Or the, uh, “Wocka Wocka” fame: “Several Muppets were on hand to receive the star including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Pepe, Sweetums, and Walter, the newest Muppet, who made his debut in Disney’s 2011 film,” reports a press release just over the transom at ML HQ. “The Muppets’ star is the 2,466th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is located in front of the historic El Capitan Theatre.” Nice real estate! And nice timing — The Muppets is out on DVD and Blu-ray today. The honor comes 57 years after Kermit’s first TV appearance. No rush! And congrats to all. [Photo: Getty Images] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
‘You can rewind it. You can hit play. You can pause,’ famous frog tells MTV News of the Blu-ray, available Tuesday. By Josh Wigler Walter and Kermit the Frog Photo: MTV News It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights! It’s time to meet “The Muppets,” available on Blu-ray this Tuesday (March 20)! OK, our rhyming skills could use some work, clearly. Perhaps it’s best to leave those kinds of hijinks to the Muppets themselves. Thankfully for all of us, we did just that when Kermit the Frog and Walter , the newest member of the pint-sized gang, swung by the MTV Newsroom last week to tell us all about their imminent home-video release. According to the frog and his new pal, “The Muppets” comes with all sorts of special features, some that you normally wouldn’t think to mention when pitching Blu-ray and DVD discs to the folks at home. “You can rewind it. You can hit play. You can pause,” Kermit offered not so helpfully when we asked him about some of the features we’ll find on the “Muppets” Blu-ray. “Another thing I want to tell you: One special feature about Blu-ray is that you can use it as a coaster, and it’ll still play. It works very well!” On a more serious note — as serious as things get with Kermit and Walter, that is — the Blu-ray comes packed with extra features including an intermission sequence that’s activated when the viewer hits pause. “The intermission is great,” Kermit gushed. “We all jump in and do silly things for you during the intermission … and we’ve never done silly things before!” The coming “Muppets” release also hosts some deleted scenes, including one that expands upon the film’s villain, Tex Richman, and his reasons for hating the Muppets so darn much. “It’s this whole big music video,” Walter explained. “In the final cut of the film, you just see a couple of minutes. But on the DVD, you get the whole shebang!” Though this week’s home-video release is the next place you’ll be able to see the Muppets, it won’t be their last appearance. Both Kermit and Walter are quite convinced that further adventures are coming our way very soon. In fact, Walter’s already pitching sequels! “One script I’m pitching now: ‘Extremely Short and Incredibly Cute,’ ” he joked. “We feel certain there will be another movie,” Kermit said. “And who knows? We might have the opportunity to bring something back like ‘The Muppet Show.’ That would be fun! But we’re taking it one step at a time.” Tell us what you think of “The Muppets” in the comments section and on Twitter ! Check out everything we’ve got on “The Muppets.” For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com . Related Videos MTV Rough Cut: ‘The Muppets’
Kermit the Frog and new Muppet Walter join MTV News as co-hosts of this week’s ‘Talk Nerdy.’ By Josh Wigler Walter and Kermit Photo: MTV News Want a surefire way to cease all productivity in your workplace? Bring in the Muppets. It works every time. Kermit the Frog and newly-minted man-of-a-Muppet Walter graced MTV News with their presence earlier this week, catching the attention of everyone passing through our newsroom at the time. As you might expect, the “Muppets” stars are quite the charming duo in real life. It’s one thing to see their antics on the big screen; watching them come alive right before you, however, is another experience entirely. The effect they have on even the most serious of grown adults (though, admittedly, we don’t have many of those around these parts) is astounding: Within seconds of laying eyes on Kermit and Walter, years of growth and maturity immediately fade away, leaving you in a temporary state of childlike wonder. In short, I fully recommend meeting Muppets if you ever have the chance. Of course, Kermit and Walter weren’t at MTV News headquarters purely out of the kindness of their hearts, kind though their hearts may be: They were here to promote “The Muppets,” arriving on Blu-ray and DVD on March 20. We were happy to chat with them about the awesome home-video release — it has an intermission feature, everybody! An intermission feature! — but Kermit and Walter had more than just their own movie on their minds: They also wanted to talk about superheroes, vampires, deadly tournaments and more. As such, Kermit and Walter were perfect candidates to fill in as special guest co-hosts on “Talk Nerdy” this week. It’s always fun to geek out with fellow nerds about Captain America and Katniss Everdeen, but hitting those subjects with two of the most popular Muppets out there? Priceless. Here’s a quick list of some of the things I learned from Kermit and Walter’s “Nerdy” appearance.
For many, the Weinsteins’ inescapable awards-season carpet bombing was mere insult added to an even more grievous seasonal injury: moving Piranha 3DD from its original November 2011 release date to the notorious TBD associated with so many Dimension and Weinstein Co. releases. What did you expect, though? Madonna/ W.E. Golden Globe campaigns don’t pay for themselves, right? Anyway, as befits a new inductee into France’s Legion of Honor , Harvey Weinstein is not skimping on the public service, finally rescheduling the blood-and-boobs fishploitation extravaganza for June 1. The good news? That’s only two and a half months away! The bad news? That’s only two and a half months away! Is there enough time and money left after handling the Bully ratings “crisis” to manufacture a PG-13 crusade for this one? How will kids at lakeside summer camps nationwide know how to best deal with flesh-rending fish infestations? Think of the children, save the date, etc. [ STYD ]
Here’s just the Easter treat for that special child in your life whom you totally hate : “‘We’ve captured the delightfulness of this hilarious hit family comedy in two great-tasting, egg-shaped treats,’ explains Ron Rupocinski, Krispy Kreme Corporate Chef. ‘They’re a fun and colorful way for your family to celebrate the arrival of spring and the Blu-ray™ and DVD release of HOP .'” Reportedly, neither taste like Russell Brand, so there’s that. [ PRNewswire ]
When we think of the 1978 skinema classic Animal House , a few things come to mind: Jack Daniels, toga parties, and Mary-Louise Weller’ s boobs (ok, mostly just Mary-Louise Weller’s boobs). And when we think of Broadway, it brings to mind exactly…none of those things. Nevertheless, Universal Stage Productions is going full steam ahead on the unlikeliest entertainment hybrid since Pride and Predator : Animal House: The Musical . The AP reports: “Animal House: The Musical” will feature an original score by the band Barenaked Ladies … The 1978 film’s cast included John Belushi, Tom Hulce, Bruce McGill, Tim Matheson, Stephen Furst and Karen Allen. It explored how one frat house, Delta Tau Chi, made sloth and debauchery look cool.” Less Barenaked Ladies and more real naked ladies, please. With ticket prices sure to go into the $100+ range, there better be something to see that you can’t get on the Blu-ray (or here at Mr. Skin ). And we don’t mean Bluto tripping the light fantastic. Grab a brew with Animal House (1978) right here at MrSkin.com!
