Tuesday, November 22, 2011

WHY DON'T WE GET THINGS STARTED?  The Muppets currently stands at 100% on the Rotten Tomatometer, 28/28 including a rave in the NYT, and this reaction from Scott Weinberg:
Never did I expect that the Muppets would earn a comeback as warm and wonderful as this one. The seventh feature film from the immortal Jim Henson creations, The Muppets is, quite simply, everything a lifelong Muppet maniac would want in a new movie. It's sly and sweet, kooky and clever, warm and witty, silly for kids and subversive for grown-ups. It offers a refreshingly earnest "let's put on a show with some great old friends" attitude, it pokes fun at the Muppets' present state of pop culture limbo, and best of all: it knows why a man approaching 40 would be interested in a new Muppets movie -- and it delivers the old-school goods with a remarkable sense of craft and confidence. This is not a Muppets for a new generation; it's the Muppets as cool as they always have been; it's the younger generation that needs to catch up.
Scott Mendelson looks at the tracking numbers: "93% of kids under 12 are aware of The Muppets, only 39% of that group expressed 'definite interest' in seeing them return to the big screen. Translation - 54% of said demographic is comprised of spoiled, good-for-nothing little shits who don't know how good they have it. Fortunately, these kids are too young to make consensual decisions about movie-going, so use your parenting authority to drag their butts to a theater this weekend, under the threat of Safe Surrender if need be."

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