The Muppets

[EricJ]

You have to face the fact that, even whatever you think, Disney has pulled this off. They seem to have made a Muppet movie that makes the characters relevant again and stays true to the '76-81 spirit.

Seriously, one reason I was giving it the um, grudging benefit of the doubt was that most of the word of mouth I'd heard seemed to conflict with those early horror stories:
Instead of a near-three-hour cut filled with buddy-cameo Lady Gaga duets with Piggy, most reports have the movie at a smooth ninety-minute running time, assure fans that "Really, Segel isn't in it that much at all!", and appear to be baffled that all those 00's celebrities just seem to be walk-on's without doing anything.

I suspect (and not without a little bit of hope) the longer original cut of the Big Show at the end may have been Segel's own attempt to put him and his friends in his own vanity variety episode complete with guest numbers, and Disney wisely de-Segel'ed the movie in the editing room to concentrate on the story and brand franchise they were trying to sell. (Whether that's one product of the Pixar story writers' Tron Legacy-style last-minute script-rescue tweaking, I don't know.)
So, yes, while we don't "have Segel to thank for bringing them back", unquote, we may potentially have Disney to thank for keeping it from being distracted.

[LotsoA113]

Do you have some kind of anti-Jason Segal vendetta? I mean for gods sake, he, Nicholas Stoller and James bobin may have just successful relaunched the single most beloved American institution in one weekend. And those 42 million dollar worth people that saw it Over the 5-day weekend were really liking Jason Segals work. SO GET OFF HIS BACK!!! See the movie like Ben said before continuing your rant.

Oh and Ben/Randall: I've got some pitches for some muppet shorts. Just in case your interested

[EricJ]

And those 42 million dollar worth people that saw it Over the 5-day weekend were really liking Jason Segals work.

Well, that's just the point--I suspect that Disney studio execs left an overwhelming majority of "Jason Segel's work" on the cutting-room floor at the last minute, so they could concentrate on the Muppet performers' work instead. And if so, I blame them not one whit.

[LotsoA113]

Still there's only so much cutting a studio can do (though if films like Piranha 2 and clash of the titans 2010 have any indication, then the sky the limit in terms of how much editing they do) Jason Segal had a big hand in the film and credit should be gone here crest is due. He and Nicholas stiller did a fine job and the fact that you continuously treat Jason with wish disdain is just (for lack on Better word) silly. Give it a try...maybe he'll surprise you yet!

[Bill1978]

At least now we know the cause behind EricJ's negative view to the movie. If he had just been upfront and said I don't like Jason Segal I think all this back and forth argument would not have happened. I'll admit I have a similar view when it comes to Tom Cruise

[droosan]

Saw it tonight, and really, really enjoyed it! The songs were great, the 'putting the gang back together' plot was tremendous fun, and the whole general 'feel' of the characters and the 'real-world-people-take-muppets-in-stride' vibe was spot-on. I do agree with Randall that the very last scenes kinda 'fizzled-out' just a bit, though.

The Rowlf 'montage' gag was, indeed, hilarious .. but my very favorite reunion scene was Gonzo. Even though he's not my personal favorite muppet character .. that scene captured his persona p-e-r-f-e-c-t-l-y!

Loved the 'Muppet Studios' tour .. which was set at the actual Jim Henson Studios facility on LaBrea in Hollywood (formerly the original Hanna-Barbera television studio .. and originally the Charlie Chaplin studio, where most of his silent features were filmed). The Muppet Theater was, of course, Disney's own El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard (for both exteriors and interiors).


One minor plot hole, though (please don't look, Ben!!):

All Kermit would have had to do in order to raise ten million dollars would be to sell his house.

A mansion like his -- presumably in Brentwood or Beverly Hills (they wisely don't specify .. but it looked to be that sort of neighborhood) -- would sell for at least that much, easily.

But then -- as Amy Adams said -- it would've been a very short movie.

Oh .. and the Toy Story short was incredibly solid and funny!! (IMO, A huuuuuge improvement over Barbie's Hawaiian Vacation, which I found 'episodic' and kinda 'meh') I loved every single one of the fast-food kid's meal toys in Buzz's support group .. and I especially appreciated the references to a certain 'Ron Miller-era' Disney character. Even the end titles for this short were crammed with great gags ..

[EricJ]

At least now we know the cause behind EricJ's negative view to the movie. If he had just been upfront and said I don't like Jason Segal I think all this back and forth argument would not have happened.

