New Muppet movie in development for potential 2013 release

[Drtooth]

I'm sorry, but from everything I've read and seen...Stoller and Bobin don't 'understand' these characters at all.
I'd prefer not to rant about the whole matter, but I will touch upon one aspect.
http://www.toofab.com/2014/01/07/muppets-most-wanted-set-visit-secrets
Apparently, Tina Fey (a human, if I recall correctly) is getting a musical number, "The Big House". While of course Gonzo only gets to sing a few verses in the whole movie (I don't recall he even sang at all in the last movie).
I at first wished to think of it as, it's no different than, say, the celebrity numbers on the Muppet Show. Not every number was Muppet-focused, and we accepted that just fine.
But, I'm afraid there is a difference. According to the autobio, Jim wanted to make sure he was on good terms with every guest on the show. So there's kinda this need to make sure the creative staff was on the same wavelength as the guest. That hasn't happened here. It's pretty much Hollywood people hanging out with other Hollywood people.

You've proven the point that we desperately need a dislike button.

The article has nothing but excitement and praise, where are you picking the negativity from? Oh NOES! One of the human stars sings something.

This is nothing more than the same Geewunner whining that happens every time we get a new project. I'm as sick of reading them as I am of having to defend new projects. Jim's gone. Get over it. We're not expecting The Muppet Movie or GMC here... we're expecting it to be better than the other Post-Jim projects which were pretty good at best and at worst... need I have to bring up the Wizard of Oz film again? Because THAT'S exactly what we'd keep getting. Telefilms and DTV projects written by the same people making the same pop culture references, having stunt plot lines and book retellings... does anyone actually want that?

Yeah, I get we all love watching the first three movies endlessly, but those who cringe at the prospect of new film somehow undermining the franchise instead of keeping it alive and relevant are in the extreme minority. I get they're not happy with anything, even after they see the film they need to find pieces to pick apart to justify how new things are awful. But must they need to come to the party and whine about the food being served?

 

[Kasey Kockroach]

Actually, I like and love many 'new' projects (I say new in quotes because technically the 90's stuff doesn't count as new anymore. Heck, one technically can't say Steve Whitmire is the "new Kermit" anymore).
Muppet Christmas Carol isn't a great Muppet movie, but it is, however, a fairly wonderful Christmas movie, and I enjoy it as such. Muppets Tonight had a couple of highlights (if only a couple). Strange as it may sound, the preschool tapes such as Muppets on Wheels or Things That Fly always felt more sincere to me than most of the more major projects being done at the time.
Sesame Street's post-1990 highlights are more numerous than I once presumed. The show greatly benefited at that point from Telly and Prairie Dawn (my two absolute favorite SS characters) becoming more prominent, and I admit that Zoe's been growing on me lately (I still don't care for Rosita, Abby or Baby Bear though, both being utterly deprived of personality as they are).
Bear in the Big Blue House is very wonderful.
To put it one way, the 2011 film wasn't a Muppet movie. It was a Hollywood movie featuring Muppets, and while it certainly wasn't without merit (Pictures in My Head, Uncle Deadly's role), it was nonetheless a self-serving fanfic that couldn't even seem to figure out who its main character was (not to mention its pandering nostalgia, a villain straight out of a Saturday morning cartoon, etc).
This one just looks completely and utterly juvenile (Matt Vogel's voice for Constantine is hilarious though). The Muppets are zany in a sophisticated and creative way, not like this where you have Scooter singing Moves Like Jagger.
These are of course only my expectations for the film. I would certainly love for me to be wrong.

 

[Duke Remington]

This is nothing more than the same Geewunner whining that happens every time we get a new project.

Hear, hear.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kasey Kockroach is really NathanJanes/Jimthepuppet/Epicteus/Willythepig re-regeristering for the forum constantly, just to try and cause trouble and contaminate the forum with sadness and misery--something that there's already way too much of at other sites (just ask MiceChat and WDWMagic)!

 

[Drtooth]

There are some valid points about the last film being fan fiction, but ...let's face it... without the fan perspective the last writing team gave, we'd be lucky to see some theme film that we'd barely be able to get excited about that would also skew to celebrities anyway. We'd also get a film the exact cynical and pop cultury tone as MWOZ that would be enjoyable at best.

This one just looks completely and utterly juvenile (Matt Vogel's voice for Constantine is hilarious though). The Muppets are zany in a sophisticated and creative way, not like this where you have Scooter singing Moves Like Jagger.
These are of course only my expectations for the film. I would certainly love for me to be wrong.

Again, nostalgia filter. There's nothing in this movie that's so completely foreign to The Muppets that it should lead to a revolt. Scooter sings something? Big deal. I can't even fathom why a long dormant character getting a song, any song, warrants any complaint other than "why didn't they recast him sooner."

 

[jvcarroll]

I would certainly love for me to be wrong.

I think that will be very much the case.

 

[Kasey Kockroach]

Believe me, I want this movie to be great. I've been in the 'cautiously optimistic' boat for awhile, and have remained in that state despite seeing nothing but bad ideas in the trailers (and interviews elaborating on the film, etc).
I had hoped I would come off more as concerned than bitter in my post. At the least, this movie will probably be more consistent than the last movie (there was a lot of disagreement with Segal and Stollin/Bobin and it shows). And I doubt we'll be getting something as low as Wizard of Oz ever again.

 

[Drtooth]

Hear, hear.

I wouldn't be surprised if Kasey Kockroach is really NathanJanes/Jimthepuppet/Epicteus/Willythepig re-regeristering for the forum constantly, just to try and cause trouble and contaminate the forum with sadness and misery--something that there's already way too much of at other sites (just ask MiceChat and WDWMagic)!

I doubt that's the case.

Though I'll say that Epicteus was completely pompous in his reviews, coming off as a smug film school dork who delighted in finding flaws in the film. Though, it seemed like he was completely blind to any subtext of the film and decried it for not being more obvious. There's a difference between not liking a film and being a smug jerk about it.

I had hoped I would come off more as concerned than bitter in my post. At the least, this movie will probably be more consistent than the last movie (there was a lot of disagreement with Segal and Stollin/Bobin and it shows). And I doubt we'll be getting something as low as Wizard of Oz ever again.

The last movie's main fault was having too much content to cover in the time frame. The pacing was kinda choppy and rushed (not as bad as LTS was), and a very important key scene was removed from the film, making it lack some sense and closure. Hopefully those issues will be fixed this time.

I still wish Disney released a Donner Cut of the last film. A couple scenes added back in would have given the movie more oomph.

 

[jvcarroll]

Believe me, I want this movie to be great. I've been in the 'cautiously optimistic' boat for awhile, and have remained in that state despite seeing nothing but bad ideas in the trailers (and interviews elaborating on the film, etc).
I had hoped I would come off more as concerned than bitter in my post. At the least, this movie will probably be more consistent than the last movie (there was a lot of disagreement with Segal and Stollin/Bobin and it shows). And I doubt we'll be getting something as low as Wizard of Oz ever again.

I've been a fan of the Muppets since they began and I think the trailer looks to have AMAZING potential. I support constructive criticism, but see no legitimate points so far. Your mind is apparently filling in the blanks between the sparse clips we've seen with a whole lot of pessimism. It's just not very muppety. This film looks funny!

 

[Kasey Kockroach]

Of course, trailers aren't for constructive criticism. They're to set up expectations, and they've certainly done that.

 

[jvcarroll]

Of course, trailers aren't for constructive criticism. They're to set up expectations, and they've certainly done that.

Yes, they have. They've set my expectations higher than the last four films.