movies during the weekend

Green Hornet

I never was interested in the Green Hornet. The show or the persona. I saw re-runs when I was a child and I thought it was horribly boring. Even after I learned that Kato was Bruce Lee. Or, especially after I learned that Kato was Bruce Lee. Who is this Green Hornet guy anyway, and how come he gets all the press?

I have to admit though that I only get to see tail-end scenes (Kato driving, the Green Hornet going on and on and on about something or other) of the show. I only put up with Green Hornet because Batman & Robin came after. I used to have this major crush on Robin. Anyway, I thought, if I’m going to sit on my ass watching a masked vigilante fight criminals I’ll just watch Batman. At least he doesn’t make Robin drive.

When I first heard that Seth Rogen is going to be the Green Hornet I…didn’t get it. Seth Rogen? How could this possibly work? At the moment I was thinking the producers were going to do it dark and moody, like what Nolan did with the Batman franchise, but lo! they just wanted a summer flick. In that case, it works. (It just went a little crazy with the car chases.) I appreciated the fact that they didn’t turn Cameron Diaz’s character into a bimbo. Not enough Christoph Waltz though. I’d like to hear more from a villain who’s going through a mid-life crisis.

Basically, the reboot serves as a vehicle for Kato, poor Kato, to say what the TV series couldn’t say: that the Green Hornet is a bit of a jerk, and Kato doesn’t get enough credit. Good for you, Kato.

127 Hours

Do you know this show? “I Survived”, every Sunday morning on the Bio channel? Jaykie and I used to watch that every week, and I’ve just had it up to here with people getting stuck someplace and  drinking their own urine and chopping off their own limbs. That doesn’t make it any less horrifying, or their survival any less awe-inspiring (frankly, if I were in their position, I wouldn’t have lasted half a day, I’d probably just lose my mind and wear pigtails and fight zombie Nazis with a sword – wait that’s another movie); it’s just that, why would I want to sit for two hours in the cinema waiting for a man to cut off his own arm?

I don’t even like James Franco’s character. I know this is based on a true story, and I don’t know the guy  personally, but to quote one of the girls, “He’s batshit”.

And he does go batshit, waking up one morning hungry and dehydrated and sorry, make-believing that he is the host, guest and caller in a live television show. That is the strongest scene in this film. It made him real for me, it made him human; that’s what made the film worth my time.

Inside Job

This documentary, which studies the financial crash of 2008, won at the Academy Awards. Watch it. It presents what happened in a clear, understandable manner. Watch the financial assholes squirm (or lash out in anger – “This is not a deposition, sir!”) during the interviews.