PIneapple Express Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Scenes We Love: Half Baked
Filed under: Comedy », Fandom », Trailers and Clips », Scenes We Love »
Right off the bat, I want to make it clear that you don't have to be half-baked to enjoy Half Baked. But if you thought Pineapple Express was hilarious, and you haven't seen Half Baked, it's high time you rectify this problem. Sure, Pineapple Express had James Franco as a drug dealer slash nice Jewish boy overly concerned with his Bubbe, and it had Danny McBride wigging out in his normal (i.e. awesome) way, and yeah, it was almost the perfect stoner crime caper.
But Half Baked has all that and more! It has Dave Chappelle as both a janitor at a lab that just happens to produce pharmaceutical-grade marijuana and a hip-hop star named Sir Smoke-a-Lot who, when high, complains, cries, and complains that he needs a "backiotomy." It has Guillermo Diaz as Scarface, who wants you to know he's Cuban, B! And it has Jim Breuer in one of his least annoying incarnations (although personally I do enjoy Goat Boy -- I'm not sure what that says about me, really). And then there's Harland Williams who accidentally kills a police horse by feeding it their munchies.
Let's not forget about the amazing cameos, including Jon Stewart as the Enhancement Smoker ("You ever seen Scent of a Woman... on weed?"), Bob Saget as someone in a Narc-Anon meeting who offers up a memorable confession, Steven Wright as the random dude sleeping on their couch, Tommy Chong as an inmate named the Squirrel Master, and plenty of others.
Spin-ematical: New on DVD for 1/6
Filed under: New Releases », DVD Reviews », New on DVD », Home Entertainment »
Pineapple Express
It might seem like your everyday stoner comedy, but Pineapple Express is a strange comedic beast. It was helmed by dramatic indie filmmaker David Gordon Green, it brought Huey Lewis and the News back to the world of cinema songwriting, and, of course, it gave us an excellent duo to get high with -- Seth Rogen and James Franco. Buy it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Righteous Kill
Righteous Kill is right, but not in the way that makes the eyes blaze with excitement, but the way that makes you groan in disappointment. While joining heavy weights Robert De Niro and Al Pacino was a big to-do, that was the only noteworthy piece of this police v. serial killer story. Still, it's Rob and Al, so if you're curious: Rent it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Disaster Movie
Oh, if only we could be back in the days of Airplane. Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer show no signs of stopping their terrible spoof addiction, and this time it's all about disasters. Need I say more? Skip it on DVD or Blu-ray.
Hit the jump for more new releases.
Cinematical Seven: The Best On-Screen Chemistry of 2008?
Filed under: Fandom », Cinematical Seven », Lists »
I thought it would be an easy task to write about this year's best examples of on-screen chemistry. It's my favorite part of the cinematic experience, and one of the most important pieces of the puzzle. Without chemistry, any film is destined to fall quickly and be forgotten. Remember The Mexican? Brad and Julia might have been stars, but it takes a lot more than a big name to make a movie.
But who to choose? While I loathed the big-screen adaptation of Sex and the City, Carrie and Big have always held that certain something. Happy-Go-Lucky contained a wonderful romance, but it wasn't the thing of legend. I could certainly cite Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight, and how she was a refreshing breath of charismatic air after the bland coupling of Christian Bale and Katie Holmes. (Heck, I can't even add in female ensembles, because the ladies from Sex and the City were too busy with romantic drama, and the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 could have been called Sisterhood of the We're too Old for This Crap.)
But none of these, nor the many other couples that graced our screens in 2008, came close to the halls of bromance. The only duos that contained palpable, memorable chemistry over the last year have been men. (Funny for a nation where Proposition 8 can get passed, but I digress...) Bromance isn't usually the theme to lead chemistry lists, but when a year brings us awesome blockbusters, but barely a whiff of spine-tingling sexual tension, we have to take what we can get.
Cinematical Seven: Best Mayhem of 2008
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Foreign Language », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Disney », Lionsgate Films », Magnolia », Paramount », Sony », Universal », Warner Brothers », Fandom », Focus Features », 20th Century Fox », Fox Searchlight », Family Films », Dreamworks », Cinematical Seven », Comic/Superhero/Geek »
When we were kicking around ideas for year-end superlative Cinematical Sevens, I was proudly tasked with chronicling the year's finest in big-screen mayhem, violence, destruction and other such shenanigans. When I was kicking around ideas for said feature between me, myself, and I, there were too many titles to leave off the list, so instead of highlighting only a mere couple of movies, I've opted to sort these puppies out by specific manner of cinematic excess.
So there.
