Day At The Movies

• What I'm Watching/Listening To/Reading:
• As promised, reviews of the two big comedies out right now. But first, it looks like the big race tonight may be one of the rare instances where a slo-mo replay wasn't as good as full speed. At real time, you can see that last explosion by Phelps to sneak in there, but it's not apparent when slowed down.
• First, we went to see Pineapple Express. Friends and regular readers may know that I'm officially a big Seth Rogen fan and of the Apatow movies overall. This one is interesting in that they try to re-think the genre a bit, by adding violence to the standard stoner comedy (I don't count True Romance as a stoner comedy, Brad Pitt's performance notwithstanding). It ends up coming off as a bit of a buddy movie with a lot of funny lines and a lot of gay jokes. It's not as good as Superbad, but it's still pretty good. While the comedy is different, I'd compare it to Hot Fuzz.
• The second was Tropic Thunder. I almost don't know how much to say without giving too much away. To be simple, it's absolutely the funniest movie of the year. Ben Stiller almost overdoes it at times with his acting (he starts to be a little Zoolander-ish), but there are a few scenes where he shines. Jack Black is never let loose enough to overshadow anyone else and Robert Downey, Jr. is spectacular. There are a few other big name stars that steal the show at times, but as they're not in the trailer, I won't spoil it. I liked both movies, but of the two, this is the must-see.
• The overlap between the two movies is funny. Danny McBride is in both, and funny in both, as is Bill Hader. Obviously, this overlap isn't a huge surprise, seeing as how Stiller was in "Freaks and Geeks" for an episode and Jay Baruchel (in Tropic Thunder) was in "Undeclared" and Knocked Up.
• Random Thoughts/Links:
• I'm a little bitter that I can't find a link to the video from "The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet" that included the random picture of a cat with spaghetti. It's in the running for my funniest video of the year, so I'll hunt it down.
• Have fun with this movie quiz! Very cool idea.
• Night Off:
• Bachelor party tomorrow night for a friend, so we're going dark for a night. In fact, everyone who posts on this blog will be at either that or the accompanying bachelorette party.