An official photo of Seth Rogen in the official GREEN HORNET costume from the Michel Gondry film of the same name was been officially revealed (as seen on MTV Spash Page). Once you get past how non-Seth Rogen Seth Rogen looks (where's the beer belly and double chin?!) it becomes easy to approve of the swanky green suit and mask. A good fitting suit looks far cooler to me than spandex (or that weird latex the pass for spandex these days). There was a very nice noir/pulp look to the tv-series and radio show that I am happy to see they've embraced for the upcoming film version.

Cool Green Hornet fact: did you know he's supposed to be the grand-nephew of the LONE RANGER ("Hi ho, Silver!"). The creator of the Green Hornet character also created the Lone Ranger. He suggested the familial relation as a nod to devoted Lone Ranger fans.

In celebration of the movie's nice threads, I've put together some cool press images of the Green Hornet of yesteryear (complete with Bruce Lee as Kato). I love that TV Guide cover (what a gorgeous yellow background!). I also included 2 rare fight scenes from the TV show that show glimpses of Bruce Lee's rise to superstardom.

Once an idea gets out into the public arena it mutates through interpretation. With time the dominant interpretation of the idea often replaces the original version. One of the best examples I have found of this is Mr. Hyde from R.L. Stevenson's classic novella 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.

We all know the story: Dr. Jekyll secretly takes a potion that transforms himself into his evil counterpart: Mr. Hyde. Without any research, what do you imagine Mr. Hyde to look like? Take a moment to really visualize the character...now compare it to Mr. Hyde as described in the novella he came from:

"Mr. Hyde was pale and dwarfish, he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile, he had borne himself to the lawyer with a sort of murderous mixture of timidity and boldness, and he spoke with a husky, whispering and somewhat broken voice; all these were points against him, but not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust, loathing and fear with which Mr. Utterson regarded him." from the 2nd chapter of 'The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde'

This smiling dwarf is drastically different from the hulking, muscular beast of a man we've widely accepted Mr. Hyde to be!

Images below include a film version of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (from 1931), a comic iteration of Mr. Hyde (by cartoonist Kevin O'Neill as seen in THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN), and 2 characters heavily inspired by Mr. Hyde: Marvel's Incredible Hulk (as drawn by Jack Kirby) and Batman's Two Face (as drawn by Bruce Timm):

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2001: Space Odyssey is one of those Stanley Kubrick classics that will be regarded as the greatest sci-fi film of all time. But to the 6-year-old Muttpop Bob it had one of the SCARIEST sequences ever put to celluloid. For some reason, that final sequence with the epic orchestra music and baby-in-a fetus was the most disturbing combination of sound and visuals I had ever seen. My parents would get weirded out by me because every time I'd hear the music or, WORST, see the scene on our family tv, I'd run behind the couch to scream and cry until the television was shut off. To my 6-year-old mind, the fetus-baby was some alien planning to invade Earth. You can blame it on all those alien conspiracies they'd talk about on 'Unsolved Mysteries'.

THE SEQUENCE OF SHEER TERROR:

Imagine a live action movie with Spider-man, Santos, and Captain America. Never could happen, right? Wrong!

Believe it or not, that very film was made back in Turkey back in 1973. We should ignore the fact that the film was made without permission from either Marvel Comics or Santos and just appreciate the wackiness. In "The Dev Adam" (roughly translates to "Three Mighty Men") Captain America and Santos attempt to capture a maniacal murderer in a Spidey mask.

Cap and Santos make a fitting team. I just feel bad for Spidey's publicist.

You can see more information and screen grabs on the always awesome COMIC BOOK LEGENDS REVEALED column (CLICK HERE).

Here are some clips from the film:

This movie looks hilarious. Seth Rogan and the rest of the cast look Aces. Anna Faris looks like she's going to steal the show with her role. Anna Faris is a master at being stupid, crazy, and still be attractive. It looks like a more Indy-take of the recently released 'Mall Cop'.

LOS CAMPEONES DE LA LUCHA LIBRE, FWAK! Animation and From Parts Unknown's Keith J. Rainville's animated feature film, is having its first English language public screening TOMORROW, February 5th, at 7:30 at the beautiful Egyptian Theatre.

We've had the great pleasure to meet FWAK!'s Lili Chin many years ago. Her enthusiasm and talent is infectious. Keith J. Rainville is one of the genuine US pioneers of Lucha Libre Pop Culture. His magazine and website, From Parts Unknown, are one of the richest resources for all things Lucha Libre.

I'm super bummed that I will not be able to attend the LOS CAMPEONES screening. But if you can attend you should! You are guaranteed a helluva evening!