EBERT’S THUMBS RETURN TO TELEVISION

Lemire and Vishnevetsky Kick Off First Season of Ebert Presents At The Movies This Friday on PBS Stations Across The Country

What:

Friday January 21^st marks the debut of Ebert Presents At the Movies. Christy Lemire of The Associated Press and Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of Mubi.com will host the much-anticipated show. The first episode also marks the triumphant return of Roger Ebert to television.  The Pulitzer Prize winning critic will host special segments each week, highlighting a film related topic of his choosing.  Ebert Presents At The Movies will air on public television stations across the country, representing almost 90% national coverage and is produced in Chicago at WTTW, where Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert began taping the legendary “Sneak Previews” some 35 years ago.

When:

Ebert Presents At The Movies

Friday, January 21

Check your local listings for times

Where: PBS Stations nationwide

Who: Ebert Productions

About Ebert Presents At The Movies

Ebert Presents At the Movies will be executive produced by Roger and his wife Chaz Ebert, and will be directed by Don Dupree, who logged 15 years as director of “Siskel & Ebert” and “Ebert & Roeper.” Joining Christy and Ignatiy from time to time will be an

impressive line-up of contributing critics on various aspects of the movies, from business issues to social media. The first shows will include Kim Morgan (sunsetgun.com) and Kartina Richardson (mirrorfilm.org). It will be distributed nationwide by APT (American Public Television).

I must start this review off by saying I did not get to see the end of The Green Hornet. The power went out with about 15 minutes or so to go in the film (I’m just guessing on how much time was remaining), so this will be a review of all but the end of the film.

When I first heard about this film and heard Seth Rogen was co-writing and starring in it, I was interested. Then I found out Michel Gondry was directing it. I found this to be an odd film choice for him, but I was excited about the idea. Finally, my excitement peaked when I heard Nicolas Cage would be playing the villain.

Rogen, Gondry, and Cage and I was definitely on board. I was so excited in fact that I started writing a screenplay about waiting to see this movie. Then the bad news started coming.

First, Cage dropped out. This was devastating to me. I was really looking forward to seeing he and Gondry work together. They would be brilliant. Luckily, Cage was replaced by Christophe Waltz, who is very fantastic and coming off an Oscar win. After the Cage/Waltz swap, the movie seemed to be back on track, still, the release date kept getting pushed back. The Green Hornet went from a summer release to a midwinter/new year release, usually a bad sign. Finally, I saw the trailer. My overwhelming excitement had turned into fear. Fear that Gondry had made a generic, big studio action/comedy buddy like film ala Michael Bay and Bad Boys.

Needless to say, I went into the theatre with low expectations, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The Green Hornet begins with one of the best cameos I’ve seen in a while. (I won’t tell you who it is because I don’t want to ruin it but I assure you, its very funny.) Our cameo actor is the new, young, hip crystal meth dealer planning to run the criminal underworld in LA. He is confronted by the old, not-so-hip, not very menacing but current criminal kingpin played by Waltz. Their hilarious encounter leads us into the start of The Green Hornet.

We then see the death of Britt Reid’s father, which leads to Britt befriending Kato, the guy who makes the coffee and works on the cars. From there we see the birth of the Green Hornet, a super hero who poses as a criminal to fight crime with Kato as his sidekick.

The plot is nothing to brag about. Typical super hero type story. What works for the story is that Rogen wrote the script to get laughs which is what he does best. The movie is much funnier than I expected and had me laughing all the way through.

Highlight of this film is Gondry’s directing. The trailer certainly didn’t do it justice as this clearly had Gondry stamp placed firmly on it. He could’ve just went trough the motions to get a check, but Gondry took the time to make this feel like a Gondry film.

The fight scenes with Kato leading the way were visually impressive. The cuts, the shots, the way each fight was planned out in Kato’s head were visually great. Basically, they looked fucking cool.

Rogen and Jay Chou really worked well together as the Green Hornet and Kato. They made a good crime fighting team, although Kato did virtually all the work.

Cameron Diaz was just kind of there and Waltz was fabulous. It would’ve been nice to see Cage portray Chudnofsky but Waltz definitely delivered. He’s very good at playing a likable, funny bad guy.

Overall, the movie is very entertaining. Its not great but I enjoyed myself throughout and that’s all I ask for. It doesn’t rank up there with the likes of The Dark Knight when it comes to super hero movies but its much better than crap like Spiderman 3.

If you’re looking for laughs and some visually appealing action then The Green Hornet is the film for you.

