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Seth Rogen Serious About THE GREEN HORNET Bein' Funny!
Beaks here...
So much for Stephen Chow making his "kung-fu WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES".
Seth Rogen talked to the internet this past weekend, and put to rest any lingering doubts about the tone of THE GREEN HORNET. In short: Chow wants funny, so Rogen and Evan Goldberg are going to write funny.
Here's what Rogen told CHUD.com:
"One day we want to make a serious film and then Stephen Chow comes in with a good idea and we're like, 'Well it's funny.' Should we not do it because we originally wanted to do a serious film? We come from, nah fuck it, we'll just take the idea that seems good."
Very wise. Speaking of tone, Rogen talked OBSERVE AND REPORT with Collider.com. When I wrote about Jody Hill's excellent script last June, it was already shaping up to be a very... uncomfortable comedy. Turns out "uncomfortable" wasn't good enough for Hill and Rogen:
"It’s like a comedic TAXI DRIVER."
So it's THE KING OF COMEDY? I'll take that.
By the way, OBSERVE AND REPORT has test screened twice in Los Angeles, and we haven't received a single reader review (same goes for THIS SIDE OF THE TRUTH and that huge Portland preview of WATCHMEN). Kudos to WB and their new, "We're going to murder your happiness if you write in to AICN" non-disclosure agreements. Only took y'all, what, ten years? Sorry about THE AVENGERS.
Readers Talkback
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an actual funny version of this.
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Mediocre dope makes big.
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Seth Rogen is involved!
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Love Steven Chow, hate Seth Rogen and his toilet "humor." So when Rogen says he's going to make The Hornet "funny," that's not going to make me eager to pay money to see it. Plus, he's a hairy lardass, which doesn't QUITE match the image of the character I'd like to see.<p>But heck... why pay attention to the success of Spider-Man, Batman and Iron Man? Make a comedic superhero flick... I'll save my money for The Watchmen.
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<br><br>AICN ikes to think they have way more power and influence than they actually do. Avengers flopped cuz it was shit. As was Batman and Robin. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with AICN leaking eary bad word.<Br><br>
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usually the best indication of how bad a movie really is. If even the studio execs recognize how bad it is that they try and sweep it under the rug, you gotta know it's a turd.
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I think you're confused.
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I'm thinking that this green hornet won't be funny or even cool like mystery men.
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I'm sick of this guy already- plays the same guy in every movie- booooooooring- be gone son..move on
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that it'll be the most unintentionally hillarious thing out that week. Like most of Miller's work.
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is like kung-fu hustle, shao-lin soccer funny. brilliant, physical, situational, mime-buster-keaton funny, with interesting characters and relationships. someone needs to be a translator for seth because he will write in a shitload of pot masturbation and fat jokes...better to leave the comedy to chow on this one...!
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Oct. 20, 2008, 2:24 p.m. CST
I'm Not Interested. This Is The Last Nail In The Coffin!!!
by Media Messiah
You have a chance to take one of Bruce Lee's most famed roles roles, that of Kato, where he is renown in China especially, they call "The Green Hornet" series "Kato" there, and you want to turn it into a comedy??? I won't be seeing this movie!!!
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I've seen A Colbert Christmas and the threat of a $250,000 fine was enough to stop me from sending in what I've written up. Maybe I'm too easy to intimidate.
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than Avengers and Batman And Robin COMBINED!
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LOL, if claiming to have had an impact on the Avengers is the best you can come up with, give up now! It was a truly awful movie. Would it have had worldwide acclaim if you had been positive about it? Ummm... no.<p> If AICN is so powerful, surely you must at least have an example of how you affected movie grosses, I dunno, maybe within this millenium? And perhaps one that wasn't a total and utter stinkfest to begin with?
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I've seen and heard all the Rogen's I want too at the comic book stores, Star Trek conventions, and the porno section of the video stores. Don't need to spend 12 bucks to see a jerk off like him.
