Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder

I caught Pineapple Express at the Alamo Drafthouse last week, and it was easily, easily the funniest movie I've seen this year, or even expected to see. And then I saw Tropic Thunder last night, and it was even funnier.

Both share a similar sensibility in that they're huge action movies (which get surprisingly, graphically violent at times) as well as wacky comedies. (They even share a couple of actors, Bill Hader and Danny R. McBride.) But Pineapple's humor is more character driven, while Tropic relies on absurdly over-the-top satire. I'd rather spend more time with Seth Rogen and James Franco's stoners than Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Robert Downey, Jr.'s spoiled actors, on the basis of likability alone, but the latter definitely made me laugh more.

Pineapple is very likely the world's first stoner action movie, in which Rogen and Franco play potheads on the run from vicious drug lords and crooked cops. The comedy primarily stems from watching these unmotivated slackers get high off their asses and attempt to participate in the usual action movie shenanigans, such as car chases, fist fights, and gun battles. And all of that is funny because of the wonderful character interactions between Rogen and Franco, as in the middle of all this danger they grow from merely a user and his dealer to best friends. It's hysterical to see Franco accidentally get his foot caught in the windshield in the middle of a car chase, but it's equally as hysterical to watch Franco tell Rogen, as they laze around his apartment, that the weed he is selling is so beautiful, smoking it is like killing a unicorn. It's a treat to watch these misfits awkwardly bond while their lives are very much in jeopardy.

The comedy is top-notch, with great support work from the always awesome Gary Cole as a drug kingpin, Rosie Perez as a cop on his payroll, Ed Begley, Jr. as an overprotective father, and Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson as bumbling assassins. And the action, for the most part, also satisfies. There are moments that betray that this is a first action effort from both the writers and the director, but they are few and easily overlooked.

Both the action and the comedy are top-notch in Tropic Thunder, which I have to admit surprised me. I didn't think Ben Stiller (co-writer, director, star) had it in him. It's been a long time since Stiller has been so entertaining as a performer, so long I had pretty much given up on him as forever reprising his role as the stumbly romantic comedy lead to which horribly embarrassing things routinely occur (even though, looking at IMDb, he really doesn't play that kind of role nearly as often as it seemed to me; it's just that, when he does, I really, really hate him). And as a director, nothing he's done before led me to believe he could helm the kind of film I saw last night, packed with gigantic set pieces which are as hilarious as they are exciting. Very impressive.

Tropic is about a film crew attempting to make the biggest Vietnam war film ever which unluckily crosses paths with real, gun-toting drug lords in the jungle (again with the drug lords!). Most of the comedy comes from the characters thrust into this situation, who are a little too broadly satirical to come across as realistic, identifiable people, such as those found in Pineapple, but who are nevertheless gut-bustingly funny. Stiller and Jack Black are both great as the action star and the gross-out comedian, respectively, searching for validation in this war epic, but it's Downey who completely dominates this film. His turn as a white man playing a black man could've come across as offensive, but the film and Downey make it so clear that it's all about poking fun at method actors rather than a cheap racial gag that I don't see how anyone could be genuinely offended. Downey is deeply, endlessly funny here, as committed to the role as his character is committed to his role. He steals the movie.

And he's not the only thief. There's one brilliant piece of casting that I feel I should preface with a SPOILER ALERT, even though it seems like the secret is fairly widespread by now. Ready? Here we go: Tom Cruise. He is absolutely tremendous as the foul-mouthed, belligerent, screamingly insane studio head who somehow winds up in charge of negotiating with the film crew's captors. He goes to such hilarious extremes, and had me in such stitches, that I have to say, I'm going to give Cruise a pass on his Scientology nuttiness for his next two films. Free pass, you crazy bastard!

