Category: Seth Rogen

Categories
Christopher Guest Harry Shearer Michael McKean Movies Rob Reiner Seth Rogen

Rob Reiner: In the 35 years since Spinal Tap, we each got .82 cents

rob-reiner:-in-the-35-years-since-spinal-tap,-we-each-got.82-cents

Embed from Getty Images


It was nearly two years ago that actor-filmmaker Rob Reiner got our amps into gear with the news that documentarian Marty DiBergi would be back to chronicle the exploits of British rock band Spinal Tap. I think it’s fair to say that fans were cautiously optimistic, caught between excitement over new material from arguably the world’s favorite fictional band, and wariness that retreading on hallowed ground would somehow diminish the original. For my part, I was quickly won over with the update on DiBergi alone: that 40 years later this character was a “visiting adjunct teacher’s assistant at the Ed Wood School of Cinematic Arts.” Perfect. Well, the moment is upon us, folks — Spinal Tap II: The End Continues is out now in theaters! Interview Mag just had Seth Rogen speak with Reiner, the man who launched a thousand mockumentaries. I’ve excerpted the Spinal Tap portions:

Reiner: You can ask anything. It doesn’t have to be about the movie. It could be sex, religion, politics.

Rogen: [Laughs] Perfect. I’ll start with the movie, though. Had there been improvised comedy before This Is Spinal Tap?

Reiner: Well, onstage you had [the] Second City and such, but I don’t think anybody had done a completely improvised film. People said, “It’s your first film. Why don’t you have a script?” I said, “Because this is what I feel comfortable doing. I was raised doing improv.”

Rogen: You created a format of comedy that is still alive today.

Reiner: I had a conversation with Ricky Gervais the other day, and he was saying that it became the way he did The Office. Then Chris Guest had an idea, and that became Waiting for Guffman, which was done the same way.

Rogen: What made you want to do it?

Reiner: Over the years, people kept saying, “You’ve got to do a sequel.” We said, “We don’t want to, we’ve done it.” But then Harry [Shearer] had filed a lawsuit against the people who owned it, because, you’re going to laugh at this, but the four of us had a deal that said 40 percent of all profits will go to us. I’m not exaggerating, but over the 35 years, we each got 82 cents.

Rogen: Oh my god.

Reiner: So Harry said, “This can’t be right. We should get a little bit more with DVDs and videos and re-releases.” So he sued these companies that owned the rights, and we got back the rights.

Rogen: That’s amazing.

Reiner: Now that we had the rights back, what do we do with it? Initially we were saying, “Let it be.” Then slowly we started coming up with this idea, and we could still make each other laugh, so we started doing it.

Rogen: You wrote it in a room together?

Reiner: Yeah. We came up with ideas for scenes. You sit around and do schtick with each other—Chris calls it schnadling. We do the scene a couple of times and something funny comes out.

Then they spend some time talking about several of the other genre-defining classic films Reiner has helmed, before making their way back to Spinal Tap and how it wasn’t an immediate hit:

Reiner: No, no, no. A lot of people didn’t even get it. We screened it in Dallas, and people came up to me and said, “Why would you make a movie about a band nobody’s ever heard of and one that’s so bad?”

Rogen: They thought it was real.

Reiner: A lot of people did. Even some rockers who saw it were pissed off.

Rogen: Was there a moment where you’re like, “Oh, sh-t, it’s a f–king hit”?

Reiner: When people started quoting it. When you see things like “These go to 11” being entered into the Oxford English Dictionary as a phrase that refers to not just music, but anything that exceeds its capacity, then it’s like, okay, we’re in the zeitgeist.

[From Interview]

82 cents over 35 years?? That’s insane! I attempted reverse-engineering the math and it made my brain hurt. 40% of all profits to the four of them — Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer — and over 35 years that 40% split four ways came to 82 cents each. 82 cents multiplied by four comes to $3.28, which is 40% of $8.20. This Is Spinal Tap only made $8.20 in 35 years?! Either I’m mathing wrong (entirely possible!), or those guys were royally screwed over. If only cast member Fran Drescher had been SAG president back in 1984…

Anyway, we’re not here for the math; we’re here for the music! And several lines from the trailer were music to my ears, like the band describing the demise of their drummer: “He sneezed himself into oblivion.” It also seems like people were just champing at the bit for cameos, as I spied Paul McCartney, Elton John, and Questlove. What truly took my breath away, however, was the hair and beard art direction done on Harry Shearer. You guys, he looks like Senior Citizen Yosemite Sam. That alone is worth the price of the theater ticket!

