Muppets from Space (1999) - Under-appreciated Muppet funfest

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Muppets ascend to space on this funny poster for Tim Hill's Muppets from Space

Gonzo doesn't feel like he belongs anywhere, until he realizes that the reason must be that he hails from space!

 

Muppets from Space is written by Jerry Juhl (The Muppet Movie (1979)), Joey Mazzarino (Kidding (2018-20)) and Ken Kaufman (In the Army Now (1994)) and directed by Tim Hill (Hop (2011)).

Dubious CGI aside this is a really wonderful and enormously funny Muppets movie, the 6th in the franchise's theatrical films, coming after Muppet Treasure Island (1996). I find it nice and refreshing that the filmmakers keep their film free of having to make 'relevant commentary' on current events, which ensures that Muppets live in their very own, parallel, wacky Muppet world.

The lovely puppets and an excess of funny inventions and lines are also helped along by Jeffrey Tambor (Branded (2012)) as a kooky villain, Andie McDowell (Magic Mike XXL (2015)) as a TV-reporter, Rob Schneider (Top Cat (2011)), Kathy Griffin (Run Ronnie Run (2002)), Ray Liotta (The Iceman (2012)) and many more game actors, - and even more funk hit songs. Muppets from Space is a wonderful film. 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 24 mil. $

Box office: 22.3 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.92 times its cost)

[Muppets from Space was released 14 July (USA) and runs 87 minutes. Shooting took place from November 1998 - January 1999 in North Carolina. It is the first Muppets movie not to be a musical; the first since creator Jim Henson's death and the last theatrical Muppet movie with Frank Oz voicing Miss Piggy. The film opened #10 to a 4.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 16.6 mil. $ ( 74.4 % of the total gross). Oz distanced himself from the film in a 2000 interview. The Muppets didn't return to the big screen until The Muppets (2011), after Disney had purchased the franchise in 2004. Hill returned with Cousin Skeeter (2001, TV-series) and theatrically with Max Keeble's Big Move (2001). Tambor returned in Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999); McDowell in The Muse (1999). Muppets from Space is fresh at 63 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Muppets from Space? 

Grown Ups (2010) - Sandler & Co. look turgid in film with solely commercial appeal

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Five middle-aged male comedians in a water slide screaming make up this poster for Dennis Dugan's Grown Ups

Five childhood friends meet again as adults, when their high school basketball coach 'the Buzzer' passes away, and they decide to have a weekend vacation around the 4th of July.

 

Grown Ups is written by co-writer/co-producer/co-star Adam Sandler (Reign over Me (2007)) and Fred Wolf (Joe Dirt (2001)) and directed by Dennis Dugan (Problem Child (1990)).

In spite of the prominent funny-men (minus David Spade (Entourage (2015))) and comedienne Maya Rudolph (Sisters (2015)), Grown Ups is surprisingly unfunny. Bad jokes are mixed with vulgar or simplistic slapstick. Everyone: Maria Bello (Abduction (2011)), Salma Hayek (Traffic (2000)), Tim Meadows (Aliens in the Attic (2009)) and Steve Buscemi (Rampart (2011)) included, - look a little bit dumber for appearing in this immature, - immature in the bad way, - strained low-brow burp.

Grown Ups is a dopey product, and it seems a blatantly cynical (or is it merely dumb?) paycheck job. The characters laugh more than plenty in Grown Ups, but as audiences there's not much to grin at concerning these non-characters' outing.

 

Related post:

 

Dennis Dugan: I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry (2007) - James and Sandler marry in Dugan's crude, wrongfully maligned buddy-comedy

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 80 mil. $

Box office: 271.4 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.39 times its cost)

[Grown Ups premiered 24 June (Australia, Iceland) and runs 102 minutes. Sandler earned 25 mil. $ from the film. Shooting took place in Los Angeles and Massachusetts, including Boston, from May - August 2009. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Toy Story 3, to a 40.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#4) and grossed 162 mil. $ (59.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 18.2 mil. $ (6.7 %) and the UK with 12.1 mil. $ (4.5 %). Sandler bought his four male co-stars new Maserati sports cars to celebrate the film's success. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Dugan returned to direct almost the entire cast for sequel Grown Ups 2 (2013), also a hit. Dugan returned first with Just Go With It (2011). Sandler also returned in Just Go With It (2011); Kevin James (Pixels (2015)) in The Dilemma (2011); and Chris Rock (Panther (1995)) in Two Days in New York (2012). Grown Ups is rotten at 11 % with a 3.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Grown Ups?