I had a chance this week to see the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and I have to say I was initially excited. I pretty much hated the first three films in the franchise (the first was the best, but that’s not saying much), but when the trailers for this newest film came out I was actually looking forward to it. They had gotten rid of my two biggest problems from the first part of the series (Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightly) and added two of my favorite actors (Penelope Cruz and Ian McShane.)

Though they traded up with the supporting cast, I’m sorry to report that they didn’t really fix any of the other problems with the franchise.

The script might be one of the worst I’ve ever borne witness to and the entire film was plodding and boring. I checked my watch repeatedly through the film. And it wasn’t just me. My kids came with me and they loved the Pirates franchise. Halfway through the film my 8 year old daughter handed me her 3D glasses and said, “Dad, can you just tell me when it’s a funny or exciting part?”

Maybe some of the parts would have been funny or exciting if they’d been built by competent screenwriters not trying to just rip off Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in the most ham-fisted way possible. Though it’s one of my least favorite Indiana Jones pictures, at least Last Crusade made a logical sense and had set ups that were paid off and characters that made sense (except for Marcus Brody in the last half, but that’s a different article.) Nothing about this latest pirates movie made sense. Exposition was dropped into the dialogue with all the grace of a 400 pound pig dressed as a hooker.

To start, Jack Sparrow has allegedly been adventuring for the Fountain of Youth for a while but, for reasons beyond me, he knows nothing about it. (I was told it was because he was bullshitting everyone about searching for it, but if that’s true, why did he have the map?) In order to get him out of one of the most plodding and boring action sequences in the movie (the first one) his dad (Keith Richards, reprising his role) shoots a British soldier in the back and takes his boy for a drink… Every line he has is dripping with poorly written exposition and then he vanishes. Seriously. Literally. Into thin air. Nary a word is spoken about him for the rest of the film. What the hell?

Then Jack Sparrow fights Penelope Cruz who is dressed as his doppleganger. There’s a really long, stupid explanation for it, that they take time out of a major action sequence (their fight) to explain it.

Blah, blah, blah. A whole bunch more stuff happens that’s boring and then they’re all adventuring for the Fountain of Youth. Blackbeard (I’m evil because I’m evil) is trying to live longer. Geoffrey Rush’s character is after him for some off-screen wrong done him. And the Spanish are also after the Fountain. They actually start the movie, appear twice, briefly in the middle, and then once at the end. It made no sense.

I’m seriously getting angry writing about the amateur nature of the writing. Films this expensive should spend MORE money on a good script, but these guys went lowest common denominator and hired the guys who wrote the first three Pirates movies. As though they hadn’t ALREADY sucked it up enough. I hope they don’t get anymore work… The screenplay was just awful. None of the character turns made sense. It’s like they got to the end of the movie and said, “Oh yeah, the characters need to change,” so they had the Mermaid save the people who tortured her (which didn’t make sense) and Penelope Cruz want to kill Jack Sparrow for not letting her sacrifice her life.

Ugh.

Since I don’t want my blood pressure to get too high, I’ll move on to the visuals. I’ll say this: DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE IN 3D. The 3D is garbage and mutes the colors. I spent half the movie with my glasses off and it looked prettier and more vibrant, if not slightly more blurry. 3D for this film is a waste of your money.

Actually, 2D is a waste of your money on this film, too.

The only thing worth anything in this movie was the music, which was a pretty good rehash of the only thing worth anything from the last three movies. Let me save you a whole bunch of time and money: Go buy the soundtrack to the film and play it for the whole family. For $12 you and the whole family can enjoy, in perpetuity, the only thing worth enjoying about this film.

And since people are going to shit themselves to pay for this piece of crap, we’re almost certain to get another one of these films. Here’s a nickel’s worth of free advice to Disney: NEXT TIME HIRE A COMPETENT WRITER AND NO ONE WILL LEAVE YOUR FILM HATING IT….

Capcom and Level 5 released an official trailer and announcement in Japan last October that a Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney game would be coming out for the Nintendo 3DS sometime in 2011 in Japan. I’m bringing this to your attention now for a couple of reasons. One: We still don’t have a U.S. release date and Two: because Capcom thinks they needs to weigh interest before they consider releasing it here.

Weigh interest? These are arguably two of the most successful series of games to be featured on the Nintendo DS! The fact that they are coming together in a new game about a Witch Hunt, a Mysterious Book, and a girl who seeks to prove her innocence is amazing and should be extremely well received by fans of both Layton and Attorney. We are sure to see more of the ever-popular puzzles and trials that are abundant in the two series, and it would be really interesting to see how these two dynamic characters will interact with one another.

