- Wow, a lot has happened since my last post on Friday. It's like that post is already obsolete. So, in the name of being on the cutting edge, here's an all-new up-to-date collection of thoughts and rantings.
- So, okay, first of all, I opened my last entry with some thoughts about the then-upcoming Olympic games. I questioned whether I and others of my generation would tune in to the games, and whether all the efforts to market the games online, on-demand, etc would succeed in attracting Gen Y, or if it was all just one more sign that, here in 2008, the Olympics lacked the sense of specialness they once had. Well, after all the reports of record ratings, both on air and online, it seems pretty clear that there is still a huge audience out there for the Games. I know for me, watching the Opening Ceremonies on Saturday morning after recording them on Friday was a wake-up call of sorts. The lavish and artistically amazing event, from the mind who brought us the likes of HERO and HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS, was surely one of the best and most awe-inspiring in the history of the Olympics. It definitely got me excited for the events to come, and also set the stage for an Olympics that does in fact come at a pretty interesting time in world history, particularly for China, who is clearly using the games as a showcase for their country. Watching the USA Basketball team take on China, with the President in attendance, you couldn't help but buy into that "big-event" feel. Even though the US decimated China, the crowd still hung on every shot attempt, and displayed immense pride in Yao Ming and co. Meanwhile, there's no doubt that the swimming events and Michael Phelps in particular have been causig a sensation. It's amazing how in a few days' time these athletes' names can enter our popular conciousness. Sure, some of us remembered who Michael Phelps was, but now everyone knows and is eagerly following his race for gold. And will any of us remember him again in two years? I don't know, but I guess that's how the Olympics work. Somehow, every four years, for some reason, we care about who wins a swimming race. It's just the way it works. And yeah, I guess I underestimated how many Gen Y'ers were ready to catch some Olympic fever. Judging from how many Facebook status changes I've seen relating to the Olympics, the TV nets who live or die by broadcasting these games may not have as much to worry about as I thought. Or, it might just be that I know a disproportionately large number of people who work at NBC. You be the judge.
- Now, just after I wrote my last post, the story broke about JOHN EDWARDS' extramarital affair. I don't have too much to say about it at this point, other than: what a $#%#. Edwards has always rubbed me the wrong way, and articles I've read about him often seemed to paint a picture of a guy with some issues laying beneath his artificially smooth-talking exterior. I just don't understan what is with these guys ... how do they think that in this day and age they have any shot of getting away with this stuff? Look, everyone should know by now: NOTHING IS SECRET in 2008. If you are a public figure, everything you do is on the record. Period. So to hear the clips of Edwards denying the affair so vehemently is honestly pretty disgusting. I don't think I even need to go into the fact that, given his wife's circumstances, the whole thing is just extra sleazy.
Now, many will look at Bill Clinton and say, hey, he survived his indiscretions when all was said and done, and is still a key figure in the Democratic party, etc. Well, the sad fact is that deciding who you like and who you don't like is not always objective. Clinton was a likable guy, and a two-term president who many respected for his leadership in office. Edwards - I don't know if he has that same kind of likability cushion, and I don't know to what extent his political career will survive this. Personally, I hate to see this kind of thing happen, but if it does, I wish that a.) all parties involved would just be upfront - you're a public figure, the truth will come out, so why hide it? - and, b.) for once, would the wife just dump their sleazeball cheating husband? No one, certainly, would think any less of them for doing so.
