You know it be great to see Mel Brooks direct and write a Muppet Movie...

[beaker]

Originally posted by jeremyactor
No Spike Lee - please. His movies are WAY too preachy, and you wouldn't be able to get any Muppet zaniness into the film at all, he'd be too concentrated on attempting to solve racism by having a struggle between races like in Do the Right Thing.

Heh, I was kidding about Spike Lee...I actually was just mentioning directors with a visual flair(just saw Spike Lee's 25th Hour and the cinematrography is great)

Im sorry, but I cannot sit idly by and watch JHC churn out another classic retelling, crappy bonehead 'Spooky Hotel Night/Time Machine/Watch Us Go Down the toilet" Kiddy garbage. No way.
No hack writers or kiddy directors.

The next major Muppet theatrical film needs to be something to end all Muppet films...it is imperitive it have a rich visionary visual style and flow...filled with song, imagiantion, wonder, and Muppet wackiness.

There isnt enough outside the box thinkers or visionaries or people wanting to push the envelope. A Mel Brooks film would be terrible...the opposite of edgy. And when I say edgy I dont mean sex jokes or dark inuendo or violence. That aint edgy. I mean
really forward stream of consciousness innovation.

Remember when baby Gonzo used to be in his own world of giant floating Music symbols, hands, and rubber chickens on Muppet Babies? See...out there...beyond the realm of what youve known.
A brave new world of infinite possibilities! heh, err something like that...all I know is the next Muppet film better be a brave bold new vision or I think Im gonna hurl.

 

[jeremyactor]

I didn't think Spike does his own cinematography, but I could be wrong. I know he's very involved in most aspects of his films, though.

I have to disagree though - Mel Brooks can be very edgy. I mean, look at Blazing Saddles. It was very outside the box to do a Western focusing on a black sheriff in a racist community, and end up with the film becoming the story of how these movie breaks through the studio landing in other sets, the commisary, and even in the movie theatre showing the film they are in! He's never been afraid to push the envelope - people picketed the broadway show "The Producers" because they felt "Springtime for Hitler" was insensitive to Jews. Of course, had they read the play, they would have seen that this is exactly why in the show they picked "Springtime for Hitler," so that everyone would be offended and nobody would see the show, leaving all that cash they raised to be theirs.

I guess it depends on your definition of edgy. I would consider Blazing Saddles to be very edgy - even by today's standards. You couldn't convince a studio to do that movie anymore, someone would get offended by it and boycott the studio. People are nutty these days. Dracula Dead and Loving it and Robin Hood Men in Tights were not edgy, but that's because he was not trying to be edgy at the time. But I agree that I don't think Mel's humor would work in the Muppet World, because the characters don't have a race or an ethnicity to ridicule, and a lot of Mel's stuff is sexual or violent (It's good to be the king...)

Just my thoughts. I don't know what my thoughts are on a retelling of a book or story - I guess it would depend on what story. It doesn't necessarily have to be a kiddy story - you could pick something like Faust (although I don't think that would really work) but I would like to see something like the first 3 again. You need a mix of a good, Muppet Character centered story, good songs, and good human secondary characters for our felt friends to play off of.

And I don't think the next Muppet film should be, as you say "to end all Muppet films" - what will we look to after that? (Just kidding - I knew what you meant. Oh, I'm so silly...)
Jeremy

 

[frogboy4]

Spike Lee? Has he had a hit? Most of his films don't make a profit until they hit video for a year. I just don't like much about him.

Mel Brooks - his genius has apparently run its course. Yes, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers were amazing films, but he's been in a slump for decades. People just don't respond to his films anymore. I liked Spaceballs, but it wasn't top notch and didn't do very well at the box office. A lot of people even poked fun at the parody when it was released. That's when you know the intentions have gone off course. He had IT then lost IT and the Muppets deserve a current IT guy. Someone current and meaningful. Some fresh blood.

The only good suggestion I've read is Spike Jonez. His sort of quirky (more than edgy) humor would be an interesting fit for the Muppet gang.

Heck, if it's a musical, get Baz Luhrmann (Romeo and Juliet, Strictly Ballroom, Moulin Rouge and a new acclaimed Broadway version of La Boheme)! Okay, it's an iffy idea, but he is a brave director who loves diverse music-oriented projects. An alternative to edgy. A guy who takes chances and loves filmmaking.

