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): ****/****

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

First appearing in the public eye in the short-lived but much-loved Freaks and Geeks, Seth Rogen has perfected the role of the stoner, lazy, pretty regular guy. In doing so, he has basically split audiences right down the middle. Do you love his sarcastic, sometimes spastic delivery? Or does it drive you nuts, making you hate him for trying so hard but not getting laughs? I lean more toward the love. A different brand of humor, one on display in 2008's Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Friends since they were in the first grade together, Miri (Elizabeth Banks) and Zack (Rogen) have fallen on some especially tough times. Sharing an apartment together, the platonic friends don't have enough money to pay for any of their bills, and the next month's rent is due right around the corner. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and Zack has a plan. What if they starred, produced and directed in their own self-made porno and sold it to all the people from their graduating class in high school? With no real other options, Miri agrees so Zack assembles a ragtag bunch of performers and crew to film their lowest of budget pornos. Could the plan actually work?

Now let's spell things out. An R-rated comedy from generally pretty filthy director Kevin Smith about the filming of an amateur porn. If you haven't figured it out by now, this movie is downright filthy. The squeamish or shy need not seek this movie out. It still manages to be low-key and on a smaller scale. Much of the humor -- with an improvised feeling -- comes from Rogen and Banks simply riffing back and forth trying to come up with a name for their porn. Their original choice is a Star Wars knock-off, the aptly titled 'Star Whores' with lots of potential for sequels, but things out of their control force them to improvise. Think about it. Take a movie, any movie, and try to come up with a play on words, dirty version of that title. It's easier than you think.

Playing the title characters, Rogen and Banks were great choices to play the longtime platonic friends who haven't done quite what they wanted to in the 10 years since high school graduation. Chemistry in a comedy can be a forgotten thing left along the roadside, but Smith made two wise choices picking this duo. Obviously for one, it helps that they're funny. Rogen as Zack has his big outbursts, his over the top antics, but I've always thought Rogen is better when he's underplaying a scene with a casual, even quiet delivery. Banks too is one of the best comedic actresses around, fully capable of holding her own with the guys, even when things get pretty filthy. The funny aspect is a given -- a true must if a comedy wants to succeed -- but even when the story gets a tad on the serious side, Rogen and Banks have that easy-going banter that speaks to a long friendship with very little in the way of secrets.

Their cast and crew provides some of the other biggest laughs, starting with Craig Robinson as Delaney, Zack's co-worker at a coffee shop who bankrolls the porn in hopes of getting to see any naked woman other than his wife. Robinson is one of the funniest actors around, and he doesn't disappoint in this supporting part. There's also Smith regulars Jeff Anderson (Randal in Clerks) as Deacon, the cameraman, and Jason Mewes (Jay) as Lester, a regular guy with a "big" talent. Actual porn star Katie Morgan plays Stacey, a strip club waitress turned porn star, infamous porn star Traci Lords plays Bubbles, a stripper specializing in bachelor parties, and Ricky Mabe as Barry, a classically trained actor who finds a niche in the cast. Stealing every scene he's in, Justin Long plays Brandon St. Randy, a gay porn star Zack meets at a high school reunion, giving them the idea for his own porn production.

The best laughs to come from the actual production of Zack and Miri's porno, a story-less sequence of sex scenes set in the coffee house Zack and Delaney work in. Zack "writes" a script with some hilariously awkward lines -- delivered awkwardly and often like they're being read aloud -- and situations developing. Mewes and Morgan have one of the most clumsy dialogue scenes ever producing some great laughs, but it's Rogen and Miri's scene that had the biggest laughs. Zack's delivery man is delivering some cream to Miri's coffee house, and let the double entendres begin! The failed Star Whores plot delivers too, the cast questioning if Luke and Leia should sleep together, if Darth Vader can be a girl, and should Obi-Wan-Kenobi get some action.

