This Is the End

Apocalypse movies have been all the rage for a couple years now. Natural calamities, zombies, vampires, any and all. What else can movies throw at an audience? Well, there's 2013's This Is the End. It certainly goes down a fresh route, having celebrities star as themselves in an end of the world story. It could be self-indulgent, it could be really dumb, but it isn't. It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in years. Oh, and it is dumb.

Having not seen his friend in over a year, Jay Baruchel flies to Los Angeles to visit Seth Rogen, looking forward to catch up and just hang out. They do just that at first, hanging out, getting high and playing video games, but eventually they end up at James Franco's housewarming party that's packed to the gills with other celebrities. Jay is less than psyched, not liking most of Seth's other friends, but that's the least of his problems. An earthquake rips apart Los Angeles, a sinkhole tearing apart the Earth in front of Franco's house, more than a few of the celebrities falling to their deaths. Jay, Seth and James are among the few survivors, forting up in Franco's house until help comes in one form or another. What's going on outside? The L.A. hills are covered in fire, and there seems to be no other survivors. Is it the Rapture? The end of the world? A zombie apocalypse? Can the group survive, maybe just avoid killing each other?

I had two trains of thought when I read about this movie in pre-production. It was going to go one of two ways. One, a self-indulgent, really stupid comedy that would be almost painful to watch. Two, a self-indulgent, really stupid comedy that would be amazing to watch. Yeah, thankfully, it ends up being the second. Of course it's self indulgent. It's a bunch of celebrities playing themselves during the apocalypse for goodness sake! It isn't smarmy or condescending in its humor. The goal from directors/writers Rogen and Evan Goldberg (worked previously together on Superbad, The Green Hornet, Pineapple Express) is to have fun and produce a lot of laughs. Judge it, criticize it for any number of reasons, but 'End' is truly entertaining and genuinely hilarious, one laugh on top of another in a 106-minute movie.

Okay, so it's celebrities playing versions of themselves if not spot-on portrayals (I'm assuming). Rogen and Goldberg's script sees all the possibilities and potential and goes to town. Joining Baruchel, Rogen and Franco as the initial survivors are Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride.They all play up those notions we think we know as an audience. Rogen is the stoner slacker, Baruchel the quirky nerd, Franco a still in the closet gay guy, Hill the angelic do-gooder, Robinson the smooth, cool black guy, and McBride as....well, McBride, the asshole friend we all have and tolerate. Rogen, Franco, Robinson and McBride all worked together in Pineapple Express, and in one way or another (film and/or TV), they've all worked with each other. Friends on-screen or off, this is what comedic chemistry should be. It's effortless, six guys just shooting and spitballing and see what sticks. They make it look easy.

Yes, there's plenty of jokes about sex, bodily function in a movie where the tone is not surprisingly pretty goofy to dumb. But mixed in with all those jokes are some moments of brilliance, genuinely smart scenes that had tears rolling down my face. Of the filthier variety is a scene between Franco and McBride that has the duo (drifting apart as friends) screaming back and forth at each other about masturbation. A scene with Harry Potter's Emma Watson is sublime, the six screwballs discussing an issue they have while she can hear just feet away, the payoff an excellent capper with Watson wielding an axe at them. The group also decides to film a homemade sequel to Pineapple Express, much of the cast already there. It's ultra-low budget charm is evident. As well, Franco's penchant for keeping movie props pays off nicely, including his camcorder from 127 Hours and a revolver from Flyboys. That's just some of the more memorable moments from the episodic apocalypse story.

While this group of six dominates screentime, there's a ridiculous amount of other actors/actresses/comedians making appearances as themselves. Michael Cera gets the filthiest part, playing on his clean-cut image and turning himself into a coke-fiend looking to get some action. Also joining him is Superbad co-star Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin) a funny scene with the duo and Hill too. Also look for Mindy Kaling, Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Kevin Hart, Martin Starr, David Krumholtz, singer Rihanna and Aziz Ansari. Oh, because that wasn't enough, Channing Tatum also makes a blink and you'll miss it appearance as himself. Like the rest of the movie, it's bizarre and comes out of left field, but like so much else, it just works. 

Here's where we sit with another comedy. I could list all the really funny scenes that cracked me up, but then you wouldn't have to see it yourself. I don't want to do that. It's a perfectly funny and smart movie with a ridiculous cast that's having a lot of fun doing what they're doing. It's on display from beginning to end, one of the best, most original comedies to hit theaters in years.

