The mood was one of intrigue and mystery. No one in the long line of invited movie-goers knew what to expect. I was ata sneak preview she had been selected to see a week prior. Details were sketchy. All she knew was that this was a movie for people who like action and comedy. It sounded right up my alley, so of course I signed on.
There we were in line. Though we arrived early, the line was pretty long. At some point an event staffer showed us a list of movies from the last 10 years or so asking which we had seen. Still, they wouldn't tell us what we were about to see. It was all very hush hush as the line wound its way around the courtyard, finally ending outside of the theater. That's when I noticed a movie poster for The Green Hornet, and realized that that was the sneak preview we were about to see.
Once we got to our seats I was proven right. We were officially congratulated on being the first audience anywhere to see....THE GREEN HORNET!!! Raucous applause erupted. I looked at my companions with an "I told you so" grin.
In the interest of full disclosure(though It won't come as a surprise to anyone) I've never been into Seth Rogen, the star of the movie. To me, he's a member of a class of movie stars that don't really act per se. They sort of just do a schtick while a camera rolls, never really playing a part, just doing their thing and running with their own personality. You might call it Vince Vaughn-itis.
So I wasn't very excited about this one, even though it was my kind of movie. But hey, can't pass up a free flick, right? And it ended up not being that bad. For a review of the Green Hornet, check out the post directly after this one.
The movie was slightly better than I expected; though by no means Oscar worthy. Most of the folks called it excellent when asked by staffers. When I was asked, I said it was.....good. The staffer was taken aback; she had already queued up her response in anticipation for my saying it was excellent. You could see the effort on her face as she swallowed her ready response and prepared another one. “Alright, well...thanks!” Moments later her boss came, saying “so I hear you said it was good(it was really this deep??!?!?) ?” I've never heard the word good sound more like a death sentence. I reiterated, and she said okay.
We'd been invited to be a part of a focus group after the movie. The woman, who was to be the mediator for the focus group, said “OK, well just hang out for a few and we'll get the focus group started and see if we can bring you around.” Bring me around? What, are you going to show me a different movie? Hypnotize me into forgetting the one I just saw? How do you think you'll be able to bring me around?
The focus group was a cross section of all of the people who fall into the demographic chosen to see the movie. I was one of 3 African Americans, there were a number of teens and young adults. Most were very happy with the movie, some more than others, but none said that they would not go see it. Everyone agreed that the best part of the movie was Jay Chou(whom apparently is a megastar in the far east), has a great future in U.S. film if he so chooses.
Through the many questions asked and the myriad of opinions about the movies, the one thing that everyone agreed on was that it would be a TERRIBLE idea for this movie to be in 3-D. An audible groan rose up when this question was put to the focus group. Cries of “Nooo!” and “What for?” resounded through the theater. The Mediator was taken aback by this response; “Don't you think it would be awesome to see all the fight scenes in 3-D?”
“Forget that, the movie doesn't need it!”
“Too many movies are in 3-D for no reason”
“I wouldn't want to pay extra to see it.”
At this point a voice from several rows back thanked us for our time and attention, and gestured to a man at the very back at the theater. “I'd like to introduce you to the writer, producer, and star of the Green Hornet, Seth Rogen!”
Surprised applause rose up from the audience as he made his way down from the upper deck. They said he'd slimmed down quite a bit to play the Green Hornet, and he looked skinnier in person than he did onscreen. What happened next might just go down as the first great moment in Hater history.
“Thanks everybody for coming, I'm really glad you came out,” he said as he approached the row of seats we occupied. Then he looked straight at me. “except YOU!”
Whoa...did I just get clowned by a celebrity? Did that actually happen? The entire focus group burst out in laughter. Someone must have told him I only thought his movie was good. I guess his ego couldn't handle anything less than sycophantic admiration. The look on his face told me that he was (mostly) kidding, and I can get the comedic value of it. We shook hands as I left and I told him “Hey, I liked it more than I thought I would anyway!” To which he replied “Well, I liked you more than I thought I would!” Fair enough.
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