Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The Muppets (2011)

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 11-26-2011, 07:02 PM:

I grew up with The Muppets and the Fraggles and all of that other Jim Henson stuff. I liked the first Muppet Movie, but the others kind of went down hill for me. I was really curious to see if this one continued that trend or came back to the top as a good movie. I thought it was great! The songs and dance numbers were good, the story moved along pretty quickly, the cameos were great... I thought this movie captured the Jim Henson magic quite well. The show I went to had a theater of only adults, and we were all laughing out loud. If you liked the Muppets growing up, you should really like this movie.

Posted by Tony Gallimore (Member # 5358) on 11-28-2011, 11:37 PM:

Right on! I used to watch the Muppets regularly with the family (Mom, Dad, and brother) when growing up. It was such a tragedy when Jim Henson died. It seemed the muppets faded away too. I was really glad to see that someone picked up the banner and did a very decent job bringing the Muppets back to life. The movie was typical, funny and a lot of fun for us old codgers. Load up the family, yes even the kids and see this one. It should be fun for all.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-29-2011, 05:00 PM:

I am not a Muppets fan but I am looking forward to this. The trailer is a hoot. I may become a fan after all. (And after seeing this, maybe I'll understand the attraction at Disney World more!?)

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 11-29-2011, 11:19 PM:

CINEMA: Megaplex 14 at Legacy Crossing, Centerville, UT
AUDITORIUM: 7
PRESENTATION: Dolby Digital Cinema
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: None [Cool]

RATING: Three stars (out of four)

Megaplex's newest megaplex has fourteen screens including one LIEMAX exactly the size of this auditorium. New and notable here is the concessions...instead of a food court, this building has a single station that sells basically all or most of the food available at other Megaplexes, but at one ordering point. Then you get a number which is shown on a display at a pick-up window when ready.

The auditorium, one of the two largest, actually made me think of Act III. And I had it all to myself. There was NOBODY here. Maybe five cars in the whole parking lot.

THE PLOT: A crappy dilapidated studio is slated for demolition. Wackiness ensues.

It started off strong, it had a horrible middle (including a montage set to a Starship song, a practice which should be illegal), and an awesome ending.

Oh..it also had an awesome Toy Story short before the movie.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-30-2011, 01:29 AM:

I didn't think it was as great as everyone is saying it is. It felt like a bad ripoff of Blues Brothers.

The best part of the movie is online though right here!

Posted by John Wilson (Member # 269) on 11-30-2011, 06:09 PM:

Was that Carmilla singing there?

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-01-2011, 01:02 AM:

Yup, she was saying "cluck you"!

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 12-07-2011, 04:58 PM:

my 6 year old niece thought the 'Cluck You' Chicken song was downright hysterical. The near sold out crowd at my screening were really too quiet for my taste, though when she started laughing, I gathered they were laughing at how funny she was reacting to the scene

Posted by Connor Wilson (Member # 6088) on 12-10-2011, 05:06 PM:

CINEMA: AMC Mazza Gallerie at Wisconsin Ave., Washington, D.C.
AUDITORIUM: 4 (THX-certified)
PRESENTATION: 35mm / Dolby Digital
PRESENTATION PROBLEMS: First AFI Silver, now this. After the little MPAA rating card, the tail end of the film went through the projector. Nothing like seeing disjointed colors and the Color by Deluxe logo flash in your face while the sounds of a giant passing gas through the baffle wall envelops you. Minor problem.
RATING: Seven (out of ten)

This was my first time at the Mazza Gallerie, and it was a surprising experience. I've expected the place to go all digital but then I noticed a little scratch on that AMC Coming Soon snipe. I guess I didn't read up too well. For a THX house, this place was very modest. AMC didn't bother to promote their THX certification on all seven screens, not even a little sign in the lobby that reads "THX Certified Cinema" or something like that. The screen (auditorium 4) was pretty big, and I'm a fan of the homey textures on the side walls. While the sound system was decent, I think it didn't push it up to it's fullest potential (at least for this screen). It was lossy, 20-year-old Dolby Digital, and while it still sounds decent, it's starting to show its age in the days of uncompressed PCM audio. The print looked very well, with some scratches here or there after three weeks. They do a better job at handling 35mm than the Regal Countryside 20 can handle itself. Definitely going to go there again.

THE PLOT: Oil. Wackiness ensues.

Campy for the sake of it. It wasn't "incredible", yes but it's just a fun film. Nothing more or less. It gave me a smile. That's all I can really say.

Oh, and Brad, thanks for the MP3 of "Cluck You." Going to listen to it often this week.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-10-2011, 05:48 PM:

quote: Connor Wilson
After the little MPAA rating card, the tail end of the film went through the projector. Nothing like seeing disjointed colors and the Color by Deluxe logo flash in your face while the sounds of a giant passing gas through the baffle wall envelops you. Minor problem

Minor problem? Still bad presentation, but typical with booth clown operations ...

Oh well, at least two good things about digital:

1-no more tail end runout and sound to go with it
and,
2-no more booth clowns to allow this to happen.