This Is the End (2013): ****/****

30 Minutes or Less

I've made no bones about my general dislike for actor Jesse Eisenberg. I feel like he plays the same character in one movie after another; a smarmy, sarcastic and whiny individual who just doesn't know when to shut up. Thankfully, it hasn't ruined a movie yet, and there's been some good ones from Adventureland to The Social Network to Zombieland. How about 2011's 30 Minutes or Less? The jury is still out.

A pizza delivery man in his mid-20s, Nick (Eisenberg) has hit a bit of a rough spot. For one, he's a pizza delivery guy, his quasi-girlfriend is moving to Atlanta, and he's gotten into a friendship-ending fight with his longtime buddy and roommate, Chet (Aziz Ansari). Well, it's about to get worse. Delivering a pizza before closing, he's kidnapped and knocked out by two D-list crooks (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson), waking up the next morning with a bomb strapped to his chest. The crooks are cash-strapped and have a plan in mind for some money...have Nick rob a bank for them. He's got about 10 hours to rob one of the banks in town and bring $100,000 back to them. If he doesn't go along with it or contacts the police? They'll blow him up with a remote detonator. The clock is ticking so Nick sees if Chet can somehow help him.

Now, I have a sick, pretty dark sense of humor. I can laugh at some really wrong, uncomfortable things. Okay, I have some limits. This comedy from director Ruben Fleischer is based on a true story with one major difference. In real life, a pizza delivery guy was killed when crooks strapped a bomb to him, the bomb exploding before he could figure out how to remove the bomb. Read about it HERE. If you can get past that issue, you'll probably enjoy this movie. I think I did. I'm not sure. Parts are really funny, making the most out of a genuinely uncomfortable situation. 'Minutes' is a good mix of thrills and laughs -- however bizarre -- with an oddball mix of a cast. You just have to get past that nasty based on a true story part.

Brace yourself. I liked Jesse Eisenberg in this one. It just took a bomb being strapped to his body for it to happen. He starts off as his smarmy self with passive aggressive one-liners, but once he's kidnapped there's some frenetic energy on display so we get to see a different side of Eisenberg. I guess I'd have some frenetic energy too with a bomb attached to my body too. Aiding the cause is the bizarre, off the wall, Odd Couple friendship between Eisenberg's Nick and Ansari's Chet. As he's shown in his comedy shows and Parks and Recreation, Ansari has a perfect ability to ad-lib and improvise at will. It's almost bizarre in its delivery, whether its his underplayed lines or the complete opposite with his freaking out, "My friend has a bomb strapped to him!" mentality. Of course, it's ridiculous because most of the time he's far too calm, but that's part of all the fun.

A couple scenes especially stand out. Following their fight, Chet struggles with what to do. A substitute teacher at a grammar school, Chet understandably LOSES IT when a bombed-up Nick walks in. His best line comes though when he finally decides to help, deciding that if he didn't he'd one day lose it while he's hanging out with his future wife and kids. "I shouldn't have let my friend explode." Deadpan perfect. The other has Chet spray painting plastic guns, singing a little song about what will happen if he didn't spray paint the guns. It's those little moments -- almost entirely from Ansari -- that produce the biggest laughs.

The rest of the cast is decent if nothing crazy. McBride seems to inspire love or hate among viewers, nothing in between. His generally filthy, similarly deadpan deliveries work for me, and I like him so as long as you know what his Dwayne character is going to be like, you'll be fine. Like Eisenberg and Ansari, McBride and Swardson have a good chemistry. The visual of the duo wearing gorilla/monkey masks while spouting their plan is pretty funny as well. Also look for Fred Ward as Dwayne's lottery-winning father, Michael Pena as a Detroit hitman brought into the mix, Dilshad Vadsaria as Chet's twin sister, Kate, and Bianca Kajilich as a stripper Dwayne meets and unknowingly puts the whole plan into motion. And yes, she's topless so there's that.    

Know what you're getting here. The humor is anywhere from stupid to sexual to violent and sometimes combinations of those three. It's only 83 minutes long so if you hate it, so be it, it's not even an hour and a half long. I didn't love it, but there's enough to recommend.

30 Minutes or Less (2011): ** 1/2 /****