Christoph Waltz – WilfridWong.com

The Green Hornet – Kind Of Silly, Also Kind Of Funny

Well, well, well. It doesn’t matter what we write, does it? If you are a Jay Chou fan, you still want to watch “The Green Hornet” regardless, yes?

It is an omy.sg organized event, with pizzas supplied by Domino’s. The pizza was surprisingly tasty, and it didn’t give me too much of a thirsty after feeling. I kept coming back for more until I felt … a little bit embarrassed. Too bad, Domino’s doesn’t deliver to my area, as yet.

Cynthia and I watched “The Green Hornet” in 3D at Cathay Cineleisure . The film color looked vivid, and it’s pretty well done. While I am not sure if this movie warrants a 3D treatment, we enjoy watching movies in 3D. Cynthia seems to be struck by the Jay Chou effect, even half of the time, she was unable to comprehend Jay’s English accent. I can understand. The Japanese have Takashi (who is half Chinese by the way). I guess we Chinese have Jay Chou. For me, I prefer watching Jay Chou acts in a romance drama. Like his role in “Secret”. It is strange to see him as a comedian. Fortunately, most of the time, in “The Green Hornet”, Jay just needs to act cool. The joke is on the leading actor, Seth Rogen. If you don’t like Seth’s style in “Funny People“, most likely you would find this movie not as entertaining. Cynthia and I happen to find this movie at times funny. But it is also silly as hell.

I don’t think “The Green Hornet” is intended to glorify superheroism. Or rather, the mockery of that. Looking from that angle, yes, this is crazy fun stuff. Seth plays the “Green Hornet” while Jay plays his sidekick. This combo is oh so familiar to those movies filmed with, say, Jacky Chan and Jet Li. Maybe the Western’s idea of the Chinese is that the Chinese are funny, adept in martial art, but not quite the lead character. I like the part when Jay sings “Gangsta’s Paradise” inside the car, or when he plays the piano (remember “Secret”?) I also like his Chinese song played at the end of the show. Such a great singer he is.

While Cameron Diaz’s role is forgettable (the script’s fault, really), we love Christoph Waltz’s acting. We have seen him in “Inglourious Basterds“. I just wish to see more of him in “The Green Hornet”. We laughed so hard when he said “I am ungassable!” in his bizarre gas mask and costume. Quite possibly the most memorable quote of this movie.

I don’t think the guys would enjoy this one as much as the girls. The dude beside me was busy playing with his phone while his partner was laughing away. While the middle part feels draggy, “The Green Hornet” ends with a hilarious bang. At least there was something I could take home with.

Inglourious Basterds – Can A Film End The War?

Inglourious Bastards

The script of “Inglourious Basterds” took Quentin Tarantino more than a decade to complete. It shows. Of his films I have watched, I am much intrigued by the quality of the story development of “Inglourious Besterds”. It watched like reading a masterpiece story. Divided into 5 chapters, the Nazi hunts the Jews, the American ‘commandos’ infiltrate the Nazi occupied Parisian territory, and the Jews’ uprising against the Nazi – a spaghetti like storyline told in a humorous, dramatic, and at times gruesome manner. So, will the Jew or the American or even the German end the World War II? The ending could be more than what you would expect.

Quentin Tarantino’s signature is all over “Inglourious Basterds”. The music, the treatment to the scene down to the frame by frame level, and the orchestration of a team of talented European actors and actresses whom some of them are in their own rights a director and a producer. Some metaphors are cleverly repeated cross the chapters. Such as the interrogation and negotiation. Some metaphors are linked to well known stories of the past. I can understand how some may cringed at the scene of the gruesome execution. However, I think “Inglourious Basterds” is a lot milder compares to some of Quentin Tarantino’s previous works. In fact, it is so refined that some scenes are just beautiful to watch, however tragic they may be.

I read that Quentin Tarantino took some time to find the ending to this ‘best writing he has ever done’. I am unsure if it is the perfect ending to the script, or I in fact like the ending. Perhaps, I just didn’t want the film to end. Quentin Tarantino is so talented. He is a legend no less.