some of the voices, particularly Miss Piggy, sorely missed Frank Oz, but if the Muppets are going to be viable going forward we are going to have to accept such things - and I would murder to get a new Muppet Show on the air.

    I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Pixar Short yet. That was a complete surprise to me, but it was a wonderful bonus. At first I thought it was going to be some little ad, but I got a free Toy Story short film!

  • FencingsaxFencingsax It is difficult to get a man to understand, when his salary depends upon his not understanding GNU Terry PratchettRegistered User regular
    Yeah, just came back from it. It was great.

  • EddEdd Registered User regular
    That said, I don't really see it generating a great deal of interest in a new generation. We went to a very early Thursday show, and many of the children there were visibly bored 20 minutes in.

    Also,
    Dave Grohl as Moopet Animal = gold

    You know, that concerned me a bit. That first act is likely to confuse the hell out of small children.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    Overall, I enjoyed the hell out of this movie, but I wouldn't call it perfect.

    - It's a bit slow to get going. Walter is the only muppet you see for about 20 minutes, and he's kind of meh.

    - For too much of the film, Kermit was low-key and depressive. It was kind of a bummer.

    - I've never liked Ms. Piggy, and this film did nothing to change that. Too much of the movie revolved around the vague romantic backstory between her and Kermit, and there was nothing tangible to give it any weight.

    - A little too winky-winky, especially the stuff with Adams and Segel, who are usually people I like to see.

    - The finale at the telethon was kinda out of left field.


    But yeah, I liked it a lot. A for effort, certainly.

  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    I agree with everything Ross said. Spot on. Those were the criticisms I had as well... and yet...

    god, for some reason I still absolutely loved the hell out of this movie. I can attribute like, 80% of that to nostalgia, but man, it felt good to see the Muppets again in something other then a lame parody of something else.

    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
    wrote:
    When I was a little kid, I always pretended I was the hero,' Skip said.
    'Fuck yeah, me too. What little kid ever pretended to be part of the lynch-mob?'
  • Fuzzy Cumulonimbus CloudFuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud Registered User regular
    Mrs. Piggy is the best muppet of all time and muppet babies was the best muppet show of all time.

  • AtomikaAtomika Live fast and get fucked or whatever Registered User regular
    I've always wondered what happened to Scooter's sister, Skeeter.

    According to the Onion, she was murdered.

  • cloudeaglecloudeagle Registered User regular
    I've always wondered what happened to Scooter's sister, Skeeter.

    According to the Onion, she was murdered.

    Unless I'm missing something, she never existed outside of the Muppet Babies cartoon.

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  • Linespider5Linespider5 ALL HAIL KING KILLMONGER Registered User regular
    cloudeagle wrote:
    I've always wondered what happened to Scooter's sister, Skeeter.

    According to the Onion, she was murdered.

    Unless I'm missing something, she never existed outside of the Muppet Babies cartoon.

    D:

  • GodfatherGodfather Registered User regular
    This was a great film! I was extremely surprised at how clever a lot of the jokes were.

    And the short Toy Story film had me dying. My god, I could not stop laughing once the AA parody meeting started up.

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