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Oct. 20, 2008, 2:53 p.m. CST
Funny Superhero Success Stories: Because Audiences Demand Them.
by EriamJH
Like Meteor Man. Leonard Part 6. Blank-Man. Hancock. Superhero Movie. Mystery Men (okay, liked that one).
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I got chided pretty good for saying how much I didn't like his movies, now everyone hates him? Weird.
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There was a lot in Iron Man that was humorous, bless Downey's little heart. Funny? And you get Mystery Men...<p>And as awesome as TDK was, I think the ONLY humorous line was Caine's "I told you so", the rest was..so, so serious. I did have a smile on my face when Ledger's Joker was on the screen, because I reveled in his performance. Oh, and I enjoyed seeing actors like William Fichtner, Anthony Michael Hall, Eric Roberts, and the dude from Lost with way too much eyeliner.
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AICN talkbackers bitter, whiny.
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i'm not a HUGE Rogen fan...but he dosen't bother me. its kinda true that he plays the same character over and over however...i guess its all in how you look at it, personally i thought his character in 40 Year old Virgin was the most different...but his character in Knocked Up and Pineapple Express could have been the SAME character...like really, Pineapple Express COULD have been a unofficial sequel had the girlfriend part been replaced with his baby-mama from Knocked Up and the movie had been about him getting a job and being a goof when delivering court summons.
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I could really care less about the Green Hornet, but nobody needs a "superhero comedy". As others have stated here, it almost never works out. Mystery Men was mercilessly unfunny. It kept beating you over the head with how not funny it was. Properly adding humor can work (like Iron Man) and I hope that's where they're headed. No hate for Rogen and hope it's not a parody or asian martial arts spoof with costumes.
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One of the most famous roles played by the late Great Bruce Lee and the best way they can think to honor the subject manner is by throwing away millions sending it up as a farce? Just who are their target audience on this? And how long are we going to have to wait after skipping this movie at the box office, for them to get around to making a REAL Green Hornet movie?
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Oct. 20, 2008, 4:40 p.m. CST
It won't matter because The Green Hornet is a lame character
by Bob Cryptonight
So if he fucks it up, so what? Actually, there is so LITTLE dimension to GH that adding humor might work. If you ever rewatch the t.v. series, it is DEEPLY STUPID. I mean, the idea of a masked mad in the back seat of a limo, with a masked chauffeur driving him around...! Why can't the Green Hornet drive his own car?
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Heh.
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is what the headline should be. Now we wait and see which quirky/serious actor they get to ham it up as the villain. Did Green Hornet even have any recurring villains they can use? Because the bar has been set pretty high this year between Ledger's Joker and Samuel L Jackson as gayish pimp Octopus in The Spirit.
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Why the fuck is anybody surprised that it's going to be a comedy? Who was Rogen trying to fool?
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If there is little dimension to the GH then the job of a good writer is to add what's necessary to make the escapism more defined. Batman is just as stupid an idea as the GH if you look at it the way you are, but back in the 60's Batman was a silly TV show played for laughs while the GH was a show that took itself seriously and played it straight. Now we have the biggest selling comic book film being Batman that is played dead serious and these idiots want to take the GH and play it for laughs because they're incapable of doing it justice as a genre movie that takes itself seriously like The Dark Knight. Their vision is limited as is the studio execs and anyone who thinks its o.k to simply go the easy route of taking the piss out of someone else's creation for an easy buck! I wish people would simply respect the source material when doing adaptations instead of wanting to turn everything into a comedy simply because its the easiest thing to do.
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If we are talking an action movie that is funny, like a "Rush Hour" or "bad Boys" (I'm talking tone, regardless of how you feel about those movies) then I think it could work well for the Green Hornet concept. But if we are talking a bad comedy trying to be an action movie, like "Shanghi Knights" or "The Rundown" then we are in for a big ball of turd.
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The serious parts in most of his films are way better than most. Remember Kung Fu Hustle the mute girl scene where she is trying to tell Chow who she was? The mix of flowing movement, expert cutting and music made it one of the most memorable scenes.