Read Alexis’ review of The Green Hornet HERE…

In anticipation of our Green Hornet review, we wanted to let you know that the film’s director and star will be on Kimmel tomorrow. For more info, see the press release below and check out our review of The Green Hornet on Friday on trashwire.com!

“THE GREEN HORNET” DIRECTOR MICHEL GONDRY BRINGS HIS VISION TO A SPECIAL EPISODE OF “JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!” FEATURING THE FILM’S STAR SETH ROGEN THURSDAY, JANUARY 13 ON ABC

Academy Award® winner Michel Gondry takes over the director’s chair at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” THURSDAY, JANUARY 13 at 12:05 A.M. ET/PT in an episode featuring an interview with the film’s star Seth Rogen.  Rogen returns to “Jimmy Kimmel Live” for the first time since June 21, 2010 when Kimmel’s studio lost power and the host grabbed his laptop shooting the entire show from his computer’s webcam.

Known for directing such films as “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “The Science of Sleep,” as well as music videos for artists such as Bjork, Paul McCartney and The White Stripes, Gondry brings his talent to “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” one day before the much anticipated comic book classic, “The Green Hornet” hits theaters.  Gondry joins Quentin Tarantino and J.J. Abrams as part of the esteemed group of directors who have taken the guest-directorial reigns at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”

Kimmel also welcomes actress Elle Fanning and a musical performance by The Damned Things to this unique episode.

This film that is subtitled the “Self-Inflicted Comedy” showcases a large group of experienced and inexperienced talent. Archie (Gabriel Sunday) hates his life because he feels nothing. Archie is a movie fiend that records everything in his meaningless life. After he is asked what his class project would be for his film class he says that he wants to kill himself on camera. After he says this in class and gets arrested, he systematically becomes the popular weird kid. Students come up to Archie just to tell him he’s sick, he’s cool, he’s right.

The student he least expects to talk to him is perfect girl, Sierra (Brooke Nevin), who wants to film Archie’s response to the question, “Why does he want to kill himself on tape?” After discovering why, the story follows a suicide pact between Sierra and Archie. Archie is developed as a character from scene one because he is filming himself impersonating famous quotes from movies.

This is not a pro-suicide film. Rather, it’s an anti-suicide movie that follows an unraveling suicide pact and makes light of its effects. With added layers animation in most of the dialogue was taken to a heightened level that is reminiscent of A Scanner Darkly. At times the film feels chaotic and all over the place, but it actually follows a typical plot which director David Lee Miller breaks into three acts. Guest stars include David Carradine as death/a spirit, shaman or poet of sorts and Joe Mantenga as an Indian Psychologist treating Archie.

Sunday steals this movie with his acting and filming because this film contains the meta-film that Archie is making with Sierra. His filming is actually not bad. It’s an enjoyable drama that plays with your mind before you know what is ever going to happen. With every person from creation to production, this movie hardly has any wrong moves.

I have been a fan of the Whitest Kids U’Know since back in the day when the series was on Fuse. Trashwire even featured a piece about the evolution of tv sketch comedy focusing on WKUK as well as other sketch shows like Human Giant and the short-lived Acceptable TV. Last Monday, I capped off an outrageously fun weekend by heading to the Oriental Theatre in Denver where all five members of the Whitest Kids U’Know were performing live.

Read the rest on Trashwire.com

New article on Trashwire! Alexis’ review of Rock of Love Bus…

Whenever I think reality tv has hit rock bottom, something new comes on that takes it to an all new low.

The latest contender is Rock of Love Bus on VH1. The show follows Bret Michaels (who used to be known for being the lead singer of Poison but is now a puffy, middle aged reality star) and the gaggle of skanks vying for his affection, or at least a little tv time. Instead of the usual tacky mansion, this time the whole gang will be living out of buses as they follow Michaels around the country during his tour.

Read more at Trashwire.com

Trey Parker once sang, “Why does Michael Bay get to keep on making movies?” and after seeing The Happening on DVD, I’m beginning to think the same thing about M. Night Shyamalan.

Once the brilliant young newcomer, Shyamalan’s talent seems to have completely dissipated, leaving only ego and self-importance. Like the Kanye West of cinema, he seems to believe that every film he’s made since 1999’s The Sixth Sense is the greatest thing ever to grace the screen and those who criticize or question his work are simply unworthy of his genius…. [More...]

Normally, it’s a bad idea when celebrities blog. They typically have nothing to say, can’t seem to figure out the shift key, and use sentences that run on like a marathon athlete. There are, however, a few exceptions and this is certainly one of them.

