What Did You Think of 'The Muppets'?

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, the Muppets made their triumphant return to the big screen in a big way. Kermit, Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppet gang brought out fans of all ages, as 'The Muppets' grossed a respectable $29.5 million in ticket sales. ('Breaking Dawn Part 1' came in at number one for the second week in a row, with $42 million). Translation: you saw it, so tell us about it! Here's your chance to sound-off about the new 'Muppets' movie. Was it everything you had hoped for? Did you immediately purchase the soundtrack upon arriving home? Was Walter a worthy addition to the Muppets clan? Was it better than 'Muppets Take Manhattan'? All valid questions! Reviews, questions, comments, singing 'Mahna Mahna' -- if you saw the film and loved it (or not), let us know! The floor is yours. For more on Moviefone's coverage of 'The Muppets,' head here. [Photo: Disney] Best Movie Art Ever (This Week): Muppetpalooza The Muppet ShowThe Muppets T-Shirt DesignGonzo Gets ChoppedMuppet MoralsThe Muppets Immortalized as Wooden CutoutsMuppets on the BeachWhat Do Bears Dream?Swedish ChefMuppets Inc.World of FriendshipPigs in SpaceSasha and the MuppetsThe Blues MuppetsThe Muppets AdventureWolverine vs MuppetsKawaii Muppets: First Mate Miss PiggyTwo Muppets Walk into a BarThe Men Behind the Muppets See All Moviefone Galleries » Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Amazing Race's Bill and Cathi: We Were Too Cautious on the Road

Bill and Cathi After having being spared elimination twice on The Amazing Race, Bill and Cathi Alden knew their time was up when they lost an hour trying to find the homing pigeon location in Belgium. "We had so much trouble trying to find the wall and we couldn't imagine that another team had that much difficulty after they located the pigeons," Cathi tells TVGuide.com. "We were pretty sure we were last. It was so dark and late by then." But getting lost wasn't the only factor in their elimination. See what else they think contributed to their demise and how they stay in such great shape.Amazing Race's Laurence and Zac: The U-Turn and getting lost "pushed us over the edge"Did you do the pigeon task? They didn't show you doing it.Cathi: We got there and it was so dark that they didn't release the pigeons. They just gave us a card of the address of where the pigeon would be. That was just [more confirmation] that we were last.Do you know how much time you lost trying to find the pigeons?Bill: Probably an hour. We got there very late. The signage near the town - I don't know if someone turned the sign slightly or what - but that took us nearly half an hour, running back and forth. We went to the wrong spot on the wall, so some nice young kids directed us to the right end of the wall. It was so dark that we ended up going around the wall and finally we found the clues down below, which some of the teams drove up and spotted immediately. It helped to have a little sunlight. It took us quite awhile. Once we had that, we were able to head back to Brussels pretty fast. We lost enough time. We hadn't seen any other team. We figured it was about the end.Why was it so hard to find the place?Cathi: It was a very small place, but the actual wall is a fence kind of thing that goes around a small peak. It just meanders and it's clear on the back of the town. People would say, "You go here, you go here, you go here," but really, you had to be at exactly the right spot.Bill: Also the roads don't go straight, so pretty soon you're headed back the way you just came and you're in more trouble. The people are nice and know the terrain pretty well, but they don't understand that when they say this, it doesn't make sense to you. You're taking the first street that turns off and they mean the main street that turns off way up the hill.You seemed to have trouble with self-navigation. You lost time heading to Legoland last week and now this.Cathi: I wouldn't say that we were bad at navigation in that we never went the wrong way on the freeway ever. We were very cautious, maybe too cautious. We stopped and asked probably more often than maybe some of the other teams. The other thing is, looking back, we weren't as aggressive in our driving as we probably should've been. In other words, we really did take them at their word when they said to go the speed limit. I think some of the other teams were more aggressive in their driving and could make up any error time. We just kind of kept it at the speed limit the whole time. Maybe if we had driven faster, we could've caught up with someone. We had great luck in Copenhagen with the directions and the driving, but no such luck here.Amazing Race's Justin and Jennifer: It was a "huge mistake" not biking backWhy weren't you more aggressive?Cathi: We're pretty rule-bound. When they say "go the speed limit," we go the speed limit. If we were to do it again, we wouldn't go the speed limit. [Laughs] We'd speed and if we get a 10-minute penalty, whoopee! Because you've made up those 10 minutes.Bill: In total, it was almost 1,000 kilometers of driving. We'd been in Europe a number of times, but we always used mass transit, so as far as the driving goes, I wasn't accustomed to it, so I didn't push it. We could've made up a lot of time in that manner. We got directions that weren't easily understood, so when you ran out of what you understood, you stopped and asked again. After being almost goners the first leg, how did it feel to make the final five? Cathi: We were grateful for every moment. To have [been saved by] two non-elimination legs? We were extremely grateful for the first non-elimination because we had such a difficult time finding the board. So after that, it was like, "Do the best you can, enjoy every minute" and we did. Before the race began, the philosophy was "most of you will be eliminated," so you go in knowing that and knowing you're taking a huge risk exposing yourself. But it was definitely worth it.How do you keep in such great shape? I think everyone wants to look as good as you guys do in their 60s.Cathi: [Laughs] Did you like how the bodybuilder noticed that?Amazing Race's Liz and Marie: Our cabbie ripped us offThey paid you more compliments than they did any other team.Cathi: I know! We work out, probably four to six times a week. We've done it for years and years. It's not something we did two or three months [before the race]. It's a lifestyle for us. We do it because we want to live as long and as happily and as healthy as we can.Cathi, you kept falling down. How many bruises did you get? Cathi: I was covered with bruises after the rice patty. There were no real injuries at all. My balance isn't very good to begin with and we neglected to take our backpacks off, so the weight would shift and I would fall.Bill: She also managed to get some beauties hanging onto the elephant. You kept going up and down on that, and she got her arms bruised up trying to hang on.Cathi: Afterward, I asked the cameraman if he would put the falls together [in a montage] for me because it was just hilarious!What are you up to now?Cathi: We are going to New Zealand in two and a half weeks. Our daughter's husband is from New Zealand, so our whole family is going there for Christmas. It's summer there, so to leave Oregon and to go to New Zealand will be great.