 

[jeremyactor]

You're right, Spike Lee hasn't had a hit for a long long time. The closest thing was Summer of Sam, and that didn't fare particularily well.

I don't know if Mel's necessarily lost it - if you go to see The Producers "It" is definitely there, and a lot of it is rewritten from the screenplay, with brand new beautiful showtunes he penned himself... but his films have just gone in another direction. I happen to think Men in Tights was great - certainly the best of his work since History of the World. I think if he was given carte blanche, he could make another Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein. Even if he was just a director on a film, he is good at camera shots and the physical/creative end of it.

A guy who takes chances and loves filmmaking.

Hey, that's me! I love filmmaking, and I take chances - like today I was driving back from the DMV, and I had to turn left out of the parking lot. And I wasn't sure if I was going to make it across the street into the lane without hitting a guy, but I went, and I made it! Oh, that's not the kind of chance-taking you want, huh? Give me a few years, I'm just a freshman studying this stuff....

Jeremy

 

[beaker]

Originally posted by frogboy4
The only good suggestion I've read is Spike Jonez. His sort of quirky (more than edgy) humor would be an interesting fit for the Muppet gang.

Heh, Ive been clamouring for Spike Jonze for a year. Take it back to New York. Make it out there. Ever seen Being John Malkovich folks? Now thats truly out there and edgy. 70's spoof movies seem about as dated as parachue pants.

Anyways, yeah Jonze has proved he'll tackle just about any movie...a film that goes inside the head of a famous actor, a movie about a guy writing a movie about a real life book where he writes himself in and goes back to the beginning of time to back to inside Being John Malkovich...brilliant films.

This is exactly the kind of outside the box thinking JHC needs, not kiddy show director alumni.

 

[Movies205]

Mel Brooks - his genius has apparently run its course. Yes, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein and The Producers were amazing films, but he's been in a slump for decades. People just don't respond to his films anymore. I liked Spaceballs, but it wasn't top notch and didn't do very well at the box office. A lot of people even poked fun at the parody when it was released. That's when you know the intentions have gone off course. He had IT then lost IT and the Muppets deserve a current IT guy. Someone current and meaningful. Some fresh blood.

How the **** can you say that... I don't believe you can lose IT! I mean to speak about such a man who made such great films.... Mel Brooks is one of Hollywood's finest...

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Originally posted by anathema
Mmm...Robin Hood had some good ideas, as did Spaceballs, but I didn't find either film terribly satisfying - there were too few jokes, and a lot of them just didn't seem very funny to me. I've not seen Dracula - it got such poor reviews I decided not to bother.

On the other hand, a lot of his earlier stuff is great! Blazing Saddles was very very funny, and The Producers scores highly for sheer bad taste! For me, that's his best movie.

SPACEBALLS! I love Spaceballs! Half of my family can quote that movie! I know I can. Gotta be one of my fave comedies of all time. I do however think Men in Tights is overrated.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[frogboy4]

Originally posted by Movies205
How the **** can you say that... I don't believe you can lose IT! I mean to speak about such a man who made such great films.... Mel Brooks is one of Hollywood's finest...

Brooks was a great entertainer, but his projects don't carry the weight, wit or relevance they once did. IT is a term used to describe a bankable entertainer with mass appeal and that special spark that really touches people. He simply doesn't have that anymore. In your eyes he might, but that isn't really IT. That's just someone you like a lot.

Heck, I wish it wasn't the case, but it is. You asked if people thought that he was the right mix for the Muppets right now - and I'm saying no. It isn't that I don't like the guy, I just haven't liked his work since the 80s.

 

[Movies205]

I just don't think he lost IT, your opinions are your opinions, he just needs a good idea...

 

[frogboy4]

Mel could always resurrect his career, but he hasn't penned or directed any new film that has been a hit in many years. Men in Tights (and all his other films of the past decade or so) were considered disappointments. If he started making hit films again I might reconsider my opinion of him directing a Muppet picture, but as it stands - I don't even think Henson would support it and I doubt that Brooks would be keen on the idea. It really doesn’t seem like his sort of project. I feel that the Muppets would benefit from a fresh perspective from someone currently hot in the business.

As for Brooks, I'll always enjoy watching his old movies.