God’s Vajoojoo Tastes Like Semi-Glorious ‘Pineapple Express’ in Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen Stoner Film

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 22:01:00 -0700

CHICAGO – If god had a vajoojoo, Judd Apatow and company think it’d taste something like smoking “Pineapple Express”. There’s no question “Pineapple Express” is ultimately a stoner film, but is it the ultimate stoner film of our decade?

Always the most difficult proposition in a comedy is maintaining its comedic pacing with consistency.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

A comedy’s goal is to sidesplittingly laugh your socks off from start to finish (and even after the credits roll). So often, though, a semi-successful comedy will instead feel like a humorous rollercoaster replete with some ups and some downs due to the inability to maintain its “A”-game material in a consistent fashion.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Pineapple Express”.

View our full, high-resolution “Pineapple Express” image gallery.

“Pineapple Express” falls victim to the comedic consistency trap. While the story has its heart in the right place for a film that’s centered on reefer madness and the script successfully grows ever-more complex and ridiculous, the story needs to be sliced and diced.

For every two comedic lines that successfully land one falls short. While the film certainly has the beginnings of stoner-film greatness, it’s still sometimes stifled by lines that had the potential to be roundhouse knockouts and instead were crippled stumbles.

That said, everything successful about “Pineapple Express” comes in threes from its writing (Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) and its primary actors (Rogen, James Franco and Danny McBride).

There’s a lot of talk about James Franco playing against type for this role. Based on his performance, though, this shouldn’t be viewed as Franco playing against type. This should be viewed as Franco having found his type. For Franco, all other roles pale in comparison.

“Pineapple Express,” which is directed by David Gordon Green and is written by Seth Rogen, Judd Apatow and Evan Goldberg, stars Rogen, James Franco, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Rosie Perez, Amber Heard, Gary Cole and Kevin Corrigan. The film opened everywhere on Aug. 6, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Pineapple Express” review.

Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, standing) and Saul Silver (James Franco, being carried) are two lazy stoners running for their lives in “Pineapple Express”.
Photo credit: Dale Robinette

Saul Silver (James Franco, left), Red (Danny McBride, center) and Dale Denton (Seth Rogen, right) in “Pineapple Express”.
Photo credit: Dale Robinette

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Pineapple Express” review.

HollywoodChicago.com Podcast, Episode 1: Summer Blockbusters

HollywoodChicago.com — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 18:37:53 -0700

CHICAGO – In the inaugural HollywoodChicago.com podcast, our staffers debate 2008’s summer blockbuster films. Staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman all chime in and cast their predictions on this 24-minute podcast.

Our discussion covers the full gamut of summer blockbuster films including “The Dark Knight,” “Wanted,” “WALL-E,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “Get Smart,” “The Happening,” “Hancock,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army,” “Iron Man,” “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” “The Rocker,” “Step Brothers,” “Pineapple Express,” “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Tropic Thunder”.

Listen to the episode-one podcast immediately in streaming mode.
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Clockwise from left to right: HollywoodChicago.com staffers Adam Fendelman, Lauren Fendelman, Patrick McDonald and Dustin Levell discuss 2008’s summer blockbuster films in episode one of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast.
Image credit: HollywoodChicago.com

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com