A Movie Inside a Movie

James Franco and Seth Rogen come together yet again on another film project and I can practically hear the cheering. This time, Franco will be directing The Disaster Artist, which will tell the story of the making of The Room (2003), considered to be one the worst drama films of all time. Franco will not only direct the movie, but will also star as Tommy Wiseau, the director of The Room. After The Room was pulled from many theaters due to lack of audiences, Wiseau began to get requests for the film to be shown. Celebrities like Jonah Hill and Paul Rudd began to show up to watch the film and soon it became ritual for movie goers. This cult classic tells the story of a love triangle between a man, his fiancé and his best friend. Tom Bissel and an actor from the The Room, Greg Sestero, wrote a book together about the making of The Room and named it The Disaster Artist. The book explains life on set with a director who had no filmmaking experience when he decided to write, direct and produce this famously bad movie.

We can expect to see some other big names in The Disaster Artist. Dave Franco is already set to play Greg Sestero. Rogen will undoubtedly have a part in the movie, and will possibly feature Evan Goldberg and Vince Jolivette as well. Franco and Rogen have had a fairly successful past collaborating together, with projects including The Interview, This Is The End, Pineapple Express, and Freaks and Geeks. With such an interesting premise for their new movie, I look forward to this project which will start production in December.

Why That 70's Show Beat Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks is a comedy/drama from 1999-2000 that takes a look at the lives of an “average” family in 1980.

Starring Linda Cardellini and John Francis Daley, Freaks and Geeks has a cast of secondary characters that would go on to become some of the biggest names in television in movies. The crew of “Freaks”, the high school kids who party and break all the rules, features James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel.

While 1999 may have been before these big name actors really broke out, it’s surprising that the show only aired one season and did not get picked up for another. The main reason for this was probably the show’s competition with That 70’s Show, which started around the same time. The two shows are very similar; both show a group of high school kids that are a mix between news and rule breakers. Both shows featured high school aged kids smoking weed, and both shows had characters who would freak out over all the developments in the “nerd community”.

 While Freaks and Geeks had many characters who would go on to be well known actors, they didn’t gain any advantage over That 70’s Show because of this. That 70’s Show featured Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and many more successful actors.

Probably the biggest reason That 70’s Show was picked up for 8 seasons and Freaks and Geeks only got 1 was because of the length of the shows. That 70’s Show consisted of quick, 22 minutes episodes full of cheap laughs and minimal overarching storylines. Freaks and Geeks, however, took more of the “dramedy” route, requiring viewers to watch each episode in order to really understand what’s going on. Following a series of hour long episodes before the era of online streaming was difficult, and thus it was easier for That 70’s Show’s viewers to follow along. Even still, Freaks and Geeks is an entertaining show with likable characters that deserved more than the one season it got.

Freaks and Geeks: The Best Cancelled Television Show in History

Freaks and Geeks is probably one of the best, well scripted television shows that our generation has had the pleasure to see. It was THE show that launched a lot of their cast into fame: James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, John Daley, Linda Cardellini, and Martin Starr, just to name a few. And if the cast wasn't enough to prove why this show was great, here's just some other reasons.

1. You can relate to it and it's realistic. 

One of the reasons why the show got cancelled was because Garth Ancier (former NBC executive who cancelled the show) thought that the problem with the show was that neither the freaks or geeks win. But that's what made the show amazing. The freaks are the outcast in the schools, the nobodies, the kids who probably won't go to college. The geeks were the kids that got bullied, all the girls were at least a foot taller than them, and they sometimes tried to hard to fit in. The issues that the show dealt with were issues that everyone could relate to, or know someone that went through that experience: being picked last for a team in gym, crushes, puberty questions, cheating on a test, and even being too old to go trick or treating on Halloween.

The dialogue in the show is another reason why it's so good. Everyone that was in the show were teenagers to begin with, and they spoke like actual teenagers. None of the lines ever felt forced. And all the characters have flaws, like REAL flaws. And they deal with those flaws realistically, which means sometimes you can't have what you want. There weren't any miracles in the show to save them, and that's why I think as an audience, we were okay that the freaks and geeks didn't win.

