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Home , Muppets Most Wanted

lifestyle THURSDAY, MARCH 20, 2014

Music & Movies Charlie Brown, Snoopy back in 3-D ‘Peanuts’ movie

ood ol’ Charlie Brown and Snoopy are going 3-D. also be in the film. But it seems likely that the comic 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios say strip’s favorite siblings - sweet Linus and sassy Lucy - G“Peanuts” will hit theaters Nov 6, 2015. It’s the will also be in 3-D on the big screen. — AP first full-length computer-animated film based on the Charles Schulz comic strip that ran from 1950 to 2000. Charlie Brown and Snoopy have updated looks in a unveiled Tuesday. In this file image originally provided The teaser shows the beloved pair up to their old by United Feature Syndicate Inc VIA tricks, as Snoopy tries to steal the spotlight and Charlie ABC TV, Charlie Brown and Linus Brown mutters his famous line “Good grief.”The trailer appear in a scene from ‘A Charlie doesn’t reveal whether the rest of the Peanuts crew will Brown Christmas,’ a television special based on the ‘Peanuts’ comic strip by Charles M Schulz. — AP

The Muppets reteam with mixed results strange sense of doom hangs over the He and Badguy use the performances as a distrac- rebooted Muppets, and it’s not from the One big selfie for stars tion for robbing banks. Much of the humor stems ASwedish Chef’s cooking. “” The Muppets instead feel upstaged by the from the Muppets’ failure to recognize the clearly (2011) may have been an earnest and largely suc- parade of celebrity cameos (they range from Lady different version of their long-legged impresario. cessful relaunch for ’s troupe, but it also Gaga to ), as if the movie is one big The usually fastidious frog, with Constantine run- had a hangdog melancholy, fretting about the selfie for stars to be seen alongside their Muppet ning things, doesn’t mind giving an endless obsolescence of Kermit and the gang. Pop-culture insecurity looms in “Muppets Most Wanted,” too, which begins with the same self-conscious tone as the last film in the musical number “We’re Doing a Sequel.” Though Dr Bunsen Honeydew (still the greatest name in show biz, sorry Sidney Poitier) notes this is technically the Muppets’ seventh sequel, they nevertheless sing: “And everyone knows the sequel’s not quite as good.” The Muppets don’t need a sequel. They need a shrink. It seems they’ve swapped “the most inspira- tional, celebrational, Muppetational” show for an ongoing pity party. Where is the confident intre- pidness that made disdainful of breaking and arrive for the world premiere of Disney’s ‘Muppets through “the easy way” (Hollywood) when you Most Wanted,’ March 11, 2014 at in Hollywood, California. — AFP could go through Bollywood instead? “Muppets Most Wanted,” thankfully, soon enough dispatches the previous film’s mopey nostalgia and sets things This image released by Disney shows muppet characters, from left, , Rowlf, Kermit, A Minute With: Kermit and Miss on a more madcap course: a European caper, not , Fozzie and Gonzo in a scene from ‘Muppets Most Wanted.’ — AP unlike 1981’s (alas superior) “.” The ingredients are here: as a heroes. The plot, too, doesn’t yield much time to drum solo and absent-mindedly calls Gonzo Piggy bicker about lines and love Broadway-loving Gulag guard in Soviet chic; Ty favorites like the lovingly harebrained Gonzo the “Zongo.” he Muppets’ Miss Piggy and Kermit Q: Miss Piggy, what was your first reac- Burrell in Inspector Clouseau mode; Great, the endlessly chipper Fozzie the Bear or the Judging the Muppets against their own high the Frog, the object of her affection tion when you were given the script for as the comically obvious bad guy (name: Dominic mellow, melodic Rowlf the Dog. The film picks up standards is perhaps unfair, particularly when Tsince 1976, return to the big screen in “Muppets Most Wanted”? Badguy). But “Muppets Most Wanted” fails to whip literally where “The Muppets” left off, as they disas- we’ve been absent of Henson’s genius for nearly 25 “Muppets Most Wanted,” a caper film that Miss Piggy: Not enough lines. ... That’s up the kind of furry frenzy that makes the Muppets semble the movie set. Unsure of their next step, the years. “Muppets Most Wanted” may not rise to the takes the puppet gang on a European tour what I do when I get a script. The first thing special. Muppets are persuaded by a slick British agent irreverent slapstick the gang once did, but it is