FPcast for September 7th 2015: American Ultra!

This week we review American Ultra and Straight Outta Compton! Plus we discuss our Force Friday purchases and adventures, Denise the sexy pig, Disney Infinity 3.0, and some new trailers! Tell us which pig you find the sexiest!

Download here! (click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week! And join the discussion in our friendly Facebook group! And you can now get bonus episodes by subscribing/supporting us on Patreon!

FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits Podcast for April 14th 2014! Quicksilver Eats a Burger!

This week is an eclectic mix of pop culture goodness as we review Muppets Most Wanted and Divergent, bitch about Quicksilver, talk about Bronies, cosplay and the state of fandom, watch a whole lot of anime, and finish up with a discussion about the first episode of the new Game of Thrones!

Download here! (Click to stream, right-click to save)

And be sure to SUBSCRIBE to us on iTunes because we do this every week!

First Teaser for Muppet Sequel: Muppets Most Wanted! Scooter Moves Like Jagger!

Having been a small child in the late seventies/early eighties, I adored 2011’s relaunch of the Muppet movie franchise. The Muppets had just that right mix of laughs, nostalgia and emotion, and wisely recognised and acknowledged that our felty friends were very much a product of the past and would struggle to find their footing in the crass and cynical world of today. Critically acclaimed, and making enough cash to keep the Disney Overlords happy, it is only natural that a sequel would be rushed into production. But where do you go from here?

England... And it looks like a caper...

I

So that's our first taste of the freshly retitled Muppets Most Wanted. I really like Ricky Gervais and I hope he can lend some authenticity to proceedings so that this trip overseas doesn't become a mess of American writers writing lazy British stereotypes. The biggest thing that's missing here for me (in this admittedly rapid tease) is any sense of the elaborate, large scale musical numbers that appeared in the first film. I hope that - particularly with Brett McKenzie back onboard - that they're able to reach those heights again.

It's a tough film to move forward on really. A lot of the heart of the first one came from seeing the forgotten Muppets at all time low. Not sure where they'll go if they're back on top...

Thursday Threesome: Three Favourite Musical Moments in Movies!

It’s time for a Thursday Threesome again, and today it is I who has the honour of writing passionately about three random, trivial things from my pop culture past! I have spun our mighty custom-made wheel and settled on the subject of my favourite Musical Moments in Movies! However, please don’t be so foolhardy to think that I am implying that these are necessarily the very best songs. Oh no, foolish reader, I’m talking about those perfect moments where both the sound and visuals suddenly blend together in a memorable and meaningful way. It’s synergy, folks!

Sing along with me... after the jump!

R.I.P. Jerry Nelson (July 10, 1934 - August 23, 2012)

I just learned this morning that my personal favourite Muppeteer, one of the original greats, Jerry Nelson passed away last night.  Let's all just take a moment to reflect on this guy's amazing life.  Read his page over on the Muppet Wiki and you'll be shocked at how accomplished he truly was!

I can't understate the influence the Muppets and Jerry Nelson especially have had on me throughout this life.  Heck, without the Muppets, this website wouldn't even exist!  And that's the least of it.  Jerry Nelson has helped to teach me how to be a better man over the years!  He will truly be missed.

Join me after the JUMP for a few YouTube videos of my Favourite Jerry Moments:

Kickstart the Week: I AM BIG BIRD

As of right now, there are only two days left to fund the documentary "I AM BIG BIRD", the story of Caroll Spinney's lifelong dedication to puppetry, character, and happiness. He's performed and voiced both Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch for 5 decades now, and still going strong at the age of 78. And after all of those years, he's still fairly unknown.

I Am Big Bird should change all of that. It's heartwarming story about Caroll's life and career, performing one of the most popular characters of all time. According to Copper Pot pictures, the film will include:

…never-before-seen footage capturing unscripted moments of Caroll with giants like Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson.

…Caroll’s short films, in which he showcases his skill in animation, a talent which led to a job offer at Disney… which Caroll turned down. 

…Thousands of snapshots and hundreds of hours of videos that capture his undying love for his wife.

…Art displaying his hidden passion for illustration. 

…Puppets that were lovingly crafted by Caroll’s mother over 70 years ago and that he still uses today.

