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Movie Preview: Seth Rogen Unmasked in The Green Hornet

BuzzSugar — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:30:15 PDT

For those of you who were scratching your heads when Seth Rogen got cast as a superhero, now is your chance to see the actor in action in this just released trailer for The Green Hornet (not to be confused with The Green Lantern). Rogen plays Britt Reid, the spoiled son of a publishing tycoon, who decides to clean up his act after his father dies. His goal: to do something productive with his life by fighting bad guys with his sidekick, Kato (Jay Chou).

We saw sneak peek photos from the film already, but now that I've seen this preview it all makes sense - Rogen is still playing his usual, lovable schlub, instead this time he's wearing a mask! And he's trim! The trailer has its requisite explosions, fast cars, and fight scenes, but sometimes it just kind of feels like you dropped Ben Stone in the middle of an action movie. More so, I'm not seeing any sign of director Michel Gondry's style here (and blink and you'll miss Cameron Diaz). Give it a look, and tell me your take when you

Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures

Movie Preview: Michel Gondry's The Thorn in the Heart

BuzzSugar — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 07:30:44 PDT

As a longtime fan of filmmaker Michel Gondry, I've often wondered what exactly goes through the head of the man behind Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep. It appears it's more a question of where he came from, as evidenced by his documentary about his own life and family, The Thorn in the Heart.

Gondry's family bares all the joys and pains of being a close-knit, creative family, particularly his visionary mother, Suzette. The trailer looks sentimental, sweet, and full of the whimsical visuals that are the hallmark of Gondry. Though I love his narrative films, I'm eager to see what he does with a documentary, especially since I'm also a fan of the one he did with Dave Chappelle, Block Party.

To watch the preview, just

Buzz News Roundup, 2/25

BuzzSugar — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:30:05 PST

Filmmakers hope to start production on the Ghostbusters 3 movie this Fall. - ComingSoon
Michel Gondry is in talks to direct Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet. - AP
Andy Richter will be Conan O'Brien's announcer on The Tonight Show and will occasionally appear in sketches as well. - Zap2it
It was a rumor before, but now it's confirmed: Cate Blanchett will play Maid Marian in Ridley Scott's Robin Hood movie. - Variety
Barenaked Ladies lead singer Steven Page is leaving the band. - Billboard
The CW has greenlit a model-themed drama pilot produced by Ashton Kutcher. - The Hollywood Reporter
Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean franchise) is set to direct Clue, a live-action murder mystery based on the Hasbro board game, while Eric Brevig (Journey to the Center of the Earth) will direct Warner Bros.' 3-D Yogi Bear movie. - ComingSoon
Faith No More has announced its first live performances since splitting up in 1998. - Billboard
Fox Searchlight has acquired rights to the upcoming novel Breathers: A Zombie's Lament, and Diablo Cody will produce the zombie romantic comedy. - Variety

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FABTV: Kylie Minogue "Come Into My World"

FabSugar — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:12:22 PDT

If Shalom on the Viktor & Rolf runway made you dizzy, head into Kylie's world. This Michel Gondry-directed video is seemingly everyday casual fun. Until more Kylies exit the dry cleaners. I somehow doubt a day in the life of Kylie is so normal, but do pay attention to the action in the background. I love the song - upbeat and downright danceable. Pop quiz! Which Kylie picks up the laundry Kylie drops?

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:30:32 PDT

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below, you can also pick up Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson's romcom Fool's Gold and the complete Jericho series on DVD.

Be Kind Rewind
Director Michel Gondry is known for a bizarre brand of humor (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and Be Kind Rewind delivers just that. It stars Jack Black and Mos Def as friends who have to recreate old movies because Black's character accidentally erases all the videos in Def's video rental store. They tackle classics like Ghostbusters and Driving Miss Daisy using hilarious dumpy props and less-than-special effects. Surprisingly, their remakes are a big hit with customers. I called it a must-see for fans of Gondry, and everyone else might enjoy how endearingly funny Jack Black and Mos Def are as they play off each other.