The movie is genuinely funny from the get-go, and I liked it and will be recommending it. However, the last 30 minutes taps the brakes some as Zack and Miri struggle with feelings for each other they didn't know they had. It's not exactly a surprising twist in the story, but it sure is slow-moving. More than a little predictable, it's just not as funny as the first 70 minutes. Still worth checking out, but not the ending you're looking for.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno <---trailer (2008): ** 1/2 /****

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

Rags to riches stories, the American dream at its best.  Musicians, athletes, movie stars, so many seem to follow a similar career arc. Whole shows like VH1's Behind the Music followed an almost identical show about rock stars.  Meteoric rise to fame, brief period at the top, and landslide to the bottom.  Movies like Ray and Walk the Line told the true stories of Ray Charles and Johnny Cash, and as was the case with all of the above mentioned things, they were just begging to be spoofed.  It's just too easy not to.  That's where 2007's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story steps in.

In this not so thinly veiled dig at Johnny Cash and Walk the Line (and on a bigger level anything concerning music), every one and every thing in the music business is fair game.  Starring as Dewey Cox is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood -- drama or comedy -- John C. Reilly. Starting with Reilly, the talent involved here is downright impressive including writer Judd Apatow and a huge cast that make spot-on cameos and fill out the supporting roles.  Both equally stupid and smart, this is just a funny movie, pure and simple.

At the young age of 6, Dewey Cox accidentally slices his brother in two at the waist when a machete fight (yes, a machete fight) goes horrifically wrong.  With that trauma hanging over his head, Dewey grows up, turning to music as an outlet.  He takes to it right away, and when he's kicked out of the house at 14 by his resentful father, Dewey (O'Reilly) tries to get into the music business. He skyrockets to the top with his hit song, Walk Hard <---music video, and is on the way to the top.  But his climb to the top comes at a price, and it's only a matter of time before you reach the summit, and there's no way to go but down.  For Dewey, it's a big drop.

Playing Dewey, Reilly gives him this sort of bumpkin charm where he's beyond stupid one second but genuinely funny the next.  He borders that fine line between over the top, idiotic stereotype and a character you actually like.  Reilly is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood right now, combining really broad physical/slapstick humor (Dewey's go-to move when angry is ripping sinks out of the wall) with subtle line deliveries ("I think I'm doing okay for a 15-year old with a wife and a baby").  Helping the character and his rise and fall is that the music is genuinely good.  Sure, the lyrics are usually a joke, but they sound good, especially Walk Hard.  

Following Dewey's career, it's not just Johnny Cash that is in line for some digs.  Dewey goes through phases of country, folk, punk rock, psychedelic rock, disco, and a couple others I'm probably forgetting.  These are some of the movie's most inspired moments.  Dewey becomes a Bob Dylan knock-off (watch/listen HERE) in trying to stay relevant, doing a spot-on impression of Dylan.  We meet Elvis (The White Stripes' Jack White), Buddy Holly (Frankie Muniz), and in the movie's far and away best scene, Dewey visiting the Beatles in India in 1968 during their psychedelic phase.  The Beatles are going through some internal struggles (a rift as Dewey calls it) which produce some of the movie's best laughs.  Watch it HERE. Jack Black plays Paul, Paul Rudd is John, Justin Long is George, and Jason Schwartzman plays Ringo. 

With a story that covers over 50 years, there's a fair share of characters that Dewey comes across during his up and down career.  Just about every comedic actor around gets a scene or two in this flick.  Playing Dewey's long-suffering band are Tim Meadows (his running bit about introducing Dewey to new drugs is priceless), Chris Parnell and Matt Besser. SNL star Kristen Wiig plays Dewey's wife who he marries (at 14) when she's 12 while Jenna Fischer is the true love of his life and fellow singer/performer Darlene. David Krumholtz is his one-note manager, Raymond J. Barry his resentful father, Harold Ramis and Martin Starr as Jewish record execs, Craig Robinson as a rival club singer, and many, many more recognizable faces. Even look for musicians like Eddie Vedder, Lyle Lovett and Jewel making appearances as themselves.