2. The cast & cameo appearances are great.

You can't really have a better cast than the ones that are already in the show. And it's no surprise, almost everyone in the show has gone off to do big things in the film industry. The actors all fit their characters spot on, and they're all unique in their own way. Linda Cardellini plays the sweetheart, stuck between the freaks and geeks Lindsay Weir. She struggles in high school with not knowing what she wants to do, balancing life between being smarter than everyone else but choosing to be friends with the kids who struggle themselves with grades. Her dorky brother Sam Weir played by John Francis Daley is the subject of bullying in high school and gets asked a lot, "Are you a middle schooler?" James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jason Segal, and Busy Philipps are considered the 'freaks' in the high school, and even though they may look like they don't care about their grades, they still have real feelings and emotions we can relate to. There's even some pretty cool cameo appearances like Ben Stiller who plays Agent Meara, Shia LaBeouf who plays Herbert or the high school's mascot, and Jason Shwartzman. 

3. It's hilarious.

With witty lines and character flaws, the show is guaranteed laughs. If you don't believe me, just take a look at this clip:

 

This Is The End

Finally after way too long, I got around to seeing This Is The End written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. There was so much hype about it that I had to see it. Unfortunately hype leads to unrealistic expectations. Even though it didn't quite reach my expectations, I was laughing the whole time. I thought it was a fantastic idea having all of these actors together because their personal lives are something people are interested in seeing. Then adding in the whole apocalypse theme into it was hilarious. The party scene at James Franco's house was so perfect. Michael Cera slapping Rhianna's butt, Emma Watson and Craig Robinson joking around, and James Franco showing off all of his art. The dynamic of that party was unheard of. Then when all hell let's loose (literally) it just keeps getting more and more absurd. Actors fighting actors to not fall into the fiery pit. Then when they all get back in the house all of the different actors and character dynamics just lets loose.

Although it was nonstop comedy and absurdity I thought it was pretty nice to have the whole "work your way to heaven" aspect. That gave it a nice goal and reason for the actors to stay alive and work towards something. Through that goal, the actors were able develop into better human beings or die from their selfishness. For example, James Franco sacrifices himself for the other two, getting him into heaven. But then while he's being beamed up, he's being a bad winner about it and shows that he hasn't really changed from the experience and gets dropped back down into the group of cannibals. I think that's an amazing scene because one, it's hilarious having James Franco being a dick, and two, it sticks to the moral of the story.

I thought the production was amazing. Robert Caban, Kevin Harris, Durk Tyndall, Craig Barnett, Eric Frazier, and Brad manis did an incredible job with special effects. Everything looked so cool and really brought that whole apocalyptic feel to life. I also thought William Ladd Skinner did such a good job as art direction. The cannibal van, destroyed LA, and Franco's house all looked fantastic.

There were so many scenes that I loved from EmmaWatson robbing them, Michael Cera being a dick, everything about Craig Robinson, and the awkward relationship between Jay and Jonah. I will most definitely be watching this again soon and recommending it to just about everyone who hasn't seen it yet.

This Is the End

This Is the End just came out on DVD this week and has been selling off the shelves. When I first saw the trailer for this movie I expected the worst: just another poorly written comedy with a stacked cast all fighting for the spotlight. However, my thoughts changed when I saw that the critics voted it a "Must go" on fandango! I was in disbelief, since critics rarely vote for crude and raunchy humor. Once everyone started to talk about how funny it was I decided it was worth my money to go check out. In the end I was pleasantly surprised by the film, I enjoyed it and it made me laugh. The cast is full of great, and hilarious people playing as themselves. The main cast includes James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson. There are also countless more popular actors featured in the film. The apocalypse begins and the six main characters are forced to figure out how to survive the end of the world, and how to survive being stuck in the same house together. With only limited supplies, shenanigans ensue, and tensions rise. Once the group figures out it is the end of the world, they begin to figure out how they can possibly repent for all of their past sins in attempts of getting to the promised land of heaven. With laughs all the way through the movie, it finishes off with a heavenly performance of Everybody (Backstreet's Back) by the Backstreet Boys. If you are a fan of any of the main characters, I would definitely see this movie.