The film as a whole is a fantastic satire on practically every aspect of moviemaking -- agents, writers, actors, directors, nobody is spared. And it's packed with homages to/mockery of a vast array of films, from Platoon to Close Encounters of the Third Kind to The Party to Apocalypse Now to Forrest Gump... and on and on. Even the soundtrack is pointed, packed with every cliched rock song overused as a cue for Vietnam films (Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth," CCR's "Run Through the Jungle").

Both these films are fantastically clever, funny, thrilling entertainment. What a great double feature these two movies will make on DVD some day.

POTPOURRI

TV: I'm getting way behind in my TV watching, which isn't healthy for my TiVo at all. It's backlogged with episodes of The 4400, Insomniac with Dave Attell, Less Than Perfect, the movie Clerks, and, unbelievably enough, last week's Amazing Race, which I usually watch as soon as possible. I think I'm nearing the TiVo danger zone, where shows are going to be automatically deleted to make room on the hard drive, if I'm not careful.

Speaking of TiVo, I'm a little alarmed by reports (found via Mark Evanier) that it's not doing so well, business-wise. Which I can't believe. Everyone should have one. It's the greatest invention since... well, television. They're dropping the prices this month. You must get one, I'm telling you.

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MOVIES: Run, Ronnie, Run

I loved Bob Odenkirk and David Cross' Mr. Show, which spawned this film, but I didn't much care for the film itself. For one thing, it's inspired by a sketch from the show which I never liked in the first place: Ronnie Dobbs, a poor, stupid, white trash troublemaker, becomes famous for being arrested multiple times on a Cops-like show, and eventually an entire show is built around him getting arrested every single week. The movie stretches this thin concept way beyond its breaking point, while adding in various weak satires of other reality shows (a Survivor rip-off in which the losers are killed and eaten), and it fails to ever really pick up steam.

There are tons of cameos by some very funny people (such as Ben Stiller, Garry Shandling, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Patton Oswalt, Scott Thompson, Patrick Warburton, and, most random of all, Jeff Goldblum), but they never really do anything funny. I mean, when you've got Dave Foley and Andy Richter and Sarah Silverman in the same scene, and my only response is, "Eh," you're doing something wrong. The only one of these cameos that worked for me was Jack Black's performance of a hilariously vulgar song in a "deleted scene" from a Mary Poppins-esque musical.

There were a number of laughs throughout the film; I especially enjoyed the music video interlude by faux soul group Three Times One Minus One (played by Bob and David), and a Mortal Kombat-style fight scene toward the end had me in stitches. But I mostly felt like this film was a series of missed opportunities. The central concept could've been utilized to better effect, and the film could've been funnier still if the central concept weren't such a dud to begin with. Good job on putting Nikki Cox in a bikini for most of her scenes, though. Very good job.

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"Summer, if you grade-grub one more time... I will send you back to the first grade."

I have to admit, I did a little grade-grubbing yesterday. About 7:30 PM, I noticed that I had 89 hits via my Sitemeter counter. So I pinged my blog (that sounds dirty) to get it refreshed on the Comic Weblog Updates page. I'm not proud of myself. But I finally got triple digits in hits, which I take pride in. Oh, wait, I guess I am proud of myself. Anyway, just before midnight, the site received its 100th hit of the day, which is a landmark for me. Drinks are on the house!

COMICS: Jack Green? Black Lantern?

I think the idea of a Green Lantern movie starring Jack Black is great. So there.

I mean, come on. Some things are going to work well on the screen, and some things, no matter how hard you try, are going to look a little goofy. That's why I have no great faith in the upcoming Fantastic Four film -- no matter how expensive the special effects are, a man stretching his body like rubber is just going to look plain silly. Same with Green Lantern: he's got a magic ring that makes giant green boxing gloves. Sure, sure, they made GL pretty darn cool on the Justice League cartoon -- but still, it's a cartoon. I just can't picture a serious live action Green Lantern looking anything but a little ridiculous. If it's going to be made, then go with the ridiculous, embrace it, cast Jack Black. And -- as has already been suggested by Mike's co-worker Chris: Ben Stiller as Sinestro. Or Vince Vaughn!