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Break out your French to English dictionaries.
French director Michel Gondry started out his movie-making career as a director of music videos for artists like Bjork and Beck, eventually breaking through with the visually striking, 2004 drama Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The movie earned Gondry and co-screenwriter Charlie Kaufman an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. We also have Gondry to thank for the current trend of "Sweded" trailers — low-budget recreations using handmade props and effects — thanks to his 2008 comedy Be Kind Rewind. However, after Gondry's 2010 comic book adaptation The Green Hornet, Gondry has stuck with more independent productions like last year's The We And the I and now to his home country for his next effort, Mood Indigo (L 'Ecume des Jours overseas).
watch the trailer >> Posted 03.16.13 by Ryan -
Which Director is Strongest With the Force?
Like many Star Wars fans, it took us a while to process the news that the creator and caretaker of the greatest sci-fi epic of all time, George Lucas, had sold Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney. And, as if that news wasn't momentous enough, Disney concurrently announced that plans were already underway for an all-new Star Wars movie, a sequel to the original trilogy that would likely be the first movie in a new trilogy.
Minds thoroughly blown, we started to think about the future of the franchise. Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen's horrible acting had really hurt the prequel trilogy and Lucas' constant meddling with the original trilogy tested our faith in ol' grey beard even further. With Lucas out of the picture, could the franchise regain its former glory?
In the days following the announcement, it was revealed that Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) had been hired to write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII, while rumors continue to swirl that Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is in the running to direct. Do you think that Vaughn is the right man for the job or would you like to see J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) or someone else direct? Who do you think has the vision to chart the course of the future of the Star Wars franchise?
Rate the Top 10 Best Directors To Helm Star Wars: Episode VII >>
Posted 11.13.12 by BrentJS -
It's hard to think of another superhero-themed movie in recent memory that has received as much negative press before it comes out as director Michel Gondry's (Be Kind Rewind) The Green Hornet adaptation. Right out of the gate, many fans were vocally opposed to producer and co-writer Seth Rogen playing the lead part of Britt Reid, aka the Green Hornet, based upon his, ahem, somewhat less than athletic physique and his goofball comedy-stacked resume. Then, once the production got under way, every little snag, from cast changes to release date delays, was scrutinized and criticized and amplified in fan forums and chat room debates, until all that was heard about the movie was predominantly negative buzz.
However, on the eve of the release of The Green Hornet in theaters, some early reviews have begun to trickle in and so far the general consensus is positive. A reviewer for ComingSoon called it a "surprisingly funny and ingeniously clever take on superheroes," and a review on MovieFone declared that the "cast is great, the action scenes are very cool, and many of the ideas congeal unexpectedly well." In a recent interview with MTV, Rogen vented on how "frustrating" it has been to read some of the "insane and completely uninformed and uneducated" criticism that the movie has received online before it has even opened in theaters, especially from supposedly comic-friendly sites that he used to respect.
MORE >> Posted 01.13.11 by BrentJS -
With director Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet adaptation opening nationwide in just over a week's time, Columbia Pictures is trying to get potential moviegoers excited by releasing four new preview clips from the movie, which straddles the line between action and comedy. Featured for the first time in a movie clip is Edward Furlong, who plays Tupper, a mininon of crime kingpin Chudnofsky (Academy Award–winner Christoph Waltz), the Green Hornet's (Seth Rogen) main adversary. Also featured in one of the clips is an extended look at Gondry's latest contribution to action movie visual effects — Gondry helped develop the "bullet time" technique that made Keanu Reeves such a badass in The Matrix trilogy — "Kato Vision," which has only been glimpsed in previously released trailers and clips.
watch four new preview clips from The Green Hornet >> Posted 01.05.11 by BrentJS -
When it was first announced that innovative French music video and movie director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind) would be helming Columbia Pictures' The Green Hornet adaptation, the news raised nearly as many eyebrows as the casting of (formerly) portly funnyman Seth Rogen as the title character. Gondry, known for his inventive visual style, had never worked on a big-budget action movie before and he told Variety that it forced him to consider early on how he would approach it, whether as a "commercial" movie or an "independent" one.
what did Gondry say about the Green Hornet? >. Posted 01.04.11 by BrentJS -
Less than a week after Columbia Pictures unleashed a ton of new promotional materials for director Michel Gondry's upcoming The Green Hornet adaptation, two new preview clips from the movie have been released online and three new TV spots have hit the airwaves.
Based on the classic masked crimefighter created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker that first appeared in a radio serial in the 1930s, The Green Hornet stars Seth Rogen as Britt Reid, a lackadaisical party boy who inherits his father's (Tom Wilkinson) publishing empire and decides to use his fortune to fight crime. With the help of skilled martial artist and weapons expert Kato (Jay Chou) and his resourceful assistant, Lenore (Cameron Diaz), the Green Hornet sets his sights on the city's top crime figure, Benjamin Chudnofsky (Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz), who aims to unite the city's criminal element into a supermafia.
watch the new clips and TV spots >> Posted 12.28.10 by BrentJS -
The debut of director Michel Gondry's (Be Kind Rewind) The Green Hornet adaptation is less than a month away and Columbia Pictures is making a big push for the movie by unleashing a ton of new promotional materials. For the UK release, Columbia has unveiled a new quad poster that looks like four character posters combined into one. And IGN has scored five exclusive new still images from the movie that were seemingly selected because they show title star Seth Rogen as an unlikely hero, or as "A Different Kind of Superhero," the title of the new featurette released via Yahoo!Movies.
watch the featurette and the new preview clip >> Posted 12.23.10 by BrentJS -
Comic book movie fans have been critical of Sony's The Green Hornet adaptation since before the movie even went into production because of the casting of (formerly portly) comedic actor Seth Rogen as the title character. Just check the comments section of any Green Hornet article on any of the fan-centric entertainment sites and you will find more than a few that malign Rogen in ways that are unfit for us to print. The Green Hornet panel even got an icy reception at the normally comic book movie–friendly San Diego Comic-Con. Apparently, director Michel Gondry has had all he can take of genre fans bashing his movie, because he lashed out at the "fascist" sub-culture of comic book "nerds" in a recent interview.
read Gondry's full rant >> Posted 12.16.10 by BrentJS -
Sony has just released six new still images from director Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet adaptation and apparently the buzz word of the week is "gun." In three of the six images, someone is pointing a gun — specifically the Green Hornet (Seth Rogen), Kato (Jay Chou), and Chudnosky (Christoph Waltz) — while yet another still shows Kato holding two large guns and staring at several more, and a fifth has Chudnofsky pointing his finger like a gun. In addition, two behind-the-scenes photos from the set were also released and in one of them it looks like Gondry has a gun affixed to his camera.
more about The Green Hornet >> Posted 12.10.10 by BrentJS -
Nothing has been easy for The Green Hornet. The oft-troubled adaptation of the comic book/radio drama character has seen a bumpy production with director and co-star musical chairs (Gondry - Chow, Chow - Chou), a bomb scare, and one final delay to convert the movie to 3-D. All this has culminated in a pushed release date to January, a dead zone for horror and other genre movies while audiences catch up with possible Oscar contenders. Most of the Comic-Con was spent explaining or demystifying the troubled production, with Seth Rogen admitting to MTV that every problem Hornet faced made the production "exponentially more difficult."
Green Hornet made with passion despite setbacks >> Posted 07.26.10 by Ryan