still, while a case of mistaken identity lands I do is I always count my lines, and it didn’t What’s missing? Many would say , (Gervais) to embark on a theater tour in Europe. after all, the Muppets. Yet instead of trying to be Kermit in a Russian gulag. A sequel to measure up. But we eventually fixed that, the star and co-writer of “The Muppets.” He’s the Only Kermit is suspicious, but he’s soon kidnapped like other globe-trotting, star-studded sequels, the 2011’s “The Muppets,” the Disney film intro- and now the movie is great! holdout of largely the same, solid creative team: by an escaped Russian criminal mastermind, Muppets ought to be happy with simply being duces a new character: Kermit’s evil Russian Kermit: So let me get this straight ... You director , co-writer Constantine. themselves. How does the song go? Keep believ- doppelganger, Constantine, who stars are happy with the number of lines you and music supervisor Bret McKenzie. But the big- Constantine (voiced with a playful Russian ing. “Muppets Most Wanted,” a Walt Disney Studios alongside actors Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and ended up with? Because I’d like to write ger problem with “Muppets Most Wanted” is a fail- accent by ) happens to look precisely release, is rated PG by the Motion Picture . that number down if you don’t mind... ure to find the right human-to-Muppet ratio and a like Kermit (again voiced by ), only Association of America for “some mild action.” Miss Piggy, wearing a floral print dress screwball feel for how the species interact. Most with a mole on his cheek and a slightly more Running time: 106 minutes. Two and a half stars with pearls, and Kermit, in his natural Q: Kermit, how were you able to evoke successful are Fey (who emerges as an unlikely rival pinched nose. While Kermit is mistakenly sent to out of four. — AP green, sat down with Reuters to talk about fear and terror like you did while in a to Miss Piggy for Kermit’s heart) and Burrell (an the Gulag in Siberia (fellow inmates are played by love and how many lines Miss Piggy needs Russian prison? Interpol policeman paired with the CIA’s Sam the and Danny Trejo, as himself), his evil in the script. Kermit: Well, listen, people think that Eagle). doppelganger replaces the Muppet leader on tour. frogs are wimpy little creatures. That you Q: How have you two kept it going can just step on, you know? But we frogs together for so long? have a vicious side, you know? Miss Piggy: Well, how do we keep it Miss Piggy: Oh, vicious, I’m scared (sar- going for so long? I have no idea. castically) Beastie Boys settle Kermit: You know, I don’t have a good Kermit: No, no. We rage. We’re raging ... answer, because all I know is that it’s going. raging, raging bullfrogs! That’s what we are! Miss Piggy: I’m not even sure it is. We’re raging bullfrogs! It’s possible-not like- lawsuit over ‘Girls’ video Kermit: Well, maybe it’s not going. ly-but it’s possible. (clears throat) Maybe it’s stopped. Miss Piggy: Dream on. he Beastie Boys have put their legal tussle with toy Miss Piggy: Where is it going? manufacturer GoldieBlox behind them. The group Kermit: Maybe it has just stopped. Q: How did you get ready for the climax, settled its legal case with GoldieBlox, bringing an Maybe it is not going anywhere. But maybe Miss Piggy? T end to a pair of lawsuits stemming from a video that ... Miss Piggy: I know, I know. We don’t GoldieBlox produced using the group’s 1987 song “Girls,” Miss Piggy: It might’ve just ended. want to give too much away. Needless to the California-based toy company announced Tuesday. Kermit: We might be sitting here just say, I wear a certain gown that is a certain GoldieBlox - which says it was “founded upon the princi- two former shells-shells of our former white color and I wear it walking down a ple of breaking down gender stereotypes, by offering selves-and not going anywhere. certain aisle. engineering and construction toys specifically targeted to Miss Piggy: You know, I’m not even sure Kermit: Oddly, I don’t consider that to girls” - initially sued the group in a preemptive move in why I’ve been pursuing this frog for so be the climax of the movie. Now, it’s just a November. long. scene in the movie. Climax is totally differ- The video, posted on YouTube, featured girls rejecting Kermit: Why, you talk about it like I’m ent. stereotypical playtime activities and instead inventing “a not even in the room! Miss Piggy: It’s the