Prognosis Negative on Pineapple Express

Sigh…

“That movie was hilarious.  That might just have become my new favorite comedy of all time”/”Totally.”/”It’s like someone made a movie that was my life.  Finally.” – If you just saw Pineapple Express in Milwaukee and said this when coming out of the movie, I was standing next to you while waiting for Back.  I just wanted to let you know that you’re probably not my target demographic.

Midway through Pineapple Express I needed to use the restroom.  Normally, when this familiar occurrence happens in a movie, people will wait until they feel it is the best possible point to leave and not miss much.  During this movie I thought, “meh, why not now.”  That is my general take of it as a whole.  I could have left at any point and not really missed much.  In fact, as I returned, I thought, “boy I wish I had just spent my money on a second viewing of The Dark Knight“. Knowing I was going to come back and talk about it here, I kept thinking of comments like that to make but, in the end, the movie is just another in the crowd.  The characters are mostly caricatures and the comedy, as well as the action, is generally too drawn out to make it worthwhile.  The narrow section of the public that is going to like it did not require much in the first place so it will be unfortunately successful.

A movie with this straightforward of a plot is usually character driven.  These characters were not up to it.  Seth Rogan, of Apatow fame, reprises his role as Seth Rogan.  His character is generally indistinguishable from that of Knocked-Up with a lesser quality cast.  The only noticeable difference is that his character is possibly less mature and there seems to be little or no theme or moral other than don’t get killed.  His supporting cast is less than funny at times.  James Franco’s Saul was mostly believable but most of the time unfunny.  The character of Red was aggravating and would have been better played by Will Ferrell.  Gary Cole and Rosie Perez were equally uninspired annoyances and at times a distraction. This movie cried out for a Paul Rudd moment anything to push it beyond ordinary.

Do I sound like a crotchety old man telling the kids to turn down that noise and quit smoking that marijuana?  I hope not.  I was not the only one not laughing in the theater and, while I have never been into the scene, I have found similar movies more than funny.  I liked Knocked-Up, Half Baked wasn’t bad, Fast Times at Ridgemont High was better, Dazed and Confused was great, Superbad was good, and then there is always Old School.  Go see any of these movies instead.  Old School is the movie I continually go back to when reviewing movies.  Here we find Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn at their best.  Their overbearing comedy is held in check by the comic team and Luke Wilson as the hesitant straight man gives it a quality that is seldom approached in the multitude of movies made since.  Maybe the names are too big now to get all of them in the same movie but it seems as if every movie made in that mold since is attempting to unsuccessfully live up that comedic team.

In the end there will people who like this movie.  I imagine the initial pitch was: “two guys act like children while high”.  Response: “Hey, if Seth’s in it, we trust you guys”.  Unfortunately, that vehicle can only take a film so far.  I went into this movie expecting to really enjoy it and I was disappointed by the repetitive nature of the humor and the lack of the funny lines that I expect from Rogan.  The writing was more “stupid” than it was funny.  The disappointment is not that the movie was not good, but that the writers were trying so hard to appeal to the lowest humor that they forgot that Seth Rogan can do better -nay, funnier- lines.  Looking back at the writing credits, I may have to say I have an Evan Goldberg issue.  Rogan did better work when Judd Apatow was the writer and Goldberg was not in the credits.

Like I said though some people will like this movie, claim it is the second coming, and for them I offer a line from a movie that knew how to do it- “The world needs ditch diggers too, Danny.“

Added in Post:  I wanted to bring up a movie I mentioned in the comments that I’m looking forward to: Burn After Reading. The Coen Brothers are by far a better commodity to attach yourself to than the Apatow crew.

~Forth

The Darkest Knight

So The Dark Knight was good.  With that comment I have put myself in with the majority of people that have seen it.  I want to get that out of the way now so I don’t hear complaints when I go the other direction.

As G.H.Hardy wrote “it is not worth the intelligent man’s time to be in the majority.  By definition, there already enough people to do that.”

As I said, I like it for all the same reasons that everyone else did.  The story was a roller coaster, the effects were often stellar, and of course The Joker was terrifying.  For the record, my favorite Joker line was when he asked [spoiler] how many of his friends he had killed.  When [spoiler] says six, The Joker makes that face and says “six” in such a comical way.  Outstanding.