Embed from Getty Images

Categories
Elon Musk politics Science Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen’s dig at Elon Musk during science awards ceremony got cut

seth-rogen’s-dig-at-elon-musk-during-science-awards-ceremony-got-cut




The Breakthrough Prize awards have become a hot ticket on the Hollywood calendar, with everyone from tech bros, celebrities, and Kardashians clamoring to attend the “Oscars of Science.” This year’s ceremony was held in Santa Monica on April 5 — a day of national, nay global protests — and was then available to stream on YouTube a week later. Only some insiders have let it be known that not everything from the live event made it into the version for the public. Significant cuts were made to Seth Rogen’s unscripted comments as presenter. Speaking as an at-home viewer, Rogen’s presence is always a bonus; he brings a bit of danger with his candor. So Rogen spoke some truths while co-presenting the Special Breakthrough Prize in Physics with Ed Norton, and this is reportedly how it went down:

After being introduced by host James Corden, Norton began by praising some of the tech titans in the audience — which included Breakthrough Prize co-founders Yuri Milner, Mark Zuckerberg, and Sergey Brin — for underwriting the awards. (Each recipient is given $3 million.) Emboldened by a dirty martini backstage, Rogen jumped in with a none-too-subtle reference to past attendee and current DOGE mastermind Elon Musk. “And it’s amazing that others [who have been] in this room underwrote electing a man who, in the last week, single-handedly destroyed all of American science,” he said, clearly making Norton uncomfortable. The comment underlined the irony of Silicon Valley’s increasingly cozy relationship with the Trump administration, which has cut federal science funding and defied scientific consensus. “It’s amazing how much good science you can destroy with $320 million and RFK Jr, very fast,” Rogen continued in reference to the vaccine-skeptical secretary for Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

The ad-lib landed with a thud, or “light applause,” as a visibly uncomfortable Norton joked. “I’d say that’s a smattering,” Rogen said. Those watching the event on YouTube a week later, though, wouldn’t have a clue about Rogen’s pointed barbs. The so-called “full video” was subtly edited to make it seem as if Norton’s “light applause” comment was a reference to his entrance with Rogen. The stream also cut out a throw-away joke Rogen made a few minutes later in describing the work of the physics prize winner, Gerardus ‘t Hooft of the University of Utrecht. Using the metaphor of a wheel to illustrate the concept of symmetry, Rogen said the wheel could roll either left or right — and quipped that the crowd would “roll right,” according to a source in the audience. The edited version skips over the joke and cuts straight to Norton’s response: “But that would break the symmetry.”

When asked why Rogen’s potentially embarrassing comments were excised, a spokesperson for the Breakthrough Prize Foundation said, “This year’s ceremony lasted longer than the prior few years, and several edits were made in order to meet the originally planned run time.”

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

So, it sounds like Ed Norton could stand to brush up on his improv muscles? But in all seriousness, I’m Team Rogen for riffing from the heart, no question. Bless that sassy Canadian with his razor sharp wit! If the Breakthrough Prize’s producers areshocked and surprised by Rogen’s remarks, then they haven’t done their homework. (And their “explanation” for the targeted editing was super lame.) Case in point: the 2021 Emmys where Rogen, fabulously dressed in shades of coral, flatly called out the show for not delivering on their outdoor promise, in the midst of a pandemic. Not to mention the fact that, oh yeah, Rogen is completely right about everything he said! And remember, when he made those RFK Jr digs, the latest news was about the 10,000 employees who’d been laid off across US health agencies; we now have new reporting that those massive cuts are just the beginning. Like Jane Fonda said at the SAGs, this is not a drill. We need more people to emulate Rogen, and publicly call out exactly what is happening here.

And finally, congratulations to Gerardus t’ Hooft, for winning both the physics prize, and the name game.