As a HUGE fan of all of Jim Henson's productions, I am extremely excited about this. If you aren't a fan (which is hard to imagine), you must have had some experience as a child with these characters. And if not (even harder to imagine), you have to appreciate the craft of a 78 year old man performing in a bird suit with his arm perched up above his head for hours and hours. Now we will all know how it's gotten to this point, and I can't wait. Even just seeing the 70's and 80's era photographs is getting me excited.

Although it has reached it's funding goal, the film will cost well over that. If you pledge soon you can still receive exclusive art, signed copies on DVD and BluRay, a video chat, or if you are made of money you can pledge $10,000 for dinner with Caroll Spinney and take me as your guest.

Check it out on Kickstarter at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iambigbird/i-am-big-bird

Review: Funko Pop Vinyl: Catwoman, Mahna Mahna, Slave Leia!

How the hell do you review figures from Funko's omnipresent Pop Vinyl line?! If you've seen a single picture of one of these figures then you kind of know everything you'll ever need to know. But you know what? It's Wednesday, and it's a slow news day, and Batman opens tomorrow, and why don't you and I just chill and relax and take a little tour of this eclectic trio of Pop Vinyl figures. We'll just shoot the shit about them. It'll be fun.

So take my hand - you know, you have real pretty hands - and join me... after the jump!

The Greyboy Allstars "Still Waiting"

A little bit of funk and some Muppets

New Disney Muppets/Star Wars Mash-Ups Make my Head Hurt.

I love Muppets and I love Star Wars but that doesn't mean the two of them necessarily belong together. I mean, you can enjoy soup and you can enjoy top hats without filling your top hat with piping hot soup and having alphabet noodles melt your face off. I'm just saying.

The fine folk at Galactic Hunter have images today of some brand new Star Wars/Disney/Mash-up merchandise revealed at Disney's Star Wars Weekends. You can check out all their images and the full article here (via DarthChuckMC) but this is the image that really gave me pause:

I can kind of understand that the arrogant, conceited Link Hogthrob is Han Solo, but then are you seriously going to take Animal, the most wildly loud and unpredictable Muppet and turn him into the stoic, barely moving.speaking, emotionless Boba Fett!? And then to add insult to injury you're going to take Scooter, the whitest boy in the world, and turn him into Lando Calrissian, the blackest man in the galaxy? For shame, Disney! 

I can only imagine that photos of Muppets were pinned to one tree, and photos of Star Wars characters were pinned to another tree, and then a flock of woodpeckers were released to choose the combinations.

And why are they displayed in a box filled with delicious beef jerky?!!

Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem On Jimmy Kimmel LIve

Oh what I would pay to see the Electric Mayhem in concert..

Open Sesame by opifan64 on TeeFury

Like most TeeFury shirts, this one is getting lots of love and just as much hate from the community. Most just don't get the reference (I'm guessing they're too young?) and a few think it's disturbing. Others can't get past the Muppets and Sesame Street characters being on the same shirt, which we all know if just fine and dandy in the Muppet universe. There was also a weird mini-argument about whether the Muppet with it's back to us was Animal or Snufalufagus. TeeFury's community is so weird, and so outspoken.

So I'm curious what the Muppet fans think on this shirt? My only concern is the orientation of the hand. It's backwards!

Available for today only on TeeFury for $10. http://www.teefury.com/

Let's Talk About Jason Segal's Unabashed Love Letter to the Muppets.

On New Year's Day I had the rare treat of seeing an advance screening of The Muppets (it doesn't open until the 12th here in Australia) and I'm stilled kind of stunned how a frog, a bear, a pig, and a whatever can put a smile on my face. And bear in mind that I haven't actually smiled since 1984 when I saw Muppets Take Manhattan.

After decades of mishandling/manhandling, the Muppets are finally back in a satisfying way that successfully honours the warmth and humour that made them popular in the first place. Writer and lead actor Jason Segal gets it. This isn't another tired adaptation like Muppet Robin Hood or Muppet Bible Stories, or Muppets Schindler's List - that's all thankfully in the past. The Muppets is a joyful, yet poignant underdog story about how something once loved but long forgotten can sometimes make a comeback.

The premise itself is simple - the long estranged Muppets must rally back together and put on one last show to stop a rich Texan from turning their theatre into an oil well, but underlying this is a very real threat - this could very well be the Muppets last chance to winover their audience. If their show (and the film) doesn't raise enough money then this could very well be the end. Thankfully it isn't. The film has performed well and I hope its success leads to future opportunities.