Extras on the disc include the trailer for the film and a featurette titled "Passaic Mosaic."

A movie and a TV show up next so

Under the Same Moon
I haven't seen this indie flick yet but am adding it to my queue because I've read really good things about it. Centered around a boy's journey across the U.S./Mexico border in search of his mother, Under the Same Moon sounds like a real tearjerker. America Ferrera has a small part in the film, but all the performances are supposedly quite touching. The movie earned a standing ovation at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.

Special features include a featurette on the making of the film and information about the murals featured in the movie.

Californication: Season 1
This Showtime original series starring X-Files hottie David Duchovny is not suitable viewing for kids or even alongside Mom and Dad. It's daring and often crass, but it's also smart and funny and I'm addicted! I've said before I wish more of my friends watched the show so that we could discuss the next day, and now there is no excuse not to catch up with the release of the debut season on DVD.

Duchovny plays a novelist in L.A. who's had one bestseller but is having a hard time following it up with another success. The love of his life wants nothing to do with him as he tries to balance his own self-destructive behavior with raising his daughter. Evan Handler (Sex and the City) stars as Duchovny's buddy and agent. Time to get started watching now before season two starts up!

Be Kind Rewind: Um, What About Blu-ray?

GeekSugar — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 09:00:39 PDT

Totally sick of hearing about the end of the format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD? And totally sick of having to think about when you'll have to start buying Blu-ray discs instead of DVDs? Escape with Michel Gondry's Be Kind Rewind - a whimsical film and welcome departure from the high-tech rat race that's going on.

I've long loved Gondry for his use and of high and low-tech in his films - usually in terms of special effects (if you haven't seen Science of Sleep, get thee to your Netflix queue), and this time, for Be Kind Rewind, in subject matter as well. For more on Be Kind Rewind,

The movie is about two video store clerks (Jack Black and Mos Def) who accidentally de-magnetize their VHS tapes and must re-record them by acting them out themselves. The shop owner (Danny Glover), meanwhile, struggles with the resistance to make the move to DVD.

Of course, after the film I thought: What about Blu-ray? There's no reference to it at all in this film, even among discussion of switching formats. If this film had been shot a year later, would it have warranted a mention? But this movie retorts, what about Blu-ray, indeed.

Be Kind Rewind chastises us for our quick abandonment to newer and better technologies, and celebrates the films and movie-making, regardless of format. By then end of this movie, I even missed my VHS tapes. Sigh. . . I still haven't replaced Reality Bites.

Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema

Be Kind Rewind: Just a Silly Good Time

BuzzSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 08:30:00 PST

When I first saw the trailer for Be Kind Rewind, it made me feel all happy and giggly. I had relatively high hopes for the movie itself, thinking it would have that bizarre brand of humor I've come to expect from writer/director Michel Gondry and, satisfyingly, I was right. It's not the funniest film ever, and it's not the best use we've seen of Gondry's hyperactive imagination - it's just a goofy, silly good time.

The premise itself is funny: Mike (Mos Def) works for Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) at Be Kind Rewind, the video store Mr. Fletcher opened in an old building where Fats Waller reportedly used to live. Mike's friend Jerry (Jack Black), who's a little touched in the head, manages to become magnetized and ends up erasing all the videos in Mr. Fletcher's store. Thus, the two guys - with the help of their charmingly sweet friend Alma - start to "swede" some of the most popular movies in the store, recreating key plot points using the crudest (and most hilarious) of props and special effects. Eventually the whole community starts to help out and business picks up. Yet trouble arises when Mr. Fletcher's building is condemned and everyone needs to figure out how to save him from moving to the projects. That's just the plot, though, so to see what I think of the movie overall,

While the sweded movies are hilarious, what makes the movie's pulse really beat is the actual feeling between these characters. Mike will defend his weirdo friend Jerry to the death, and he's endearingly loyal to his surrogate father, Mr. Fletcher. The characters in the community seem to care about each other and truly want to be a part of this unique movie-making/video rental experience. Parts of the movie are gimmicky, but the people keep it chugging along nicely.