Things are looking up on DVD and Blu-ray, as this year’s Anatomy Award Winner for Best TV Series , Game of Boners – oh, sorry, Game of Thrones – hits DVD and Blu-ray. But that’s not the only example of outstanding skinema on Blu-ray this week: Striptease (1996) and 9 1/2 Weeks (1986) are both getting the HD treatment, as is the director’s cut of Reindeer Games (2000), featuring a nude Charlize Theron . Plus, Nudity Hall-of-Famer Elena Anaya deftly straddles the line between creepy and sexy (among other things) in the arthouse horror flick The Skin I Live In (2011), nude on DVD and Blu-ray.
What a weekend for Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax : The environmentally tinged adaptation became the latest of the beloved author’s film spinoffs to capture the top box-office perch. Meanwhile, the raunchy Project X settled in quietly behind it, earning roughly a dollar per topless scene en route to second place. Your Weekend Receipts are here. 1. Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax Gross: $70,700,000 (new) Screens: 3,729 (PSA $18,960) Weeks: 1 What can I say? A generation is indoctrinated to the left! Lou Dobbs will be outraged ! Malia Obama for president in 2036! 2. Project X Gross: $20,775,000 (new) Screens: 3,055 (PSA $6,800) Weeks: 1 Not so bad an opening for the critically reviled bit of mayhem from the mind of Todd Phillips — but good enough for a sequel? Project Y , coming to DVD and Blu-ray by the holidays? Hell, the way these things are shot, maybe by Memorial Day. 3. Act of Valor Gross: $13,700,000 ($45,239,000) Screens: 3,053 (PSA: $4,487) Weeks: 2 (Change: -44%) The Navy SEALs-against-the-world propaganda exercise held up reasonably well in its second week, setting up next weekend’s crucial Lorax vs. Valor ideology face-off for fourth place — or maybe even third place, considering the smallish release for Eddie Murphy’s A Thousand Words . Place your bets. Or I can just wake you when it’s April, your call. 4. Safe House Gross: $7,200,000 ($108,200,000) Screens: 2,533 (PSA $2,820) Weeks: 4 (Change: -34.1%) I can only imagine the back-and-forth between Denzel Washington’s WME team and Ryan Reynolds’s CAA crew this morning as they struggle to take primary credit for their stars’ stunning collaborative success. If I didn’t know any better, I’d just attribute the whole phenomenon to Harvey Weinstein, because what triumphs hasn’t he wrought in the last seven days? 5. Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds Gross: $7,000,000 ($25,745,000) Screens: 2,132 (PSA $3,283) Weeks: 2 (Change: -55.1%) Tyler Perry is nothing if not consistent, on track for another mid-$30 million performer sans the Madea muumuu. He’d argue that a wider release would sweeten the box office, and for this one in particular I’d agree — though I’d rather simply see him split the franchise difference and attempt Why Did I Get Married 3-D . They’ve got The Rock in the series now! Seriously, blockbuster city. [Figures via Box Office Mojo ] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
The fine folks over at DVD (and Blu-ray!) sleaze emporium TLAcult.com may have just saved awards season. Last week they announced the nominees for the TLA Cult Awards, an annual event that honors the very best in exploitation, horror, and cult movies on DVD and Blu-ray. As they put it on their website: “Make a movie about a fat silent comedian and his dog, and these snooty bastards love you. But, make a movie that features a giant spider sexually assaulting a naked woman and you may as well not exist. Well, those movies do exist. And we’re going to honor the fuck out of them.” In other words, in terms of ogling potential, these suckers come in second only to Mr. Skin’s own Anatomy Awards . And speaking of Mr. Skin…our Mr. Skin Presents: Women in Prison Triple Pack , featuring uncut, lovingly restored versions of the ’80s WIP classics Chained Heat (1983), Red Heat (1985), and Jungle Warriors (1984), has been nominated for Best Box Set/ Value Pack. Aw, guys, you shouldn’t have! Actually, yes you should. That DVD was awesome. See the complete list of nominees for the 2012 TLA Cult Awards after the jump!
Our very own Sultan of Spank Mr. Skin appeared on Adam Carolla’s podcast this week to discuss Blu-ray nude scenes, this year’s Anatomy Awards, and all the other breaking nudes here at Mr. Skin HQ. The podcast quickly climbed to the top of the iTunes charts…until an upstart came on the scene and knocked Mr. Skin from his rightful place at #1. The culprit? Bill Simmons’ interview with Barack Obama on The BS Report . Who does this guy think he is, anyway? The President of the United States or something!? You can check out Adam Carolla’s interview with Mr. Skin on iTunes or on Adam’s website !
