I wish now that I had seen it at the El Capitan, so that I could watch the Muppet movie in the theater that they used as the Muppet Theater in the movie. It’s even plausible for the El Cap to have been Muppet Theater in real life since it is practically around the corner from Jim Henson Studios.
Is that what that was. They didn’t enunciate worth a . . . or was that deliberate?
Good. I came here to see if I was the only one. I started leaking as soon as Rainbow Connection started and it was on and off from there.
Having the main characters not be the Muppets gave the movie a real bringing back the Muppets feel. I think I needed that after the long absence. It eased them back into our lives.
Remind me of the context of that quote? I can’t remember it.
I agree with the comment that “We Built this City” was the wrong note. It doesn’t even make sense in context. I would have preferred an original song there for the fixing-up montage, a la “Can You Picture That” from the first movie.
When Piggy and Kermit are walking on the streets of Paris, talking about what went wrong for them. Kermit was telling her how all of her drama made him say things that hurt her. I thought it was a little jarring myself at first. It was like the one sour note for me in the whole movie.
To be fair, Kermit isn’t supposed to be the poster boy for healthy relationship bliss. Not that he’s a testament to dysfunction, either, but his relationship with Piggy has always been a strained one - and importantly, not only from her end.
Oh, I know…but the whole “you made me hurt you” thing is a darker stretch of rationalization than most people would think Kermit would reach for.
I actually liked that line a lot. The Piggy/Kermit relationship is dysfunctional. Actually talking about it is one of the first semi-functional things the pair has done. If we’re talking about what kids will “internalize” from the film (ftr I am a bit dubious on that concept in relation to this topic) I’d rather they internalize the concept that verbalizing problems instead of just living inside them is the way to go.
Hrm… I actually don’t see it as rationalization in the pejorative sense. If my partner is extremely melodramatic, this does (in many extremely plausible scenarios) force the issue. I cannot be honest without mental pain ensuing on her part. Sure I’m not forced to be honest… but one governing assumption is that a certain amount of honesty about certain things is part of the bare minimum foundation of a healthy relationship.
Jason Segal, if you’re a secret doper, I hope you’re loving this. 
The Muppets probably has one of the funniest IMDb Parent’s Guide that I’ve ever seen - link.
Sex and Nudity
Violence and Gore
[quote]
Exactly. It wasn’t in the context of him taking responsibility for hurting her; it was a blaming statement. I do not think Jim would have approved.
Anyhoo, I didn’t mean to turn this into a slam-fest, but I’m relieve to hear I wasn’t the only one jarred by it. (good word jayjay!)
YES!!!
To be fair, those were Executive Used Toilets.
I just saw the movie this weekend and I thought it was a great comeback for the Muppets. I thought Segal and Stroller did a very good job with the movie. All the little goofy and corny things plus all the shout outs that they were actually in a movie were all pretty funny. There were as many adults in the theater as there were kids, and I thought they layed the “We need to save the theater, oh we failed, oh we won, oh we failed, everything’s OK at the end” just a little too thick. My 4 year old son got very restless during all that, though he liked the music and many of the jokes.
Yes. Way awesome. I would have liked to see him drum for real, but the lamely holding the tamborine during their performance was amusing.
I think so, too. There was a little Mary Sue-ness to it, and I thought the movie leaned a little heavily on having him and Amy Adams in it, but he’s goofy and funny and she’s cute as a proverbial buttons, so the science checks out. For the next movie, I’d like to see the Muppets moreso than the humans though, 'cuz you know, it’s their movie and all.
I agree. “Man or Muppet” was well done. Right in the middle of the song I had a “Oh yeah, Brett MacKenzie’s doing the music, isn’t he?”
Anyone know if he threatened to quit being music supervisor during any of the meetings? :D;)
If you have the ringtone and the DVDs, then I’d say you’re a big enough fan for the movie.
Very interesting response among my many friends who saw it. Most lost loved it bu the couple who are most into the Muppets hated it and watched The Muppet Movie as soon as they got home to remind themselves of the good stuff.
It definitely had its moments, but spent too much time wallowing in self pity. I’m surprised that kids liked it at all. I loved “Teen Spirit” done in barbershop though, and left the theater singing “Manamana”. 
Was there a short cameo of Robert Guillaume enjoying the telethon? That was a nice, but extremely subtle, followup joke to Rashida Jones saying she’d rather air reruns of Benson.
The original Muppet Show was shot in the UK.
From what I can tell, Frank Oz was not happy about the script, which is why he declined to participate. He was working on a script of his own, but the studio picked this one over his project. I’m disappointed that we missed out on his talent, but I’m glad to hear that the movie is quite good.
Not Robert Guillaume. Bill Cobb
I thought it was about fifteen minutes too long. The whole Amy Adams sub-plot was kinda pointless, it really didn’t cause that much drama and was resolved really quickly. Not even sure why it was there.
Also, any movie that uses We Built This City…sigh…
I think they used “We built This City” because kids, strangely, love that song. It was my neighbor’s kids favorite “Kidz Bop” song just last year and my cousin’s kids love to do their jump up and down dance when they hear it.
Weird, I know, but lyrics like “We” and “rock ‘n’ roll” seem to resonate with the younger humans.
I agree with this. I would also say the Muppets weren’t in the movie often enough. I also thought Kermit came across as too weak and depressed–which I get was the idea–but I think it could have been handled better.
Of course, I know actually watched The Muppet Show. My main exposure to them as been my 20 or so viewings of the brilliant Muppets 3D show as Disneyland/World which is high-energy and hilarious. Basically the opposite of this film =/