- Another newsworthy series of events from this weekend: the unfortunate passing of two big figures in entertainment. The first is comedian BERNIE MAC, who tragically died at only 50 years old. Mac always seemed like a cool guy, and his sitcom was always, in my mind, a nice, family-friendly thowback that never got the attention it deserved. And then, there was the death of music and showbiz legend ISAAC HAYES. Best known for his classic "Shaft" theme song, and then for his vocal talents used to give life to Chef on South Park, my favorite Hayes role was his cult-classic turn as The Duke in Escape From New York. Rarely has the villain in an action film been so badass and menacing and yet so effortlessly cool. The Duke's grandiose entrance and his subsequent faceoff with Snake Plisken are to me the stuff of action-movie legend. And yeah, there's a lot of controversy about Hayes' latter years and the whole Scientology involvement, but I won't get into that now out of respect for what the guy achieved as an entertainer. So farewell to Isaac Hayes, he will be missed, and if you disagree, then, well -- shut yo' mouth (Shaft!).
- I do want to take a quick second and comment on the recent craziness concerning STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS. If you haven't heard, Warners / Lucas have been enforcing a review embargo on the movie. Despite many critics and bloggers having seen the film, the powers that be seem to be going around and selectively asking various reviewers to pull down their reviews, depending on what screening they happened to attend. So, today's Variety has a lengthy review, whereas Harry Knowle's scathing Ain't It Cool review was unceremoniously yanked. The fact that Harry's review wa so uncharacteristically negative and brutal makes Warners' censorship that much more suspicious. I mean - the way I see it - if you don't want your movie reviewed, then DON'T SCREEN IT. To allow fans to see a film and then forbid them from talking about is to me a complete sham. Especially if no papers were signed, etc. I'm sure Warners has their reasons, but the fact is doing this only makes them look like a company desperately trying to block any negative reviews of their big-money Star Wars movie. Look, personally I had pretty low expectations for the film in the first place. It's basically a theatrical release of an animated TV pilot aimed at kids. I don't think many though this was going to be the second-coming of Empire Strikes Back or anything. But you know what, I was still at least a little excited to see it, because, hey, it was new Star Wars in the theater. At least that's something. Even with bad reviews, I still would have been curious. But now, with all of this corporate strong-arming, I seriously don't care about seeing the movie anymore. So thanks, Warners and Lucas, for seemingly doing everything possible to make me NOT want to see your movie.
- Anyways, I guess that wraps up all of this weekend's news. So without further ado ... it's time for the big review of Pinapple Express.
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS Review:
- Several years ago, a show called FREAKS AND GEEKS, in one cut-short but brilliant season, established itself as one of the greatest television series ever made - a hilarious, dramatic, and smart look at high school life that introduced us to a collection of characters who you couldn't help but root for. And even though the show was cut short after a single season, it's been a great joy to see its talented cast members and creative team go on to become some of the most up-and-coming stars in Hollywood. Judd Apatow, for a few years now, has been one of the most high-profile and prolific comedy producers, directors, and writers in the business. With KNOCKED Up, Seth Rogen became an unlikely star. With FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL, Jason Segal could be well on his way. And while the show's "geeks," from Martin Starr to Samm Levine, have seen various degrees of success, the last of the "freaks" to really take that next step has been James Franco.
Yep, James Franco. I know, he's been in bigtime movies like Spiderman and its sequels, but that never seemed like the same James Franco who first made his mark as Daniel Desario, who wasn't a conventional leading man, but an actor who was an outsider, a comedian, anyting BUT conventional. Well, that James Franco is back in Pineapple Express, teaming up with his old FnG pal Seth Rogen, and it's a return to form that's been a long time coming. In Pinapple Express, the story of an aimless stoner and his dealer getting caught up in a world of crime and mayhem. Franco and Rogen are a natural team, and make for an instant-classic buddy duo. Cheech and Chong, Dude and Walter, Harold and Kumar ... say hello to Dale and Saul. The two have the same kind of effortless yet hilarious interaction, similar to Michael Cera and Jonah Hill in Superbad ... and you can tell that once again, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg have brought a lot of those same themes from Superbad into play. This is yet another movie about male bonding, and it could have been annoying in the wrong hands, but the script and cast are just too likable for that to happen. Rogen does a great job of playing the stoner everyman, and Franco has that unique ability to play a perpetually high drug dealer and yet still be amiable and empathetic all the while.
