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Superbad Sequel or a Superbad/Pineapple Express Hybrid?

BuzzSugar — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:30:26 -0700

It looks like Michael Cera (or maybe someone pretending to be Michael Cera) has been thinking "aloud" (or via Twitter) about future Superbad projects. He first twittered that he wants to do a movie with Jonah Hill and Jason Bateman (ending with the words: "Good idea?!"), and then he followed up with this one:

Decided I'm gonna contact Jonah and Jason tomorrow. See what they think about doing a movie. Maybe, just an idea, but maybe Superbad 2.

But that's not the only Superbad-related idea to be tossed out there - apparently James Franco has mentioned a Superbad/Pineapple Express combo film, with the movies' directors each taking on half of the movie. Franco mused about the plot, "Somehow the kids get in trouble and we have to get them out of it. And Seth plays characters in both movies, so somehow we'd have to kill one of them off."

I have to say, it's a funny image to consider: Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Cera) - and of course Fogell/McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)! - on a hilariously ill-fated adventure alongside the bromantic stoners Dale (Seth Rogen) and Saul (Franco) - and Red (Danny McBride)! But just a straight sequel with the Superbad kids would also be pretty funny. Which idea do you like better?

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 08:30:15 -0800

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the selections below you can also take home Battlestar Galactica: Season Four and Righteous Kill.

Pineapple Express
You guys, Pineapple Express is not just a stoner movie, OK? James Franco was nominated for a Golden Globe for his work! This is award-worthy stuff! I kid, I kid. But it is funny to me that Franco is up for a serious award for playing a pot dealer who has lines like, "Pandora can't go back into the box - he only comes out."

This movie was a lot of fun to see in the theaters and as a DVD it will probably get the most play in dorm rooms, frat houses, and 20-something apartments across the nation. Seth Rogen and James Franco are a match made in stoner heaven, but be warned: The movie is actually pretty graphically violent (just a heads-up if that's a buzzkill for you).

Special features include an extended version of the film, commentary with the filmmakers and cast, and of course, the gag reel.

Three more up next so read more.

The Wackness
The Wackness first premiered at last year's Sundance Film Festival and quickly charmed audiences. I myself was smitten when I later saw the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival. Starring Josh Peck, Ben Kingsley, Olivia Thirlby and, briefly, Mary-Kate Olsen, it's a quirky story of young love on the Upper East Side in 1994.

I highly recommend this movie (despite that one cringe-inducing moment). In fact, like Pineapple Express, The Wackness features a whole lot of pot smoking, so today's What to Netflix is practically a themed movie night!

Special features include a featurette entitled "Keeping it Real: A Day in the Life of Writer/Director Jonathan Levine," behind-the-scenes footage, and deleted scenes.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season One
Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl, is sly and slick, pulling back the curtain on the world of sex-for-money in London and leaving you feeling like the ultimate insider. The show stars Billie Piper as Belle, a high-class hooker - and the alter ego of Hannah, an everyday gal who prefers jeans and books to corsets and stilettos. There's not as much sex in the show as you would initially assume but there is a lot of charm. If you missed the first season of this show when it was on the air, now's the time to catch up.

DVD extras include a featurette titled "Billie Piper - Coming to America."

The Tudors: Season Two
Hey, ye olde Tudors fans! Season two is now out on DVD, which is fun because I prefer to watch this show in one big clump rather than week-to-week. Jonathan Rhys Meyers returns as the young King of England who gets down to business divorcing the queen in order to make room for the ambitious Anne Boleyn. In this season the historical period known as the Reformation is ushered in, as King Henry looks to break from the Catholic church and faces resistance from his own court - not to mention Pope Paul III, played by the wonderfully chilling Peter O'Toole.

Special features include a featurette on the descendants of Henry, a premiere episode of This American Life: Season 2, and photo galleries.

Box Office: Tropic Thunder Takes the Top Spot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:00:37 -0700

Even though Tropic Thunder is technically No. 1 this weekend, The Dark Knight is still being called the biggest winner because it is "the second highest grossing pic of all time after Titanic domestically." Ben Stiller's comedy earned an estimated $26 million while the Batman sequel took in $16.7 million and has a total gross of $471.5 million.

The rest of the top 10 was shaken up a bit as well this weekend: Star Wars: The Clone Wars came in third place, followed by the horror flick Mirrors at No. 4 and Pineapple Express rounded out the top five.

Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona opened this weekend at No. 10, and the new 3-D animated flick Fly Me to the Moon came in at No. 11.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Dark Knight Wins Box Office for the Fourth Week in a Row!

BuzzSugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 08:30:32 -0700

Interestingly, neither a BFF movie nor a stoner action-comedy could dethrone The Dark Knight in its fourth weekend. Having already surpassed the $400 million mark in domestic ticket sales, the superhero movie pulled in another $26 million over the weekend.

According to Variety, the movie has now taken the place of Shrek 2 to "become the third highest domestic grosser of all time with a cume of $441.5 million. It’s expected to beat Star Wars in the next week before finally settling at No. 2."

Pineapple Express came in second place with $22.4 million (however, it has earned a total of $40.4 million since it opened last Wednesday), followed by The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in third, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 in fourth, and Step Brothers in fifth place.

What do you think? Will The Dark Knight score five weeks in a row at No. 1?