'Star Trek 2' Can get May 2013 Release Date, Are Available In 3d?

People of Earth, prepare: "The Exorcist 2" posseses an official release date. The arrival follow-up for the 2009 hit will land in theaters on May 17, 2013, according to Deadline. Vital knocked Roland Emmerich's postponed film "Singularity" to November 2013, paving the means by which for "Trek 2" to strongly go towards its new May release date. A lot more exciting might be this news that J.J. Abrams and team are planning on shooting the flick in 3d, though there's no confirmation of the at this time. With filming set to begin around the month of the month of january 15, it might seem like the film is well visiting finally being completed. Little is well known in regards to the approaching, unofficially titled follow-up. Looks at the flick will feature Klingons, and can not include Khan unlike hopeful gossips. That leaves a sizable question margin for who Benicio Del Toro will portray since the series' new villain. When MTV News taken track of Abrams recently, he confirmed his fascination with getting Del Toro join the film. The director mentioned "The Wolfman" star could do "anything" within the "Star WarsInch franchise. "We're just in discussions, we're in discussions," he mentioned. "It is not even discussions -- just being debated. However I must use him. I've desired to utilize him for any very long time, which felt as being a pretty good possibility.Inch Are you currently presently glad "The Exorcist 2" is finally being made? Reveal inside the comments section below or on Twitter!

