The Green Hornet

Playboy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) becomes the new publisher of Los Angeles’ “The Daily Sentinel” after the sudden death of his father. Britt’s party life is about to change when he and his driver and kung fu expert, Kato (Jay Chou), stop a robbery. With the help of Kato, Britt starts a new career of fighting crime as the masked superhero “The Green Hornet”.Written by Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)

Although the quality of the version of this movie I saw wasn’t the greatest, that is not really what turned me off about it. Apparently Seth Rogen is a big comic-book guy, and he had a lot to do with the production of this movie. That is kind of surprising to hear, because what he brings to the lead role is literally the same type-cast role he has done in every movie, only this time he has unlimited resources and an expert engineer and martial artist at his side.

Speaking of which, one part of this movie is Kato’s inability to find a job in the normal world. I’m sorry, but a man who can build the kind of shit he builds could get a six digit job in 24 hours if he wanted to. That just made no sense to me, which is a common occurrence throughout the movie. Like Britt Reid’s apparent ability to slow time and kick ass and make intellectual connections out of absolutely fucking nowhere.

This movie really had nothing to offer me. There wasn’t really a meaning to the entire plot, the dialouge and direction were pretty average, other than a few fancy editing things that I haven’t seen done before in a movie. The characters and story are predictable and shallow, and the actors really didn’t do a great job, like, at all. Pretty disappointing, considering this is Christoph Waltz‘s first work after his insanely incredible award winning performance in Inglorious Bastards.

Seriously, some of the stuff in this movie is just laughable.

At least we get one scene in which Cameron Diaz is in some somewhat short shorts.

My Rating [See it, Rent it, Skip it]

Skip It.

I’m sure in 3D on a good screen, and in great quality, this movie might be fun to look at for someone who needs to go to bed before 9:30, but for the rest of us, let’s save our time and money.

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Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends-Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye.Written by Sundance Film Festival

Sundance award winners always attract my attention. This winner of the Audience Award [and Grand Jury nomination] also captured my eye when I saw the cast. Josh Radnor [How I Met Your Mother] was the writer, director, and star of the film. Coming fresh off of another good viewing of a film written, directed, and starring a famous television personality [Garden State], I was excited to give this movie a chance.

While then style of the movie, a multi-point-of-view love story, has had zero success in my viewings in pretty much all of time, I thought this movie was pretty enjoyable. The cast of many recognizable faces, and newcomer Michael Algieri, did a great job carrying the story, which was pretty good in itself. Malin Akerman was terrific, and I thought Radnor did a great job as well. The others were no slouches, but I liked those two the best, hands down; other than the adorable kid, buts lets be honest, he said like 10 words in the movie.

Another thing I really liked in the movie was the several extreme close-ups during some of the conversations. Something about it just really caught my eye. Not something I see a lot in movies, and it was nice. The music used in the film was pretty typical Sundance-esque style, but it filled its role nicely. The setting felt really Woody Allen-like, with its stress on New York and its live-ability. I’m not sure if I’d live there, but these people seemed pretty happy about it.

My Rating [See it, Rent it, Skip it]

Rent it. A very pick-me-up, joyful film that has a story that is easy to relate to and great to take away from. Nothing really incredible to draw you to a theater, but a great pick-up for movie night.