This is The End

A group of actors find themselves in the midst of the apocalypse with now way out. They must every ounce of courage and brains that they have, and unfortunately there's not much to go around.

This movie is absolutely packed with stars; not only is there Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco and Jonah Hill as part of the main cast, there are appearances from Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Channing Tatum, Rihanna and Micheal Cera as well, along with many more that I can't remember. That is one of the major selling points for the movie, and the other is that they are all playing themselves, after a fashion. You seriously begin to doubt that they are all the terrible people they claim to be, and that their real reactions to the apocalypse would be to do a load of drugs and make home videos, but hey, it would pass the time.

The main plot is pretty straightforward; all the celebs are at a party in James Franco's house when the end of the world hits. Most of the guests run outside to see what is happening and are killed by the giant hole that opens up next to the house. Fires begin to blaze everywhere and our protagonists get back inside sharpish. They try to survive now, splitting rations of food and trying to save water, while outside beasts roam the earth, hunting down those who are doomed to hell.

This is a very dark kind of comedy, full of drugs, swearing, severed heads, demons and some pretty gross aspects to do with bodily fluids. Needless to say, this is definitely a film for people who like toilet humour and weirdness.

Although quite entertaining, I would not watch this again as it really is not to my taste humour-wise, so it gets a 3 out of 10.

The Green Hornet

The Green Hornet gives a twist to that age old idea of Vigilateism. There are so many superhero movies out there.. Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, Superman, Daredevil, you name it. And we are always fed the idea that to be a hero you need lots of money or special powers. The same can be said here, as the main character does have a lot of money, but we don't actually see him using it.

This film reminds me so much of the recent hit movie Kickass, because the main characters just want to help the world however they can, with or without super powers. It also reminds me of Watchmen due to the serious antihero ideas that have been thrown in. The way that the Green Hornet tries to help people is through pretending to be a bad guy.

This film is not just about heroes though. The Green Hornet is more of a comedy than a hero movie. Yes, it has action, but it also has Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou (a virtually unknown actor who really surprised me by being hilarious and cool at the same time). In all, this is actually a ridicule of other superhero films that take themselves too seriously.

The weapons and effects in this film are exactly the type of thing you would come to expect from modern day. There are many explosions, car races, guns, and even some Grease style wheel spikes.

A downfall of the movie was that you never truly get into it. I felt that something big was always about to happen, but really the biggest part happened at the end. This confused me a bit, and although I was never bored, I found the end to not be so much of a climax because of it.

I give this film a 7/10 for effort and the ability to amuse, even if some of the plot was not always so good.

Paul

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back together again for yet another highly amusing take on a classic. 'Paul' is funnier even than its predecessors 'Hot Fuzz' and 'Shaun of the Dead'. With Seth Rogen as the voice behind the little green man, they couldn't go wrong. After all, what's funnier than hearing offhanded swearing coming from a surprisingly life-like alien?

This time the famous duo star as two English 'nerds' who are on a sci-fi road trip, first to the comic-con (that's comic convention to all you non-nerds) and then on to famous sites like Area 51. What they didn't expect on their trip was to actually see an Alien, let alone one that is on the run from the FBI after years of imprisonment.

The plot is pretty obvious after that, but what makes it interesting are the quips, jokes and bad manners that come along during the inevitable chase that ensues. The alien, Paul, is an amusing and likeable character that anyone would want to befriend and the lines that comes out of him are brilliant. He is openly crude and seems to be running around naked half the time.

With appearances from the likes of Sigourney Weaver, Jane Lynch and Jason Bateman, this film has it all. And the swearing didn't even get to me as it so often does with badly made comedies. The duo of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are always a success, but this was by far the best for me.

This film is an enjoyable, laugh-out-loud comedy about an average alien. Paul is one of the best comedies I have seen in a while, so it gets a 10/10 from me.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

Disclaimer: Today I was feeling like a comedy. Upon reading the cover that this was a 'hilarious, laugh out loud comedy', I decided to give it a go.

Zach and Miri are friends from school who have lived with each other ever since. They are totally broke. So, to get some money, they decide to make a porno. This is fairly self explanatory, and in fact the plot is quite predictable too: After having sex for the first time they realise they are in love and have a tiff over it, only to reunite later in the film.

This is literally the plot.

I didn't go into watching this film with many high expectations, and I was not disappointed. Seth Rogen is slightly amusing but swears rather too much for my liking. There is a great deal of nakedness, as you would expect. Justin Long, who I actually really like, only featured in one scene and was devastatingly bad in it, playing a fairly unconvicing gay porno producer.

The writing was poor at times, and I didn't find any of the dialogue confusing. Any humour I caught was slapstick, and if I'm honest, a bit too sweary for me to find it funny.

Still, the plot had a point. Don't have sex with someone else if you don't love them, even for money. Though clumsily written, the actual filming of the porno scenes were fairly amusing in their ability to make a satire of something I never thought could possibly be satired.

The cover also said that 'if you liked The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and Superbad, you'll love Zack and Miri'. I do like those films, and I don't think they could have been more wrong.

I would give this 2/10 for entertainment factor. The amusement factor was lacking for me. And the ending was too predictable for words.