Distribs, theaters take on new media

Secret Cinema held a screening of Lawrence of Arabia at Londons Alexandra Palace. Alamo Drafthouse has gone to unusual lengths to entice auds: A caged Santa attacks at "A Christmas Tale." A menu of dishes from the films greeted Harry Potter auds at the Alamo Drafthouse.Alamo Drafthouse interred four lucky winners to watch Buried from their own private coffins. Can kung-fu fighting monks, cave screenings and feral, caged Santa Clauses save the movie biz? Exhibitors sure hope so. Around the globe, theaters and distribs are fighting competition from new media by turning firstrun screenings into the kind of events one expects at a theme park or state fair. London's Future Cinema, set to hit NY and Paris next year, draws up to 17,000 people for its surprise Secret Cinema screenings, with a troupe of actors mingling with the audience in environments staged to match the film. Alamo Drafthouse flew a real-life "Iron Man" with a custom jet pack above one of its theaters on the film's opening weekend. Microdistrib Variance Films enlisted local comedians for 10-minute warmup sets and post-screening Q&As for its comic doc "American: The Bill Hicks Story." Though indie films can often make their biggest profits via one-night or weekend event screenings, one stumbling block to this approach, notes filmmaker and "Think Outside the Box Office" author Jon Reiss, is that news outlets usually won't give crucial reviews for films booking less than a weeklong run. Another is that box office for these runs usually isn't tallied by Rentrak or other tracking services, which can handicap filmmakers looking for ancillary deals. To date, most event screenings have centered on ingenious revivals, such as Alamo Drafthouse's Rolling Roadshow programs, including a "Jaws" screening for audience members floating on inner- tubes in a lake. They partnered with NY City-based Rooftop Films to present "The Godfather, Part II" in the same Little Italy neighborhood where it was set. "Studios are petrified about piracy, and in an outdoor environment, that's a little bit harder to control," says Alamo Drafthouse founder Tim League, who was able to overcome concerns for his preview of the spelunking thriller "The Descent" in a real Texas cave. "It's very easy to secure a cave," he explains. "There's only one entrance." There are other creative ways to keep films contained: Secret Cinema staged "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" inside an abandoned U.K. hospital. Firstrun distribs are starting to program event screenings for some new releases. Future Cinema founder Fabien Riggall, who staged the public "people's premiere" of "Watchmen" with 60 actors amid London tunnel replicas of the film's sets, is in discussions with a major studio to screen an unreleased Oscar contender in London next month. With its cult following, the outfit can charge up to $55 dollars a ticket without even naming the films being screened in advance -- only a request for audience members to wear appropriate attire geared toward the film to be shown. Aside from an occasional cryptic image published with media partner the Guardian, Secret Cinema events aren't advertised -- just announced to some 120,000 email newsletter subscribers, 100,000 Facebook fans and 18,500 Twitter followers. Riggall says his Secret Cinema events can cost 100,000-200,000 ($157,000-$315,000) to stage -- he plans to bring the screenings (which run from a night to nearly three weeks) to Los Angeles and San Francisco in the near future, although he wouldn't divulge n box office revenue. Aside from presenting live concerts, ballets and other events via their 15,000-screen theater network, NCM Fathom teamed with Summit this month for "Twilight Saga Tuesdays," one-night-only screenings of the first three "Twilight" films with behind-the-scenes content and footage unseen in theaters, all to build more interest in the new "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- Part 1." For the release of Guy Maddin's "My Winnipeg," Canadian distrib Maximum (now eOne) arranged for Maddin to provide live narration at select screenings, including an Images Festival event featuring $40 VIP seating with gift bags. Charlotte Mickie, eOne exec VP, sees an opportunity for distribs to use gift bags, live performances and other incentives with a higher ticket price, citing Canada's Open Roof Festival as staging successful summer-long events with this strategy in partnership with Canadian distributors. Not all films need big promotion budgets, giveaways or higher ticket prices to create must-see event nights. Variance Films was able to bring in monks to demonstrate kung-fu moves at the NY and L.A. opening of its doc "Shaolin" for nothing more than free screening tickets for their temple, plus a chance for the monks to pass out flyers and get website/e-blast promotion for their school. Other low-cost Variance events have included air-drumming contests at a doc on the subject ("Adventures of Power") and bringing the composer of experimental doc "General Orders No. 9" into cinemas to perform a "3D augmented score" live. Distribs such as Monterey Media, Cinema Purgatorio, Canada's Films We Like and the U.K.'s Dogwolf, as well as venues like L.A.'s Cinefamily, also make events a regular part of their business strategy. Some filmmakers are taking a hybrid approach, with event preview screenings before an official opening. Reiss notes that the parenting comedy "The Best and the Brightest" enlisted stars such as Amy Sedaris and Kate Mulgrew to appear at a few of the 200 screenings in 24 cities/venues before its official opening, grossing between $600 to $2,600 per screening in 50/50 or 70/30 splits (most for the filmmaker) with theaters after expenses. Such hooplah is far from new in the film biz. In the 1930s, Depression-era audiences were lured to theaters for a "Bank Night" cash lottery, and weekly "Dish Night" tableware giveaways. When the economy rebounded after WWII, theaters faced another scary threat -- television -- leading them to develop gimmicks like 3D, Cinerama, William Castle-era vibrating seats ("The Tingler"), floating glow-in-the-dark skeletons ("House on Haunted Hill") and Smell-O-Vision to lure audiences from their sets. Today's exhibitors face the double challenge of a bad economy and new media (VOD, videogames and online distractions) siphoning audiences away. Perhaps no one in the business is reviving the gimmick era better than Alamo. The 10-theater Texas-based chain (with new venues set for Denver and Austin) serves food and booze with every firstrun film. The Lamar theater's parking lot housed a 40-foot-tall, fire-breathing robot for "Transformers" opening weekend, buried four contestants alive to watch "Buried" in their own private coffins, staged an all-day "summer camp" for "Freddy vs. Jason" and provided lobby photo-ops with a caged Santa at the opening of "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale." On the dining front, they hosted a Rocky Mountain oyster-eating contest for "Your Highness" and offered a Harry Potter-themed menu when "The Deathly Hallows Part 2" unspooled. These mainly homespun setups typically cost no more than $1,000-$2,000; price for the scary Santa promotion was $500. But Drafthouse worked with Paramount's marketing department to offset the cost of the Robosaurus for "Transformers" (pricetag roughly $25,000), as it does for exhibits with most event films that have "superfans." The "Buried" stunt ended up costing $8,000-$9,000, and while the distrib didn't cover any of the low-budget film's promotion, and the film failed to score big box office, League is just pleased the studio's legal department didn't halt the live burials. "I don't think there's a quantitative way to analyze" how much the promos add to their theaters' grosses, League says. "We look at it in terms of what our identity is as a company. It's part of our marketing and branding strategy -- we want to be known as the theater that's run by fans for fans, and sometimes that means doing some things that don't make sense for the bottom line." "If the most important moment of the year for you is the new Harry Potter film opening, you want that day to be special," League explains. "If you're just going to serve somebody an overpriced Coke and popcorn and turn on the projector and show people some ads and show the movie, that's not special enough." n Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Tyler Perry Stars in Tyler Perry's Why Did I Cast Kim Kardashian?