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because you hardly ever scoop anything, most of your news now comes from other sites and its just links to it, and its obvious you're in the tank for certain filmmakers?
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terrible idea - a hah hah funny green hornet. Rogen and Chow should run over the black beauty...several times. This should not be funny. Wry humor is always fine here and there. But no yuks. Period. At all. Let the boycott movement begin.
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You're right about Rogen's laugh. It's a machine gun kind of laugh- "Redbeard redbeard A-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!" <P> Comedy makes sense with Chow's style. And, really, would Seth really be cast as Green Hornet if this wasn't his own pet project/geek fantasy fulfilled, since he has the pull now?
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when it hits non-movie channel TV
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don't use a potentially cool franchise to do it with. I can already imagine Seth Rogen in this and I wanna barf!
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Wild Wild West. A travesty of a great show with horrible casting for the film all around, a wretched story, too. A train-wreck, indeed.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81k_34ouQhM
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Will there be a laugh track?
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But I think this is a stupid idea. Basically what we have here is someone who looks at the Green Hornet as a lame rip-off character of “Batman”, even though The Green Hornet PRECEDES the Dark Knight by about 3 years. The other problem is that we have people who have a lack of knowledge or respect for the character. My father was a huge Green Hornet fan, and I don’t think he sees the character as campy or ridiculous. It was a character that spoke to his generation, who dealt with the realities of street crime and corruption that existed back then. The filmmakers, however, view the Green Hornet through a prism of modern sensibilities, seeing only the dated aspects of the character from the over the top nature of the radio show and the innate campiness of the TV show. Well, those things might be true but the same thing could be said about Batman if we disregarded the work of Denny O’Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Engelhart, Alan Moore’s the Killing Joke, Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns, Burton’s Batman series and Nolan’s Batman series. If we had to ignore those versions of Batman and decided to only look at the earlier versions of the character, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ben Stiller as Batman and Owen Wilson as Robin, with a plot based on the “The Rainbow Batman”. But just like modern audiences where able to update and reinterpret Batman and James Bond to fit modern sensibilities, so could the filmmakers do the same with the Green Hornet.
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The reason the Green Hornet rode in the back is because he masqueraded as a criminal. You look like a much more impressive crime boss if you have a chauffeur.
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This idea is the suck. That is all.
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like the Hammett handle, too. I loved the TV show as a kid, so this wretched comedy concept really sounds like a rapin' of my childhood people like to bandy about as a phrase around here.
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And Apatow and Rogan can toss in some of their typical 30something slacker jokes and we will have a winner. Watched one of Chow's least consistancy funny films last night From Bejing With Love and even that was great. I just hope Uncle Tat is in it and Karen Mok as well. She is uber hot (half Euro and half Chinese)speaks perfect english and she can do physical as well
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Oct. 20, 2008, 8:38 p.m. CST
I thought this dude was going to take some time off????
by Turd Furgeson
Said it in and interview on this site!! Like his humor but jjjjjeeeeeeeezzz dude, he either has 3 movies out at the theater, or Knocked Up is on HBO again or 40 Year Old Virgin is edited on fucking TNT right now.. This guy is as overexposed as jenna Jamessons' Vagina.
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it's just that nobody told any studio execs that bit of info. Fuckers ain't getting any of MY money, though.
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The guy who should be doing infomercials instead. Hope you idiots enjoy your talentless hero once again.
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What do you guys find funny? I can think of very few comedies made in the last decade that are better than what Apatow and his crew have been putting out lately. Comedy is, of course, a matter of opinion, so I'm not ragging on anyone, just genuinely curious.
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this will be full of poo
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That was my point. Except for the radio show (many of which I have on tape) no one really knows the real GH. All they remember was Bruce Lee on t.v.. So, in my opinion, very little that Rogen does will be damaging to the "fans" or the source material.
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...so how the hell is anyone NOT supposed to figure out his identity? It's sort of like Bruce Wayne having a young ward named "Robin."
