I love Judd Apatow movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad as much as anyone, but I didn’t become a real convert to his unique brand of comedy until I finally watched the Freaks and Geeks: The Complete Series DVD box set. Aly and I recently finished the six DVD set and it was well worth the time invested. I know people have strong feelings about this show (either loving it or hating it), but you at least have to give the short lived NBC comedy a shot.The show does struggle to find its voice through the first few episodes, which is probably why Freaks and Geeks didn’t make it past season one, but once you get to the season’s midway point the show is pure dramedy gold. Plus, you just don’t find that kind of young A-list talent on TV anymore. Over half the cast has gone on to become either big time movie stars, like Seth Rogan and James Franco, or star in popular television series like Jason Segel on How I Met Your Mother, Linda Cardellini on ER, and Busy Philipps on Dawson’s Creek and a brief stay on ER.
I bring this all because the newest Apatow produce comedy, Pineapple Express, was written by and stars two Freaks and Geeks alumni, Apatow mainstay Seth Rogan and James Franco. While I haven’t seen it yet, the movie is supposed to be hilarious and is getting some great reviews. I really can’t wait to see it, so I imagine I’ll have to somehow pull myself away from the weekend's hundreds of hours of Olympic coverage.I did hear the film is a lot more violent and bloody than one would expect from an Apatow produced stoner comedy, but I’m sure if it came from the minds of Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg the movie will live up to all of the hype surrounding it. Since I’m sure most of you will be seeing Pineapple Express over the weekend, I’ll stay away from discussing any of the movie’s plot. Instead I’ll just leave you with the Pineapple Express’ character movie posters.
What’s amazing about these character movie posters is how much of the movie’s marketing campaign centers around the movie’s stars, Rogen and Franco. The comedy good will Rogen has built up with the movie going public over the past few years is truly amazing. Could anyone have imagined just a few years ago that a huge summer comedy would open to big numbers based solely on Rogen’s name? It’s pretty impressive and just goes to show you how real comedy talent will always rise to the top, especially in this day and age when the comedy landscape looks as bleak as it ever has before.
You can see Pineapple Express in theaters now.