Even I, a beleaguered devotee of Tyler Perry’s melodramatic, muumuu-rocking oeuvre, had a difficult time accepting the inevitability of… God, I can’t even write it. Kim… ugh. Kiiiimmmm… fuck. KimKardashian. Kim. Kar. Dashian. Whew. OK. Even I had a difficult time accepting the inevitability of Kim Kardashian’s casting in Perry’s upcoming The Marriage Counselor, and that was before the tragic unraveling of her nuptials to that discarded oaf, whoever he was. I wasn’t alone, either; other fans’ disapproval pelted the door of the specially reinforced storm closet where Perry sought refuge. Now, with Kar… Kar… da… Ugh. With her shooting completed, the filmmaker finally took to his blog today to explain himself. And it is good. Like, the Dickensian intrigue of our day: I could not have imagined I’d be getting all these emails about Kim Kardashian. I HAVE SEEN THEM!! YOU HAVE BEEN HEARD!! …LOL. Now, may I say something? Can a brother get a word in?….LOL. Y’all gave me a new movie title, Tyler Perry’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman Cause You Hired Kim Kardashian, Don’t Make Me Take Off My Earrings and Boycott Yo A**. …LOL. Some of my ladies are upset. Ok, all jokes aside, can I have my say? Will you at least here [sic] me out? I was in a Mexican restaurant and the cutest little old woman stopped me and said, “I want to talk to you about KAR-DAT- CHA-NEM.” I said, “Ma’am?” She said, “What is wrong with you putting her in the lead role of your movie?” By the time I explained to her that she was not in the lead role and why I thought she should be in The Marriage Counselor, she said, “Oh, I see your point and I can’t wait to see the movie.” So, if you don’t mind, I’d like to share with you what I said to her then maybe you’ll see why I wanted her in the film. This movie is about a young lady named Judith (Jurnee Smolett), who grew up in the countryside of Virginia in a trailer park. She was raised in the church by her mother Sarah (Ella Joyce). Judith married her childhood sweetheart Brice (Lance Gross) and had the perfect life until she graduated college and went to work in the big city. After college, all she wanted to do was be a marriage counselor, but the only job she could find was working for a matchmaker named Janice (Vanessa Williams). Janice has several employees that work for her, including a woman named Ava (Kim Kardashian). Ava is constantly trying to influence Judith on everything from her shoes to her hair. Judith meets a man at work named Harley (Robbie Jones). Harley challenges everything in her life from her marriage to her husband to her faith. Meanwhile, Brice (Lance Gross), Judith’s husband works at a pharmacy owned by Mrs. Waco (Renee Taylor). Brice has just hired a coworker named Melinda (Brandy), who has some major demons that she is running from. In the end, the choices that both of these young women have made come crashing down on them and their lives will never be the same. I wish I could tell you more, but I don’t want to ruin it for you. After I finished writing this movie, I sat back and re-read it. Half way through my read, the gravity of what I had written hit me. I knew that this message was not only for my age group, but for all audiences, especially the youth. ESPECIALLY THE YOUTH!! YOUNG FOLKS NEED TO SEE THIS!!! And not just the young people that follow me, but the young people that are following other young people, as well. I wanted a younger cast, that’s why I put Jurnee in the lead and invited Lance Gross, Robbie Jones and Brandy. About two months ago, long before I even heard about Kim’s marriage or divorce, I was trying to finish up the casting. I said to one of my producers, “who else is out there that young people are looking up to?” One of my producers showed me pictures that his daughter had taken of several hundred kids lined up around the corner to get into a Kardashian store. They wanted to meet Kim. I thought, what better person! She literally has millions of young people following her. I thought and still do think, that it would be very responsible of her to be a part of this film. To have the young people that look up to her, see her in a film that is about, what happens in life when you make the wrong choices. Whether you’re aware of it or not, to be honest with you I wasn’t, millions of young people adore her and are following her every move. If one of those young people see this film and find the strength to live a better life and not go through what these characters went through in this movie, then we have all done what I feel I’m being led to do here. I hope you understand. I really do! And lastly, because I believe that my films speak from the inside out, why wouldn’t Kim Kardashian be invited into a film about Faith, Forgiveness and the healing power of God? What is wrong with that?? Oh, Lord. Nothing! Nothing at all. Just ignore the armed guards and keep a lawyer handy; art will no doubt win out in the end. · Kim Kardashian in the Marriage Counselor [TylerPerry.com]