I know Trashwire always has much love for My Chemical Romance, but after reading lead singer Gerard Way’s review of The Pick Up Artist 2, you’ll understand why I’ve become totally addicted to the revamped My Chemical Romance blog (RSS) and twitter posts.

For more like this, check out mychemicalromance.com.

“You ARE the Pick Up Artist.”

I gotta admit, I got the chills when I heard Mystery say that in last night’s season finale of The Pickup Artist 2.

I don’t even know how I started watching this show it’s first season. I think it may have had to do with the fact I was hooked on Rock Of Love and they would play this afterwards. I think that’s a very old method that networks use called “piggy-backing”, and would explain why shows like “How I met Your Mother” or “My Fair Brady” even make it to their 2nd seasons.

But this show is quality.

And even more interesting than the contestants, challenges, and the orange spray-tan club goers of Scottsdale, Arizona (of COURSE this is where the show is filmed) is Mystery’s wardrobe.

This is a man that knows how to take RISKS.
Mind you, these aren’t risks that I would ever take but you gotta respect a guy thats Ren-Faire from the neck down and fighter-pilot meets X-Games roadie from the neck up. With Gladiator boots.

And can we talk about how likable this guy is?
This is a man that eats his own cereal in the morning if you know what I’m saying.

I felt that Simeon was a strong contender after the last few episodes, having clearly built up a momentum, and adopting a straw cowboy hat seemed to make a big difference. Did he win that in a reward challenge from Mystery? Like some sort of +5 Holy Avenger? (You PUA2 contestants know EXACTLY what I’m talking about)
I also felt Matt was a strong player as well, but I felt they both should have been penalized for their continued use of the same openers in the finale.

I would also like to point out that Matt’s best friend, Chuck, on the previous episode, was not only totally fucking awesome, but also a really amazing comic book artist, who does a book Black Metal for Oni Press. I actually met Matt at the Eisners, as he was friends with Gabriel and had also taken home an Eisner for his comic. I found it interesting they made no mention of him being a comic artist in the episode, but I assumed Mystery felt this would have only hurt his chances in the club, although I feel “Hey I draw comics” is a much better opener than “My friends and I just completed a caper”. But what do I know about this stuff?

One of the reasons I like this show is the fact that it is the least competitive reality show on television. There is no drama, just dudes having each other’s back, and they are genuinely sad when one of their competitors gets the axe. This is an emotional, life-changing journey for these dudes.

The same cannot be said of Rock Of Love: Charm School or Paris Hilton’s My New BFF. Lots of claws flying around.
Charm School had it’s worst episode yet last night, but then again how do you follow an episode where the ladies have degenerated to spitting and plate throwing, drunk the whole time (suprise!). And I back Sharon Osborne, she is fun to watch, but the sock puppet thing didn’t hold me.

Paris Hilton’s New BFF we stopped watching after Kaylee got booted. That girl knew how to party, dress, live life, be fabulous. We think she would have made an excellent BFF. What’s that leave? Bikini Corey? Please…

Some of you may be asking yourselves, “Does reality T.V. make you dumber?”
My answer to this is “Absolutely, yes”.

But I figured I should be okay for a little wile…

xo
G

Re-posted from mychemicalromance.com. Check out the twitter pages for Gerard Way, Bob Bryar, Ray Toro, Mikey Way, and Frank Iero.

The ride is not often joyous, but it is intensely interesting and, at times, emotional. The documentary, made by film makers Chris Bagley and Kim Shively, tells a very personal story of an oversized man, who has faced oversized adversities in his life in Chicago. A diagnosed schizophrenic who creates a following on a near cult status in the punk rock world, Wesley Willis works his way into people’s lives. Beginning with the art supply store, where they let him draw and paint, until he has an “episode” and they must ask him to leave, to the sidewalks of Chicago where he sells to a loyal clientele. One of the people he builds a bond with later becomes his band mate and his lyrics and style fall right in to place with the punk rock mind set. Like a mentally challenged Gil Scott-Heron, he yells repetitious lyrics that entertain and cause us to think how the world affects a person like him. While there are times when you begin to think he is being taken advantage of, you later see that he is really more in charge then you would expect.

Like the art hardware shop keepers, or the band mates, you get a sense that the film makers are genuinely attached to this unusual entrepreneur. You also get the sense that Willis knows his story needs to be told and loves letting us all in, even on the bad days. It seems as if he needs us all; the filmmakers, the punk kids, the art lovers, the Kinko’s copy girl, the windy city tourists and we the movie audience. We should all go on at least one ride with Wesley Willis.

Playing at this years Starz Film Festival.