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Hornet's nest

33 Comments

Director Michel Gondry, left, Canadian actor Seth Rogen, second from left, and Taiwanese star Jay Chou, right, pose with Japanese actress Ryoko Shinohara, on the green carpet at the Japan premiere for "The Green Hornet" at Roppongi Hills Arena on Thursday night. Despite the cold temperatures, the stars signed autographs for fans for 45 minutes. Chou received the biggest roar from the mostly female crowd when he arrived, as Rogen is not yet well known in Japan. When Gondry was asked if he'd like to cast Shinohara in a possible sequel, Rogen immediately jumped in with a "yes," while the director diplomatically said he'd like to see some of her movies first. "The Green Hornet," in 3D, opens in Japan on Saturday.

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"...he’d like to see some of her movies first..."

Ouch! What a shot at Shinohara movies. Blame the producers of Japanese movies for that. You can rarely find even the most popular movies outside of Japan.

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Gondry's shirt's not tucked in. How does he get away with that?

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Jay's adorable but I hear the movie's a flop... :-/

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Sarge if you must comment on fashion, comment on jay chou's despicable gloves and chicken bodywarmer. why WAS Ryoko there btw? She aint in the movie.

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"jay chou's despicable gloves and chicken bodywarmer"

Hee hee!

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Rogen is not yet well known in Japan.

From what I've read, this film won't do him any favors...

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why WAS Ryoko there btw? She aint in the movie.

Japanese people need someone they know to tell them to go and watch it, because foreigners can't be trusted ;)

Where did jay chou find those hideous gloves? In a gay man's 1980's time capsule?

Gondry's shirt's not tucked in. How does he get away with that?

Because he's a "genius", apparently. Similar to how Tim Burton looks like a bag lady and gets away with it.

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This movie was pretty awful, Rogen's character made me want to punch him in the face repeatedly. Awful movie, although Chou's character was solid.

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Still wondering if I should go see it. Grew up watching Bruce Lee playing Kato so not sure if I'm willing to tarnish my memories.

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See if you can make sense of this, Rotten Tomatoes website: Critics-46%, Audience-63%. Supposedly it's sort of "stylized" but also has non-stop action, explosions, car chases, martial arts, etc. It's a case of either you like it or hate it. I tend to think young Japanese will like it. Oh, and there is a 3D version.

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I forgot to add that Ryoko is very, very cute.

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"Rogen is not yet well known in Japan" -- Just shows the disturbing levels of ignorance of this nation. Rogen is brilliant. I want to see this movie

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paulinusa -- "very, very cute" but with no connection at all to the movie. Just Japanese eye-candy. And with marginal talent.

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The greatest critic of all time, Roger Ebert, gave this movie one star out of 4 and called it "an almost unendurable demonstration of a movie with nothing to be about." He further noted: "The director of this half-cooked mess is Michel Gondry, whose 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' is as good as this one is bad." Critics aren't always right but I will err on the side of avoiding this one.

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errrgggg 3D... gives me a mega headache

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nisegaijin at 10:13 AM JST - 21st January "Rogen is not yet well known in Japan" -- Just shows the disturbing >levels of ignorance of this nation. Rogen is brilliant.

I live in the United States, watch a fair amount of movies. I have no idea who this Rogen is.

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Guess you missed "The 40 Year-old Virgin', "Knocked Up", and "Superbad", three very funny movies. :-)

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"Rogen is not yet well known in Japan" -- Just shows the disturbing levels of ignorance of this nation.

@nisegaijin, I like Rogen, too, but don't you think that's going a bit far? "Disurbing levels of ignorance?" C'mon, he's not Michael Jackson!

why WAS Ryoko there btw?

Because when this promotion appears on those crappy afternoon wide shows, most people will tune out if they don't see someone they recognise. Have you ever wondered why variety programs here have a little square in the corner of the screen to show the "talents" when non-studio footage is being shown? Basically, same reason.

