Another Teen Critic Raves About Zack and Miri

Kevin Smith mixes sex and sweetness in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (The Weinstein Company)

By Jason Lacsamana

Zack and Miri Make A Comedy -- That title seems more fitting to this film. Zack and Miri Make A Porno (opening October 31 throughout San Diego) was one of the funniest films I've seen this year. The film features two best friends living together through tough economic times. Zack Brown (Seth Rogan) suggests making a porno to Miri Linky (Elizabeth Banks) as a solution to their financial woes. Soon enough this suggestion turns into a fun filled and sex filled adventure to stardom.

I found this film to be ridiculously funny. Seth Rogan played his role marvelously along with the rest of the cast. Many in the cast are unknown actors and actresses but they were still wonderful. There are so many funny scenes in this movie I thought I was going die from laughing so much. The storyline was very well written and the movie was very well produced and directed by the same person, Kevin Smith. This film set a whole new standard for movies, I think it really earned its R rating. While a lot of the film is comedy and sex, there are also serious and romantic moments as well. This movie has just about everything from drama to sex to getting shot below the belt to shooting (filming) below the belt.

If you liked other movies with Seth Rogan -- such as Superbad or Pineapple Express -- then you'll love Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

--Jason Lacsamana is a senior at Mount Miguel High School. He says he wants to be a Teen Critic because he loves watching movies and loves to critique them but never really had a way of sharing his critiques.He cites zombie movies as his favorites of all time.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno and Quite a Good Movie Says Teen Critic

Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (The Weinstein Company)

By Eric Zacarias

At a time when Hollywood (or rather, Judd Apatow) has been stepping up to the plate and delivering quality comedy films with both substance and raunchiness in comes Kevin Smith. Smith not only adds to this line of great comedies but he does so in a manner that combines the best of both his trademark dick jokes and a heartwarming story. As an avid fan of director/writer Kevin Smith over the years, there were elements in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (opening October 31 throughout San Diego) I gleefully saw coming a mile away. The name itself is a display of the dirty-yet-proud-of-it demeanor of which the film is a shining beacon. The astounding collection of actors, both new and old to Smith's repertoire, did just as good a job as anyone could have hoped for. But make no mistake, as laugh-out-loud dirty as this film is (and it is), Kevin Smith manages to take it into a poignant and touching route that his earlier efforts tried on a more subtle note.

Stephen Chow to Direct Green Hornet

Stephen Chow (left) directs Kung Fu Hustle and will be directing the new Green Hornet (Sony)

According to VarietyAsiaOnline.com Hong Kong superstar and Kung Fu Hustle director Stephen Chow has just signed on to direct and co-star in Columbia Pictures' big screen adaptation of The Green Hornet. Originally created by George W. Trendle and Fran Striker as a 1930s radio program, The Green Hornet also appeared as a film serial in the 1940s; as a network TV show in the 1960s; and as comic books from the 1940s to the 1990s. Bringing the story of Britt Reid -- newspaper publisher by day and masked vigilante by night -- to the big screen has been in the works since the 1990s. Kevin Smith was writing a script at one point, and George Clooney and Jake Gyllenhaal were both mentioned for Reid. At the moment, Knocked Up star Seth Rogen is on board to star as Reid and to co-write the script with SuperBad partner Evan Goldberg. Chow will also take on the role of Reid's sidekick Kato, a role originated on TV by Bruce Lee. This combo of talent makes me think the film with be more jokey than gritty and hard-edged, and I'm not yet convinced that Rogen is the right choice for REid or for writing the screenplay. But I think Chow is up to the task of directing and playing Kato. It will be interesting to see if this combination of talent holds since so many people have come and gone in the past. Green Hornet is scheduled to open on June 25, 2010.

Pineapple Express

Seth Rogen and James Franco in what may be the first pot action comedy, Pineapple Express (Sony Pictures)

I have a weakness for pot comedies. I think there's a lack of mean-spiritedness in pot comedies even when there are gross out gags or in the case of Pineapple Express (opening August 6 throughout San Diego) violence. You can always find a goofy sweetness lurking somewhere in a pot comedy and I find that oddly endearing. In the case of Pineapple Express that sweetness can be found in James Franco's broad innocent grin and in a totally frivolous scene where the two main characters take a moment to goof off in the woods. You could cut that scene out and not disrupt the plot at all yet that scene seems essential to me in terms of defining this film as a pot comedy. But while films such as Harold and Kumar, Garden State, and Knocked Up are all obvious pot comedies, Pineapple Express may be the first pot action comedy. Now cops have always been a part of pot comedies if only in the sense that characters are often on the look out for cops in order to avoid arrest, or find themselves being pursued by law enforcement. But pot comedies have avoided using cops, guns, and criminals in full-blown action mode - until now. Check out the video of the Pineapple Express Comic-Con panel.