Catch the official trailer here. The cut-scene footage is stunning and the story looks phenomenal:

I for one would definitely buy this game if it got a U.S. release date. It looks like it’s going to be fantastic!

To give support for a U.S. Release Date: write to Capcom here. The Capcom Unity blog is the official blog of Capcom and is monitored by Capcom of America staff.

For more geek news from Japan, and around the world, stay surfing on BSR!

Funny story, a few weeks ago I was talking to someone of twitter about what would be done when Steve Rogers took back the name and costume of Captain America. I joked that Bucky would also be Captain America, but would then franchise the name out to others, much like a certain Grant Morrison-penned series over at the Distinguished Competition. It was a silly and snarky joke to make, but it seems it actually had a bit of merit, because we’re getting a book titled Captain America Corps! Granted, from the looks of these preview pages, the Captains all come from different points in the timestream,so it’s not exactly the same. Plus, Roger Stern always gets the benefit of the doubt from me. If nothing else, I want to pick this up just to see why the Watcher looks so bored!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at Captain America Corps #1 (of 5), from legendary writer Roger Stern and artist Philippe Briones. When bedlam breaks loose in a dystopic America, the Watcher calls together the nation’s greatest team to save our nation and the world! Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, U.S.Agent, American Dream, and Commander A must band together to cut the American public loose from the malicious control of Americommand. But can the Sentinel of Libertys, led by Steve and Bucky, work with one another before it’s too late?  Find out this June when Captain America Corps #1 (of 5) hits comic shops everywhere.

CAPTAIN AMERICA CORPS #1 (of 5) (APR110583)

Written by ROGER STERN
Penciled by PHILIPPE BRIONES
Cover by PHIL JIMENEZ
Rated T+ …$2.99
FOC – 5/23/11, ON SALE – 6/15/11

Since it was announced that 20 year old Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone, X-Men: First Class) was going to be playing 15 year old Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the Hunger Games series people have been losing their shit. People thought she was too white, too blonde, and too old. Well Entertainment Weekly has published the first picture of her in costume from the set in North Carolina and I’m hoping that this calms everyone down.

I think she looks great and pulls off the look of Katniss pretty well. The costume looks solid, as does the Mockingjay pin. What do you think?

Also check out the rest of EWs article here

Today’s spotlighted origin just had his first big screen appearance, and while that was just a cameo, he’ll likely have a more prominent role in the upcoming Avengers movie. That’s very fitting, seeing as this guy is one of the most prolific members in Avengers history. It wasn’t always that way though. Much like Pinocchio, our would-be hero is led astray by misunderstandings and less than scrupulous companions, and he actually starts out as a villain! Yes, I of course speak of one of the only heroes able to pull off a predominantly purple union suit, the Avenging Archer, Hawkeye!

Hawkeye’s story actually begins with one Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Iron Man is spending his day as usual, pretending to be his own bodyguard and saving his employees from the dangers of working in his own factory, as well as insinuating company time is better spent not lollygagging about. After that Stark-approved PSA, Tony’s chauffeur, Happy Hogan asks for a minute of Shellhead’s time. It seems Happy (who, incidentally, always has a frown on his face) wants Iron Man to get their boss, Tony Stark to help out the ol’ love life by asking Pepper Potts to go out with him. This is a problem, because Stark likes Pepper as well, but refuses to go out with her because the shrapnel in his heart could be an embarrassing ice breaker over dinner at Chez Affluent.

Later, Tony asks Pepper about a date, which she infers means that Tony wants to ask her out. Tony, being of two minds of the subject, just kind of stammers his way into a date, when he obviously could have just said it was a misunderstanding. Instead, in classic Marvel fashion, Tony decides to take Pepper on the most pedestrian, unromantic date he can, so they go to the carnival! Finally, the real story can start. At the carnival, Tony and Pepper happen upon a tent, featuring “Hawkeye, the World’s Greatest Marksman!” This is great for two reasons, the first is that Hawkeye already has a built-in codename, and second, well, let’s have Tony tell you.

"That is, unless Pepper really wanted to see the dancing girls, as well."

Before you can say “plot complication”, one of the carnival’s rides goes all screwy, and Tony makes a lame excuse so he can get knocked around in a portable garbage can. Fortunately for him, this is attaché case-era Iron Man, so he can put the armor on in seconds. He somehow stops the flying pinwheel by giving it a big bear hug. Before you can start to apply logic or physics to the situation, the danger has passed and Iron Man flies off, pre-occupied with explaining to everyone how Iron Man was on the scene so quickly. He settles on “Iron Man is my bodyguard, and he was following us, yeah… That’s the ticket!” As you might expect, everyone is thrilled that Iron man saved the day. Well, almost everyone.