1. Most pervasive destruction - The Joker may have terrorized Gotham to the tune of a destroyed hospital, a wrecked helicopter, a sunken SWAT truck, a toasty fire engine, and a golden district attorney, but even he can't top the Cloverfield monster's swath of destruction across the real-life Gotham. Statue of Liberty? Gone. Brooklyn Bridge? History. Central Park? Adios. And that's not including all the Hollister stores that our protagonists might've fled to. (On a smaller scale, though, Inside's lady in black terrorizes a pregnant woman on Christmas Eve to the point of all but painting every last wall in her house with the blood of her victims. Gotta love the French!)
Weekend Box Office: The Labor Day Lull
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
The most exciting news from Labor Day weekend at the box-office -- traditionally a slow period -- is that America seems to have caught on to the scam that Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have been running for... what is it now? Almost three years? (I'm not counting the Scary Movie franchise, which always retained some redeeming value despite their idiocy.) Anyway, their latest travesty, Disaster Movie, opened to $6.9 million over four days, just over a third of the (nearly identical to each other) first three-day weekends for Date Movie, Epic Movie and Meet the Spartans. Could that be the end of that?Not that any of Disaster Movie's competitors did spectacularly better. The strongest of them -- the poorly-reviewed sci-fi flick Babylon A.D. -- only managed second place and a $12 million four-day. Don Cheadle's Traitor came in fifth with $10 million, which I actually think is robust for an barely-marketed film opening on just over 2,000 screens. College crashed and burned, landing outside the top 10 with $2.6 million. The best explanation is that there simply wasn't any reason to see it.
The holdovers did well. Mamma Mia!, now in its seventh weekend of release, continues to lurk in the bottom half of the top 10; its take actually grew compared to last weekend, even if you use the 3-day numbers. It's up to $133 million. The Dark Knight barely lost steam, going from fourth place to third and breaking the $500 million threshold. Vicky Cristina Barcelona also continues to do very well on under 700 screens. And of course, Tropic Thunder managed a third weekend atop the charts, leapfrogging past Pineapple Express.
The full estimates after the jump.
Discuss: Summer Movie Season 2008 -- The Big Recap
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Horror », Music & Musicals », Romance », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Theatrical Reviews », Fandom », Family Films », Comic/Superhero/Geek », Remakes and Sequels », Games and Game Movies », Lists », Summer Movies », Fan Rant »
It's difficult (and a little silly) to try and judge an entire quarter-year's movies in one lump sum -- but that's what we seem to do at the end of every Summer Movie Season. That's when all our excitement, expectations, and final reactions come colliding together and we find ourselves thinking: "Was I actually looking forward to that piece of crap for four months?" But to me, each summer is like a walk through a carnival: Some of the attractions dazzle me, others simply don't interest me, and a few are just a waste of tickets. But once early May rolls around, I'm always ready for another trip to the Hollywood Movie Carnival. (It's where you find all the tentpoles!)
So while I'm elated to greet the upcoming season of "prestige movies," there's little denying that we've had one hell of a good summer, cinematical-ly speaking. I'm not talking about box office grosses, because frankly that stuff is so unimportant. What matters is that we got some good flicks, a few pieces of mindless (yet well-made) popcorn adventures, and even a few great films that will enjoy a very long shelf life. So while I'm not exactly sure that 2008 represents the finest Summer Movie Season of all time, I'd definitely say it was more good than bad. But if you can think of a summer that was better than this one, you know where to throw your comments. (In the comments section.)
Weekend Box Office: Ben Stiller Beats Up on 'The House Bunny'
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
There were no big surprises at the box office this weekend. To officially ring in the fall, it was the first weekend since April when no film debuted to more than $20 million. The best opener was the tolerably-reviewed Anna Faris vehicle The House Bunny, with $15.1 million. Interchangeable Jason Statham Movie, a.k.a. Death Race, followed with an estimated $12.3 million -- among Statham's weakest showings and the worst ever for director Paul W.S. Anderson (not counting the indie Shopping, which played on one screen). Neither The House Bunny nor Death Race could dethrone Tropic Thunder, which held up fairly well to stay on top with a $16.1 million second weekend. It looks to have better legs than Pineapple Express, and should pass that film before all is said and done. In other holdover developments: The Dark Knight fell to fourth, but should reach $500 million by next weekend; Star Wars: The Clone Wars fell an unsurprising 60%+, and will top out around $35 million -- still not bad for a cartoon, I think.