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My only answer for the why no one has figured out that Britt Reid is Gh is "suspension of disbelief".
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haha yeah, Rogen is a big filthy pussy, isnt he?
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Oct. 21, 2008, 1:09 a.m. CST
Nerd hatred is so thick that it could be poured over pancakes.
by ChuckImania
Man, what the hell is wrong with you guys!? Seth Rogan has been apart of some really awesome comedies; I know a lot of you have you're panties in a bunch because you want Green Hornet to somehow equal up to the Dark Knight, but you have to face to the facts. It's the fucking Green Hornet! The truth of the matter is that the character himself is a walking punchline. He's ten notches below aquaman and one notch above Spawn. If they had some kind of super hero, justice league meeting right now, Green Hornet's role in it would be to hand dry wonder woman's invisible jet.
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You guys are brilliant!!! I am laughing my ass off!!!! If you are not writers, you should be, great lines!!!!
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that's pretty goddamn low indeed <p> meanwhile I'd gladly "hand dry" Wonder Woman's body after she gets out of the shower, where I would preferably be the one to soap her up... well, depending on who is cast as Wonder Woman of course...
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Wanting info about The Avengers movie was how I found this site. The reports from the test screenings wasn't what hurt the film, it was WB loosing any faith in the film and ordering stupid cuts at the 11th hour. It was never going to be the massive hit they wanted but it seemed like they made every effort to kill the film dead.
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Milf Lover, I'd be down for wonder-fuxing a Katie Holmes played version of the character; although she had this really annoying smirky twitch thing going on in the dark knight that sort of got on my nerves thirty minutes into the movie. Regardless, I'd still smack her ass a couple times with the golden lasso.
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Comedy? It's ruined.
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lousy actress and just wrong for Wonder Woman... I'll take Rhona Mitra, Kate Beckinsale, hell even Christina Scabbia would be better in the role and she's not even an actress...
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Oct. 21, 2008, 3:23 a.m. CST
They'll all be on Rogans grundle sack again... just wait...
by ChuckImania
I mean how can you not like this guy? He's just fucking lovable... Genuinely fuckable even! Anyway... Comedy isn't ruined... You see the problem with comedy today is that people are too focused on trying to find some deep rooted inner meaning in jokes. The majority of people that slam Rogan, and Judd Apatow for their "toilet" humor are genuinely really hard to please. I've gone to many a movie with these people, they are for the most part unbearable. I know these people, I've gone to movies with them and have regretted doing so. I sat through Superbad with this one douche bag that had the nerve to compare it to Scary Movie 4. Can you believe that shit? Some people just love to hear themselves bitch.
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Get over yourself Rogan, your 15 mins are up.
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you twisted malformed fucks...Pineapple Express was fucking great you humorless shit scrapings..Green Hornet is kinda LAME which is why this is PERFECT material.
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It's good to know that not only is Seth Rogen utterly wrong for the role, being a fat, obnoxious and ugly idiot, three things that the character of Britt Reid definitely wasn't, but he's also a two faced lying prick, with all of his months of empty promises proclaiming that he'd be taking the character seriously, and treating it with respect, and "definitely not" turning it into the comedy schtick version that fans long feared would happen. And now, oh look, he's doing just that, fucking over what, in it's 70+ year history, has always been a serious character in every incarnation, and turning it instead into yet another one of Rogen's lame ass "comedy" vehicles. Maybe the stupid fat fuck can resurrect the Crow franchise next and make that lighter, cheerier and more with the lame jokes, you know, just like the Crow should be done, obviously...what a fucktard.
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lighten up and wipe that spit from your chin Jabba
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Quote of the day!
