Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: August 2023

8/28/2023

Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy

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+ Best Los Angeles Movie of the Year + Best Stone Comedy of the Year

Three popular male stars, - with just two of them receiving credit, - on this smoke-filled poster for David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express

A civil servant visits a pot dealer and gets a new kind of weed called Pineapple Express. On his next trip, however, he witnesses a police murder, which gets connected to him and the dealer.

Pineapple Express is written by Evan Goldberg (Preacher (2016-19)) and co-writer/co-star Seth Rogen (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016)), with co-producer/co-writer Judd Apatow (The King of Staten Island (2020)) contributing story elements, and directed by Arkansan master filmmaker David Gordon Green (George Washington (2000)), whose 5th feature it is.

It is a wacky, potty-mouthed film, ripe with stoner humor, - right from Bill Hader's (The Skeleton Twins (2014)) fairly unrelated 1937-set opening scene to the very end, - but also with flashes of crazy-comedy and deadpan gags. James Franco (The Interview (2014)), Rogen and Danny McBride (Arizona (2018)) compliment each other well and are seconded by scores of other funny folk here, of whom especially Craig Robinson (The Bad Guys (2022)) and the police women (Rosie Perez (Inside the Rain (2019)) and Cleo King (Deadwood: The Movie (2019, TV movie))) are funny.

Pineapple Express, and especially the extended home video version, is overlong, but the laughs are plentiful along the way.

David Gordon Green: Halloween (2018) - Great-looking mayhem

2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess

The Sitter (2011) - Green and Hill's inappropriate babysitter movie is a crude hoot

Your Highness (2011) - Green's dismissed, golden stoner/raunch adventure comedy

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

George Washington (2000) - Green's evocative North Carolina youth debut masterpiece

Watch a short clip from the film here

Cost: 25-27 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 102.4 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.93 times its cost)

[Pineapple Express premiered 31 July (Hollywood) and runs 112 minutes. Shooting took place from March - May 2007 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit The Dark Knight, to a 23.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#5), grossing 87.3 mil. $ (85.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 6.9 mil. $ (6.7 %) and Australia with 3.6 mil. $ (3.5 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. The film made an estimated 48 mil. $ on the North-American home video market as well. Plans for a sequel stranded, as the stars and filmmakers wanted 50 mil. $ for it, and Sony would 'only' allow 45 mil. $. Green returned with Your Highness (2011). Rogen returned in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (2008); Franco in Nights in Rodanthe (2008). Pineapple Express is fresh at 68 % with a 6.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Pineapple Express?

March of the Penguins/La Marche de l'Empereur (2005, documentary) - Incredible Antarctic recordings appended to grating animal narration

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The majestic emperor penguin with its chick makes up this poster for Luc Jacquet's March of the Penguins

On the South Pole lives a clan of emperor penguins, where almost no other living being can survive. They walk the long way across the ice to arrive at the mating spot and go through hunger and pain for the sake of their chicks.

March of the Penguins is written and directed by feature-debuting Luc Jacquet (Antarctica: Ice and Sky/La Glace et le Ciel (2015)). The original French title translates to 'the march of the emperor'.

It is an incredibly shot chronicle about some moving, beautiful animals. The stunning footage is enjoyed, but unfortunately the film doesn't spice the images up; neither with interesting, supportive information, nor with a good story (as for instance in the case of The Bear (1988).) Instead we are treated to insipid animal narration (in the English version though, Morgan Freeman (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)) handles narration that is not supposed to be from the penguins.) This choice makes March of the Penguins a sometimes dull watch.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 8 mil. $

Box office: 127.3 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 15.91 times its cost)

[March of the Penguins premiered 21 January (Sundance Film Festival) and runs 86 minutes. Shooting took place over the course of 13 months in Antarctica. Freeman was paid 1 mil. $ for his narration, which was recorded in one day. The film opened 28 to a 137k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 2,506 theaters (different weeks), grossing 77.4 mil. $ (60.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 12 mil. $ (9.4 %) and Germany with 9.2 mil. $ (7.2 %). The film won the Best Documentary Oscar. It was also nominated for 2 BAFTAs, a European Film award, won 1/4 César award nominations, was nominated for a David di Donatello award and won 2 National Board of Review awards, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 2 notches over this one. Jacquet returned with The Fox and the Child/Le Renard et l'Enfant (2007). Jacquet later made the much less successful sequel, March of the Penguins 2: The Next Step/L'Empereur (2017). March of the Penguins is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of March of the Penguins?

1992 in films - according to Film Excess

The Top 10 of the Year

1. Batman Returns - Tim Burton + Best Action Movie of the Year + Best American Movie of the Year + Best Superhero Movie of the Year + Most Deserved Hit of the Year

2. Braindead/Dead Alive - Peter Jackson + Best Gore Movie of the Year + Best New Zealander Movie of the Year + Best Zombie Movie of the Year

3. Bad Lieutenant - Abel Ferrara + Breakthrough of the Year, Male: Harvey Keitel + Best Cop Movie of the Year + Best New York Movie of the Year + Best Religious Movie of the Year

4. Candyman - Bernard Rose + Best Chicago Movie of the Year + Best Horror Movie of the Year + Best Villain of the Year: Tony Todd as Candyman + Breakthrough of the Year, Female: Virginia Madsen

5. Belle Epoque - Fernando Trueba + Best Erotic Movie of the Year + Best Romcom of the Year + Best Spanish Movie of the Year

6. Glengarry Glen Ross - James Foley + Best Ensemble of the Year: Al Pacino, Jack Lemmon, Alec Baldwin, Ed Harris, Alan Arkin, Kevin Spacey, Jonathan Pryce

7. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - Chris Columbus + Best Christmas Movie of the Year + Best Comedy of the Year + Best $ Return of the Year: 12.81 times the cost + Best Family Movie of the Year + Best Mega-hit Movie of the Year + Most Profitable Movie of the Year: 115.56 mil. $ range

8. Porco Rosso - Hayao Miyazaki + Best Japanese Movie of the Year

9. Basic Instinct - Paul Verhoeven + Best Thriller of the Year

10. Army of Darkness - Sam Raimi + Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Horror Comedy of the Year + Best Poster of the Year

Other great movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

A Few Good Men - Rob Reiner + Best Courtroom Drama of the Year

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle - Curtis Hanson + Best Psychological Thriller of the Year + Best Revenge Movie of the Year

Other recommendable, good movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

Alien 3 - David Fincher

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery - John Glen + Best Mega-flop Movie of the Year + Career Killer of the Year: John Glen + Most Expensive Flop of the Year: 38.44 mil. $ range + Worst $ Return of the Year: 0.36 times the cost

The Bottom 5 of the Year

1. Godzilla vs. Mothra/ゴジラvsモスラ (Gojira tai Mosura) - Takao Okawara

2. Far and Away - Ron Howard + Most Deserved Flop of the Year + Worst Poster of the Year

3. Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth - Anthony Hickox

4. Bram Stoker's Dracula - Francis Ford Coppola + Most Undeserved Hit of the Year

5. Patriot Games - Phillip Noyce

Other poor, mediocre and/or failed movies of the year (in alphabetical order):

Honeymoon in Vegas - Andrew Bergman + Best Las Vegas Movie of the Year

[20 titles in total]

Notes:

Despite the low title count, 1992 has already produced 2 masterpieces and no grade zero trash at Film Excess's determination so far: The Top 10 list opens with the first of them, Tim Burton's sensational superhero trip to fabulous Gotham City Batman Returns, arguably the best Batman movie of all time. Peter Jackson's blood-gushing zombie fantasy Braindead takes silver, and Abel Ferrara's brazen, grimy New York-set cop redemption drama masterpiece Bad Lieutenant bronze.

The list goes on with Bernard Rose's racial horror Candyman; Fernando Trueba's sensual period romance Belle Epoque; James Foley's ensemble salesman drama Glengarry Glen Ross; Chris Columbus' majorly successful family comedy Home Alone 2: Lost in New York; Hayao Miyazaki's odd, fantastical animation Porco Rosso; Paul Verhoeven's thriller smash Basic Instinct; and with Sam Raimi's special effects bonanza, medieval horror Army of Darkness rounding off the list.

Other remarkable films of the year include Rob Reiner's colloquially quotable courtroom drama A Few Good Men and John Glen's entertaining mega-flop Christopher Columbus: The Discovery.

On the other end of the spectrum, the year's Bottom list holds 5 titles: Takao Okawara's bizarre kaiju offering Godzilla vs. Mothra is the year's worst. Ron Howard's brain-numbing ham sandwich of an epic romance Far and Away takes silver, and Anthony Hickox's satanic effects-hound Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth bronze.

The list continues with Francis Ford Coppola's remarkably popular but not very good Bram Stoker's Dracula, and ends with Phillip Noyce's hardly believable Jack Ryan action hit Patriot Games.

Future updates of the lists will expand the number of reviewed titles.

Biggest flops of the year:

[The loss is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Christopher Columbus: The Discovery - 38.44 mil. $ range

2. Glengarry Glen Ross - 6.5 mil. $ range

3. Far and Away - 4.92 mil. $ range

4. Honeymoon in Vegas - 3.32 mil. $ range

5. Army of Darkness - 2.4 mil. $

= Combined losses: 55.58 mil. $

Biggest hits of the year:

[The gain is based solely on the cost and box office earnings for the films. Marketing costs and additional revenue (home video, TV rights and other auxiliary profits) are not taken into account]

1. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York - 115.56 mil. $ range

2. Basic Instinct - 92.16 mil. $ range

3. A Few Good Men - 60.78 mil. $ range

4. Batman Returns - 51.72 mil. $ range

5. Bram Stoker's Dracula - 46.32 mil. $ range

6. The Hand that Rocks the Cradle - 44.1 mil. $ range

7. Patriot Games - 27.7 mil. $ range

8. Alien 3 - 11.42 mil. $ range

9. Porco Rosso - 8.92 mil. $ range

10. Candyman - 6 mil. $ range

= Combined profits: 464.68 mil. $ range

1992 titles still on the watchlist:

Innocent Blood, The Living End, Man Bites Dog, Cronos, Leolo, Action Heroes of the Cliffhanger Serials, Dark Horse, Blown Away, Death Scenes 2, Pet Sematary II, The Power of One, For a Lost Soldier, Meet the Parents, Praying with Anger, Raising Cain, Savage Nights, Medicine Man

Previous annual lists:

2022 in films - according to Film Excess

2021 in films - according to Film Excess

2020 in films - according to Film Excess

2019 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2019 in films - according to Film Excess
2018 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2018 in films - according to Film Excess
2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2017 in films - according to Film Excess
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess

2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2004 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2002 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1999 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1998 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1996 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1995 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1994 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

1993 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

What do you think of Film Excess' 1992 lists?

What films would comprise your personal lists?
Anything essential missing on the watch-list in your opinion?

Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (17-24)

8/28/2023

Pineapple Express (2008) - Funny people incite laughs in ludicrous stoner comedy