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon, Ryan Hartford/INSTARimages.com, Faye’s Vision/Cover Images

Categories
Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen is committed to being childfree: ‘We just don’t really want kids’

seth-rogen-is-committed-to-being-childfree:-‘we-just-don’t-really-want-kids’

Seth Rogen has worked out what he wants from his life. He works when he wants to, he writes, produces and collaborates on projects, he’s happily married and very happily childfree. Rogen has been talking about his commitment to staying childfree in recent years, and something interesting has happened – he’s gotten the kind of pushback a woman would get from saying that she doesn’t really want kids. People were genuinely mad at Rogen for repeatedly saying “I love my childfree life.” Well, Rogen covers the March issue of Esquire, and he talks about it again. He’s also talking about the LA wildfires and his love of reality television. Some highlights:

On not having kids: “People really had strong takes on it, being like, F*ck this f*cking guy. Who the f*ck does he think he is not to have kids? Well, if you hate me that much, why do you want more of me? You should only have kids if you really want kids and we just don’t really want kids. Time kept going by and the moment where we were like ‘Let’s do it!’ just kept not happening. I look at my friends with kids and honestly I feel like some of them are incredibly happy and fulfilled, and some of them seem like maybe they wish they had put a little more thought into it. I just didn’t want to be one of those people.”

On the L.A. wildfires: “It was pretty frantic,” he says. They had to evacuate from the Sunset Fire just over Hollywood, to [wife Lauren] Miller’s father’s place down the hill. “I stood on the street in front of his house, looking up at Runyon Canyon on fire, watching as the helicopters dropped water and got control of the situation. Our house was one strong gust away from burning down itself. It was intense…I feel terrible for many people I know who lost everything. I feel terrible for many more people I don’t know whose stories I’m reading about all day on social media.”

On his passion for reality TV and its stars: “I get starstruck with reality people in a way I don’t get around movie stars.”

On staying grounded in Hollywood: “My first experience in all of Hollywood was making something great [Freaks and Geeks] that no one wanted and was instantly canceled, so that was a good tone setter.”

On not getting into the LA club scene: “Once in a while, we’d go out in that world. I remember getting really drunk with Rick James one night, so that really dates the story. But that was not my lane. I felt much more comfortable around the people who were into the work element of Hollywood, who wanted to go see a movie on a Saturday night and then hang out and smoke.”

On his celebrity status: “I’ve never been someone the paparazzi were fascinated by, and people don’t really shout at me on the street, so I feel like I dodged a bullet there.”

On weed: “Weed is something that’s been very therapeutic to me and made my day-to-day journey much easier and better. It’s had an additive aspect to my life, and it’s allowed me to do all this stuff, which I really like as well.”

On the state of comedy: “The complaint that comedy’s harder than it used to be is not a valid complaint. Maybe it was too easy before. And why should it be? Why shouldn’t it be hard? I like that my job is hard, because I’m trying to do something that requires a huge amount of resources and people’s time and energy…What do you wish you could say? What do you feel has been taken from you? It’s always funny when people are like: Oh, they could never make the Diversity Day episode of The Office today. You can still watch it.”

[From Esquire]

I’ve enjoyed everything he’s said about being childfree, and I actually enjoy that a man is briefly getting the kind of treatment reserved for childfree women too. He’s really pushing back on it too, like how dare you judge me! What he says about the state of comedy – I agree, and I also think the “you can’t say all of these offensive things anymore” comedy is so cheesy and lame. I would love to smoke with him and watch a movie, honestly.

Cover courtesy of MARK SELIGER for GQ. Additional photos courtesy of Cover Images.

Categories
health Illness Lauren Miller Seth Rogen

Lauren Miller had a brain aneurysm removed after it was found by a full body MRI

lauren-miller-had-a-brain-aneurysm-removed-after-it-was-found-by-a-full-body-mri

Embed from Getty Images


In 2012 Lauren Miller and her husband Seth Rogen started a foundation brilliantly named Hilarity for Charity that advocates for brain health and research, particularly as it relates to Alzheimer’s and dementia. The impetus came from the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s that Lauren’s mother Adele received at 55, as well as other close family members who have suffered from the two diseases. In light of her family history, Lauren has been proactive about screening for potential issues, which led to the discovery of an aneurysm in her brain in 2018. While speaking at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery Visionary Ball, Lauren revealed that she had the aneurysm removed in a procedure last year, after MRI images showed it was starting to grow:

She elected to have a full body MRI because of family history: Lauren, who was inspired to form the nonprofit Hilarity for Charity to raise money for dementia care, research, and education due to her family history, said she decided to get a full body MRI five years ago. She noted that she made the decision “to take a deeper look at anything that could possibly be lurking inside me that would affect my longevity,” and the doctors were able to flag down a potential problem.