So why did it work? And what could have been even better? Join me after the jump and we'll figure it out...

Another Quick, Spoiler-Free Two Sentence Review of The Muppets

Every part was great, but those parts as a whole were only alright. I was entertained, and its definitely the best one post-Henson by far.

Quick, Spoiler-Free Two Sentence Review of The Muppets

It was everything I wanted and so much more. Definitely a movie made by, and for, fans of the Muppets. :)

Movember Day 24: Top 5 Muppet Moustaches!

In celebration of The Muppets out this week in theaters (sorry Australia!), I wanted to feature some of the best Muppet moustaches. Many of these characters were created at a time when the moustache was in it's prime, so... enjoy this time capsule of facial hair, locked away forever in our televisions and movie theaters!

...sorry I'm just really excited to see the movie today. :)

Onto the moustaches!

#5. Swedish Chef
It's hard to top those eyebrows, but the Swedish Chef has an amazing mustache. It's so messy that I'm sure it's a major violation of any and all food industry regulations.  I'm also sure that he doesn't know and/or care.

See the top 4 after the jump.

Phil McKraken

When I first conceived of the idea of having a blog at all for myself, back when blogzilly was first hatched back in February of 2009, it is ironic because the intent was to actually do a lot of different 'thematic' blog posts. Then, things just changed when, as you may or may not know, my 15 month old son went from an average, everyday kid one day...to something totally different the next.

When that happens, when your life radically changes, whether it is from some tragic accident, maybe the loss of a loved one, or even a good thing, like winning the lottery, you go through this period of time where things almost aren't real. And I don't even know what to CALL that period of time.

I guess it depends a lot on what happened to you, 'natch.

For me, even though I have a written record from February 2009 through the summer of 2011, that period of time just feels like a strung-together clump of stages. Hard to describe what I mean. Maybe one day I'll try harder. Bottom line is, that my plans for blogzilly began to change. And I don't really regret it. I needed to choose a clearer path, I simply had to, for the sake of keeping it together as best I could, know what I mean?

I started to, less and less, write about games, toys, movies...all the stuff I loved (and still do love) and I put a lot of things I had started on the shelf.

Thanks to this place, I can now start pulling that stuff off the shelf and taking a look at it again.

But HOLY CRAP it is dusty...

You Got Your Mupppets in My Wrestling

So if you missed it, the Muppets appeared on WWE Raw (that's wrestling, you guys!) on Halloween night, because if there's one group of people that the producers of the upcoming Muppet movie want to get into theatres these holidays it's wrestling fans! And if that mash-up sounds as strange to you as it does to me, then why not sit back and watch a clip from the show! I like to call it... Out-Acted by Muppets! For realz!

Actually all this clip does is convince me that wrestling is in fact 100% real! I'm just pissed that no one jumped in the Sweetums suit and pile-drived an oily sociopath!

Fruitless Pursuitscast - Episode Five

Our weekly podcast is back! This week we're ALL AMERICAN. It's Mike Taylor, Mike Wickliff, and J. Tagmire representing the good old USA. Yee-haw.

So what did we nerd out about this week?

Topics
The New Muppet Movie trailer
Darth Maul's return
William Shatner sings the (space) hits
Lego Minigures revealed
Angry Birds board game makes gamers bored and angry
Tanto Cuore?
This weeks Batman - Arkham City release
Avengers trailer and supporting films

You can subscribe on iTunes or just use the link below:

Click to stream. Right click to download.

Fruitless Pursuitscast Episode 5

Awesome New Muppets Trailer Is Awesome!

There's less than six weeks to go before The Muppets finally return to theaters, and I for one CANNOT wait. I've seriously considered having myself frozen for the next few weeks so I can come out and have the movie already in theaters...but my research shows this doesn't usually work out as well as I'd like.

So instead, I'll just have to watch the new trailer a couple hundred more times to get me through. Join me, won't you?

Amazing Custom Lego Minifigures on Flickr

Every few months, I end up on flickr browsing custom Lego minifigures. And each time I am amazed by the possibilities that people have came up with. If you search you'll find custom characters from almost every popular Film/TV/Comic/etc franchise. Some figures are made up of existing Lego parts, and others have custom molded accessories, stickers, or even hand painted pieces. It's all very awesome and inspiring.

Here's a batch of the goodies. Lego, if you're reading... take note.

by tomleech

More after the jump.