Well, I did, but it was buried under the larger complaints about the smug, precious, rib-nudging, self-congratulating dismissiveness of the parody trailers, and Jason & Amy camping it up ABC-Network style as the Nice People From Nicetown in the real-footage trailers. (IOW, Adams forced to trot out her happy-naif Princess Giselle act again on demand, because Disney still owned "Enchanted", and it was the only thing the director had seen her in...I somehow don't quite think she got the gig because of her Oscar nomination for "Doubt". )
Basically, I was picking up on some of the same vibes that the performers reportedly were, namely that Segel & Co. had "hired" the group for his own private Boomer-indulging 70's guest episode for himself and his buddies, instead of a real tribute to the show he claimed to remember. Segel joked that "the little kids in the focus groups didn't want me in it ", and, er....yeah--The big kids in the boardroom didn't after a while, either; they had bigger fish (and frogs and pigs) to sell without him.

(Watching Muppet Christmas Carol the past few nights, I'm just reminded of the real vibe Jerry Juhl created for the series and early movies--The Muppets aren't embarrassingly in our world, they're in their own, and humans occasionally live there by their rules.
In the opening scene of MCC, as the Muppet Londoners sing their song about Scrooge, Michael Caine walks past a vegetable stand, and the Muppet fruit and vegetables start singing a verse--Frank Oz playing the Muppet fruitstand owner ad-libs "See? Even the vegetables hate him!"
That's one of the prime Juhl-rules of REAL Muppet Logic: Take it for granted that anything will talk. Muppets Take Manhattan tried the new movie's same trick of putting itself in a squeaky-clean "real" world, and missed the main ingredient.)

[Ben]

Regarding Disney "de-Segal-ing" The Muppets. Yeah, right. Like you'd know, Eric. Hilarious.

And don't try to backtrack: you've been against this movie since the beginning. Just go see it and change your mind; there's really no need to make excuses!

[ShyViolet]

Doing quite well:

http://www.contactmusic.com/news/dawn-f ... ek_1266153

[Bill1978]

Purchased the soundtrack yesterday. Shocked that my local store had it (it also had Puss In Boots). It was a very pleasant listening experience. The songs are instantly memorable, but I think there are a couple that may get an Oscar nom when you throw in the visuals accompanying the song. I must say The Rainbow Connection by the actual Muppets, is beautiful. While I'll admit The Moopets version made me laugh out loud.

[Vernadyn]

Arthur doesn't appeal to me, but I'm dying to see Hugo!

Hugo is great, even in non-3D. My favorite film of the year, though I'll see if I like Tintin and Mission: Impossible more (I hold hope for the latter just because it's Brad Bird, though he unfortunately didn't write it). It hasn't been an overwhelmingly great year for films. Some decent films, but Hugo is the only standout for me.

[EricJ]

Hugo is great, even in non-3D.

At the last minute, I put my "obligation" on hold a week, and decided that Hugo needed my third-place-underdog dollars more. (If we've got enough for its own thread by now, feel free to move it)
I'll add to the praise, and the recommendation to see it in 3-D for "director's intent"--It's not just a good-looking faux-Harry Potter movie of a faux-Potter book, it's Scorsese in full-on TCM Film Historian/Worship mode. Not to give away the plot, but the book's 20's-Paris story allows Marty to give us a half-hour lecture on Georges Melies by the last reel, as a not-so-gentle hint about his own first experiments in James Cameron's "3-D is ART!"
(We're told several times about the Lumieres filming a train and the very first movie audiences diving out of the way...Three guesses what New 3-D Director Scorsese was trying to say with that one. )

So like I'd been saying all along--There WERE other films you could've been seeing this weekend.

[LotsoA113]

I'm actually seeing Hugo this weekend (in 3D of course). It'll have to work pretty hard to beat the hilarious and charming Arthur Christmas and the brilliant Muppets.

BTW EricJ have you seen the Muppeta or not? You insinuated you chickened out but I thought you mentioned you saw it last weekend. So....have you?

[EricJ]

Like I said, I put it off a week, and went to champion the hard-working movies that didn't DESERVE to be steamrollered at the BO numbers by teen vampires and Beaker singing Nirvana.

The first critic awards have come in, btw, and the National Board of Review this week picked Hugo as best of the year (the first step toward the Oscars, as they now basically crib their Best Picture nominations off the NBOR anyway).
http://news.yahoo.com/scorseses-hugo-na ... 10136.html
I concur, and have placed February bets accordingly. Come to think of it, maybe the Muppets should have hosted, just to have it rubbed in their face.

[Dacey]

To have...what rubbed in their face?

At this point, you're just creating issues that don't even exist in order to downplay the success of the film.