This Is The End

This Is The End ~ This film does one thing that I like. Usually when one sees a movie with name stars, unless the movie completely immerses the viewer or the acting is prime, one will always think of the star as the star rather than the character. For instance most folks don't know who John McClane is, but they know Bruce Willis was all that in the Die Hard films.

This Is The End uses that logic in its own favor by having its stars - Seth Rogan, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, etc. - play themselves. Well, it's themselves as pot smoking partying losers, which may or may not be the truth, but at least you know who is who. As someone who stopped 'partying' quite some time ago, it made me think of most of these actors in a lesser light, fiction or not. Now get off my lawn.

Anyway, the pothead slob comedy brigade are at a party at James Franco's house when apparently The Rapture happens, followed by an apparent Hell on Earth. It vacillates between end of days satire and Exorcist parody and succeeds in neither. The movie tries really hard to be funny, but unlike old Cheech and Chong, which is funny whether you're high or not, I imagine only stoners would find this flick hilarious.

The only time I even smiled was when Emma Watson from the Harry Potter films, and later the Backstreet Boys, showed up for a couple minutes. Although I did jump when the demon bull jumped in through the window - so points for horror but very little for comedy. For a movie called This Is The End, it really never seemed to end, it just went on and on and on. This was relentlessly bad, I hated it a lot.

Clear History

Clear History ~ I stumbled onto this movie blind and with caution. Blind because I didn't know anything about it other than it starred Larry David and Jon Hamm. With caution because HBO movies, with very little exception, have been very bad to me in the past. Whether it's The Girl, Behind the Candelabra, or Phil Spector, it hasn't been all that pleasant. In the case of Clear History, this might be a new beginning.

The story is one of bad judgment and revenge, starring and co-written by Larry David, with all the style and idiosyncrasies of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." What a surprise. Larry David, at first in stealth mode looking very Unabomber-like, plays a man who jumps ship on a billion dollar electric car idea, then lives as a hermit under an assumed name after the world thinks of him as a total idiot. While he's hiding out in Martha's Vineyard a decade later his boss comes to live. With his new life at stake, LD plans his revenge.

Larry David is at his finest here. Michael Keaton is a surprise here, he's funny and even uses his Beetlejuice voice to good effect for the first time in decades. Liev Schreiber is good too, even though he's uncredited because of his contract with rival network Showtime. This is also the first time I have enjoyed Danny McBride in anything.

Clear History is a very good, very funny movie, recommended, especially if you're a "Curb" fan. Keep it up, HBO.