Oct 27 2009 'Green Hornet' Cast Gets Larger, Stranger
Seth Rogen as the dapper, heroic Green Hornet still too normal casting for you? Then how about we add aging Canadian rock band Anvil (of Story of Anvil fame) and Edward Furlong (of being leader of the anti-Terminator resistance in the future fame) for some reason? Movieweb spoke to writer/producer/actor Rogen about his Green Hornet adaptation, and the actor confirmed those are, in fact, people he has allowed in the film:
MW: I've heard rumors that Edward Furlong might be in the movie?Seth Rogen: Edward Furlong is in the movie, yes.
MW: And what role is he playing?
Seth Rogen: That I can't reveal.
MW: What is the reasoning behind Anvil appearing in the film, and how did that happen?
Seth Rogen: Well, as a Canadian hard rock fan I actually have known about Anvil for many, many years. And we needed a band for a scene in the movie and Gondry was like, "How about Anvil?" We asked them and they said yes.
Man, I wish he'd gone into why Furlong was in the film instead of why Anvil is involved. I can figure out why you put Anvil in a film: they're a band, and you need a band. I get that. But Furlong... that's a mystery. That's what I want to hear. I don't know why you put Edward Furlong in a film. What's his type? More overweight Macaulay Culkin?
Oct 1 2009 For Real Look at Green Hornet This Time
OK, forget that earlier post with the blurry photo of the jacket-less stunt guy dressed as Green Hornet. Here's the real deal: Seth Rogen in full dapper superhero regalia. No more complaining about Rogen's hypothetical appearance; now the grumbling will hold actual weight!
Personally, I couldn't care less if it's Rogen or anyone else wearing the green mask. I'm still pissed that the Green Hornet is being represented visually at all. Boo! Booooo! Keep Green Hornet in the audio of a 1930s radio drama! Boooooo!
Oct 1 2009 First Look at Seth Rogen's 'Green Hornet' Costume
From Splash News, here's the first look at Seth Rogen's costume in his upcoming Green Hornet film. Looks good, assuming his jacket is just off for this scene. And assuming that jacket would normally be a Charlotte Hornets (Starter brand) jacket like I had in sixth grade. In that case, everything is perfect.
Aug 18 2009 James McAvoy To Pretend He Has Cancer
Cancer: horribly frightening or hilarious? I'm leaning towards horribly frightening, but James McAvoy has plans to show me otherwise. The actor has just signed on to star in the Seth Rogen-produced comedic adaptation of Will Reiser novel, I'm With Cancer. From Variety:
Nicole Holofcener will direct, and the pic will co-star Seth Rogen, who is also producing.In the first major project McAvoy has agreed to star in since the Universal comicbook actioner "Wanted" and its upcoming sequel, thesp will play a 25-year-old who learns he has cancer and successfully battles the disease over several years.
Character is based on the real experiences of screenwriter Will Reiser, who won his own fight with cancer in his mid-20s.
Sounds like it could be a funny and uplifting movie, and I will definitely never see it because it will make me deathly afraid of getting cancer before I'm 30. Similarly, I refuse to watch any film where someone's testicles get inadvertently twisted around each other while they're sleeping. Some scenarios are just too real to deal with.
May 27 2009 'Paul' Puts Together Comedy Supergroup
The Shaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz teaming of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in a sci-fi buddy comedy directed by Superbad/Adventureland director Greg Mottola. That's the line-up for Paul, and that's already a pretty promising movie. I'll pack up the family and see that one. But that deal just got a little sweeter, friends. Variety is reporting Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch (the tall, short-haired blonde mole from Arrested Development and other funny things) and half the Adventureland cast have been added as well:
Universal and Working Title Films have added Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch to the cast of "Paul."Pegg and Frost, who wrote the script, will play two science-fiction fanatics on a road trip whose conspiracy dreams come true when they trek to Area 51 and encounter the title character, an escaped alien.
Rogen will provide the voice of the alien.
This thing is really shaping up to become what we "in the business" call "a movie with funny, talented screenwriters, a proven director, and a strong, genre-appropriate cast." Let's all see it opening weekend in select cities.