Trailer Tuesdays: Pineapple Express

Now that I can more easily add video elements to my blog I have decided to start a new weekly feature: Trailer Tuesdays. Each Tuesday I will try to post up a fun or interesting trailer from an upcoming new film or maybe a classic old one or something cool on DVD. The first trailer going up is for Pineapple Express (opening August 6 throughout San Diego). Imagine the Big Lebowski crossed with True Romance, or Hot Fuzz with the added layer of being a pot comedy and you'll have a good idea of what Pineapple Express is like. Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the creative team behind Superbad, and produced by Judd Apatow, Pineapple Express focuses on Rogen's character Dale who witnesses a hit while taking a hit, and then all hell breaks loose. The film marks the first mainstream effort from lyrical indie director David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls, Snow Angels). Check out the trailer and let me know if there are any trailers you'd like to see posted or dug up from the archives. Trailer courtesy of Sony Pictures.

Drillbit Taylor

The terrors of high school in Drillbit Taylor (Paramount)

I was going to leave Drillbit Taylor (opened March 21 throughour San Diego) to the Teen Critics, who did a fine job dismissing the film as "more stupid than funny" and not "completely horrible." But then I came across this item in Variety: "Thanks to the prolific Judd Apatow, the reclusive John Hughes has made an under-the-radar return to the movie business." The article went on to reveal that one of the people credited with conceiving the film's story, Edmond Dantes, is none other than John Hughes. That's right, John Hughes, the king of teen comedies from the 1980s who slipped into oblivion before the new millennium. But Hughes had written a treatment years ago for Paramount that was given to Apatow and developed into Drillbit Taylor, a film about a trio of high school freshmen targeted by a bully and forced to hire a bodyguard for protection. In his heyday, Hughes created such popular teen comedies as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. His films also gave birth to the Brat Pack of young Hollywood stars and influenced people like Apatow and Juno’s Diablo Cody who grew up loving his comedies. So in an odd way this proves somehow appropriate but it may also explain why I didn’t like Drillbit Taylor as much as Apatow’s other films.

On Drillbit Taylor and School Bullies

Owen Wilson stars as Drillbit Taylor (Paramount)

By Tony Galindo

Drillbit Taylor: Not your normal comedy staring Owen Wilson. Then again it's exactly what he's done before. With such movies as Wedding Crashers and Night at the Museum under his belt this actor has partaken in many unusual funny films.

In Drillbit Taylor (opening March 21 throughout San Diego) he plays the title character but we don't meet him right away. Instead our attention is focused on our two teenaged main characters, Wade and Ryan, preparing for their first day of high school. As the film progresses, Wade's attempt to help one kid out of a bullying situation proves to be a mistake that lands our characters on the hit list of the school bully. I use the term "hit list" because for some reason this bully really wants to kill someone. Something that hopefully would never happen at a real high school you would be attending.

After their first impression of high school goes horribly wrong, the story truly begins to unfold and we are introduced to the main attraction for seeing the film - Owen Wilson as Drillbit. The boys hold an interview session to try and hire a personal bodyguard to protect them in the halls and after school so they can just get on with there geeky lives. Since the boys are short on cash, many professionals turn them down -- until the one and only Drillbit Taylor shows up to save the day. With his army "expertise" he begins to help the kids out for the reasonable price of all the money they have and an occasional bowl of cereal. Not knowing that their new found friend Drillbit is actually a homeless military deserter, they end up paying him for what turns out to be useless protection services. To make a long story short, it doesn't go so well for the boys. They soon find out that their new friend isn't who or what he says he is. So they decide to stick up for themselves and everyone finally recognizes them.

This movie wasn't completely horrible. It felt like the stupidest thing at the time I was watching it but it was a great movie to just sit back and enjoy. Not a lot of thinking was required to enjoy the funny moments in the film, and the cast was great. I could believe the geeks were geeks and that Drillbit was a homeless army dropout. The only thing that got to me was trying to believe that the bully they were up against really wanted to kill them. This along with the fact that even going to the school principal didn't help. That didn't seem believable. Maybe that happens across the country but growing up here in San Diego I can say that schools really do try to help with your problem and care about the students, especially if you bring a screaming, pissed off parent in. Other then this problem, the movie was fun to see, especially if you're with your friends and just looking for a good time. If you want to see a movie with a purpose then this probably isn't the one for you.

-- Tony Galindo is a senior at Mount Miguel High. He was recently accepted at the Art Institute of San Diego where he wants to major in game art design and pursue a career in environmental design. Writing is a hobby of his as well as watching movies, so he thought it would be great to be able to share his opinions on film with people.

Knocked Up

Ben and buddies in Knocked Up (Universal)

Two years ago, Judd Apatow's comedy The 40 Year Old Virgin surprised everyone by grossing more than a hundred million at the box office. Apatow's follow up film this summer is another relationship comedy and it offers a welcome alternative to bloated blockbusters. Knocked Up (opening June 1 throughout San Diego) considers the unexpected repercussions of a one night stand between a slacker and an overachiever.