san diego Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Would you want your children to know you were the real-life inspiration for a famous tale of sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll? Fast Times at Ridgemont High holds up as a heady brew of authentic teen life in the late 70s / early 80s, mixed with a fine sense of the absurd and served up by an amazing cast. It's definitely a teen sex comedy that DOESN'T suck. The movie's 25th anniversary two years ago inspired plenty of "Where Are They Now" recollections; our own Erik Davis offered his observations on an eye-opening gallery of "then and now" images for the cast.

Before the movie, however, there was the book, and before the book, there were the real-life students of Clairemont High School in San Diego, California. Cameron Crowe, then 22, went undercover at the school in 1979 to research a book on teen life. He'd graduated from another area school in 1972 -- at the age of 15! -- and was busy writing for Rolling Stone (as documented in Almost Famous), so he took a refresher course by soaking in the atmosphere at the school. Recently the class held its 30-year reunion and it turns out that some of those students have become very protective parents, according to a report in The San Diego Union-Tribune.

One graduate won't let his 15-year-old son watch the movie: "We are not going to show it to him until he's in college." The former class president says she finally allowed her daughter, a senior at the school, to read Crowe's book but isn't ready yet to allow her to see the flick, though she admits that it accurately portrayed the sex and drug activity among teens at the time.

I won't get into the precise reasons, but my friends always seem to think I'm going to LOVE the next big "pot comedy." They chuckle and assume such silly things despite the fact that the only real pothead comedies that I truly enjoy are Up in Smoke, Next Movie, and a large portion of the Harold & Kumar misadventures. Frankly I'm of the opinion that most pot comedies feel like they were written by someone very stoned, and let's just say that writers don't always do their best work when they're extra-baked. (They might THINK their stuff is hilarious, but usually it's not. That's just the weed talking.) Oh, you'll definitely find a few cannabis-caked giggles in Half-Baked, Grandma's Boy, and Smiley Face -- just not enough to sustain a whole movie, if it's me you're asking.

So it is with much pleasure, enthusiasm, and recently-applied Visine that I offer you Pineapple Express, which just may be the Casablanca of Pot Comedies. Or perhaps it's more like When Ultra-High Harry Met Super-Stoned Sally, but either way Pineapple Express showcases some of the funniest "weed culture" insights since the arrival of Richard Linklater's fantastic Dazed & Confused -- which I wouldn't call a full-bore "pot comedy," but it sure isn't shy about passing those joints around. Best of all, while Pineapple Express will absolutely appeal to both the casual and committed pot-smokers, it's also just a very funny buddy comedy / action flick parody that comes bearing the very unique stamp of director David Gordon Green.

I don't ask for autographs, I don't send fan letters, and I certainly don't wait around in front of hotels or press lines -- but I do get to attend some verrrrry geeky movie events, I do have a few very cool friends, and (get this) I'm a pretty friendly and sincere guy. So sometimes I get cool snapshots. Call it a hobby inspired by the time I did a (very brief) Sundance interview with the monolithic James Woods and walked away without a photo with one of my actor-heroes. (Despite the fact that I had a perfectly good camera in my pocket.) Plus I work for a cool movie blog, which means I can get photos like these and actually call it ... work! (muffled giggles)

My gracious thanks to everyone in and behind the photos. And my apologies to everyone else for my always looking so bald, sweaty, and tired. (You only see pictures of me when I'm exhausted. Plus I'm just plain old goofy looking, so save your comments.)

By the time next Monday rolls around, just the near mention of ComicCon will most likely make me sick to my stomach. That's because we plan to cover the hell out of this convention when it kicks off later this week. And when I'm not reading our coverage, I'll be trolling the many sites out there for stuff we've missed. I'll be up to my neck in geek news, as will most of our team, but why bitch now when things haven't even started yet. I won't be heading out to San Diego this year (which kinda stinks -- I would've loved to meet some folks from other sites); instead, Cinematical is sending two of our West Coast boys, Kevin and Chris. To say we will make their lives crazy over the next week is a massive understatement. That being said, with all that's going on (and all they have planned), I'll owe them each a nice cold one if they can successfully pull it off.

There's so much taking place at this year's Con that it's kind of hard to say which aspect of it I'm looking forward to the most. Do I want to hear J.J. Abrams announce the cast of Star Trek XI, or do I want to hear J.J. Abrams clue us into this damn Cloverfield project a bit more instead? Do I want to see photos of the new (and improved?) Incredible Hulk, or do I want to see the first teaser for The Dark Knight? Or how about that Watchmen cast (which, when it's all said and done, will probably be leaked online in its entirety before the actual panel discussion)? Will 20th Century Fox decide at the last minute to duck out from behind a bush and present something? And how stupid will the Kevin Smith questions be ( I don't even want to go into the absurdity of some of the questions asked to Smith during New York ComicCon)? Will we get an Iron Man teaser? An Indiana Jones 4 teaser? And, how long will it be until the clips leaked onto YouTube get pulled? So much going on, so much to anticipate -- how will we get through it all?

So, I ask you: What's the one thing you're looking forward to the most regarding this week's ComicCon?