Apr 21 2009 'Paper Heart' Trailer: Fine, You Charmed Me
Saccharine romance gets a sort-of-documentary twist, and I think I like it. Here's the trailer for Paper Heart, a film that follows Charlyne Yi on her quest to learn about love (largely from the Judd Apatow crowd), and her real-but-also-fictionalized romance with Michael Cera. It's kind of a Curb Your Enthusiasm by way of indie dramedy plus real interviews (I think?):
Continue Reading " 'Paper Heart' Trailer: Fine, You Charmed Me "
Apr 15 2009 'Green Hornet' Fight Scenes: Variable Speed Madness
Could Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet action sequences be met with the same level of imitation/parody as The Matrix? The whimsical director spoke with MTV about what he plans for the film's fight scenes, and it sounds nuts:
Gondry explains: “I change the speed of the camera at different spots in the image at different times. So, it seems like they’re in the same world but at different times, and then they’re back together.”Although it’s a little tricky to comprehend with the written word, Gondry basically plans to reinvent the fight scene by having Green Hornet moving slowly, Kato moving super-fast, the villains at normal speed — and then mixing it all up repeatedly. “So, one will go fast and the other will go slow, and then they’ll meet,” he explained. “It’s [as if] they’re in different dimensions, but when they touch each other they come into the same dimension.”
I can't wait until Japanese television gets some guys to play ping pong like this.
Feb 24 2009 Michel Gondry Making 'Green Hornet' Out of Cardboard and Clouds
When it was announced Seth Rogen's portly face would be behind the mask of Green Hornet, it was definitely an odd, unexpected choice, but one tempered by the inclusion of Stephen Chow as both director and Kato. Maybe, with the aid of his comedy-action direction skills, Rogen as Green Hornet could be the new HEATH LEDGER IS THE ONLY JOKER EVER. It probably wouldn't be that hard, considering that the general perception of Green Hornet is somewhere in the range of "some dude in a suit and a green mask, I think" to "who?"
But then Chow dropped out from directing, and it looked like the film might not even get made. EXCEPT now Michel Gondry stepped out of his dream chamber and said he'll do it. So not only will this not be your grandpa's Green Hornet, this is shaping up the Green Hornet you never could have feasibly put together in your mind given infinite time.
Feb 23 2009 'Funny People' Trailer is Going to Live After All
Is there a second Adam Sandler movie I want to see in my adult life? I think there might be! Funny People may be a formulaic finally-truly-living-after-nearly-dying romantic comedy, but how can you resist Adam Sander, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and others all acting not-that-hammy in a Judd Apatow film? You can't. Unless you're one of the people who are sick of the overexposure of Judd Apatow and all of his cronies, in which case you'll hate this:
Continue Reading " 'Funny People' Trailer is Going to Live After All "
Feb 20 2009 'Observe and Report' Poster Carefully Avoids Mentioning Mall Cop Profession
This would probably be more effective if it just came out and said, "Look, we know you're thinking this is just Paul Blart 2: Knocked Up, and we can't blame you for that. Two fat mall cop movies in four months? Yeah, we weren't thrilled about that either. But this one is written and directed by Jody Hill, who did The Foot Fist Way and the new HBO series Eastbound & Down, so how about giving it a shot, OK? We pretty much guarantee it's better than Paul Blart."
That might be a lot of text to take in on a poster, but I'm afraid we need that kind of verbose advertising to let Observe and Report succeed in a post-Blart world.
Observe and Report Poster [IMPA]
Feb 9 2009 'Observe and Report' Trailer, MF'ers
Thanks to Andrew for sending in this red-band trailer for the Seth Rogen-as-a-security-guard dark comedy Observe and Report. It looks really good. Paul Blart coming out before this is like if Taxi Driver was released a few months after Queen Latifah's Taxi.
I especially like the inclusion of a apologizing-during-sex scene. Finally, someone making movie sex real.
Jan 28 2009 Never Mind About 'Green Hornet' Being Cancelled
Following a Monday report that The Green Hornet was most likely cancelled, writer Seth Rogen shot back with some emails to HitFix's Drew McWeeny, who first reported the story. Apparently the film is still happening, and Rogen isn't pleased people are saying otherwise:
"'The Green Hornet' has many people working for it, including production designers, costume designers and many conceptual artists, office staff, etc.," he said during our e-mail exchange back and forth. "[The studio heads] have every intention on making it, and assuming we're able to hire a new director in the upcoming weeks, which seems like a distinct possibilty, it should still hit the release date."
He makes a good point about how unsubstantiated rumors can make those working for the film needlessly worry. Like, I bet when Christopher Nolan read this story, he was really freaking out. "Fuck ME--I hired Eddie Murphy???"
Jan 26 2009 'Green Hornet' Troubles!
Ut oh for The Green Hornet! HitFix is reporting that Seth Rogen's bewildering, chubbier take on the action hero is in trouble:
Ever since Stephen Chow started to waffle about his participation in the film, I've been hearing rumors that there were major hesitations at Sony. Then at Sundance, I heard several people say that the film was off completely. I spoke this afternoon with a source close to the film, and while they didn't call it completely dead, they did say it is "highly unlikely" that the film will shoot in 2009 at all.
