This is the End

I'm sort of torn with how I feel about This is the End. When I left the theater, all I could think about was how damn stupid and pointless it all was. But as days pass and I think about it more and more, I'm left remembering the parts that were really funny. Plus, another movie starring most of these guys - Knocked Up - took quite a while to really grow on me. Now I love it, but that wasn't the case when I first saw it.

This is the End stars real life friends Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson as themselves. They find themselves at a house party at Franco's new super mansion. Other guests at the party include Mindy Kaling, Michael Cera, Jason Segal, Paul Rudd, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aziz Ansari, Kevin Hart, Emma Watson, and, even Rihanna. Soon, the apocalypse happens. Jay and Seth only realize this because they take a party break to walk to a convenience store to get some cigarettes. Everyone at the party think it's an earthquake (or, in one instance, that the Lakers won). Soon, just about every one at the party is sucked into hell except our stars who are left to tough out the end of the world at Franco's house with very few supplies and very weird art.

The best parts of This is the End are damn funny. The two moments that stick out in my mind are their homemade sequel to Pineapple Express starring Jonah Hill as Woody Harrelson, and Franco riffing on art (did you know Subway sandwiches are art??). Pretty much every (limited) line that comes out of Michael Cera's mouth is gold, but they make a huge mistake by killing him off in the first ten minutes. I sincerely love every person in this movie and I have since watching Rogen and Franco on Freaks and Geeks, Baruchel on Undeclared and Jonah (my favorite Jonah!) in everything. That's why I wanted to love this movie so badly. This cast is fantastic and you could tell they are friends in real life. They have a chemistry that is so natural and they make fun of each other the way only friends can. Franco and McBride steal the show by a mile. They are both hilarious and over the top, playing wild versions of themselves. McBride is the loud mouth, trouble starter turned cannibal (!!) and Franco is the pretentious art lover with a sort of obsession with Rogen.

But there are problems here. Rogen also co-wrote and co-directed the film with Evan Goldberg (who he also co-wrote Superbad, probably the best comedy of the last decade, with). I'm not entirely sure they know how to direct a movie, but at the very least they know how to string a bunch of you tube worthy clips together into some sort of cohesive entitity that has a very loose sort of plot and a very general good-natured quality. This isn't entirely a compliment. If these guys want to take the step into directing, they are going to need to learn some sort of craft. They could just always count on calling their funny friends to help them out (although, that seems to work for Judd Apatow). The biggest problem with This is the End is that the basic plot is pretty dumb. And it just keeps getting more outlandish (an exorcism scene) and more outlandish (cannibals) and more outlandish (multi-headed dragons!) and more outlandish (the final scene, which I won't spoil, but which is, possibly, the most ridiculous thing you will see on the screen this year, if not this decade).

So, it's sort of shame that they decided to go in such a far out direction with this film. They could have done an end of the world theme where they didn't really show anything happened but kept it all at a house while a bunch of spoiled celebrities tried to survive while talking about masterbation and while Jonah Hill keeps referring to himself as "America's Sweetheart." It would have been a much better movie, in my opinion. And who knows? Maybe I'll watch This is the End again some time and it will grow on me a bit more. But, for now, the ridiculous aspects ruined what was a perfectly funny movie for me.

Grade: C

No Strings Attached (DVD)

There is a major problem with No Strings Attached. The movie presents itself as a smart, funny, rauncy, romantic comedy. The problem? Well, it's just not funny. That's not to say it's bad, per se. Because it's not. If you go into it expecting a cliche romance with a pretty stellar cast then you probably won't be disappointed. It's not bad, just not necessarily good either. It's just sort of average in every way.

Recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman stars as Emma, a young woman who is really good at being alone. She's currently doing her residency in order to become a doctor so she has very little time to date. Plus, she doesn't really like relationships anyway. Enter Adam (Ashton Kutcher). The two originally meet at a summer camp when they are 14. Their lives intersect a few times before they decide to be friends with benefits (ironically the name of a movie with this exact same plot that will be out in a few months starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake). They set a series of ground rules, such as no cuddling, no listing each other as an emergency contact, etc. If you have ever, ever, ever seen a romantic "comedy" in your entire life, then I'm sure you can see where this one is going. They fall in love! But Emma is such an emotional wreck, she completely messes it up! But, don't fret, they work things out and live happily ever after!

The cast is what makes this movie worth it. Portman is way better than she has to be in a lame romance movie. Kutcher is likeable and charming. The supporting cast is ridiculously talented (probably too talented to be in a movie like this). Mindy Kaling (the best thing about The Office), Chelsea Handler regular Guy Branum and Greta Gerwig star as Emma's fantastic best friends, friends who you'd like to have as your own. Olivia Thirlby (who I love to death) is Emma's sister, but is all but wasted in her role. Ludacris and Jake Johnson are Adam's best friends, the ones who actually get all two or three of the funny lines in the movie. Lake Bell is his neurotic co-worker who has a massive crush on him. Then there is Kevin Kline who stars as his fading movie star dad who has begun to date his ex-girlfriend Vanesa (Ophelia Lovibond).

The best part of the movie is probably the 30 second clip of a bluegrass band covering the song "99 Problems" by Jay-Z. More of that, please! The direction is fine and the script is ok as well. I mean, it's a well written, smart movie... it's just not funny at all. And when you are presenting your movie as a romantic COMEDY, it should probably be funny. Instead, No Strings Attached is just a cute cliche. Thank goodness the movie is rated R because at least it gets to be a little raunchy. If it was PG-13, it probably would have been nearly unwatchable. The movie is about casual, no strings attached sex and on that front, it works well. I think it presents the sitation as realistically as possible. So, all in all, the movie is cute and the characters are likeable. It's not a bad movie, just predictable in every single way. And it completely fails in what it sets out to do, which is be funny.

Grade: C