THE MUPPETS (2011)

I will be VERY surprised if this is decent.

Segel is great, his previous movie was great, he loves the Muppets, he pitched hard for this and won the Hensons over, he has proven enthusiasm for puppetry, director is a great match for the material with his experience on slightly off-kilter musical comedy in realistic settings. Why don't you think it will work?

The Conchords connection gives me hope, but I'm not sure if the ironic distance that works on that TV show will translate to Muppety fun. I think we'll have to agree to disagree on Segal, I've just had a look at his filmography and I find it supremely underwhelming, but ymmv I guess.

Maybe I'm being coloured by that terrible Muppets Tonight show tho, I was so disappointed by that.

That shot in the trailer of Segal walking down the street doing that silly shoulder-shrug Muppet walk was all I needed to convince me he's paid attention to details and this thing is going to be loads of fun.

For those of a certain (OK, my) age, getting used to the subs for Henson's voices is as difficult as getting used to the Looney Tunes subs. It's remarkable how attuned our ears are to the subtleties of Muppet speech. Just as imagine there are some who cannot hear Ms. Piggy without hearing Yoda.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, May 23, 2011 6:23 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Ditto. So far, I haven't heard anything monumentally off-putting in the new Muppet voices, but so much of it is about timing. The post-Mel Blanc Looney Tunes voices are fucking abominable. In Space Jam, you'd hear a voice off-screen and you couldn't tell if it was supposed to be Daffy, Bugs, or Elmer Fudd. They were practically interchangeable.

if you haven't seen "forgetting sarah marshall" and the dracula puppet show, you can't judge segal's abilities around puppets.

The enthusiasm just about leaks off the screen, he loves puppets so damn much.

...Why don't you think it will work?

― the man who forsook his wife for fap fap fap (sic), Tuesday, 24 May 2011 11:35 (3 hours ago)

Disney?

Whenever they give muppets legs they look waaaaay creepy.

they've done this since the beginning...?

I still can't figure out how they got Kermit to ride a bike btw

I've heard he's actually a bicycling enthusiast and brought his own bicycle.

lol

xp yeh, they've done it since the beginning, and it's always looked creepy.

I want these.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b40/bettieleetwo/cupcakes-1.jpg

I've just had a look at his filmography and I find it supremely underwhelming, but ymmv I guess.

are you going by a list of films you've not seen, or by, let's say, his acting in [a bunch of those films and] Freaks & Geeks, his writing on FSM, and the puppetry enthusiasm that saw him Muppeteer a song from his Dracula musical on Craig Ferguson?

I missed this Craig Ferguson thing! Sounds like something I will be looking up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0C6YYLo_Jc

Trying to work out who's going to have the best and worst cameo in this. Worst will be Gervais probably and I'm torn between Donald Glover and Wanda Sykes as to which will be the best.

Actually Jack Black and Gaga could probably rival Gervais for worst.

Cameos in the original Muppet movie are just so great that they set an unrealistic standard

I was going to say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiGAAHG0O1A

"would you like to smell the cap?" cracks me up every time

Orson Welles
Edgar and Charlie
a bajillion other fast cameos

Gregory Hines was amazing

Mel Brooks Nazi doctor!

"In a few minutes he won't know you from kosher bacon..."

i always and still do love in muppets take manhattan when kermit dons the orange suit and wig.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qbd9j9-gjKk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUUcOmgYEhY

kinda bummed that they seem to have made statler and waldorf the "villians" instead of just the sardonic greek chorus

Ok, Swedish Chef jokes get me every time. And I doubt S&W are villains, probably just in a meeting because they represent the theater.

is the swedish chef saying "say hello to my little friend?"

ha, well spotted

So is this an origin story

i am going to like this.

So is this an origin story

it's a "let's get the band back together!" story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay5skbka9Yk

The spoof trailers were much better. That doesn't make me want to see it at all.

As a whole, kind of eh...

But the part where they start the Muppet Show theme song gave me the tingles

thats the first thing that has made me want to see this... fart shoes!!!!!!!!!

looks great, so much better than any muppet film since 'manhattan' and 'caper'.

As with Space Jam, I couldn't recognize a few of the characters from just their voices, and that worries me. But I'll still see it, if only to avoid rationalizing why I saw Space Jam and not this.

Space Jam was just a fucking tragedy.

space jam ruled

http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/movie/jam.htm

If it turns out to be Glee with Muppets I'll be disappointed.

not watching the real trailer, but can't imagine they would have brought McKenzie in to co-write new songs if it was all going to be pop covers

Looks like shit.

Burn Hollywood Burn.

OST

1. “The Muppet Show Theme” — The Muppets (feat. Joanna Newsom)
2. “Life’s a Happy Song” — Jason Segel, Amy Adams and Walter (feat. Feist & Mickey Rooney)
3. “Pictures in My Head” — Kermit and the Muppets
4. “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard” — Paul Simon
5. “Rainbow Connection” — The Moopets
6. “We Built This City” — Starship
7. “Me Party” — Amy Adams and Miss Piggy
8. “Let’s Talk About Me” — Chris Cooper
9. “Man or Muppet” — Jason Segel and Walter
10. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” — The Muppets Barbershop Quartet
11. “Forget You” — Camilla and the Chickens
12. “Rainbow Connection” — The Muppets
13. “The Whistling Caruso” — Andrew Bird
14. “Life’s a Happy Song” — Finale Entire Cast
15. “Mahna Mahna” – Mahna Mahna and the Two Snowths

ugh when did the muppets get so twee? 'feat. joanna newsom'?!

this is a disgrace

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/10/full-tracklist-to-muppets-soundtrack-revealed-incl.html