This Is The End [A Fat Jesus Movie Review]

Oh Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, you somehow take a lacking comedy year and turn it on it's head with this comedy, action, apocalyptic, horror laugh riot. These are the guys who have brought us Superbad and Pineapple Express, the latter being one of my favorite comedies of the 2000s. You all know Seth Rogen and his crew by now. Most all them appear in each others movies as main characters, cameos, writers or producers. These guys form a close knit team that have been in the business of comedy for the past decade. From Knocked Up to Forgetting Sarah Marshall these guys can always be found in at least a pair in some of the biggest comedies since 2000. This Is The End is not the movie you think you're gonna see from the trailers. It quickly turns into the most outrageous inside joke you'll ever be apart of as these guys try to survive as exaggerated versions of themselves in this post apocalyptic comedy.

This Is The End follows the story of James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson as they ride out the apocalypse in James Franco's home. The movie opens with Jay arriving in LA to hang out with Seth. They end up playing video games and smoking weed all day. Seth informs Jay of a housewarming party Franco is throwing, and says that they should go. Jay is apprehensive, cause he's not really friends with Franco and Jonah the way Rogen is. Jay eventually agrees and they head to the party. A who's who of comedians are there including a coked up Michael Cera, Jason Segel, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Kevin Hart, Aziz Ansari and even Emma Watson and Rihanna. Halfway through the party, Jay needs a breather, so he and Seth go to get some smokes. That's when everything goes south. While at convenience store, blue lights start sucking people into the sky and mass panic ensues. Jay and Seth rush back to Franco's house where it seems like nothing has happened. Jay tries to warm the party goers to no avail. A tremor shakes the house and everyone rushes outside to see LA engulfed in flames. A sink hole opens up and swallows a lot of the people, while other just hightail it. Franco, Jonah, Jay, Seth, Danny and Craig survive and decide to hold up in in Franco's house and fortify it. As the apocalypse grows older by the day the group faces trials, such as running out of food and water, self realizations and face their inner demons. The group must band together and figure out how to survive the end of the world.

The worst thing about this movie is actually pacing. I'm dead serious. I've racked my brain around this movie since I saw it Thursday night and the very worst thing I can think of is that. The movie is nearly two hours, and while it doesn't always feel like it, there are draggy scenes throughout this. I think if they had cut 10 minutes out of this, or added five or so at the tail end, it could easily be even better. All my other complaints are pretty minor.  The story is almost too fun, it doesn't take itself seriously as semi-horror and kinda hurts it, especially at the end. While I know this is a comedy and fun is the name of the game, if you're gonna brand it as "post apocalyptic", I can't be laughing at Aziz Ansari falling to his death. If you're gonna give me horror inklings, I can't be laughing at Channing Tatum's butt. I never got the sense that any of the main characters had a chance of dying, even with everything going on around them. The ending is weird as well, not that it's terrible, it's just so out of nowhere I still don't know what to think of it. It's just so abrupt it caught me off guard I think. My only regret is that I now live in a smaller town, and this is the type of movie I'd have loved to see with a huge crowd. Not just me and like six other people. This isn't a knock on the movie at all, but more me venting that I miss living in a big city haha.

The main cast, and even then smaller parts from the cameos, are some of the best exaggerations of themselves ever. Emma Watson was great as the Emma Watson that would kick your ass if you crossed her. Jason Segel had a great little bit part calling out "How I Met Your Mother". While a coked up, womanizer Michael Cera was side splitting. James Franco played the perfect elitist Hollywood guy, only sticking with his best friend in Rogen. Jonah Hill may have the best character in this movie because of the insincerity laced in every line that comes out of his mouth. Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel are the best friends who are at a disconnect in their lives, but neither of them want to admit it to each other. Danny McBride morphs from the lovable jerk to the evil mastermind throughout the course of this. Finally Craig Robinson goes from the happy go lucky Darryl (from "The Office") type guy, to someone who is just trying to fit in and survive with this group. There is no other way to categorize all of these portrayals, than genius. Pick any two, stick them together and they someone is going to make you laugh. Put all of them together, like when they start making sequels to their previous movies, and it becomes a riot. This movie is funny, from start to finish. Sure it takes maybe 15 minutes to get its footing. But once Danny McBride starts making breakfast, oblivious to the apocalypse, This Is The End never lets off the gas pedal. There is a good soundtrack, okay visuals (the CGI in this is surprisingly good) and Franco's house turns out to be one of the best settings for a movie