Of all these people in the movie, Jack Black is a particularly welcome addition. I never thought I'd be so relieved to see Black do his same old overwrought, anxiously energetic, physical comedy thing, but in truth, he sometimes saves the scene. At times, Gondry's humor is too strange or just downright not funny, and Black's easy willingness to play the bumbling fool to the hilt is genuinely refreshing. His slapstick combined with Mos Def's earnestness and Gondry's creativity makes for an hour and a half of goofy fun. The energy of the movie loses much of its steam as it crawls toward the end, but the majority of the film is so engaging, I didn't mind. Bottom line: If you're a fan of Gondry's, it's a must-see, and if not, it's good for some chuckles.

To see a preview for Be Kind Rewind, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of New Line Cinema

Film Fanatics Make Be Kind Rewind-Like Videos for Contest

BuzzSugar — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 09:30:00 PST

Opening this Friday, Michel Gondry's film Be Kind Rewind follows two video store employees, Mike and Jerry (played by Mos Def and Jack Black) who recreate shortened versions of the movies in their store when all of the videos are erased. Gondry himself spoofed his own trailer for Be Kind Rewind by recreating it by himself, scene for scene, with hilarious results. Now, thanks to a Filmmaking Frenzy contest, people around the country have been doing what Jerry and Mike - making spoofy 5-minute versions of their favorite films - in the hopes of winning a quad-core Dell workstation with a 30-inch monitor.

Presented by AMD (Advanced Micro Devices), contestants had from January 1 to February 8 to submit their videos. The movies "will be screened at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on February 18-20, with a 'best of' screening and awards ceremony on Feb 21."

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the target audience for Be Kind Rewind, the majority of videos are for 80s flicks, like The Karate Kid, Back to the Future and Mannequin. Judging by the multiple entries, it looks like Top Gun and Jurassic Park are some of the most popular films to remake for a 5-minute movie. Some of them are seriously funny, and they're all goofy enough to elicit some chuckles. I especially enjoyed the use of an orange housecat to simulate an R.O.U.S. (Rat Of Unusual Size) in The Princess Bride. To see a full listing of the videos, click here.

Michel Gondry Makes a Trailer Within His Trailer

BuzzSugar — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:30:39 PST

This video of Michel Gondry spoofing his own movie's trailer is funny, and so meta it hurts my brain. Gondry's latest film Be Kind Rewind finds Jack Black and Mos Def working at a video store where all the videos suddenly become erased. Their solution? Recreate the movies themselves.

Now Gondry has made his own version of the trailer as though his trailer were erased, so he recreates it by playing Mos Def and Jack Black playing all the iconic movie roles. Get it?

I've placed the videos side by side for your viewing pleasure. Gondry's version is made even more bizarre and funny by the fact that you would barely understand what he's saying if you hadn't seen the actual trailer first. To check it out

Link Time! 1/17

BuzzSugar — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 12:31:15 PST

Cinematical has an interview with director Michel Gondry regarding his movie Be Kind, Rewind, which will open soon at Sundance.
MTV Movies Blog digs into the past with a heartbreakingly adorable interview clip with Katie Holmes from back in April of 1998.
TiFaux plots the Project Runway contestants on a graph comparing their ratios of talent to drama.
Popwatch wonders if you ever acquired a nickname from a character on TV like, say, how Pa called Laura "Half-Pint" on Little House on the Prairie.
TV Squad geeks out with some analysis of the Sarah Connor Chronicles timeline.
Check out Stereogum for two new Counting Crows songs.
TV Filter gleefully reports that while the show may be on hiatus, Gossip Girl herself is still blogging!
TV Cocktail also admits to a slight obsession with the Real Housewives of Orange County.

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