Parts of the movie don't work as well as others, but that's to be expected with a comedy.  It can be hard sustaining that frenetically funny pace over 90-plus minutes. Overall, Walk Hard avoids that pretty well for about an hour.  But when the story hits 1976 and the disco era, the pacing hits a major roadblock.  It knows where it wants to end up but not quite how to get there.  That last half hour is a tad on the slow side without the laughs.  Balancing it out though, that first hour is about as funny as a comedy can be.  It works out in the end, and there's just too much talent here to pass on this movie.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story <---trailer (2007): ***/****

Hot Tub Time Machine

Sometimes all it takes is a movie title to draw you in.  It doesn't matter who is starring or who is directing, what the story is or if it's a drama, comedy, action, or romantic comedy.  The title can say everything you need to know before you see one scene from a trailer.  I was originally skeptical of this flick, thinking it looked like one of the stupidest movies I'd ever heard of.  But after more than a few positive reviews from people I have common interests in with movies, I caved and watched 2010's Hot Tub Time Machine.

When a movie's title is Hot Tub Time Machine, do you need to know anything else?  You're not going in to this movie as a viewer thinking you're about to see Citizen Kane or The Godfather.  What completely caught me by surprise was that even with its fair share of stupid, gross-out humor, 'Time Machine' is a genuinely funny movie.  It feels like a throwback to a lot of the raunchy comedies that are so often associated with the 1980s with its mix of John Hughes comedy and Back to the Future like situations.  A classic it is not, but certain scenes made me laugh until I cried.  Any movie that does that is okay in my book.

After drifting apart over the years, three high school friends, Adam (John Cusack), Nick (Craig Robinson) and Lou (Rob Corddry) reunite for one huge weekend fling. With Adam's nerdy nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) along for the adventure, they head to Kodiak Valley, a ski resort they visited often as high schoolers with generally raucous results. Partying in their suite's hot tub, they all pass out, waking up the next morning to find they've gone back in time to 1986 on a weekend they'd visited in the past.  The four friends must decide what to do, not miss with history and try to get back to 2010 or have some fun with this predicament.  At first, they decide to do exactly what they did the same weekend back in 1986, but what's the fun in that?  Enjoy yourselves!

Subtle humor this is not, but if you've made it this far into a review of a movie called Hot Tub Time Machine I guess you know that by now.  Even with the stupid humor, the laughs come from some great nods to classic 80s movies, and of course the crew's general confusion as to how exactly they've traveled back in time to 1986.  If that wasn't enough, I'll recommend this movie for one line and one line only.  Everything else is just gravy because it is one of the most flawlessly delivered lines I've ever seen.  When they figure out what's going on, Robinson states in a deadpan voice "It must be a...hot tub time machine" right as he looks up at the audience.  Watch it HERE. A movie that knows how ridiculous it is and embraces it always gets points from me.

When I first saw the trailer, everything looked normal for a raunchy R-rated comedy with one major exception.  John Cusack? Really? You've got no other offers on the table.  An iconic actor from the 1980s, he somehow seems out of place here and just doesn't provide many laughs.  He looks to be sleepwalking through the part.  Thankfully, Robinson (one of the best comedic actors around right now) and Corddry are there to pick up the slack.  Robinson's Nick is dealing with his long-time girlfriend cheating on him with some hilarious results while Corddry is the self-proclaimed asshole of the group because every group of friends has one.  It's their delivery, their physicality, everything works for these two.  Duke's Jacob generally plays straight man but gets some great laughs anyways with his subtle deliveries of some great lines.  Check out IMDB's memorable quotes for just a sampling.

Now it is a time travel movie so you've got those issues that any movie that's ever dealt with time travel...yes, even in a comedy.  By going back in time, can you change the future like Marty McFly?  Will one little thing epically change the course of time?  Of course, there's the Back to the Future references, an excellent, hilarious analysis of the first Terminator movie and how it applies, and a running gag with a bellhop (Crispin Glover in a perfect supporting part) who we know loses his right arm, but not how. It's only a matter of time before it happens, and when it is revealed, it doesn't disappoint.  On top of it all, there's Chevy Chase as the all-knowing janitor who knows exactly what's going on but refuses to let anyone in on it. He's in the movie maybe 8 minutes total, and he steals every scene he's in.

I don't know what else to say.  More than pleasantly surprised with this movie that I assumed would be one of the worst I'd ever seen.  Sure, there's some glitches, and not all the jokes work but a majority of them do.  Entertaining, hilarious, and highly quotable.  Highly recommended.