The MRI revealed a small aneurysm: “They found, of course, this sort of aneurysm in my head,” Lauren shared. “So of course, this was terrifying information, and made me think of my great-grandmother, whose fate I certainly didn’t want to mimic. Fortunately, it was relatively small, and I did what the doctors recommended that I do, which is have annual MRIs [to] track the size,” she continued. “It remained small, until it didn’t.”

Four years later the aneurysm grew: She said that doctors noticed the aneurysm started growing in her brain in the spring of 2022 — four years after they found it. Lauren revealed she immediately connected with UCLA neurosurgeon Dr. Geoffrey Colby, who had “Answered every single question” that she had, and made her feel “comfortable” about the procedure ahead to remove the aneurysm. She eventually underwent the procedure, and she’s had several follow-up appointments since then to make sure her brain remains healthy.

Coping with humor: In February, Lauren and Seth told PEOPLE that humor is “absolutely part of how we cope with things” after caring for Lauren’s mother Adele, who was diagnosed with genetic early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 55. “I’m lucky I live with a very funny person,” Lauren continued. “And as mom said back then, I’m funny sometimes too. For us, comedy is just sort of around and is absolutely part of how we cope with things naturally, whether we’re aware of it or not.”

Know your genetic risk factors: “Don’t be afraid to deep dive into that,” she said. “Because there are things that you can do to modify your genetics and to make lifestyle changes and live a brain-healthy life and potentially either delay or even maybe even prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s. The one thing that I urge people is to talk to their doctors about their genetics and understand what it is that is inside of them that is going to affect their brains as they age, and not be afraid of that information …” Lauren added. “We should be talking about caring for our brains, and it shouldn’t be scary.”

[From People]

But Lauren, it is scary and I am afraid of that information! I’ve had headaches my whole life (I don’t think they’re the same as the ones the Mayo Clinic describes on their brain aneurysm page, but last I checked I’m not a doctor). My parents had me checked out as a kid and nothing ever showed up on the tests and screenings. As an adult who still gets the headaches, my parents beg me all the time to have my head looked at again, but honestly I feel like whenever I bring it up to a doctor they say “take Advil” or if I say I do take Advil they say “switch to Aleve” or, the perennial favorite, “do you have your period?” Then I’ve spent $30-$80 to continue taking Advil like I was doing on my own, and how much more money would it cost to push for an MRI that my insurance will probably deem unnecessary, and have I mentioned how much I hate the healthcare system in this country, and I have ANOTHER HEADACHE NOW.

In the spirit of Lauren’s enthusiasm for coping with comedy, here’s a story about the type of dementia my grandmother had. When my grandfather, her husband of 63 years passed away, the dementia conveniently took all her pain away. The death just did not register at all. I remember sitting shiva after the funeral, and all our family and friends were going up to her to give condolences and say how sorry they were for her loss. She smiled and thanked them, but then she turned to me, positively giddy, and said “I haven’t been this popular since I was sweet sixteen!” Bless. And later if we ever tried to bring up directly that my grandfather had died, she’d immediately refute it. “Nonsense, would I be eating ice cream if he were dead?!” I’ll have a scoop of what she’s having, please.

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and Getty

Categories
health Illness Lauren Miller Seth Rogen

Lauren Miller had a brain aneurysm removed after it was found by a full body MRI

lauren-miller-had-a-brain-aneurysm-removed-after-it-was-found-by-a-full-body-mri

Embed from Getty Images


In 2012 Lauren Miller and her husband Seth Rogen started a foundation brilliantly named Hilarity for Charity that advocates for brain health and research, particularly as it relates to Alzheimer’s and dementia. The impetus came from the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s that Lauren’s mother Adele received at 55, as well as other close family members who have suffered from the two diseases. In light of her family history, Lauren has been proactive about screening for potential issues, which led to the discovery of an aneurysm in her brain in 2018. While speaking at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery Visionary Ball, Lauren revealed that she had the aneurysm removed in a procedure last year, after MRI images showed it was starting to grow:

She elected to have a full body MRI because of family history: Lauren, who was inspired to form the nonprofit Hilarity for Charity to raise money for dementia care, research, and education due to her family history, said she decided to get a full body MRI five years ago. She noted that she made the decision “to take a deeper look at anything that could possibly be lurking inside me that would affect my longevity,” and the doctors were able to flag down a potential problem.

The MRI revealed a small aneurysm: “They found, of course, this sort of aneurysm in my head,” Lauren shared. “So of course, this was terrifying information, and made me think of my great-grandmother, whose fate I certainly didn’t want to mimic. Fortunately, it was relatively small, and I did what the doctors recommended that I do, which is have annual MRIs [to] track the size,” she continued. “It remained small, until it didn’t.”