"Even when I do that cool 'Spock eyebrow' thing!"

Well, it seems there is no greater motivator than jealousy, because that night, Hawkeye sets off to make himself a hero. He comes up with a gaudy costume, and whips up some trick arrows. I don’t exactly know how he does this with the obviously limited resources of a carny worker, especially since his DC counterpart Green Arrow uses his vast wealth to do the same thing. Maybe things are just really cheap to manufacture in the Marvel Universe. All the while, he complains about his hurt pride, and how he’s going to make everyone else look like a piker. There’s no way he’s doing this to compensate for anything…

You guys don't really need a caption for this one, do you?

Eventually, he’s all set and bounds off for the rooftops, because that’s what costumed characters do, dammit! He runs across the city a bit, truly exhilarated at his own prowess. Modest this guy is not.

I hate to break it to you, but you're not wearing gloves.

Anyway, Hawkeye shows that he does indeed have the chops to be a hero. he spots a jewel thief, and stops him in jig time. Unfortunately for our bountiful bowslinger, he stops to check out the swag the jewel thief leaves behind. The police arrive on the scene quickly, because this is comics and not real life, and assume Hawkeye is an accomplice. While you can’t fault the officers, given that there is a be-masked vigilante with a bunch of jewels in his hands, you’d think they’d know a hero when they see one. Hawkeye doesn’t even try to explain himself, and he runs off. He probably would have gotten away with it to, if not for those meddling kids a mysterious stranger picking him up.

"Nothing, it's just that your hands aren't at 10 and 2!"

The mysterious lady turns out to be the Black Widow, who is still a communist spy at this point of her career. All you need to know about her at this point is that Hawkeye is a lovesick puppy for her, and that she and Iron Man have clashed in the past. BW proposes a partnership with Hawkeye that’ll be mutually beneficial. She shares her resources with him, and in return she only asks for one small thing, a pittance, really.

"I swear on my quiver, If anyone's gonna date Tony Stark, it'll be me!"

Hawkeye wastes no time breaking into Stark’s munitions factory. He uses a new explosive arrow to get inside, which brings him to the attention of Iron Man, just like he planned it. Hawkeye is a pretty awesome strategist though, even at this early point in his career. He sticks to the shadows firing off trick shot after trick shot. He finally pelts Shellhead with a trio of errors that cause Iron Man’s suit to rapidly rust. Since Iron Man doesn’t have any WD-40 on him, he only has one course of action…

"This time, I'll surprise him! Let's see how he fights a man in his underwear!"

Because he was a Boy Scout, Tony is prepared and just happens to have spare armor pieces lying around his factory. While he scrambles to get some fresh armor on, Hawkeye takes the opportunity to steal the discarded pieces of armor, but also has ample time to get away. You may wonder why this is. It turns out that Tony doesn’t want to go into battle with only one boot. No, seriously. Tony Stark, freaking Iron Man lets the criminal get away because he’s missing a bootie.  He does finally find it, but by that point Hawkeye has a pretty good head start…

Similarly, he let the Mandarin get away last time because he broke a nail.

Hawkeye, now reunited with the Widow, are speed towards LaGuardia airport. Iron Man has had enough though, and just hits their car with a power ray. Well, he says it’s a power ray, but it certainly looks like a death ray to me, especially considering it totals the vehicle.  Hawkeye and Iron Man continue their battle, neither having a clear headway. Hawkeye fires a shot, Iron Man repulses it away. You’d think Iron Man would have the advantage in speed and maneuverability, what with the ability to be airborne and all, but Hawkeye is Just. That. Good.

The unstoppable cocky force meets the immovable brash object.

Iron Man has about had it and gains the upper hand when Hawkeye tries to ensnare him with a nylon rope arrow. Calling this a misstep is a bigger understatement than saying “clowns are damned creepy”. Iron Man lands himself on the pier where Hawkeye is standing with so much force that the wood splinters and Hawkeye is cling on to a remaining post for dear life. Iron Man then proceeds to knock Hawkeye out cold, or so it would seem. Anyone familiar with Hawkeye will tell you that his skull is thicker than the mantle of the Earth, so when it’s revealed that this was a feint, it’s no surprise. As Iron Man turns his back, Hawkeye prepares his most potent arrow, the Demolition Blast! Sadly, all it does is ricochet off of Iron Man’s metal hide and ends up seriously harming the Black Widow.

