Steez at the Movies

Watching a couple make out at the coffee shop. Now that’s a way to spend a Saturday night. Oh, cute! They just took a sip out of the other’s coffee! Oh, wait… she doesn’t like his as much as her. Budding love.

It’s been quite some time since the last installment of Steez at the Movies and per usual, you can thank my lacking commitment to write anything. I haven’t had a drought of movie viewing experiences. In fact, this might be one of my more active movie watching stretches of the year. In the time since I last wrote a review, I’ve witnessed: My favorite movie of the year (In Bruges), Aliens (helping me further understand and admire the ascent of James Cameron, the quality action based blockbuster pioneer he was/is), The Dark Knight (I think I’m still processing my thoughts on this one. Just too damn much to the about), the most failed attempt to tell a story in an odd, compelling way (I’m Not There, which boasted a brilliant OST. Of course, duh.), a “think it’s going to be decent because of its cast but turns out being atrocious” movie (The United States of Leland,) and most recently Pineapple Express.

God, I love back-story, recaps and lead-in.

Pineapple Express is latest brutally funny, accurate presentation of a movie to a smart (yet, crude, yet, sophomoric as shit), easily disinterested and/or bored audience churned out by the Apatow Machine (is it just me, or is Apatow’s and his gang’s brand of humor is the closest marriage of Family Guy and South Park humor that’s present in the current landscape of comedy. THAT, is a blog post. But first, must finish this). It is also the first stoner movie to be certified and endorsed by yours truly, since Half Baked (Half Baked was in 1997. Think about it. Fuck you, Harold and Kumar).

I believe I would’ve enjoyed this movie even if I’d bought into the hype, the viral campaigns, the stoned James Franco interviews. It’s that of that quality, I assure you.

It’s not the better than anticipated box office receipts its going to register, the next progression of a red-hot team, the sure-to-be-great DVD extras or source of the latest craze of movie line spewing that sticks in my mind about this flick.

What makes me ultimately enjoy and respect this movie is that it’s the culmination (to this point) of a shitload of hard work, failed projects and growing prowess for a group of actors who have been in this game since their early childhood. A dream mixture of the cheesy action-plots from the 80’s, an accurate depiction of stoners and a budget (for some pretty cool fx, all things considered). Whereas I did not laugh as heartily as the masses at some points and think that there were some definite “trying too fucking hard to make someone, anyone laugh” moments… there were a few moments (none of which I can remember right now. Go figure.) where I chuckled to a quiet theater.

Also, I find it is important to inform you that perhaps the best element of this movie is the casting/acting/costumes of the secondary characters (the bad guys, namely the henchmen). Danny McBride, Craig Robinson (who, I guarantee you will either squander his upcoming fame-burst or ride it to embarrassment ala Ice Cube) and the ALWAYS amazing Kevin Corrigan.

I’ve yet to establish and don’t plan to stick to any sort of scoring system but I award this movie a B+. Oh and yeah, I’d like to meet that Seth Rogen. There, I said it.