Just like Kevin Smith, Michael Gondry and Seth Rogan just don't get this character.
It might help to start by taking the character seriously.
The Hornet should be frightening in his "role" as criminal mastermind, and Brit Reid should be unimpeachable in his role as crusading journalist. It is the perfect duality.
Trust fund loser who needs to redeem himself after the death of his father is so Freudianly lame.
Complaints aside, at least the film is coming out around my birthday. This will allow me to continue my "let's watch the worst movie of XX for my birthday party" tradition. Let's see how this compares to In the Name of the King.
Showing posts with label Green Hornet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Hornet. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Seth Rogen Green Hornet "Unexpectedly" Campy
Our good friend Bill Cunningham, he who (along with Harlan "freakin'" Ellison) has written a story for the upcoming Moonstone Green Hornet Chronicles and knows his Green Hornet inside and out, has the skinny on the upcoming Green Hornet movie.
It appears that the movie will be...
Prepare to look shocked.
You can do better than that.
CAMPY!
That's right. They promised the film would be serious and "dark" and "edgy." Apparently, what they meant by that is bright and silly.
We should have known when Steven Chow dropped out of the project and was replaced by someone with no Kung Fu that this was coming.
Oh Wait! We did.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
I'll Be Watching TRON on December 17th, 2010 and Avoiding GREEN HORNET Like the Plague
December 17, 2010 will be a very busy day at the movies. That day will see the release of The Smurfs, Yogi Bear, Tron: Legacy, and The Green Hornet. The Green Hornet is the only one of these films that won't be released in 3-D, and it is likely the only one of the December 17th films I won't see at some point. I am eagerly awaiting Tron: Legacy and my daughters will be 33 months old at that point and will likely pressure me into taking them to see the other two.
The reason I will be avoiding The Green Hornet (or should I write Seth Rogan is The Green Hornet?) like it was the H1N1 virus is that of the four movies coming out next holiday season, it is the only one that will be mocking its underlying IP. One imagines that Yogi Bear will be a loving adaptation targeted at 5 year-olds -- and their parents -- the same can be said of the upcoming Smurfs film. One finds it difficult to believe that the studios would turn those animated features into stoner humor parodies of the original cartoons. As for Tron: Legacy, it speaks volumes that the film includes much of its original cast in what appears to be an attempt to capture what made the original so engaging.
None of this guarantees that the non-Hornet films will be any good, but all signs are that the filmmakers are at least attempting to make enjoyable fare that pays homage to the original.
This is not true of The Green Hornet -- Seth Rogan is The Green Hornet -- which seems to not only be meandering through the production cycle with delays in release date and changes in director and actor during the production phase of the film. It is not usually remarkable when a film changes directors or cast during pre-production, but it is remarkable when the film pushes production because of the changes. The film can't even keep Nic Cage on board, and he's a big enough geek to put up with a lot. In fact, the loss of Cage pretty much eliminates any geek street cred this film could have churned up.
The film had already lost Hong Kong star, and director, Stephen Chow. Last December Chow cited "creative differences" as the reason he could no longer direct the film -- a big hint that the film wouldn't live up to any fan's expectations as a "comedy kung fu film." One can accept a comedy kung fu film directed by Chow, he's one of the best directors of the genre, but when he drops out it's a signal of bad things to come. At that time, Chow was staying on as Kato, but as of this July he has dropped out of the project entirely. Now there's footage of an "accident" on the set of one of the shoots (scroll down to the bottom and watch the video). Apparently Britt Reid is giving a press conference when a shoot out breaks out and Kato has to drive to the rescue...or some such nonsense. The accident link also includes photos from the shoot.
It just looks awful, but at least they pushed the date to "post-Comic Con" so we can get extra hype next summer and have people try to convince us that the film will be good. My thoughts are that if you were to create a drinking game counting the number of bong references and fart jokes in the film, you would be dead by the end of act II. On the positive side, at least they are shooting in Los Angeles.
The reason I will be avoiding The Green Hornet (or should I write Seth Rogan is The Green Hornet?) like it was the H1N1 virus is that of the four movies coming out next holiday season, it is the only one that will be mocking its underlying IP. One imagines that Yogi Bear will be a loving adaptation targeted at 5 year-olds -- and their parents -- the same can be said of the upcoming Smurfs film. One finds it difficult to believe that the studios would turn those animated features into stoner humor parodies of the original cartoons. As for Tron: Legacy, it speaks volumes that the film includes much of its original cast in what appears to be an attempt to capture what made the original so engaging.
None of this guarantees that the non-Hornet films will be any good, but all signs are that the filmmakers are at least attempting to make enjoyable fare that pays homage to the original.
