Just wondering if anyone has experience with simple cable movement puppets and maybe inexpensive (if that's possible) remote control puppets for very minor and simple movement.

Basically, I'm looking to make a few shoulder puppets with very simple head/neck movement.  I found a bunch of older threads but they seem to have died off a while ago.

I don't know that there is anyone here (at least that visits often) who has done this. You are right that there are several older threads. They should have had some links in them to video's and such that show the basics of the mechs. That would be your first step. Got an old bike around the house? Have a look at the brake cable. How a brake cable works is a basic concept. The outer tube of the cable is stable and connected to the bike. Inside of that runs a thinner cable that moves back and forth. This cable can also give you right to left as well as the in and out action that you see in a bike cable. 

I always say this also. You want to find someplace local if you can that deals in products for making remote model planes or cars. That is where you can find all the little things it takes to automate things and even make them remote control.  If you don't have such a place see if a local community college has something like a robotics are computer course. You don't necessary have to take the coarse but you may find connections there that can help you out.

I would really strongly recommend some sort of simple cable or mechanical ("mech") control instead of r/c. Early on in my career I was really enamored with the idea of radio control and animatronics and I wasted a lot of time and money on it. R/C has its place and is sometimes really effective, but you can often achieve the same results - and make them appear less mechanical - with cables and rods.

A good DVD to check out is "From Sketch To Show: Building Mechanisms". It's available from Playsoup - http://playsoup.com/store/video10.htm

A book that really helped me understand the basics of mechanisms is "Figure Making Can Be Fun" by Mike Brose. It's written for people who want to make their own Vent Figures, but it has lots of good information about building mechanisms as well as basic mold making and casting. It's available as either a book or a digital download from http://www.puppetsandprops.com/DummyBooks.html

I'd also recommend checking out Hansjürgen Fettig's books if you can find them. They're pretty much the bible for puppet builders who want to build mechanisms. You can see him demonstrating one of his puppets in this video:

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https://youtu.be/xXfLuBxuJpw

Fettig's books have sadly been out of print for many years, but they can be found in many libraries (try asking your local library about arranging an inter library loan if they don't have it). Some of his diagrams are also floating around on the web if you do a little Googling.

There are also lots of great videos available on YouTube that are very helpful.