This Week's PCR Movie Review

	"Pineapple Express" Movie review by: Michael A. Smith Movies are rated 0 to 4 stars

MOVIE REVIEW "Pineapple Express"  by Mike Smith
LA FLORIDIANA The Chattaway -- A Florida Phenomenon! by William Moriaty
RETRORAMA Kiddie Matinee Memories – Part 1  by ED Tucker
ODDSERVATIONS DVD Grindhouse: The Vampire's Coffin (1958)  by Andy Lalino
MUSIC EMPORIUM Mr. Bungle: California  by Bobby Tyler & Jake Tipton
FANGRRL I'll Take 'Trivia, TV and TV Trivia' For A Thousand, Please, Alex by Lisa Ciurro
SPORTS TALK From Green & Gold To Green & White .... Nfl: No Fun League .... King James To Europe? .... Madden 09 Releases .... Favre Sets Another Record Without Playing .... Rays On Fire .... Fox 13 ....  by Chris Munger
MIKE'S RANT Really, This Song Sucks! .... Movie Notes .... Passing On .... Viva Las Vegas! .... Welcome Aboard .... .... .... .... And The Oscar For 1980 Should Have Gone To...  by Mike Smith
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Columbia Pictures     
Starring: Seth Rogen, James Franco and Danny McBride
Directed by: David Gordon Green
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 hour 51 mins

1937. In an underground bunker located in the middle of nowhere, our military is conducting various experiments on our soldiers. Under the watchful eye of General Brat (James Remar) a young soldier (Bill Hader) is made to smoke more and more of a substance only known as “Item 9.” The more he smokes the more the soldier relaxes until he begins to tell the General what he thinks. Because of this free thinking, the general declares “Item 9” to be illegal.

Fast forward seventy years. Dale (Rogen) is a 35-year-old schlub who makes his money as a process server. Since most of the people he needs to serve don’t want to be found, he has developed a knack of disguising himself to get his jobs completed. From delivery man to operating room doctor, Dale has a plan for every situation. Dale loves two things. One is his 17-year-old girlfriend (Amber Heard). The other? Marijuana. Usually provided by his dealer of choice, Saul (Franco). One night, while on an assignment, Dale witnesses a murder. Before he can escape, he is seen by the killer. Soon it seems that everyone, good guys and bad guys, want Dale dead. Everyone except his buddy Saul, who joins Dale on an adventure that will try their patience not to mention their friendship.

I guess the “stoner” film became popular in the late 1970s, thanks to the comedy stylings of Mssrs. Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. Films like “Up In Smoke” and “Nice Dreams” created a new type of film hero, the funny stoner. Best of these has always been Sean Penn’s Jeff Spicolli from “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” Now Penn has competition. Franco is a revelation here. Gone is the serious and vain Harry Osborn from the “Spider-Man” films. In his place is an intelligent, funny and truly caring person who just happens to enjoy his daily THC input. Rogen, who co-wrote the film, is equally funny as Dale, whose methods and choices of disguises are some of the funniest parts of the film. And if you’re not familiar with Danny McBride, take the time to let him introduce himself as this film, coupled with next week’s just as funny “Tropic Thunder,” adds McBride to the list of truly up and coming performers.

One word of caution: this film (also like “Tropic Thunder”) is quite violent, with a pretty impressive variety of exploding heads and bullet hits. That being said, a hit of “Pineapple Express” is just the cure for the dog days of summer. On a scale of zero to four stars I give “Pineapple Express”