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

Buzz News Roundup, 8/8

BuzzSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:48:47 -0700

The Hollywood Reporter has the news that Martin Scorsese is in talks with HBO to direct a dramatic pilot titled Boardwalk Empire. Scorsese is already a producer for the upcoming show about Atlantic City gamblers in the 1920s.
According to Variety, Pineapple Express had the best Wednesday opening ever for August. The comedy took in $12.1 million.
Regis Philbin is following in the footsteps of Britney Spears and is set to appear on the second episode of the upcoming season of How I Met Your Mother, Entertainment Weekly says.
The reunited Police closed its tour, the last live show ever for the band, last night in New York, reports Billboard.
The AP reports that Philip Seymour Hoffman is slated to direct a play in London later this year. The play, Riflemind, is about a rock band reuniting after a 20-year split. Sounds a lot like The Police!
Reuters reports that Hollywood producer Bernie Brillstein died last night of lung disease at the age of 77. He was best known for his work on The Blues Brothers and Happy Gilmore fame.
Pitchfork has the scoop on the soundtrack for the upcoming Michael Cera film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Vampire Weekend is collaborating with a member of Devo for the project. Awesome.

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Pineapple Express: More Than Just a Stoner Movie

BuzzSugar — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:30:48 -0700

How much you enjoy Pineapple Express may depend more on how charmed you are by the chemistry between James Franco and Seth Rogen and less on how funny you find pot jokes. Don't get me wrong, marijuana jokes abound in this comedy written by Rogen and his frequent collaborator Evan Goldberg, and they are funny. But I was surprised by how much more Pineapple Express falls into the category of buddy movies like Lethal Weapon, rather than the stoner category like Half Baked. I guess I'll put it this way: You don't have to be high to be entertained by this.

I've been feeling fatigued by some of cinema's leading funny men these days who keep pumping out the same old comedies left and right, and Rogen's shtick is definitely pushing it for me. But I was pleasantly surprised to see how well he plays the straight man (no pun intended) to Franco's snuggly drug dealer. They strike a hilariously delightful chemistry together, which I kind of didn't want to end. But there's more going on here besides the two lead actors. To see why I think the director of this movie was a cool choice and which scene-stealer I think earns himself a place in the Apatow kingdom, read more.

The term "Pineapple Express" is what the drug dealers in the movie have named the most powerful pot in all the world (Franco's character thinks this pot is so precious that every time he smokes it he feels like he's killing a unicorn). That's just a funny little side note, though, because how strong the pot is has nothing to do with how much trouble the two main characters get themselves into. Rogen plays Dale Denton, a childish loser in his twenties whose job consists of creatively hunting people down to serve them legal documents, like subpoenas. He's also dating a high-school girl and is threatened by the cooler, younger boys at her school.

Dale's dealer is Saul Silver (Franco), a dim but good-natured guy who spends most days in his pajamas, and cares deeply for his "bubby" (Yiddish for grandmother). He charms Dale into hanging around with him during their transactions, which annoys Dale because he just wants to pick up his marijuana and skidaddle. It's kind of like the pothead's version of making small talk on the sidewalk: a little awkward, forced, not something you look forward to.

After a bonding session, Dale goes to serve some papers, but then happens to witness a murder committed by the drug lord who supplies Saul. This is when the entire movie becomes as funny as it is gruesomely violent, not to mention action packed (I never thought I'd say that about a Judd Apatow production, much less a Seth Rogen movie). People are dismembered, characters you care about are brutally shot, etc. Right when you're dying of laughter because of Franco's facial expression, someone actually gets a bullet in the stomach, or head, or ear and you know, it's a bit of buzz kill. Also, I just have to mention Saul's middleman supplier Red, played by Danny R. McBride because this actor steals every scene he's in, including a fight scene with Rogen and Franco that is one for the books.

Director David Gordon Green is known mostly to film geeks and art house fans for his smaller, poetic films (All the Real Girls, Snow Angels) so it's kind of amazing to see weird little scenes of his scattered throughout the film. These scenes are practically meditative, even though they basically feature just a couple stoners twirling around by a stream. Those strange and funny touches on this movie have endeared it to me. All in all it's a funny - if brutally violent - Summer comedy experience.

Song of the Day: Huey Lewis and the News, "Pineapple Express"

BuzzSugar — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:30:31 -0700

Horns blasting, hilarious lyrics and a beat that chugs along like, oh yeah, you guessed it, an express train. This is what the title track off the soundtrack to the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy Pineapple Express sounds like. Who had the honors (or, who honored the filmmakers, perhaps) of creating the fun, fast-paced "Pineapple Express"? None other than Huey Lewis and the News.

You can take a listen to the song over on the soudtrack's MySpace page (the song begins playing immediately, just FYI). Then you, too, can revel in these awesome lyrics:

"How'd we get into this mess?!
Pineapple Express!
Not used to this stress!"

My money says this song is used during a wacky montage in which the totally high duo tries to make a quick getaway in their car but of course, they're "not used to this stress" and their plan goes awry. This song sounds like it's perfect for the movie. Check it out on MySpace and tell me what you think.

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Upcoming Under-the-Influence Movies: Pineapple Express and Speed Racer

BuzzSugar — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 07:30:00 -0700

We just got a couple new full-length trailers for movies that, if watching them in a sober state, are pretty much . . . OK. It makes me wonder if maybe - just maybe - they're supposed to be watched under the influence? I'm just speculating here.

After the jump you can find both trailers. Opening August 8, Pineapple Express actually features a pair of potheads - played by Seth Rogen and James Franco - who find themselves being chased by criminals. My favorite parts include Craig Robinson (Darryl on The Office), who's funny even without playing someone with the munchies.

We'd already gotten a tripped-out teaser trailer for Speed Racer, and the full-length trailer is a lot of the same: psychedelic visuals, bright candy colors, cartoon-y characters (since it's, you know, based on a cartoon). I'm more interested in this one because it's just mesmerizing, though I do have to wonder what it might be like to view this film in, shall we say, an enhanced state.

To see what I'm talking about, read more.

Pineapple Express

Speed Racer

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