Green Hornet

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Stuart

The little that I know about the Green Hornet, the vintage vigilante who has been the subject of radio and TV programs (and other media) for more than seventy years, is actually not that impressive considering the fact that I’ve only ever seen exactly one episode of the old 60′s TV series. In fact, if you’d asked me prior to 1993 about the character, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you anything. I had no idea who the Green Hornet was. I’m slightly ashamed to say that I first learned about the character through Dragon, the Bruce Lee Story which contains scenes of Green Hornet being filmed with Jason Scott Lee portraying Bruce Lee as Kato. Over the years I’ve picked up bits and pieces of information about the character here and there, but I was far from an expert on the subject. My knowledge was basically limited to the impression that Kato was the one who did most of the fighting. So, I went into the new film version starring the unlikely Seth Rogen as Britt Reid, a.k.a. the Green Hornet and Jay Chou as Kato, with an open mind. As open as could be expected considering I was not overly impressed with the promo materials. Still, it had received some surprising feedback from initial screenings, so I wanted to give it a fair shake.

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First Look at the New Spiderman

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Stuart

I’m not the biggest Spiderman fan in the universe, but in the greater superhero pantheon, he is, to me, one of the all-time greats. With the two big exceptions of Superman and Batman, I have always been more of a Marvel Comics boy when I was growing up. I just always believed those characters were more realistic (for lack of a better word), and I still do. I still think that the first two Spiderman movies are among the best comic-book adaptations to date. Unfortunately, I thought the third installment in the series was a dismal failure. There were things I liked about it, but it suffered from a meandering story with more subplots than it could support. Rumor has it that studio interference was to blame, and I think that’s mostly true. I’m only speculating here (based on various reports), but I believe that Sam Raimi was basically forced to include a Venom storyline in the movie that he wasn’t too wild about. Growing up, Raimi had never followed the Venom storylines in the comics. Venom wasn’t introduced until the late 80′s, and Raimi was more of a fan of Spidey’s earlier nemeses, such as Doc Oc and Sandman. However, it was clear to the studio that the fans wanted Venom, so Raimi included the character in the third movie. This was Raimi’s failure, in my opinion. He should have abandoned Sandman altogether and focused on making the Venom story better. Having said all that, I don’t think that the studio needed to abandon Raimi’s Spiderman franchise altogether and move forward with a reboot, but that’s exactly what they’ve done. I’ve come to terms with the idea, but this movie had better be good.

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Season of the Witch

Posted on January 8, 2011 by Stuart

I hadn’t originally planned on seeing the new Nicolas Cage period thriller Season of the Witch, but sparse cinematic fare this weekend convinced me to reconsider. To those who possess the discipline to actually listen to your gut on this one, rest assured; you’re not missing much. In fact, Season of the Witch is the very definition of mediocre, if not downright lazy, filmmaking. It is directed (poorly) by Dominic Sena who brought us such failures as 2009′s Whiteout and 2000′s Gone in 60 Seconds (also starring Cage). He also directed 2001′s Swordfish, which I actually kind of liked (even though there was a whole lot of bad going on in that movie too). But Season of the Witch‘s lack of luster isn’t all Sena’s fault. The script, written by Bragi F. Schut, is fairly horrendous too. It’s the kind of poorly written trash that is fairly prevalent in our society, typed-out daily and feverishly by self-absorbed hacks in hundreds of Starbucks across the country. Fortunately for the nation (and indeed the world), most of these scripts are recognized for the tripe they are and usually make it no further than Hollywood agency refuse bins (if that far). For whatever reason, this one made it too far, into the hands of some exec who wrongly thought it was a good idea. But even I am being a bit hyper-critical here. No movie is all bad after all.

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Top Ten Movies of 2010

Posted on December 30, 2010 by Stuart

A few days ago I sat down to figure out how many movies I’d seen this year. It was quite a task. And now, I offer the following personal statistics for your consideration. Of movies released in theaters during 2010, I personally viewed 88 of them. Is that a lot? I’m not sure. I know a movie site guy who claims to have seen almost 300 movies this year. I’m sure that many of those were seen at film festivals as well as limited release indie films at press screenings. But never mind him. On with the stats. Of those 88 2010 films, 17 were viewed on DVD (or Netflix streaming) with 1 being viewed in a private screening room, leaving 70 viewed in actual movie theaters. Of those 71 films not viewed on DVD or Netflix, 4 were free screenings (2 were press screenings, 1 was a special screening at San Diego Comic-Con and 1 was a special free advanced screening). That means that I paid to see a movie in the theater 67 times. But wait. That’s just first viewings. There were three movies this year that I paid to see a second time in the theater (Inception, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Tron: Legacy). That means I actually paid to see a movie in the theater 70 times. Of those 67 movies (1st viewings) that I saw in a theater, 6 were viewed in 3D. 2 of the total number of films were viewed in IMAX (1 in IMAX 3D). Of the total number of films I saw in 2010, only 4 were documentaries (though I use the term loosely in the case of Catfish and especially I’m Still Here). 22 I would classify as dramas or thrillers. 44 were what some people like to refer to as “genre” films which include action, action/adventure, science fiction, fantasy, western and horror. 13 were comedies, and 5 were animated features. Only 1 of those was a foreign film (specifically, non-English-language).

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Blu-Review: The Goonies 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition

Posted on December 29, 2010 by Stuart

Every film geek can name those seminal movies that greatly affected him as a young theater-goer and that forever hold a place of reverence in his heart. For me (and no doubt for many), the Star Wars saga, of course, would be the first, starting with A New Hope in ’77. Raiders of the Lost Ark was another big one. It made me want to be an archaeologist. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that they don’t dodge booby traps and use bullwhips as a matter of course. And twenty-five years ago this year, another Steven Spielberg movie was released and became an instant favorite of mine. That movie was, of course, The Goonies, the whimsical story of a group of misfits from (literally) the wrong side of the tracks who follow a weathered old map in search of lost pirate treasure. It was what every 12-13 year-old boy dreamt of doing, one last big adventure before the accelerated path toward adulthood began. As if to underscore The Goonies’ importance in my young life, a new 25th anniversary collector’s edition was released several weeks ago, and it has finally found its way into my trembling hands. I’d wanted to obtain this treasured collector’s edition when it dropped back in early November, but I couldn’t seem to find it in any stores. What’s more, it was a bit pricey. Lucky for me, Amazon.com often has short sales that offer deep discounts. You just have to be lucky enough to hear about them when they happen. I was fortunate enough to snag The Goonies 25th Anniversary CE for only $6 ($8 shipped). It was like mana from heaven, an offer too good to pass up. Check Amazon today and the special edition disc is priced at over $30 (for the blu-ray—you can find it cheaper on other sites though).

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