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quantize, you seem to be the one here with your face buried so deep into Rogen's cum stained undies that you can't even smell the fact that everything your precious bloated hero touches turns to shit. And while I may be a retard, you're a fucking Rogen fan, a condition so bad and incurable that they won't even let you fuckers on the big yellow bus to begin with. Honestly its no wonder your "wit" consists of calling someone on the internet "Jabba" and then jacking off into your own mouth over just how clever you are. What a truly pathetic little oxygen thief you are, but you keep trying there sport, its always useful to know where the lowest point on the idiot scale on a talkback is. <p>Hey, look, you actually accomplished something with your life for once! You're officially the lowest common denominator! As a Rogen fan and defender I knew you could do it buddy!
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but in reality it wont be funny. Why not just hire on the Wayans family and rename it HERO MOVIE and at least that way, nobody will feel like they were tricked into seeing it.
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I can't wait untill this fasination with losers and nerds is over with the young dorky movie-going public so I don't have to see this Rogan fellow's fat ugly face and jew-fro on any more movie posters. I'm sure there are even alot of people here amongst all the nerd-boys who feel the same.
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http://www.lefrelonvert-court.com/
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I just don't care about it.
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Is getting close to Steve Martin territory. City of Ember was fun, but it wasn't anything amazing. A couple more of those and some more Garfield sequels he'll be starring in the next Adam Shankman movie. Shit even Sandler has fallen prey to that dance fend, and his movies are still successful (Sandler that is, though Shankman movies are very successful as well thank you America).
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i hope not
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…As Aquaman, or even Spawn, to modern comic readers and general audience, but he is definitely a notch or two above them. You might not like him ChickImania, and I respect your opinion, but without the Green Hornet we might not of had Batman since he obviously was inspired by him and the other pulp characters of that era (Zorro, Scarlet Pimpernel, The Shadow, etc.). Plus, he was so popular during WWII era he was used as a nickname for General Patton (I can't see Aquaman or Spawn being used for Petraeus or Powell). And I might add, I don't think we should compare the Green Hornet to other superheroes because he isn't really a superhero. He is a costumed vigilante, which might be me just arguing over semantics but I think their is a distinct difference between a comic book superhero and a pulp era costumed vigilante..
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Oct. 21, 2008, 2:34 p.m. CST
80s had Chevy Chase, 90s had Jim Carey, now we get Seth Rogen...
by RandySavage
If that isn't proof of the degeneration of our standards and society, I don't know what is.
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The Avengers refered to here is the movie from 1998 based on the British TV show from the 60s.
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Just to shut you miserable anti-Rogen assholes up. Oh wait, it still won't.
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Yeah, he's fat. BUT it's well known (except to those of you in denial to serve your hate-mongering) that he's already lost a good deal of weight and will lose more FOR THE MOVIE. Because he gives a shit. I know, that ruins your theory that he's determined to undermine the character because... he... hates... it's part of a master plan to... well, whatever your stupid reasons are.
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that keyboard away from the dude that suggested that one.
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I suggested Katie Holmes not on the merit of her acting but on the mere basis that I think she'd look good in the costume. I need to up the rotation in my spank bank, the lineup I've been using is getting a little old. Green Hornet could be the second coming of Christ and the majority of movie goers wouldn't give two flying fucks about him. Influential importance aside, the Green Hornet isn't the Batman. Yeah, back in the good ole days I'm sure all you kids went to the local malt shop, had yourself a phosphate while cracking the spine of the latest Green Hornet comic. Oh, wait you didn't--if you did you'd probably be dead about now, or in the midst of passing a liqudy bowel movement at a hospice home. The bottom line is: if you're not over 100, shut the fuck up about Green Hornet sucking. It was never yours to begin with. I'm not taking back what I said about Kate Holmes... she'd look fucking hawt in the costume. I could, and am probably wrong though.
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the 60s batman tv show was true cornball...the green hornet was played straight...and now, it will be the exact opposite
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Why not do the Blue Beetle? The original was a Green Hornet rip-off, and the Ted Kord version has a 60's Batman vibe. Plus the name is ridiculous (and yes, much more ridiculous than the Green Hornet). And I agree with some of the things you say ChuckImania, but I will also say that while the Thin Man was way before my time and never saw it in the theatres when it originally came out, as a fan of the novel and the original film series I have an emotionally vested interest that if they remake the Thin Man they do a good job and in the spirit of the original.