Two more wide release debuts fared poorly. The Longshots -- the Ice Cube/Keke Palmer football drama directed by Fred Durst -- made a predictably tepid $4.3 million bow. But boy was I ever wrong about The Rocker, which was heavily advertised and promo-screened, but landed out of the top 10 with $2.8 million and an under-$1000 per-screen average. Color me surprised -- it's a decent flick, too. I guess Rainn Wilson not only can't open a movie, but affirmatively turns people off.
Hamlet 2 opened on 100 screens before going wide next weekend. Its $435,000 gross -- around $4,200 per screen -- isn't terrible, but doesn't inspire confidence for the expansion.
The full estimates after the jump.
Weekend Box Office: 'Dark Knight' Dethroned at Last
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
In a weekend glutted with new releases battling the aftershocks of The Dark Knight earthquake, Tropic Thunder debuted below expectations -- but well enough to steal the top spot from The Dark Knight in that film's 5th weekend. The R-rated comedy's $26 million weekend and $37 million 5-day was roughly on par with Pineapple Express' performance the previous weekend, but I think Tropic Thunder was predicted to have broader appeal. In retrospect, the advertising may have emphasized the film's inside-baseball aspects a bit too much.Star Wars: The Clone Wars did okay in third place with $15 million -- weak for a purported Star Wars film, but not bad for a Saturday morning cartoon. The woeful Mirrors took in a relatively paltry $11 million, a wuss-out signaled by the 11th hour press screening cancellation. Contrast The Strangers, the summer's other major R-rated, non-Shyamalan horror film, which debuted to almost twice as much despite not having as nifty a high-concept.
The Dark Knight, meanwhile, continues to edge toward $500 million. Its 5-weekend total stands at $471 million, enough to top Star Wars' unadjusted numbers. Titanic still looks out of reach, even setting aside the apples-and-oranges aspect of comparing a 1997 release to a 2008 one.
Pineapple Express fell 57% in its second weekend, putting $100 million out of reach. On the other hand, Mamma Mia! continues to be popular, suffering drops of around 20% each week thanks to good word-of-mouth and likely repeat viewings.
Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona came in at #10, with $3.7 million on 700 screens, Woody's second-best opening ever. Two spots below that, the poorly-reviewed 3-D spectacle Fly Me to the Moon made $2 million on 450 screens.
The full estimates after the jump.
Weekend Box Office: Another Weekend on Top for 'The Dark Knight'
Filed under: New Releases », Box Office »
The weekend estimates have The Dark Knight taking the top spot for the fourth straight week in another squeaker -- though not as close as last week's victory over The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It dropped 39% to $26 million, which was good enough to beat the $22.4 million showing for the stoner comedy Pineapple Express. That brings The Dark Knight to $441.5 million, edging out Shrek 2 for third place on the all-time domestic charts. By next weekend, it should pull ahead of Star Wars (its unadjusted numbers, anyway) for second place. Titanic still remains out of reach, or at least it seems that way right now. It's worth noting that Pineapple Express was released on Wednesday (since Wednesday's the new Friday, doncha know), and pulled in $40.5 million over the five days -- a victory for an R-rated stoner comedy. The horribly titled The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, also released on Wednesday, had a $19.7 million five-day on just over 2,700 screens, a reasonably strong showing for a sequel to a niche film that made $39 million in 2005.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor dropped 60% to $16.1 million -- whoops. It looks to top out at around $100 million, which would make it a distant third in the main franchise, though it might beat out The Scorpion King.
One of the summer's biggest box office surprises is lurking down at #7 on the weekend chart. Journey to the Center of the Earth continues to suffer only miniscule drops; it's taken in $82 million after five weekends of release, after an opening weekend of only $21 million. That sounds like a ringing audience endorsement of Real-D 3-D to me.
The full estimates after the jump.
The Exhibitionist: Return of Smell-O-Vision
Filed under: Exhibition », Columns »
Moviegoing seems to be living in the past these days, as both 3-D and large format projection have become attractions at mainstream cinemas again, just as they were half a century ago. Of course, there are updated differences -- the new 3-D is digital and now employs glasses that don't give us headaches, and the large format presentation, IMAX (which is actually almost 40 years old and is technically not really similar at all to the Cinemascope, Cinerama, VistaVision, etc., which were used in the 1950s), is finally separating itself from its usual museum-set association to move into more multiplexes and offer more blockbusters, like the popcorns and sodas, appropriately super-sized.
So where is the return of that other, less successful, less fondly remembered novelty also implemented in desperate times to woo audiences away from their television? You know, that ridiculous idea that's so unappealing that it's a wonder it was even allowed to enter public awareness, let alone cement itself undeservedly onto the timeline of significant moments in film history. Smell-O-Vision. Where is the return of Smell-O-Vision?
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