Big Fan – Movie Review

Big fan is a story of an attendant (Paul Aufiero) at a parking garage who is also a die hard New York Giants fan. At 36, Paul still lives with his mom and when hes not at his boring job, he is making fanatic calls to the local radio station and trash talking other foot ball teams. Sal, played by Kevin Corrigan, is Paul’s only friend and accompanies Paul in the fanatical obession of the Giants.

One evening, Paul and Sal spot their favorite Giants player, Quantrell Bishop, at a gas station. They decide to stalk him and follow him to a strip bar. at the bar, Paul gets to speak to Bishop and tells him that they have been following him. Bishop freaks out and beats up Paul. The rest of the story revolves around Paul becoming NY’s worst enemy as Bishop now cannot take the field due to the pending litigation against him.

Rob Siegel, who wrote The Wrestler, make his directorial debut with Big Fan. Patton Oswalt and Kevin Corrigan are brilliant in a movie that is definately worth watching.

You can check out the showtimes for the movie in your city here.

We give this movie 6 ‘touchdowns’ out of 10.

Pineapple Express Movie Review

Pineapple Express is the latest addition to the stoner-buddy movie hall of fame, making its way to the top of the pile for putting on a fresh satirical spin to the otherwise overplayed genre.

Seth Rogen brings on the sweet and goofy goodness to yet another Judd Apatow-produced movie as Dale Denton, the process server whose pot habits lead him down a winding path of hilarious disaster and destruction. James Franco, another Apatow vet from the Freaks and Geeks days, sheds his usual brooding heartthrob persona to play the part of flaky drug dealer Saul Silver, who is looking to make friends and enough cash to support his Bubbie’s nursing home bill.

Dale is under the firm impression that you can’t be friends with your drug dealer, but when the going gets tough, Dale runs straight to Saul for help. After purchasing a rare and potent strand of weed from Saul, Dale leaves to deliver a subpoena to one of the main drug lords in town, Ted Jones (Gary Cole). Incidentally, Jones is embroiled in a drug war with “the Asians.” While smoking a pre-work joint outside the drug lord’s home, Dale witnesses the murder of one of the Asian spies by Jones and his paid dirty cop (Rosie Perez). He flees the scene to run to Saul’s, but not before throwing out his roach full of Pineapple Express out the window. Dale accurately deduces that the bad guys will be able to trace the wasted rare doobie back to Saul, so they must go on the run.

Dale and Saul are then on the lam from Jones’s hit men, a bickering semi-unprofessional duo played by Kevin Corrigan and Craig Robinson. They try and get help from Saul’s quirky supplier Red (Danny McBride), who easily flips on them but redeems himself later on. Also, while juggling trying to survive being hunted down by dirty cops and drug lords, Dale also has to deal with meeting his girlfriend Angie’s parents for the first time. By the way, his girlfriend, played by Amber Heard, is a senior… in high school. Throw in one of the funniest car chase scenes ever produced, plenty of gunfire, big explosions, and a smattering of dead bodies, and you have a good time on your hands.

There are enough juvenile jokes, homosexual undertones, and ad-libbed dialogue to choke on, but it seems fitting considering the subject matter. Also in the movie are dozens of cameos pulled from Apatow’s cast goodie bag. And, of course, there are half-naked men carrying their BFFFs (best “effing” friends forever) out of harm’s way to save the day. Combined with the non-condescending satirical outlook on pot, and Rogen’s and Franco’s incomparable comedic partnership, Pineapple Express is elevated to a higher level of comedy; one that, instead of focusing entirely on the obvious for humour, concentrates on the connections and friendships to draw on for material.

It’s not quite just a stoner movie, and it’s not entirely an action-packed cops-and-bad-guys flick, but it is funny and, above all else, another signature “bromance” movie brought to us by Apatow’s creative team. Take a deep breath and inhale the funny.

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