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@Bogi, 'I like Rogen, too, but don't you think that's going a bit far? "Disurbing levels of ignorance?" C'mon, he's not Michael Jackson!' Not even Stephen Baldwin...

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The original green hornet series were made in black and white. Actually Kato who is kicking chauffeur in the series is a Japanese according the script. Hollywood asked late Bruce Lee to act as Japanese in the series. Bruce was a right choice. He had a charm, talent and incredible speed for fighting. His only weakness was his thick accent for American english.

However Jay Chou is not suitable for this character. He is a successful pop singer. However he is not charming and talented like Bruce. There are many good looking Japanese American or Chinese American who can act and perform better than Jay Chou. They are better looking too. Hollywood make movie Geisha story memoir before. They used bad acting Chinese actress for that Japanese Geisha story. How stupid? There are many discrimination about becoming an actor in Hollywood.

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They used bad acting Chinese actress for that Japanese Geisha story. How stupid? There are many discrimination about becoming an actor in Hollywood.

There were many Japanese and Korean actors who played Chinese roles in Hollywood movies and TV shows. Is that discrimination?

Moderator: Readers, please focus your comments on "The Green Hornet" and its cast.

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Why is Ryoko Shinohara there??? was she the translator??? was she part of the cast??? what's her purpose???

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Ryoko represents the Geisha / Kyabakura culture

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I saw this movie last night, and my husband and I both laughed out loud through most of it. Is it a brilliant masterpiece? Of course not, but it's still an entertaining movie. And it's nice to see a superhero/comic book movie that doesn't take itself so seriously.

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Jay Chou needs a new stylist..

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Wow, Ryoko is cute. Didn't care for the movie though.

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If you dont know who Seth Rogen is, you are absolutely NOT someone who watches alot of movies, follows entertainment news or keeps up with current events in the entertainment industry. I am not saying you are bad or stupid. Just that movies are not your thing and therefore this thread may not be the place for your uneducated opinion. Seth is a definitive comedian of his generation

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The movie blew.

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Zenpun at 02:38 PM JST - 21st January The original green hornet series were made in black and white. Actually Kato who is kicking chauffeur in the series is a Japanese according the >script. Hollywood asked late Bruce Lee to act as Japanese in the series.

The orginal B&W series goes back to like 1939. Starred Keye Luke as Kato. But your right, Kato was "katou" a young Japanese but the anti-Japanese sentiment and build up to WWII called for blurring that point it seems. The 1966 series that had Bruce Lee was of course in color and that's the one that many of us remember. BTW I just saw this Rogen/Chou Green Hornet (in 3D no less) and it was pretty funny. Silly but funny.

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Equality at 12:07 PM JST - 21st January Guess you missed "The 40 Year-old Virgin', "Knocked Up", and "Superbad", >three very funny movies. :-)

Yes I did. Saw a lot of movies but didn't see any of those.

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If you dont know who Seth Rogen is, you are absolutely NOT someone who watches alot of movies, follows entertainment news or keeps up with current events in the entertainment industry.

Marvellous, I work around full-time in the entertainment industry - two cinemas to be exact - watch more movies than most, I'm sure (used to watch more movies than all but a few in the country) and I've never heard of this Seth Rogen. The only movie I've seen him in has him so far down the credits list, I wonder if he even had any screen time - at least Ryoko Shinohara is much higher placed in that sense...

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Had to look him up on IMDB.

Can't say I ever heard of any of his previous movies/works. Anyway they don't look all that interesting to me.

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@ivarwind, im sorry, i meant if you watch alot of English movies. As it seems English is not your native language, I imagine you work as a ticket taker in a local cinema/2 cinemas that features movies from whatever country you live in. Let me rephrase- If you dont know who Seth Rogen is, you are absolutely NOT someone who watches movies that make more than 1000 dollars/100 euros/100000 yen/franc/beans etc.etc and you obviously dont own a computer and never read a single article about current movie events and upcoming movies and the actors that star in them.

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