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This TB has been open two whole days now and has less than 50 posts, for a movie like Green Hornet that doesn't bode well. It points to a who gives a fuck attitude among fan boys which usually is carried over into the normal movie going public. Maybe Seth should just put the breaks on this thing before he picks up a major bomb.
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Continentalop, I hear what you're saying. Keep in mind when I talk about "no one really caring about Green Hornet" I'm referencing this talk back as the exception. We're geeks, even if we say we don't care about Green Hornet it's a fact that some of us really do (to an extent). I just think it's ridiculous to expect anything less then a mediocre GH movie. The Green Hornet isn't an iconic name like Superman which gives the studio the liberty to just fuck the project over completely; after all who gives a shit? Oh, yeah... we do (to an extent). What bugs me about this talk back is the out of the blue hatred for Seth Rogan. It's apparent that many of you are under the impression that he just signed onto this thing with the intention of raping Green Hornet up the ass. I can't speak for Rogan but I'm sure that isn't the case... They're trying to make Green Hornet into a new concept, they're trying to repackage him so that people will actually want to go out and pay $12 to see him.
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OK, NOW I get it, you're jealous because you fancy yourself as a bit of a comedian - otherwise what kind of pathetic sack of random fecal matter would bother to pontificate rabidly about 'lowest common denominators' whilst spouting mindless moronic invective like that... You cant read either dipshit, otherwise you'd notice Rogan has plenty of fans in this TB, and not just a whiny bunch of humorless dogshits like yourself.. I just scraped you off my shoe..go choke on one tosser
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Someone explain it? Did I miss a meeting? I've seen most of his films (and he's only really 'starred' in 2!) and he's funny. Sure, he popped up in a few last year, but that's because the guy was offered a lot of films when he became popular after 40YOV & Knocked Up. It happens with a lot of actors who have been around a while, and then they get their chance. They end up in a lot of films at once. It seems to me that there's a real mob mentality with people on this talkback. Hating because they don’t have anything better to say. And to the people calling him 'Fat', 'Ugly' etc. Good on him if he's successful and doesn't look like Brad Pitt. As for The Green Hornet, he's smart enough to get Stephen Chow and to LISTEN to Stephen Chow. I don't know anything about TGH character, but we have A LOT of 'serious' comic book movies now, why not a light-hearted one? Just because it hasn't worked that well before, doesn't mean it can't be done. Fantasy was dead until Peter Jackson made LOTR. I'm not expecting GH to be LOTR, but if Chow wants to make it funny, why can't he give it a go? I'm hoping it will be like Big Trouble in Little China. Goofy fun. But ultimately, if you don't like Seth Rogan, don't go and see his films. But that won't happen will it? One thing I am 100% certain of is… EVERY person on this talkback will see The Green Hornet. Over and Out.
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Sean Connery in a teddy bear costume. What else do you need. A lot of people complain about how ridiculous the film was, but have you ever seen the show? It was pretty crazy.
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It seems to me that the hate comes from a few places. The one that will get me the least amount of "fuck you"s is that Rogen appeals to a particular comedy sensibility. He's fairly lowbrow. Now I'd say that's equally the effect of the directors and writers he's worked with, but those writers and directors are admittedly a reflection of his own humor. I would argue also that he has a difficult voice to like, particularly his laugh. It CAN be grating. I'm okay with it, but I can see where others might grind their teeth. The humor thing strikes me as ridiculous coming from people who frequent THIS site. But whatever. Possible "fuck you" reasons? Because Rogen is a fat, lazy, stoner high-school dropout who is currently hot as shit. And these people are massively jealous. Either because they share his characteristics and feel like THEY should be allowed the success he enjoys or because they're fairly opposite and feel like they, in their "superiority", should be in his position. In any case, he hasn't done ANYTHING to engender the amount of hate in this talkback. It's out of all proportion.
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