What do Judd Apatow and John Hughes have in Common?

...They both have an innate ability to take a simple, common stereotype to a new, unbelievably funny level.


John Hughes did it with high schoolers. The jock. The pretty popular girl. The outsider. The nerd. The rebel. And I know you read this list and assumed I was channeling The Breakfast Club, but, think about it for a minute, he had these characters in all of his movies. He also loved socioeconomic commentaries in his films. The rich kids who lived on the lake and had fancy cars. The poor kids from the wrong side of the tracks.


And tonight, I saw Judd Apatow's favorite stereotype characters. They are in their mid twenties, usually right out of college, and unemployed or in entry level jobs. They aren't afraid to say every single thing that jumps into their heads to their friends. They speak in this hilarious fast talking mix of dated and current pop - cultural references, and display the most ingenious and creative use of dirty words ever. Oh, and they love the pot.

Yes movie fans....I just saw Pineapple Express. And wow. I can't decide if I thought it was the funniest movie of the year, or one of the worst I have ever seen. It was this hodgepodge of marijuana, guns, freaky characters, weird cars, and blood.

Imagine if Quentin Tarentino had remade the movie Swingers into an action flick, and included all the male characters from Dazed and Confused. It would be a gross, violent, random movie with many hilarious quotable lines thrown in with a lot of endearing soul searchingeque man to man convos. And, everyone in the movie would dress like it was 1975, and be high all the time. Thats about how I would describe that awesomely strange experience that was Pineapple Express.

I can't decide if I recommend it or not. I definitely was entertained, but I feel that it was just too bizarre to merit a full on "Thumbs up". So, I guess...if you like Apatow, and you "get" (if you will) his blunt, introspective, and often perverse sense of humor, then go see it.

Call me after though. I will be curious what you thought.......




(sidenote: I want to point out that Judd Apatow produced this movie, but did not write or direct. It was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. I was intrigued that the offical website did mention that the idea for the film came from Apatow.)