This Is The End (2013)

4/5

This Is The End is a raunchy, vulgar, hilarious comedy written and directed by Seth Rogen. It is entirely his show, and he delivers the most over-the-top laughs you can imagine by going way farther than you'd expect. The plot follows two friends (Jay Baruchel and Seth Rogen) at James Franco's housewarming party when the apocalypse suddenly strikes. Our unfortunate protagonists are not taken up to heaven in the Rapture. Instead, they must fight hunger, distrust, and well-endowed demons in order to survive.

What makes it more clever than just an average comedy is that all the actors play quasi-real versions of themselves. They look the same and have the same name, but they don't behave the same way they do in real life. The best example is Michael Cera, in the most widely-divergent role of his entire career, playing himself. Even without that twist, it was still a lot of fun seeing a bunch of familiar faces in small cameos.

The cinematic properties are passable but forgettable. And nobody expects to be impressed by those things when they enter a theater to see a Seth Rogen film. Instead, the film stands on its humor, and Rogen is able to deliver side-splitting laughs. His timing is impeccable, whether we are simply witnessing bickering friends or being horrified by extravagant gross-outs and extreme sight gags. (I honestly cannot wrap my head around any reason for there to be so many demon penises on screen in any movie ever.) There were times when I finished laughing and realized I had not inhaled for the previous 30 seconds. Yes, my respiratory rate was literally 2 breaths per minute. This is an amazing movie that I highly recommend for anyone who is a fan of Seth Rogen.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/

Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008)

4/5

Zack and Miri Make a Porno is essentially the dirty version of what every upstart indie filmmaker goes through. It stars Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as two roommates who turn to making a certain type of adult movie to pay their bills. Despite being directed by Kevin Smith, the casting makes it feel like a Judd Apatow movie. Their acting, in concert with Smith's writing, give the film a realism you wouldn't think possible based on the plot. And their little arguments and amusing antics make it hilarious. But just like every Kevin Smith movie, there is one ridiculously gross moment that you don't expect and will never forget, even though it's on screen for less than a second.

But perhaps I appreciate this movie a bit more than most people might, because I know this kind of guerrilla filmmaking. I've lived it. I made my boom pole out of a golf club instead of a hockey stick and I shot at a grocery store instead of a coffee shop, but I've lived it. And I know what it's like when the people you work with become your best and closest friends. So I share a nostalgia with the movie that helps me love it. Still, I'm sure anyone who likes either Kevin Smith or Seth Rogen will love this movie too. Just be prepared for nudity and sex, because there's a lot of it.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007028/

Pineapple Express (2008)

3/5

I have never been a big fan of the stoner genre--I loathed Smiley Face--but I was actually pretty excited about Pineapple Express, mostly because it reunited James Franco with Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen from Freaks & Geeks. Judd Apatow was the saving grace behind this otherwise simple stoner comedy. As you can expect from an Apatow-produced pic, the most hilarious moments were when the characters argued with each other, as they are in real life as well. The plot was actually pretty good, considering the genre. It follows potdealer Saul (Franco) and process server Dale (Rogen) after the latter witnesses a murder that results in the unlikely duo as the murderers' next target. The movie was technically proficient, and I expected nothing less from David Gordon Green. It wasn't as poetic as his other films, but nobody was expecting it to be. All in all, it was exactly what I expected it to be, nothing more and nothing less. Feel free to watch it if you want, but you should know what you're getting into.

IMDb link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0910936/