Four years later the aneurysm grew: She said that doctors noticed the aneurysm started growing in her brain in the spring of 2022 — four years after they found it. Lauren revealed she immediately connected with UCLA neurosurgeon Dr. Geoffrey Colby, who had “Answered every single question” that she had, and made her feel “comfortable” about the procedure ahead to remove the aneurysm. She eventually underwent the procedure, and she’s had several follow-up appointments since then to make sure her brain remains healthy.

Coping with humor: In February, Lauren and Seth told PEOPLE that humor is “absolutely part of how we cope with things” after caring for Lauren’s mother Adele, who was diagnosed with genetic early-onset Alzheimer’s disease at age 55. “I’m lucky I live with a very funny person,” Lauren continued. “And as mom said back then, I’m funny sometimes too. For us, comedy is just sort of around and is absolutely part of how we cope with things naturally, whether we’re aware of it or not.”

Know your genetic risk factors: “Don’t be afraid to deep dive into that,” she said. “Because there are things that you can do to modify your genetics and to make lifestyle changes and live a brain-healthy life and potentially either delay or even maybe even prevent dementia or Alzheimer’s. The one thing that I urge people is to talk to their doctors about their genetics and understand what it is that is inside of them that is going to affect their brains as they age, and not be afraid of that information …” Lauren added. “We should be talking about caring for our brains, and it shouldn’t be scary.”

[From People]

But Lauren, it is scary and I am afraid of that information! I’ve had headaches my whole life (I don’t think they’re the same as the ones the Mayo Clinic describes on their brain aneurysm page, but last I checked I’m not a doctor). My parents had me checked out as a kid and nothing ever showed up on the tests and screenings. As an adult who still gets the headaches, my parents beg me all the time to have my head looked at again, but honestly I feel like whenever I bring it up to a doctor they say “take Advil” or if I say I do take Advil they say “switch to Aleve” or, the perennial favorite, “do you have your period?” Then I’ve spent $30-$80 to continue taking Advil like I was doing on my own, and how much more money would it cost to push for an MRI that my insurance will probably deem unnecessary, and have I mentioned how much I hate the healthcare system in this country, and I have ANOTHER HEADACHE NOW.

In the spirit of Lauren’s enthusiasm for coping with comedy, here’s a story about the type of dementia my grandmother had. When my grandfather, her husband of 63 years passed away, the dementia conveniently took all her pain away. The death just did not register at all. I remember sitting shiva after the funeral, and all our family and friends were going up to her to give condolences and say how sorry they were for her loss. She smiled and thanked them, but then she turned to me, positively giddy, and said “I haven’t been this popular since I was sweet sixteen!” Bless. And later if we ever tried to bring up directly that my grandfather had died, she’d immediately refute it. “Nonsense, would I be eating ice cream if he were dead?!” I’ll have a scoop of what she’s having, please.

Embed from Getty Images

photos credit: Jeffrey Mayer / Avalon and Getty

Categories
Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen gets ‘active enjoyment’ from being childfree, it ‘has helped me succeed’

seth-rogen-gets-‘active-enjoyment’-from-being-childfree,-it-‘has-helped-me-succeed’

Seth Rogen has been married to his wife Lauren Miller for nearly twelve years. They don’t have children, they have dogs and busy careers. Seth has a bunch of side-hustles in addition to his Hollywood career as an actor, writer and producer. Seth is 40 years old and he and Lauren made the decision to just… be childfree. He’s been asked about it before, not with the consistency with which a 40-year-old actress would be asked, but still – he acknowledges flat-out that he’s able to live the life he lives with all its freedom because he doesn’t have kids.

In their thriving era. Seth Rogen revealed he has no regrets about choosing not to have kids with wife Lauren Miller.

“That has helped me succeed as well, definitely,” the actor, 40, shared during an appearance on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast, which was posted on Tuesday, March 7. “There’s a whole huge thing I’m not doing, which is raising children.”

The writer, who tied the knot with Miller, 41, in 2011 after seven years of dating, defended the decision not to expand his family.

“Some people want kids. Some people don’t want kids,” he continued. “Honestly, you just are told, you go through life, you get married, you have kids. That’s what happens. And me and my wife, neither of us were like that. Honestly, the older we get, the more happy and reaffirmed we are with our choice to not have kids.”

