This is the End. (15.)
Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.
Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride. 107 mins
It is the inherited vanity of every generation to believe that they are living in the end of days, and to demand entertainments that reflect that. Despite Hollywood lavishing billions of dollars on their efforts, they have never really created a vision that truly encompassed the horror and shock of having everything you held dear, everything you were certain of, abruptly wrenched from you in the most violent and unexpected way. Now it is revealed that all they needed to do was gather up a bunch of comedy actors and celebrities of varying repute to play themselves, and strand them at James Franco’s house while Los Angeles, and the world, burns.
Baruchel is the LA out-of-towner reluctantly dragged along by best friend Rogen to a party at Franco’s new fortress-like home. During a cigarette break, fire starts to roar up from the ground and blue lights start to suck people into the sky. (While Jay immediately pegs this as from the Book of Revelations, cineaste will notice the similarity to little-loved low budget alien invasion drama Skyline – it’s a fine joke that the end of the world is a rip off of one the cheapest, crappiest sci-fi films of this century.) Most of the all-star cameo guest stars at the party are killed off leaving six to stay there and bicker over food and survival.
It is full of performers I can generally take or leave (in Danny McBride’s case, leave.) I like Seth Rogen but even I would concede that his charm is a finite resource and needs to be mined sparingly. Along with the whole House of Apatow axis, this crowd have shaped recent Hollywood comedy output in their relaxed, weed espousing, bromancing, improvising image and it can be galling to the unconvinced.
Actors playing themselves is always a queasy notion; it works here because of a generous injection of self-loathing. It's like they decided that having all been shunned by Ricky Gervais they would meet up and do their self-deprecating Extras cameos all together. Even such self-deprecating portrayals involve enormous amounts of vanity and but if you can get past that this really is absolutely hilarious. Rogen and Goldberg haven't written anything this funny since Superbad and there hasn’t been a Hollywood comedy this relentless funny since Ted. Any film that makes me love Danny McBride is just a little bit miraculous.
Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.
Starring Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and Danny McBride. 107 mins
It is the inherited vanity of every generation to believe that they are living in the end of days, and to demand entertainments that reflect that. Despite Hollywood lavishing billions of dollars on their efforts, they have never really created a vision that truly encompassed the horror and shock of having everything you held dear, everything you were certain of, abruptly wrenched from you in the most violent and unexpected way. Now it is revealed that all they needed to do was gather up a bunch of comedy actors and celebrities of varying repute to play themselves, and strand them at James Franco’s house while Los Angeles, and the world, burns.
Baruchel is the LA out-of-towner reluctantly dragged along by best friend Rogen to a party at Franco’s new fortress-like home. During a cigarette break, fire starts to roar up from the ground and blue lights start to suck people into the sky. (While Jay immediately pegs this as from the Book of Revelations, cineaste will notice the similarity to little-loved low budget alien invasion drama Skyline – it’s a fine joke that the end of the world is a rip off of one the cheapest, crappiest sci-fi films of this century.) Most of the all-star cameo guest stars at the party are killed off leaving six to stay there and bicker over food and survival.
It is full of performers I can generally take or leave (in Danny McBride’s case, leave.) I like Seth Rogen but even I would concede that his charm is a finite resource and needs to be mined sparingly. Along with the whole House of Apatow axis, this crowd have shaped recent Hollywood comedy output in their relaxed, weed espousing, bromancing, improvising image and it can be galling to the unconvinced.
Actors playing themselves is always a queasy notion; it works here because of a generous injection of self-loathing. It's like they decided that having all been shunned by Ricky Gervais they would meet up and do their self-deprecating Extras cameos all together. Even such self-deprecating portrayals involve enormous amounts of vanity and but if you can get past that this really is absolutely hilarious. Rogen and Goldberg haven't written anything this funny since Superbad and there hasn’t been a Hollywood comedy this relentless funny since Ted. Any film that makes me love Danny McBride is just a little bit miraculous.