Posted by Connor Wilson (Member # 6088) on 12-10-2011, 08:54 PM:

Just because the tail of the film ran through the projector doesn't automatically make it a "bad presentation." The print was in very decent shape, although reel 3 kind of did look soft, I will tell you that (maybe a lab issue). Heck, the print itself outdid the trailers (and even the Toy Story short, for unknown reasons).

Oh, and think about what you said to the AFI Silver for calling out a "booth clown." Professionalism is key in that theater and it was a midnight showing, so I guess after the projectionist cued reel 5 (it was a changeover presentation) he went right to bed as the computer turned up the lights. But now we are getting off-topic.

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 12-10-2011, 09:42 PM:

Just sloppy film handling when you have tail runout along with sound.

Show should end quiet and clean.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-02-2012, 08:46 PM:

quote: Connor Wilson
Just because the tail of the film ran through the projector doesn't automatically make it a "bad presentation."

Actually, yes it does.

Also you might be in trouble using "Wackiness ensues." Everybody knows The Evil Sam Graham has a trademark on that phrase! [Big Grin]

We're playing this right now, to disappointing crowds.

The Toy Story short at the beginning was top notch -- this being the second post-TS3 short featuring the original Toy Story cast, I'm curious how much of this stuff they have lying around at Pixar! It sure was a nice thing to see a pre-feature short that (a) was more than 4 minutes long, (b) wasn't actually a trailer for an Ice Age movie, (c) was really funny and well-done, and (d) didn't take classic characters and dumb-them-down for 2011 audiences like some of the recent WB shorts have.

But I shouldn't gripe...I wish ALL movies came with a short before the feature.

Speaking of the feature, I'll have to wait a while to comment on that because I haven't seen it yet. But it sounds hilarious, even for me being a non-fan.

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 01-02-2012, 09:01 PM:

quote: Mike Blakesley

Actually, yes it does.

Also you might be in trouble using "Wackiness ensues." Everybody knows The Evil Sam Graham has a trademark on that phrase!

We're playing this right now, to disappointing crowds.

The Toy Story short at the beginning was top notch -- this being the second post-TS3 short featuring the original Toy Story cast, I'm curious how much of this stuff they have lying around at Pixar! It sure was a nice thing to see a pre-feature short that (a) was more than 4 minutes long, (b) wasn't actually a trailer for an Ice Age movie, (c) was really funny and well-done, and (d) didn't take classic characters and dumb-them-down for 2011 audiences like some of the recent WB shorts have.

But I shouldn't gripe...I wish ALL movies came with a short before the feature.

Speaking of the feature, I'll have to wait a while to comment on that because I haven't seen it yet. But it sounds hilarious, even for me being a non-fan.

speak for yourself I thought the 2011 3D CGI "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" was really funny.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-02-2012, 10:27 PM:

It WAS funny, in fact it was the best of the modern-day Looney Tunes as far as I'm concerned -- but come on, you know it doesn't even hold a candle to a classic Looney Tune.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-06-2012, 11:36 AM:

Finally got a chance to watch this last night.

As a non-Muppets fan, but familiar with them through osmosis over the years, I thought it was pretty good. The first half was indeed just like the Blues Brothers, right down to the "current occupations" of some of the band members.

The most annoying Muppet to me has always been Miss Piggy and that didn't change here. What Kermit sees in her, I'll never know. She's just a diva. She could use a bitch-slap.

I really liked the addition of Walter to the cast. He was probably the best character in the movie and the most expressive. Whoever did his voice and his "motions" (or whatever you call it) did a great job.

I didn't find the "Cluck You" part all that funny -- partly because I knew about it in advance thanks to this thread, and also because I kept being preoccupied with wondering what kind of hoops the filmmakers had to jump through to get a song whose best known and original lyric is "fuck you" past the powers-that-be at Disney.

Overall, not a great movie but an enjoyable one. Three out of five for me.

The opening short gets better with every view. Leave it to Pixar to cram more plot into a 7-minute short than many movies have in 100 minutes or more. As with their features, the attention to detail is amazing. 4.5 out of 5 stars for the short.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 01-06-2012, 05:55 PM:

I got the impression that "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" was a 3d render of a classic WB short. Didn't it say something like "Song sung by Mel Blanc" in the credits?

With regard to The Muppets, I'm playing it starting tonight. I watched it myself a couple of nights ago. I used to watch the Muppets on TV when I was a kid. Didn't they have an old horse hitched to a cart where they held a radish on a stick in front of it and yelled "Radish Radish" to get it to walk?

The movie style reminded me a lot of Annie Get Your Gun, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, etc, with everyone breaking into song at the drop of a hat and the milkman and postman dancing down the street in a procession.

In my opinion, The Muppets is ok. Not spectacular, but clever in parts.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-06-2012, 11:06 PM:

quote: Frank Cox
I got the impression that "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat" was a 3d render of a classic WB short. Didn't it say something like "Song sung by Mel Blanc" in the credits?

It is new animation over the top of a song from the 1950s. (The song reached #9 on the U.S. charts, believe it or not!)

If the whole thing was classic, it would have been 3x as long and would have had a story! [Smile]