climax. highly creative and complex Rube Goldberg mechanism.” Miss Piggy: Well, you know, if we’re not Kermit: For you. Well, for you maybe. I The soundtrack to the video was a version of the Beastie a thing anymore, it doesn’t matter, does it? I have a whole scene where I was a raging Boys’ song with altered lyrics, including, “Girls to build the don’t understand it, because he’s just never frog. spaceship/Girls to code the new app/Girls to grow up shown me the proper respect. He’s never Miss Piggy: Oh yeah, raging, right, I for- New ‘Star Wars’ set knowing/That they can engineer that.” really listened to ... got about that. You were a raging bullfrog, GoldieBlox contended that the video fell under the Kermit: What do you mean by that? aren’t you? doctrine of Fair Use, which allows limited use of copy- Miss Piggy: ... my goals and aspirations Kermit: I tried raging bullfrog. 30 years after ‘Jedi’ righted material without acquiring permission from the in life. I want to get married. I want to have Miss Piggy: No, everybody is following rights holder. But the group disagreed, counter sued the children. my storyline, dear, OK? They don’t really he new “Star Wars” has an official time- faces along with a trio of new, young leads.” company and accused it of a “systematic campaign of Kermit: Oh, boy. care about the B-storyline. They care about line and one confirmed returning char- Abrams has a penchant for secrecy, and Iger infringement” with a “series of video advertisements set Miss Piggy: He doesn’t seem to hear the A-line, which is mine, OK? acter: robot R2-D2. Director J.J. Abrams said R2-D2 was the only “official cast member” T to well-known song from popular artists in an effort to that. Miss Piggy: I’m sorry what was the will begin shooting in May on “Star Wars: he would announce.”Episode VII” is set for achieve the company’s goal of selling toys.” Kermit: Biological improbability there ... question?—Reuters Episode VII,” which is set three decades after release in December 2015. Iger also said Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, who died in 2012 following a Miss Piggy: You started off this inter- 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” Disney CEO Bob plans a third “Cars” movie and a sequel to battle with cancer, explicitly prohibited commercial use of view really great. Iger said Tuesday. 2004’s “The Incredibles.” — AP his music in his will. (GoldieBlox removed the Beasties’ Speaking at the company’s annual share- song prior to the filing of the countersuit.) According to a holder’s meeting in Portland, Ore, Iger said statement issued by the group and the company, the set- the movie would feature “some very familiar tlement includes an apology from GoldieBlox to be post- ed on the company’s website and a payment by GoldieBlox, based on a percentage of its revenues, to “one or more charities selected by Beastie Boys that support Swinton in negotiations to science, technology, engineering and mathematics edu- cation for girls.” — Reuters join Apatow’s ‘Trainwreck’ resh off her unrecognizable turn in has been keeping plot details under “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Tilda wraps, though all will be revealed on July FSwinton is in negotiations to co-star 24, 2015. Swinton next stars in Terry in Judd Apatow’s next Universal Pictures Gilliam’s “The Zero Theorem,” Jim comedy “Trainwreck,” TheWrap has learned. Jarmusch’s vampire tale “Only Lovers Left Popular comedienne Amy Schumer stars Alive” and the sci-fi movie “Snowpiercer.” alongside Bill Hader, Brie Larson and Colin She can currently be seen opposite Ralph Quinn. Swinton is nearing a deal to play Fiennes as Madame D. in Wes Anderson’s Schumer’s boss, an individual familiar with “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” Swinton, the project told TheWrap. Universal who won an Oscar for her supporting per- optioned the rights to the project from formance in “Michael Clayton,” is repped Schumer in August 2013, and since then, by UTA, Hamilton Hodell and attorney she has been developing the script with Jodi Peikoff. — Reuters Apatow, who is also producing through his Universal-based Apatow Productions. Indian Bollywood actors Mishti, Kartik Aaryan and Jackie Shroff pose for a photograph Universal executive Erik Baiers will during a promotional event for the forthcoming Hindi film ‘Kaachi’ directed by Subhash oversee the project for the studio, which Ghai in Mumbai on late March 18, 2014. — AFP