Ashley is a very fashionable girl, all honey colored layers and cinch waisted suitcoats. When I saw her last, I complimented her Steve Madden wedges. She shrugged. “I had to dress for court. Just a formality, my lawyer apologized for bringing me in.”

To my ears, her story plays out like an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The gang spends the night drinking as usual. Ashley and John break away long after last call, John insisting “I’ll be fine, it’s only two miles!” Ashley, having spent the last 4 hours drinking, passes out upon ignition.   John manages to avert collision and catastrophe by chain smoking. (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!) Upon arriving, he promptly pukes in her parking spot. And here’s where things go a tad ‘over the top:’ After somehow finding the door, John realizes he doesn’t have his keys.

Are they in the car? Pants pockets? Dropped while ralphing?

The possibilities explode in drunken logic: John kicks in his own door and promptly freefalls onto their sofa. Alcohol wins another round, folks! Little does John know that the cat lady in 2B called the police when she came to the crazy conclusion that someone was breaking into his apartment. Instead of waking up to a hangover, he is jolted conscious by a billy club. John assures them – reality sinks in – yes he lives here. But since the police have been deprived of kicking in the door themselves, they decide to search the apartment. And what do they find? In a footlocker underneath the sweet couple’s bedside table but John’s pot stash. Comic double take! Those were JOINTS he was smoking!

Back in the real world, Ashley is found fast asleep in the car. She, too, is arrested for possession of marijuana.

The aftermath doesn’t isn’t so funny. Ashley loves her job as an assistant for a CPA, and said the hardest part was telling her conservative boss she had been arrested because her boyfriend kept drugs at their apartment. She was crying; sure she’d be fired. He handed her a tissue and cleared his throat “But…it was only marijuana?”

And that’s what makes my throat go tight. Half Baked, Pineapple Express and Weeds are part of our cultural wallpaper and the DARE shirt I was given in junior high has now achieved a vintage patina bordering on the ironic. Yet the bail set for Ashley’s boyfriend was the same as for his cellmate, a man arrested for stabbing someone. They were evicted from their apartment and are now living with friends.  Ashley was not fired from her job.

If I were to whisper behind her back, I might question her decision to stick with him. “Stand By your Man” doesn’t belong on this playlist. Or does it?  We’re both quick to demean his idiotic door-kicking. That’s the serious crime here.  But despite the arrest, she loves him. With tears in her eyes she tells me how much. Ashley chooses to stay with him because, even though he was arrested for a certain crime, in today’s young adult landscape she just doesn’t believe that what he did was wrong.

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After recently witnessing the hilarity of the Pineapple Express talent/ filmmaker panel at Comic Con, I had high expectations for this film.  Unfortunately, it just wasn’t as dope as I had hoped.  

Written by Superbad’s Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, Pineapple also stars Rogen in the film as Dale Denton, a process server who smokes his way through his lazy days.  The only reason he ever visits pot dealer, Saul Silver (James Franco), is to buy a strain of weed called Pineapple Express.  When Dale accidentally witnesses a murder by a crooked cop and drug lord, he panics and leaves his joint at the scene.  Paranoid the murderers will be able to trace the rare weed back to them, Dale and Saul run for their lives.  Forced together by these unlikely circumstances, we watch the duo’s friendship develop and laughter ensues as they try not to get killed – or kill each other.

On the up side, the action sequences in this film are pretty impressive, though the fake blood can be a bit corny and over the top at times.  The performances are overall stellar as Rogen and Franco shine individually and as a team.  They capture their stoner characters and their chemistry and comedic timing is flawless.

That said, the flaws in this film seem to stem from the script.  While Pineapple has key scenes that are undeniably funny, overall the comedy was not consistent enough to keep my attention for the almost two hours of screening.  More importantly, like Step Brothers, which was released last month and also a product of the Apatow comedy troupe, Pineapple proves that something about grown men who are completely immature is just not that funny.  We’ve seen it work in films like Old School but, by now, the premise has grown tired.

That Girl Says: Like It!  It may not be meet the high expectations of Superbad and Knocked Up fans, but as far as summer comedies go, Pineapple Express, may be a ride worth taking.  I wasn’t exactly McLovin’ it, but this joint can provide a laugh or two for even sober audiences.

Release Date:  August 6th, 2008 (Wide)
Running Time:  111 minutes
Rated:  R
Company:  Columbia Pictures
Cast:  Seth Rogen – Dale Denton
James Franco – Saul Silver
Director:  David Gordon Green
Official Site:  www.ridetheexpress.com

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Comic-Con International 2008 kicked off Thursday, July 24th and ran through Sunday, July 27th, bringing a record number of fans to downtown San Diego.  Beginning in the early 1970’s, Comic-Con started as a small gathering of graphic novel aficionados devoid of press coverage and movie stars.  Since then, Comic-Con has grown into a huge platform for the entertainment industry to launch films, television shows, and video games to potential fans and bloggers.  Studios screen never-before-seen footage and invite celebrities and filmmakers to participate in panel discussions with hopes of generating positive buzz for upcoming projects.  This year, for the first time since its humble beginnings, the event sold out its 125,000 passes well in advance of its start date and no tickets were offered at the door.  It was nothing short of entertainment to watch the worlds of Hollywood and Comics collide in the San Diego Convention Center and while it is close to impossible to discuss all the happenings of the four day event, here are a few of the highlights.

While the actual convention began on Thursday, doors were opened to four day pass-holders for a special preview night on Wednesday. Crowds of people packed into exclusive premiere screenings of the pilot episode of Fringe, the highly anticipated new series from J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost.  Thursday was expected to be a strong day with Fox previewing X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Max Payne, but the real surprise was the crowd of 6,500 teenage girls and their moms who waited in line for hours to watch the panel for Summit Entertainment’s adaptation of the Stephanie Meyer vampire novel series, Twilight.  Comic-Con has historically been a fan-boy event, but this massive fan-girl turnout shocked exhibitors and opened doors for the ‘Con to reach an even larger female audience next year.

A counter to Thursday’s unexpected female influence, Friday was deemed Star Wars Day in anticipation of the upcoming Warner Bros.’ release Star Wars: The Clone Wars.  While there were many popular panels, WB stole the day in general with a panel for one of next year’s most anticipated superhero films, Watchmen.  Saturday offered presentations for a number of popular TV series including Chuck and Pushing Daisies, but the highlight of the day was the Sony panel for Pineapple Express.  Judd Apatow moderated a Q&A with Seth Rogen, James Franco and the rest of his creative team which proved to be one of the funniest moments of the weekend.  Sunday was a much slower day as many opted to head out early and beat the traffic, but for those who stayed, the day was coined “Kid’s Day,” with a number of special programs aimed at children.  The convention wrapped Sunday afternoon with a hysterical screening of Buffy the Musical.

This year was my first trip to Comic-Con and, although I was completely “Conned-out” by the end, it was definitely a worthwhile and unforgettable experience.  While it may sound like a mecca for geeks (and in many ways it is,) the opportunity to see celebs and attend guest-only Hollywood parties has helped Comic-Con evolve into a mecca of pop culture.  This is an event where there is truly something for everyone and with this year’s newfound female presence; I can only hope more women will join me at the ‘Con next summer.

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