Scroll up a few lines, Hawk. I just explained it.

Apparently the blast was enough to stun Iron Man, so Hawkeye beats feet to help his lady friend. It’s obvious she needs a hospital. Hawkeye shows genuine concern and frantically decides what to do. Conveniently, the Widow had a boat already ready in the harbor, and the twosome flee the scene post-haste. Iron Man flies off to pursue, but gives up when he realizes that he’s in LaGuardia’s airspace. So our story ends with no clear victor, but an obvious loser.

After this tale, Hawkeye and the Widow continued their team, and their love also grew. Eventually, Hawkeye saw the error of his ways and applied for member ship in the Avengers. His audition kind of leaves me scratching my head, however.

Kidnapping and bondage: The perfect way to show you're a good guy!

Astoundingly the Avengers accept him (it’s later revealed that Jarvis was saved by Hawkeye earlier and they set up this display to impress the others), and Hawkeye has been one of the most stalwart members of the Avengers ever (except for the time when he was Goliath, but man, that’s another story entirely)!

This story originally appeared in Tales of Suspense #57 September 1964, It was reprinted in Marvel Masterworks: Iron Man Volume 3 among others. The final image is from Avengers #16 May, 1965.

There’s a new trailer for Star Tours 2.0. It was released today.

I have tickets to get to Disney World and Disneyland both in July to report on the ride in person for you, but it’s not soon enough.

And really, they let you go through the battle of Coruscant from Revenge of the Sith? Sign me up. Right. Now.

Once again, we have a huge roundup of Image Comics releasing this week! There are some gems this week, such as the oft-delayed Science Dog Special #2, Everyone’s favorite stitch together hipster, The Li’l Depressed Boy #4, and if you missed it on Free Comic Book Day, the Super Dinosaur Origin Special!  Dive in, there is about 45 pages of comic-y goodness to be had!

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THE DARKNESS: FOUR HORSEMEN #4 (OF 4)

story DAVID HINE
art & cover JEFF WAMESTER

The Darkest Tale of The Darkness Yet!
Apocalypse has come to Ginsberg, CA! Two ominous powers arrive in town, one of ultimate light and the other of deepest darkness, and Jackie Estacado is trapped between them. The Four Horsemen are ascending to their full power. Can Jackie muster the power to prevent the end of the world?
From David Hine (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and up-and-coming artist Jeff Wamester (Frenemy of the State).

MAY 18
32 PAGES / FC
$3.99

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DRUMS #1 (of 4)

story EL TORRES
art  ABE HERNANDO & KWAICHANG KRANEO
cover RAUL ALLEN

MAY 18
32 PAGES / FC
$2.99

“LET THE BATÁA SPEAK”

In our world there exists an ancient religion with many names and   many disguises: Candomble, Palo Mayombe, Santeria… Voodoo. FBI   agent Martin Irons is sent to investigate the sudden deaths of an   entire gathering of followers at a ceremony, an assignment horrible enough before one of the mangled corpses rises and leads him on a sinister path. A new horror story with possesions, santeros, zombies… all set to the thunderous boom of drums!

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LAST MORTAL #1 (of 4)

story JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV
art & cover RASHAN EKEDAL

MAY 18
38 PAGES / FC
$2.99

Alec King is a born loser. A small time criminal who has never succeeded at anything in life and whose fear of failure has crippled him. When his only friend, Brian, the brains and charm of their two-man operation, convinces Alec to help him with a hit contract on a mayoral candidate his life unravels to rock bottom. But sometimes we need to hit rock bottom to begin the climb towards a better day…

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THE LI’L DEPRESSED BOY #4

story S. STEVEN STRUBLE
art & cover SINA GRACE

MAY 18
32 PAGES / FC
$2.99

“THERE IS A LIGHT THAT NEVER GOES OUT”

After birthdays, concerts, bowling and house parties, The Li’l Depressed Boy feels closer to his dream girl more than ever before. In this issue: A new friend, some fried rice, and a kiss.

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SCIENCE DOG SPECIAL #2

Story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art & cover CORY WALKER

MAY 18
32 PAGES / FC
$3.50

FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE. FIGHT EVIL WITH SCIENCE!

Collecting the never before reprinted Science Dog back-up story from INVINCIBLE #75, as well as the ALL-NEW full-length, never-before-seen conclusion of the story!