Hot Tub Time Machine <---trailer (2010): ***/****

Pineapple Express

Last week, I wrote about the buddy cop movie, and I'm treading on familiar ground here with another buddy movie, albeit of a different variety; the stoner buddy movie with 2008's Pineapple Express.  Think of this movie as a newer Cheech and Chong movie with a lot more action and gunplay.  But the biggest thing about the flick is that it's surprisingly sweet in developing the all-important buddy relationship.

Stars Seth Rogen and James Franco first worked together in producer Judd Apatow's Freaks and Geeks, one of the great under-appreciated shows ever.  Teaming them together is a decision that helps this movie rise above any number of stupid stoner action comedies.  For the most part, the cast just clicks and works well together.  By the end though, it just goes too far with an action-packed finale.  I realize the story isn't supposed to be believable, but it just gets crazier and crazier as the situation gets worse and worse.  Enough of that for now, here's the story summary.

Dale Denton (Rogen) is a process server dating a high school senior, Angie (Amber Heard), without much in the way of a care or worry in his day-to-day life.  One day after visiting his pot dealer, Saul (Franco), Dale goes to serve Ted Jones (Gary Cole), who Saul has revealed is his dealer's supplier.  Dale thinks nothing of it -- cool coincidence -- and heads off to serve him.  Sitting outside Jones' house to make sure he's there, Dale sees a cop (Rosie Perez) head in, and together the two shoot a man point-blank several times in the head.  Dale freaks out, flicking a roach out the window, but Ted and the cop find the roach and know its a brand he has sold to only one dealer.  Dale quickly figures this out and heads to warn Saul, and together they head out on the run.  Jones put two of his men on it, Budlofsky (Kevin Corrigan) and Matheson (Craig Robinson), to take them out, but that's just the start as Dale and Saul become unknowing and unwilling participants in an epic drug war.

The only thing I didn't enjoy with the movie was that last part, the epic drug war.  Cole's Ted Jones is trying to push his Asian rivals out the door -- hence the opening murder -- and starts to think that Dale and Saul are working for the Asians.  The last 30 minutes is an orgy of over-the-top slow motion violence that drags on for far too long.  If it wasn't such a long sequence, it could have worked, but it just keeps going and going.  There are some funny lines and one great entrance, but these moments are lost in a sea of action, shooting, and blood squibs.  The finale makes up for this -- watch it HERE -- as three key characters discuss how ludicrous what just happened actually was.  The scene was improvised, and it's one of the great moments to come out of this movie.

Adding to the great chemistry between Rogen and Franco is Danny McBride as Red, Saul's supplier.  A master of improv, McBride is hysterical in every scene he's in, including my favorite line...watch it HERE.  This trio has an odd dynamic together that just works, plain and simple.  Dale at first doesn't want to get too close to Saul, but they end up becoming fast friends as they run for their lives.  Then throw in Red, the seemingly indestructible third member of the group, and you've got a winner.  The action scenes with these three are inspired because they're not action stars, like this fight in Red' apartment.  The ending leaves a door open for a sequel, and I'm for it.  You don't even need a script, just these three improving for two hours.

In his other movies, I've never been a huge fan of Rogen, and I can't figure out why.  His laugh bugs me, but there's something else.  As Dale though, I really like him and his character.  Seeing this unlikeliest of action heroes provide some of the funniest moments, especially this car chase.  His partner in crime, Franco, has been doing almost exclusively dramatic roles since Freaks and Geeks, but as Saul he shows he has quite a knack for comedy, and I hope he sticks with it.  Saul is an inspired character and with McBride's Red makes the most even better than it should be.

There are some issues with the rest of the cast, especially Cole who is underused as a villain and Perez seems an odd choice to be the badass cop.  Corrigan and Robinson have some great moments as an odd pairing of a hit team, but they get lost in the shuffle.  That's the big flaw in the movie as a whole, there's too much going on in terms of characters, story, and ridiculous action.  The movie is at its best when dealing with Dale and Saul's unlikely friendship, and whenever Danny McBride comes onscreen.  See the movie for them and skip the action-packed finale.

Pineapple Express <----trailer (2008): ***/****