The New Wave: 1/14/11

I love me some Green Hornet. He's not cooler than The Brown Hornet, but it's pretty close. His trek to the big screen, however, was anything but cool. Or smooth. Once starting out as a twinkle in Kevin Smith's eye, then picked up by Stephen Chow(Kung Fu Hustle), eventually landing in the lap of Michel Gondry(Be Kind Rewind), the Seth Rogen/Cameron Diaz starring film has been met with rumors of Sony Pictures not being all that fond of what they were seeing everyday. Somebody must've liked it because it's here now, and ready to kick January box office butt. The guy to watch is Jay Chou as loyal sidekick, Kato. He won't remind anybody of Bruce Lee, but all the best scenes belong to him. My review of The Green Hornet can be read here.

Those expecting the comedy tandem of Vince Vaughn and Kevin James to turn out another knee slapper might want to check their expectations at the door. Universal Pictures has been twisting themselves into knots trying to pitch this is as fun, light hearted Ron Howard buddy comedy, but I think people will be surprised by just how dark a turn Winona Ryder's character takes. See, that's what happens when you get caught in a sticky situation with Channing Tatum. You get all crazy and stuff. My review of The Dilemma can be read right here.

An ensemble comedy/drama set in a poor rundown Florida hospital? If it sounds a little bit like the setup for a TV series, that might be because The Heart Specialist was written and directed by TV veteran Dennis Cooper, who wrote and produced for both Chicago Hope and St. Elsewhere.  The fact that the star-studded film(Ed Asner, Wood Harris, Mya, Zoe Saldana, Brian J. White, Method Man) has basically been sitting on the shelf for the last few years(it was completed back in 2006!!) should have warning bells ringing in your ears.