This story has been years in the making-don’t miss its epic conclusion!

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SUPER DINOSAUR ORIGIN SPECIAL #1

story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art & cover JASON HOWARD

MAY 18
$2.99

Super Dinosaur is finally here!

In this stand-alone origin special, you will learn everything there is to know about Derek Dynamo’s best friend, Super Dinosaur! Where did he come from? How did he avoid extinction? What is Inner-Earth? And what the heck is DynOre and why is it so dangerous?! All this and more will be revealed – don’t miss out!

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THE WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #20

story ROBERT KIRKMAN
art CHARLIE ADLARD
cover TONY MOORE

MAY 18
32 PAGES / BW
$2.99

After the earth shattering events of past issues, Lori is left dealing with the choices she’s made and the events that have transpired of no fault of her own. Meanwhile steps are made to turn the prison into a home. Things are winding down and life is becoming more bearable. If only they could forget what they just went through.

RETAILER WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

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WITCHBLADE #144

story RON MARZ
art STJEPAN SEJIC
cover STJEPAN SEJIC, JEAN-SEBASTIEN ROSSBACH

May 18
#4.99

Witchblade 15th Anniversary Issue!

In 1995, Marc Silvestri, Michael Turner, David Wohl, and Brian Haberlin created a new kind of comic heroine with the origin of Sara Pezzini, the latest in a long line of bearers of the mystical gauntlet known as the Witchblade. In an over-sized 15th Anniversary issue, Ron Marz and Stjepan Sejic tell Sara’s origin from a new perspective, planting seeds that soon will bear deadly fruit!

Featuring two spellbinding covers including a wraparound retrospective by series artist Sejic and an iconic painting by fantasy illustrator Jean-Sebastien Rossbach (Magic: The Gathering). Also including special anniversary features, pin ups, and much more! Plus ask your retailer about a FREE matching digital download of this issue with purchase.

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ZERO: JM KEN NIIMURA ILLUSTRATION ‘07–‘09 TP

art & design JM KEN NIIMURA

MAY 18
96 PAGES / FC
$12.99

ZERO is a selection of gorgeous illustrations by I KILL GIANTS artist JM KEN NIIMURA. This beautiful volume collects several of Niimura’s dynamic and vibrant illustrations, which were published in magazines, books and advertisements during the 2007–2009 period.

RETAILER WARNING: MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR ALL AGES

The live action Akira was in the news again last week. Now we have Keanu Reeves to add to the miles long casting rumor list that has circulated for the past three years. This list has gone from Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Godon Levitt (actors who I would have been a bit happier with because they’re actually talented), to Justin Timberlake and Robert Pattinson, and now to Keanu Reeves (who is currently in talks to play Kaneda). The Hollywood Reporter, who published this story along with news that Albert Hughes (From Hell, The Book of Eli, Dead Presidents) will be directing the project, wrote that this film will be an adaptation to NYC from “Neon Tokyo.” Yep, Hollywood totally has their source material together for this film…

A recent picture that People Magazine posted of Keanu Reeves running through the Streets of NYC.

Sure, Keanu Reeves, why not? If the writing and direction turn out to be better than I expect then he could actually make Kaneda seem a bit more believable than any of the other actors recently rumored to touch the script (other than Levitt, of course, he’s a great actor and I’m sure he didn’t want anything to do with this most-likely terrible script.). At least the project won’t end up with Justin Timberlake and Robert Pattinson in the leading roles. I had been imagining the following exchange in my head for the last few weeks if they actually were put into this train wreck of a production:

This script has been passed around so many times that I’m starting to wonder if it’s worse than I’ve ever possibly imagined. When I posted a few weeks ago about the upcoming live action Akira I had already pretty much given up on it being any good. But hey, maybe Hollywood will suprise me. Maybe they’ll hire some consultants from the original animated film from Japan, bring them over and ask them for their advice. Maybe they’ll consult the creator of Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo, and actually get some real insight as to what he imagines in a live action adaptation in New York City. Maybe they’ll throw away this crappy script that nobody wants to accept and just re-write it with the original creation in mind?

Or maybe it will look something like this animated production from Harry Partridge:

Hey, at least Reeves can ride a motorcycle. Check out this photo of him riding in California. It just screams “I am so totally the leader of a bike gang! Watch out Neo New York City! I’m a total badass!”

