Critical End!

[via /Film]

Unlike the Weezer video way back when, this actually seems like what we’d get if OK Go had guested on the Muppet Show. Loving parody of the artists in question while embracing their strengths. Wait a go, Muppets.

…is sadly not online yet. [UPDATE: Yes it is! See below.] But I saw it before Pirates this weekend and I can confirm that it’s got just the tone I was looking for. I’ll update this post with a link as soon as it becomes available (I’m hoping sometime today). Until then, here’s an awesome custom-made theater policy ad that Sesame Street did for Lowes Theatres. Judging by how quiet Ernie and the other Henson characters are, I’d say this was just after his death:

UPDATE: Here it is!

I don’t know about you, readers, but I’m snowed in. And when I’m snowed in, I like to watch a little bit of this:

Don't freak out, it's totally consensual.

So here’s what we know. First and awesomest, Disney has released an official synopsis for the new Muppet flick:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds.

To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino house band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

With secret, signature, celebrity cameos, The Muppets hits the big screen Nov. 23, 2011.

That’s pretty much what we’ve been hearing with some great new details on what the disbanded Muppets are up to at the film’s beginning. You’ll also note that the release date has been moved form Christmas to Thanksgiving, meaning you’ll get your Muppet fix a full month earlier.

In bittersweet news, Paul Rudd has squashed the rumor that he’s voicing Segel’s puppet pal Walter. Bitter because we all love Paul Rudd, but sweet because my preference is for Muppeteers to voice Muppets. It’s the natural order of things. Of course it’s still possible they’ll go for a celebrity dub job to pull in a broader audience. It’s also possible that Celebrity Dub Job would make a great title for a gameshow.

Last thing, Muppet Central linked some sneaky set pics posted at On Location Vacations. They’re guaranteed to satisfy all your dour-looking-gentleman-manhandling-Beaker needs.

Eyes on the monitor, sir.

Not for you, but for some lucky Muppeteer.  /Film has posted some new pics (via The Daily Mail) from the set of The Muppets, including this one of Amy Adams with new Muppet Walter.  Now, we know Paul Rudd will provide Walter’s voice, but as a Muppet fan, I’ve been wondering who’ll be on puppet duty.

The only suspect who came to mind based on the long hair was Steve Whitmire himself, the man behind Kermit.  But this guy looked too young to be Whitmire, so I hit up Muppet Wiki which identifies the puppeteer as Peter Linz.  I’d seen his name in Muppet credits before, but I couldn’t think of any major roles he’d performed, until I discovered that he was the voice of Tutter from Bear in the Big Blue House.  You may not know who that is, but the memory of Linz squeaking I GOTTA BIG BLOCK OF CHEESE HERE, BEAR! still brings a smile to my face.  I couldn’t ask for a better hand for Paul Rudd’s voice to come out of.

Here are some things that happened recently that I never got around to posting!

"I'd like to run a few wrestling names for myself by you. Now, I've narrowed it down to Luscious Lou' and 'Texas Joe Hotdog'..."

Shia LaBeouf wasn’t thrilled with the last Indiana Jones either, and he refreshingly blames himself.  To be fair, it certainly wasn’t all (or even mostly) his fault.  Uninspired writing and terrible CG did most of the work.  But it’s still nice to read this:

You get to monkey-swinging and things like that and you can blame it on the writer and you can blame it on Steven. But the actor’s job is to make it come alive and make it work, and I couldn’t do it. So that’s my fault. Simple.

Yep...just as I planned it?

Speaking of travesties wrought by George Lucas, the director recently had some words of advice for the produces of Lost:

Congratulations on pulling off an amazing show. Don’t tell anyone … but when ‘Star Wars’ first came out, I didn’t know where it was going either. The trick is to pretend you’ve planned the whole thing out in advance.

It’s nice of him to share his trade secrets, but it seems unnecessary.  From what I’ve heard, the writers of Lost have already usurped Lucas for the title of laziest hacks in the business.

In happier news, Critical End! favorite John Landis is reportedly going forward with a biopic of Bill Gaines, the man behind E.C. Comics and Mad Magazine.  I can’t think of a better director for the project.  Hopefully this, along with Burke and Hare will represent a return to prominence for Landis.

And finally, this re-imagining of the classic Sesame Street Pinball Number Count (AKA “11, 12!”) is a must-see.  Have a great weekend, kids!

Happy Easter, kids.

Sources cannot confirm an appearance by Baby Rowlf in the upcoming film. However, I can personally confirm that he is adorable.

Just when I was beginning to get worried that we hadn’t heard anything about it for a while, The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made! has landed a director.

James Bobin, co-creator of The Flight of the Conchords, and writer/director of some of its best episodes, has officially signed on to shepherd the Muppets’ theatrical comeback.  And he turned down a Judd Apatow movie to do it, which somehow makes me believe he’s got the right attitude to pull this off.

I think a member of the Conchords brain-trust is just the choice for the Muppets.  Both are smart, silly, a little off-kilter, and share a penchant for musical comedy.  Plus Bobin’s a Brit, and the best Muppet stuff was produced in the U.K.  And hey, maybe this means we’ll get a cameo by Albi the Racist Dragon!

So we’ve got a funny British director, a script co-written by Muppet fan Jason Segel, and a cast of veteran puppeteers.  If Disney can manage to not completely mishandle the marketing, this project may pump some much needed life back into the Muppets’ legacy.

Muppet Central News – James Bobin to direct Muppets new theatrical movie