Of course, the good news is this clears the way for a CGI/live-action hybrid version wherein Will Smith plays the voice of a CGI hornet fighting crime alongside his feline sidekick, Cat-O. That sounds more like the vision of the Green Hornet my mom wants to rent.
Dec 23 2008 'Monsters vs. Aliens' Trailer
Dreamworks has released another trailer to its next unremarkable, celebrity-voiced CGI effort, Monsters vs. Aliens. It's no Steven Seagal v. Vampires, but what is?
Nov 13 2008 'Funny People', Dull Poster
After so many movies ripped-off the look of Judd Apatow posters, he's decided to just go ahead and make the most boring poster possible. Steal this one, a-holes. See if he cares.
I know Funny People is supposed to be more of a drama than a typical Apatow production, but unless it's also a mid-'90s ABC series about best friends/roommates coming to terms with adulthood (Weds, 10/9 central), this is awful.
Nov 4 2008 'Monsters vs. Aliens' Trailer: Classic Match-Up
Monsters versus aliens: classic match-up. Brute size and strength versus advanced technology. Unless we're talking about Aliens aliens, then it's brute size and strength versus acid blood and a smaller mouth inside the normal mouth. And sometimes are greatest "monsters" are in fact man (HITLER!). Still though, classic match-up, and it's just the battle you'll find inside DreamWorks' aptly-titled CGI comedy, Monsters vs. Aliens. Here is the trailer:
Continue Reading " 'Monsters vs. Aliens' Trailer: Classic Match-Up "
Oct 15 2008 Zack and Miri Make a College-Level Art Film
Since when do directors make short tribute films to other films that haven't even come out yet? We're doing that now? OK, fine. Here's something Tony Kaye made to promote Mean Magazine and Zack & Miri Make a Porno (I think?) starring Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen as wacky, abstract interpretations of whatever quotes came up when Kaye googled "sex quotes":
Continue Reading " Zack and Miri Make a College-Level Art Film "
Oct 10 2008 Seth Rogen Making Cancer Hilarious
Seth Rogen and Mandate Pictures have picked up a pitch for a comedy about... cancer! Hey, cancer isn't funny; it's deadly! OUTCRY! Except this is the autobiographical story of a 25-year-old's struggle to fight the disease, which doesn't really sound offensive at all. OUTCRY RESCINDED! THR reports:
Mandate has picked up "I'm With Cancer," a comedic autobiographical spec written by Will Reiser that Rogen will produce with his writing-producing partner Evan Goldberg and Ben Karlin ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart").Rogen also will have a supporting role in the film.
"Cancer" is Reiser's account of his struggle to beat cancer, with the story centering on a 25-year-old who finds out he has the disease. Reiser was a producer and field producer on HBO's "Da Ali G Show" and VH1's "Best Week Ever."
If anyone is thinking of getting offended by this, just keep in mind that we'll be laughing AT the cancer, not WITH the cancer. And if we can't laugh at the cancers, the cancers have already won.
Sep 19 2008 Stephen Chow Playing Famous Asian Chauffeur
Stephen Chow is going to direct The Green Hornet! And be the Kato! From ComingSoon:
Stephen Chow, one of Asia's most popular box-office draws as the award-winning star and director of such films as Kung Fu Hustle, CJ7, and Shaolin Soccer, will direct Seth Rogen and star opposite him as Kato in Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet, set for release June 25, 2010, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad and Matt Tolmach, presidents of Columbia Pictures. The screenplay is by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg, who will also executive produce.
That sounds awesome, actually. I just hope Chow never finds out Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg aren't the Wachowski Brothers! Ha ha! Right, Seth Rogen?
Rogen said, "Stephen was always my and Evan's first choice for director and to play Kato. We just hope that he never finds out we're not the Wachowski Brothers."
Ha, that's what I'm sayin', Seth! We're such friends, Seth Rogen and I.
Sep 12 2008 'Zack and Miri' Made a Poster so Filthy They Later Made This One to Replace the Initial, Filthy Poster
The MPAA rejected Kevin Smith's first Zack and Miri poster because of the implication that the back of someone's head placed at crotch level necessarily constitutes oral sex (why couldn't it be someone pleasurably tying someone else's shoe?). In response, Smith has made this new poster that's all like, "Fine then, if we can't suggest blowjobs, just take this crude drawing. How about that?" I get that, but is the typeface and lack of Kevin Smith-mention meant to insinuate this is a Woody Allen porno? Because that is one of the least desirable things I can imagine.
'Zack and Miri' Make a Proper American Poster [Cinematical]