But wait, wasn’t Reeves rumored to be involved in a live action Cowboy Beebop adaptation? Whatever happened to that? I’ve seen rumors around the internet that the project was (thankfully) scrapped since it didn’t have enough support, but there’s not much concrete news to confirm or deny that the Cowboy Beebop live action film even made it past the idea stages. Oh, and did I forget to mention that Tetsuo and Kaneda are supposed to be teenagers? Why is the rumored casting list so much older? Have they scrapped the original characters altogether in favor of something completely different? Make up your mind Hollywood! (And tell me enough in advance so I can mentally prepare myself for whatever it is you’re doing to all these anime properties.)

Well, I’m out of ideas. If any of you think you know what the new Akira film will actually be about, leave your thoughts in the comments field. In the meantime, I’ll just keep dreaming for something like this to happen:

:

Tintin was a character and a hero that I grew up with- Ya, I’m Canadian …and when I first heard that Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg were teaming up to do an adaptation of Tintin… I was one of those that thought it was the greatest idea since they told me Guillermo Del Toro was doing Hellboy. That being said- there was a lot of naysaying to be waded through.

With the release of the teaser though, I feel that all that negativity is squashed. Just, completely debunked- no really- watch it:

I’m going to start by admitting that the first thought that went through my brain was “Wait a minute- I thought that this was supposed to be an animated film!”

Then, with the first reveal of a character- Tintin’s dog Snowy- I realized the world these two amazing storyteller’s are building, is, without any question in my mind, going to take animated storytelling to a different place- it has the realism of the animated drivel Zemeckis has been doing recently- but with the character development and design of actual artists, not just someone who scanned another someone’s face and hoped no one would notice.

Although, I will say that there are a couple of “Zemeckis” looking moments in the teaser- parts where the animation seems too robotic, and fake. A style I’ve never been a fan of. Pixar has is wrapped- even if they’re supposed to be human- an animation won’t sell as living unless it moves like a cartoon to some extent. (Just look at The Incredibles)

On a final note- The scope of this film seems on par with the last Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but without the feeling that it was just phoned in on the last day of production- oh, and the voice talent sounds supreme.

I hope, I hope, I hope that they have captured the imagination and creativity of the old character’s and stories… So far- I believe they have.

In case you haven’t heard amongst all of the noise of the upcoming Summer blockbuster season, there is a new muppets movie due out on November 23 of this year! I know Proletariatron and I have been catching the bits and pieces of the news as it has been released, but today Disney released the first teaser poster for the muppets’ triumphant return to the big screen in their latest film simply titled, The Muppets.

Jason Segell – who apparently is a hugemuppets fan – co-wrote the script and is starring in the film as Gary, the human that befriends the muppets and helps them save their beloved muppet theater from an oil tycoon bent on demolishing it to get to oil that he believes lies underneath it.

In an article in USA Today, Segel talked a bit about the film:

While the lifelong Muppet fan has vowed to keep the movie true to its original core, expect changes such as Kermit the Frog walking on-screen when the movie opens Nov. 23.

“Technology has changed,” says Segel. “We’re able to show them doing stuff they hadn’t been able to do before. We’re pretty proud of that.”

. . .

“We have every Muppet you could possibly think of,” he says, including Beaker and the Swedish Chef.

The filmmakers decided to embrace the fact that the Muppets have not been on-screen since 1999’s Muppets From Space.

“Entertainment changed. It became about animation, violence and cynicism. The Muppets sort of lost their place,” says Segel. “In the movie, we acknowledge that the Muppets had some rough years and went their own separate ways to start their own careers.”

Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, and Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management.

–USA Today

There have been some concerns amongst muppet fans regarding Segel’s comment about “technology changing” that he may mean the use of CGI muppets. My guess is that this is not the case as everything Segel has said about this film is that it is going to be a classic muppet movie. My own speculation is that the only CGI we will be seeing (if any) in this film involving muppets may be the removal of rods and other mpuppetry tools to accomplish full-body shots, etc.

Having just watched The Muppets Take Manhattan on Netflix a few weeks ago – which, by the way, still holds up today and is a great film – I couldn’t be more excited for the return of Kermit and Miss Piggy and company this November and will be planted firmly in a seat at my local theater opening weekend. Of course, it wouldn’t be a muppet movie without a bevy of human-star cameos. Here’s a list of some stars you can expect so far:

• Amy Adams
• Chris Cooper
• Emily Blunt
• John Krasinsky
• Sean Penn
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Jack Black
• Danny Trejo
• Zack Galifianakis
• Katy Perry
• Ed Helms
• Ricky Gervais
• Whoopy Goldberg
• Mickey Rooney

and the list goes on . . .

The Muppets opens on November 23, 2011.