Rogen noted that not becoming parents has allowed him and Miller to do “whatever” they want, adding, “We are in the prime of our lives. We are smarter than we’ve ever been, we understand ourselves more than we ever have, we have the capacity to achieve a level of work and a level of communication and care for one another, and a lifestyle we can live with one another, that we’ve never been able to live before.”

He concluded: “Me and my wife seem to get a lot more active enjoyment out of not having kids than anyone I know seems to get out of having kids.”

[From Yahoo]

I’m including a clip below and one of the most important points he makes is that “Some people want kids, some people don’t want kids, I think a lot of people have kids before they even think about it.” Very true. It’s like he said – a lot of people just buy into this idea that this is what you’re supposed to want, this is what you’re supposed to do, you’re supposed to get married and have kids. Now, I’m sure a lot of people do genuinely want to be parents and he’s not saying that the whole Parenthood Industrial Complex is broken – he’s just saying he opted out and he’s happy with his decision, and everything he’s seen as he gets older reaffirms his decision.

It’s rare I hear a man asked this question publicly so it’s refreshing for me to see Rogen answer this—something I’m rarely asked but I see women my age asked regularly. My friends rarely asked cuz they see my life makes sense for me. pic.twitter.com/hVku9McD4g

— Paul Bae (@MrPaulBae) March 11, 2023

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

Categories
Seth Rogen

Seth Rogen: Marvel movies are ‘all kind of geared towards kids, you know?’

seth-rogen:-marvel-movies-are-‘all-kind-of-geared-towards-kids,-you-know?’

Seth Rogen is currently promoting his collaboration with Airbnb, plus he’s part of the now Oscar-nominated Spielberg film The Fabelmans. He’s also promoting The Boys, which he executive produces. You get the idea – while Rogen might sound, act, look and smell like a dude who smokes weed all day, he’s actually got a lot going on, and that’s why he’s been giving so many interviews recently. Rogen made news for talking about Marvel movies and how he thinks Superbad (which he co-wrote) was the last great high school movie. People have some thoughts about all of that. Some highlights from multiple interviews:

He wouldn’t do a Freaks and Geeks revival: “I don’t think anyone would do it. It’s so rare that you do something in your career that is actually just viewed as good. I know enough now not to f— with that, to just let it be good and not try to go revisit it. And just let it exist.”

His ‘Fabelmans’ costar Gabriel LaBelle loves Superbad. “What’s crazy is that Gabe LaBelle is like, 19 years old and his and his friends’ favorite movie is Superbad… So it never changed for some reason. No one’s made a good high school movie since then.”

On Marvel movies: In a new interview with Total Film magazine, Rogen admitted that “The Boys” would “not exist or be interesting” without the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but that doesn’t mean he watches Marvel movies.

Marvel movies are too geared towards kids: “I think that Kevin Feige is a brilliant guy, and I think a lot of the filmmakers he’s hired to make these movies are great filmmakers. But as someone who doesn’t have children… It is [all] kind of geared toward kids, you know? There are times where I will forget. I’ll watch one of these things, as an adult with no kids, and be like, ‘Oh, this is just not for me.’”

He still believes ‘The Boys’ owes a debt of gratitude to Marvel: “Truthfully, without Marvel, ‘The Boys’ wouldn’t exist or be interesting. I’m aware of that. I think if it was only Marvel [in the marketplace], it would be bad. But I think it isn’t – clearly. An example I’m always quoting is, there’s a point in history where a bunch of filmmakers would have been sitting around, being like, ‘Do you think we’ll ever make a movie that’s not a Western again? Everything’s a Western! Westerns dominate the f–king movies. If it doesn’t have a hat and a gun and a carriage, people aren’t going to go see it anymore.’ The situation, sadly, is that we now have two separate fields: There’s worldwide audiovisual entertainment, and there’s cinema. They still overlap from time to time, but that’s becoming increasingly rare. And I fear that the financial dominance of one is being used to marginalize and even belittle the existence of the other.”

[From People & Variety]

The Superbad thing – Rogen apparently said it with a laugh, like he was joking, so I don’t believe he thinks Superbad was really the last great high school movie. Especially not when Lady Bird exists. And Booksmart. The kids are also saying Project X, but I’ve never seen that. As for what he says about Marvel… I’m sure his nuanced take will be accepted and mulled over respectfully, right? Or will the Marvel youths scream that he’s an old has-been who needs to be put in a wood chipper with Martin Scorsese??

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.