This is not true of The Green Hornet -- Seth Rogan is The Green Hornet -- which seems to not only be meandering through the production cycle with delays in release date and changes in director and actor during the production phase of the film. It is not usually remarkable when a film changes directors or cast during pre-production, but it is remarkable when the film pushes production because of the changes. The film can't even keep Nic Cage on board, and he's a big enough geek to put up with a lot. In fact, the loss of Cage pretty much eliminates any geek street cred this film could have churned up.
The film had already lost Hong Kong star, and director, Stephen Chow. Last December Chow cited "creative differences" as the reason he could no longer direct the film -- a big hint that the film wouldn't live up to any fan's expectations as a "comedy kung fu film." One can accept a comedy kung fu film directed by Chow, he's one of the best directors of the genre, but when he drops out it's a signal of bad things to come. At that time, Chow was staying on as Kato, but as of this July he has dropped out of the project entirely. Now there's footage of an "accident" on the set of one of the shoots (scroll down to the bottom and watch the video). Apparently Britt Reid is giving a press conference when a shoot out breaks out and Kato has to drive to the rescue...or some such nonsense. The accident link also includes photos from the shoot.
It just looks awful, but at least they pushed the date to "post-Comic Con" so we can get extra hype next summer and have people try to convince us that the film will be good. My thoughts are that if you were to create a drinking game counting the number of bong references and fart jokes in the film, you would be dead by the end of act II. On the positive side, at least they are shooting in Los Angeles.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Flash Gordon and Highlander to See Big Screen
It seems that Hollywood is hell bent on destroying my childhood and teen years.
First, they made a campy version of STARSKY AND HUTCH which, like the Tom Hanks DRAGNET, was entertaining but made a mockery of something that was at times pretty dark. Okay, that applies more to DRAGNET than S&H, but the Michael Mann episodes of STARSKY AND HUTCH hold up very well and are good neo-noir.
Then they made the new FLASH GORDON and BIONIC WOMAN television series, which are unarguably awful. FLASH is so bad that watching it must surely be classified as the punishment that Satan gives Judas when his jaw is getting a little tired.
Then I found out that Seth Rogan was going to play Brit Reid in the new GREEN HORNET movie. Ummm...the Green Hornet is viewed by the public as a CRIMINAL and scares the crap out of people, that makes a good Seth Rogan comedy?! I'll still go see it because it stars Stephen Chow, but I know I'll hate it.
Why can't Hollywood do these things without irony? Oh, that's right because if you do a movie, like SPEED RACER, without irony you aren't "cool."
Which brings me to the latest news. Apparently, FLASH GORDON is returning to the big screen and they're remaking HIGHLANDER. I would have hopes that the FLASH GORDON might learn from the lessons of the TV show and go retro, but as it is produced by one of the producers of the aforementioned GREEN HORNET I have my doubts. Sure he also produced the new I AM LEGEND, and the director is going to be the guy who directed SAHARA -- and I am one of the 10 people who liked SAHARA -- but anyone who makes GREEN HORNET a Seth Rogan comedy is suspect. Personally, I'd cast Vince Vaughn and play it straight
First, they made a campy version of STARSKY AND HUTCH which, like the Tom Hanks DRAGNET, was entertaining but made a mockery of something that was at times pretty dark. Okay, that applies more to DRAGNET than S&H, but the Michael Mann episodes of STARSKY AND HUTCH hold up very well and are good neo-noir.
Then they made the new FLASH GORDON and BIONIC WOMAN television series, which are unarguably awful. FLASH is so bad that watching it must surely be classified as the punishment that Satan gives Judas when his jaw is getting a little tired.
Then I found out that Seth Rogan was going to play Brit Reid in the new GREEN HORNET movie. Ummm...the Green Hornet is viewed by the public as a CRIMINAL and scares the crap out of people, that makes a good Seth Rogan comedy?! I'll still go see it because it stars Stephen Chow, but I know I'll hate it.
Why can't Hollywood do these things without irony? Oh, that's right because if you do a movie, like SPEED RACER, without irony you aren't "cool."
Which brings me to the latest news. Apparently, FLASH GORDON is returning to the big screen and they're remaking HIGHLANDER. I would have hopes that the FLASH GORDON might learn from the lessons of the TV show and go retro, but as it is produced by one of the producers of the aforementioned GREEN HORNET I have my doubts. Sure he also produced the new I AM LEGEND, and the director is going to be the guy who directed SAHARA -- and I am one of the 10 people who liked SAHARA -- but anyone who makes GREEN HORNET a Seth Rogan comedy is suspect. Personally, I'd cast Vince Vaughn and play it straight
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