I also had issues with parts of the movie.  Now I can not get into specifics because it is way to close to the release date to be spoiling it but I can say I got the “wow, this is long” feeling.  Now, I agree there are no parts that I would take out, unfortunately though there was one section where it really felt like they were approaching a natural end but then it was not.  This was due to choice made with the movie.  It could easily have been that length and have me not notice if it had not dropped the momentum so low at that point.  If you have seen it, you know which point I am talking about.  On The Totally Rad Show one of the hosts, Alex Albrecht, said it was “like a giant boat load of ice cream. It was all goodness but you just go, ‘I think that was maybe a little much for the ice cream.’”

Also, it was either a great idea or a mistake to see Ironman only two weeks prior to seeing The Dark Knight.  There were fewer missteps in Ironman but The Dark Knight was a bolder movie.  The genre and the release dates of the movies though lead to the inevitable comparison.  The biggest issue I have at this point is that Robert Downey Jr. does a better job than Christian Bale, and this is Bale’s second time in the roll.  Of course… It is Robert Downey Jr.  I mean.. come on.  The makers of Ironman made an excellent choice in that.  But, imagine if Ironman 2 has the advantage of a demonic villain portrayed by an Oscar nominated actor in an Oscar-worthy role.

The reality is, I would not want Bale to play Ironman and I would not want Downey to play Batman.  Likewise, the script for Ironman was, in places, better.  Bale had a couple of moments that were not very well played but in my mind they are directorial choices.  I imagine it was someone else’s idea to take his voice to that guttural level.  It was fine in Batman Begins but they took it too far in The Dark Knight.

Reissuing my statement:  I really liked this movie.  See it.  The Joker is… inexplicable.  I was not too bent out of shape when Heath Ledger passed because there are tragedies every day and I was not particularly attached to his (at least not in the same way as Back for sure) but now…  I’m so disappointed that we will not be able to see him continue to develop this role.  Further, I feel bad for whoever takes the role next.  At first, I went into the movie thinking they couldn’t make another movie with The Joker, but now I’m of the opinion that the show must go on.

~Forth

The Wild Card

Dear Heath Ledger,

I love you. I. Love. You.

Sincerely**Back.

Okay, so Forth and I really liked The Dark Knight. Actually I liked it more than he did, but then again, Heath and I go back a long ways. Sure my mother wouldn’t let me go see 10 Things I Hate About You in the theater because it included the word “hate,” but as soon as that thing was out on video, we were there, and so it began. Patrick Verona, the scene with the paintballs and Julia Stiles and the haystack…augh!!!! Sweetness. My very best friends and I have been with Heath through it all–The Patriot, A Knight’s Tale, The Order, The Four Feathers, Brokeback Mountain, I’m Not There, and finally….The Dark Knight. I can still see the Knight’s Tale movie poster tacked firmly to Em’s bedroom wall, sexily regarding us as we did each other’s make-up and burned incense and drank sparkling grape juice.

Heath, I would totally name my son after you. I’m sure Forth would happily oblige….

No other celebrity death has had such an impact. Though he should have stuck with Michelle Williams and stayed away from Mary-Kate Olsen (a twin? really?), I am extremely glad the Joker will be his lasting imprint on the face of cinema. After all, nobody really wants to go out as a gay cowboy. And screw the drug allegations and rumors swirling about his death–Heath Ledger was astoundingly gorgeous and talented and let’s face it–made The Dark Knight what it is. I am 100% certain he will be awarded an Oscar next year, and rightfully so.

As for the movie on the whole: Brilliant, especially the tunnel chase/shoot ‘em-up scene. With those actors you can’t go wrong, although I’d like to know when Batman started growling like a rabid hyena. However, his jaw is always chiseled enough that I can get past it. Basically, I will leave the rest of the movie review up to Forth, since he is better at these sorts of things.

However, I would like to issue a PDA to the citizens of Gotham City: Stop building so many skyscrapers with the g’damn huge glass windowpanes. Can you not see they are a HUGE disadvantage to your wellbeing?

**Back.