The slightly weird thing about Pineapple Express is that, to some extent, it's a tale of two movies. What starts out as a very conversational observational comedy - a more stoned-out version of a Knocked Up or Superbad - eventually becomes and all-out, ultra-violent action parody along the lines of HOT FUZZ. Now, I really enjoyed the movie as a whole, and enjoyed both sides of it pretty much equally. But then, I love action-movie parodies when done right - anything from Hot Fuzz to Army of Darkness to the fake trailers found in the theatrical release of GRINDHOUSE. That being said, I can see someone going into this movie expecting a lightweight stoner flick and being somewhat shocked that the movie becomes dominated by so much action and violence. Still, to me that's what makes this movie that rare comedy that is both really funny and sort of epic in its ambitions. When the movie is taking things slow, the dialogue, the characters, the relationship between Dale and Saul - it all comes together really well. And then, when the movie begins to kick into overdrive, with crazy action and hilariously over the top choreography, well, that also comes together really well.
It helps that, in addition to Rogen and Franco each doing a great job and making a great comedy duo, there are a ton of great supporting cast members here as well. Danny McBride is pretty memorable here as Red, a skeezy midlevel drug dealer who absorbs an ungodly amount of physical pain and yet keeps popping back up as dimwitted and hilariously oblivious as ever. McBride slightly channels his trapped-in-his-own-mind character from THE FOOT FIST WAY, and in doing so gets some of the movie's biggest laughs. Gary Cole is awesome as a villainous crime boss - if you want an actor who the audience will love to hate and cheer when he's punched in the face ... you can't do much better than Cole. Amber Heard is pretty good as Rogen's still-in-high school girlfriend ... it's one of the film's more out-of-left-field subplots, but also one of its most interesting, and the source of some of its biggest laughs. Especially true in that it results in a great cameo-sized role for Ed Begley Jr. as the girl's pissed-off father. Meanwhile, Craig Robinson and Kevin Corrigan are great as a pair of thugs who work for Gary Cole's character. Robinson, best known as Daryl from THE OFFICE, just has natural comedic timing and delivery, and gets off some classic lines. I've been a big fan of Corrigan since the underrated GROUNDED FOR LIFE. Sure, he has that quintissential sleazy gangster-type look, but he's also hilarious when he does comedy. Great casting for both of these roles, and same goes for Rosie Perez as a tough-as-nails corrupt cop who's in on Cole's schemes. A few reliable comedic players like Joe Lo Truglio (The State), Ken Jeong (tons of Apatow movies), and Bill Hader (SNL) also show up for brief but memorable cameos. Hader actually shows up during the film's wacked-out opening scene, which flashes back to the 30's and the goverment's original experiments with pot and its effects. Strange, random, funny, but oddly appropriate in setting the stage for the rest of the movie.
But again, the heart of the movie is really the central buddy-comedy duo of Rogen and Franco. This is yet another Apatow-produced film that takes characters who would usually be portrayed as one-dimensional and makes them into living, breathing creations. At the same time, director David Gordon Green gives the movie a unique and energetic look and feel that elevates it into a fun and wild action movie in its own right. That same multi-dimensional, multiple-genre feel of Shawn of the Dead and Hot Fuzz permeates Pinapple Express. Most of all though, the movie is funny from start to finish. At first the laughs are smaller and more subtle, and then bigger and crazier as the action and violence escalate. It's an odd mix at times, and even jarring. It's strange to see what starts as an oddball buddy comedy morph into something so different as it goes on, and at times its hard not to feel that the movie is overblown, that it goes on for too long, or that its fallen in love with topping itself in terms of action when it should be reigning itself in a bit more. But to me, it worked. And that unique blend of genre and scale is what elevates Pinapple Express to one of the summer's best and funniest.
My Grade: A -
- Okay, made it through another Monday. Onward, folks.
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