This Is The End is the best comedy of the year so far, by a landslide. Not only that, for me, it's the best movie of the year released so far. Pacing problems, draggy scenes aside, this is a damn funny movie. It has an abundance of jokes, movies references and bits, jabs at each others careers and callbacks littered throughout. I can't wait to watch this again to pick out all the things I may have missed the first time. The acting is great, the music is good, the visuals are okay and the story is passable. Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg haven't broken any new ground with the comedy in this. This is the same comedy style, wrapped around a story about the apocalypse. But you know what? They hit it out of the park.

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21 Jump Street [A Fat Jesus BluRay Review]

Let's start with the commentary track on this set as it's pretty damn awesome. You get the two directors, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller along with the two main stars in Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum, all together for one of the first times watching the final product. You don't mind missing some of the funniest lines and parts cause Jonah Hill, who is very outspoken in this track, still refers to Emma Watson as Hermione and can't help but point out scenes with Ice Cube and when Rob Riggle grabs Brie Larson's boobs. Also there's funny behind the scenes stories from Channing and Jonah's scenes with Rob Riggle, Dave Franco and Ice Cube. Also there's an unnatural love for getting drunk during scenes, since it was filmed in Louisiana, and their love (and frankly my love too) of Korean Jesus. There's a unanimous decision between the four, that the "F*ck you science! *Walks off*" line is the best in the movie. Hard to argue. This track was a blast to listen too, and if you like this movie you'll love this commentary.

The deleted scenes ended up being more extended scenes or alternate scenes. There's a five minute extended one where Jake Johnson, the schools principal, just improvises with Channing and Jonah that had me in stitches. There's also a few more good ones involving Nick Offerman, Dave Franco and Chris Parnell. Gag-reel is hilarious as well as it gives a huge behind the scenes look at watch actually made the actors in his laugh. Let me tell you, a lot set these guys off and most of that same stuff set me off too.

There's a ton of featurettes on this set as well. We'll start with these three in "Back to School," "Brothers In Arms" and "Peter Pan on the Freeway." Back to School goes behind the scenes with Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum as they transform back into high-school kids after being assigned to 21 Jump Street. It's a neat watch as things have changed (and even in the writing) since the two were in school. Brothers in Arms is another behind the scenes featurette with Jonah and Channing. It shows the transformation into the cops that they portray in the movie. It's sort of a continuation of "Back to School" with more pointing the prop guns at each others crotches and firing to see if they were loaded. They had to shut down half of a highway to film the chase scene in this movie. Jonah comments on how that there's live traffic on the other side of where they're filming. He even gets (what turns out) an undesirable message (the first of it's kind) on the highway itself.

We're not done with featurettes either, there's still three more with "Cube-O-Rama," "Johnny Depp on Set" and "The Rob Riggle Show!" Cube-O-Rama may be the best on this set cause it Ice Cube yelling his lines from the movie and improvised lines too. Ice Cube is a riot in the movie and there's lines that were cut could've easily been put in. Also everyone is in awe of his birthmark near his eye (as said on the commentary track too) and are mesmerized by it. Now onto Johnny Depp on Set. There's a pretty big cameo by Depp, who was in the original series, that no one could stop asking about once the inception of 21 Jump Street started. The actors on set felt they could talk to Johnny while he was in his scene clothes (and Depp even went out and about without being recognized). But once he was out of them everyone suddenly got starstruck. Finally we have The Rob Riggle Show and this is amazing. Riggle is a hilarious guy and steals the movie behind Channing and Jonah. The whole cast agrees as again we get to hear about Riggle grabbing Brie Larson's boobs, making Jonah and Channing ruin so many scenes due to laughing and putting his own penis in his mouth.

This set really has it all. The great movie with an awesome commentary track. The deleted scenes that felt more like extended ones. Along with a side splitting gag reel. And there's six awesome featurettes that keep the behind the scenes knowledge flowing. There's a ton of extras on this set and if you liked 21 Jump Street like I did (my favorite comedy of 2012) you really need to get this set. Well worth your money. 

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