Muppets 'Twilight' Spoof: New Posters Mock 'Breaking Dawn'

The Muppets are in it again, this time around with another jab at 'Twilight.' (You'll recall 'Breaking Prawn,' obviously.) Three new posters for 'The Muppets' parodying the beloved YA franchise have showed up online, just 2 days before 'Breaking Beginning, Part 1' hits theaters. At this time, you are able to virtually award Disney's 'Muppets' marketing team using the best marketing campaign in film history. The Muppets have spoofed 'Green Lantern,' 'The Hangover Part II,' 'The Girl Using the Dragon Tattoo,' 'Paranormal Activity 3,' as well as campaigned for Oscar hosting responsibilities. For the 'Twilight' posters, they virtually speak on their own. 'The Muppets' hits theaters on November. 23. Make certain to check on Moviefone in a few days for the Unscripted session with Kermit and Miss Piggy in addition to stars Jason Segel and Can Be [via Facebook] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Muppets PR Blitz Vamps On with Twilight Parody Posters

We’ve seen enough satirical Muppets promo material to last us through the next hundred Muppet sequels, but I have to hand it to the tireless Disney merchants for their newest gag: a Twilight Saga spoof. The Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog posters are expected, but it’s the third, Lautner-ian one-sheet that left me speechless. The pun is also first-rate. WEREROWLF. Guys, I LMAROWLF’d. Rowlf is such an understated, necessary player in the Muppet klatch. Glad to see he’s earning his own spot in the promotional materials. He’s even fit for his own role in a real Twilight poster, since he’s so brooding and serious. And if he howls at the moon even once during The Muppets, I will bounce him off Taylor Lautner’s abs and back into obscurity. Follow Louis Virtel on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.