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Show Monday * August 11, 2008 M O V I E R E V I E W S Luke Hickman £ Life writer Full metal jackasses: Nonmetal jackets Good morning, Vietcongs Robert Downey Jr., Ben Stiller, and Jack Black lead the show as misguided actors. WSWfcM* Photos (ourtesy ot Drcamworks SKG Tropic Thunder has no limits The summer of R-rated comedies is coming to a close with what could be the funniest of them all: Tropic Thunder. By blowing the top off political correctness through constant comedic jabs at race, sexual preference and physical handicaps, it's also likely to be one of the most shunned. Written and directed by Ben Stiller, Tropic Thunder is about a group of guys who set out to make the biggest Vietnam War movie of all time. The only problem is that this combination of prima donnas is lethal. Stiller pfays Tugg Speedman, a washed up action star who received nothing but negative attention after playing a disabled kid in a feel-good family flick. Jack Black plays Jeff Portnoy, a one-trick ac- tor whose roles imitate those of Eddie Murphy: playing multiple characters in fat suits and makeup in purely potty-humor-based movies. And Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, a muchhyped actor who won an Academy Award for playing a Brokeback monk and is now criticized for undergoing pigment surgery in order to play a black soldier. After blowing one of the most expensive lakes, the director decides to ditch ihe actors in the jungle under constant candid surveillance in order to make a real, gritty film. But once the actors head in the opposite direction of the cameras, they cross paths with and mistake real hostile guerillas for actors. If what you already know about the movie makes it sound appealing to you, then you'll be more than surprised and entertained by the things you don't know. Tropic Thunder is completely filled with hilarious cameos by huge actors when you'd least expect to see them. There are several sidesplitting elemental surprises that your friends will spoil if they see il before you. If you're considering seeing a midweek movie. Tropic Thunder opens this Wednesday. And if you're really looking forward to it, see it as soon as possible, so you don't get burned oul on quotes before you even see it for yourself. High action and high comedy Take the EXPRESS train to Funnytown Actor/writer Seth Rogen must be on cloud nine right now. After starring in such hits as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up and writing the uber-successful super naughty comedy SUPERBAD, it's going to be hard to keep his momentum moving forward. If you're thinking Rogerfs latest flick, Pineapple Express, is going to be another Superbad type of movie, think again. Rogen keeps his writing style fresh and quite unlike anything you've ever seen before. In Pineapple Express, Rogen plays Dale, a twentysomething civil servant (he hand delivers court-ordered subpoenas) who loves nothing more than smoking pot -- not even his current high school senior girlfriend. In order to make it through a dinner with her parents, Dale decides to make a visit to his local drug dealer Saul (Spider-Man costar James Franco) to load up a stash of limited, never-beforesmoked weed called Pineapple Express. While getting high outside the house where he is to serve papers, Dale witnesses a murder, drops his exclusive pot and no-so-quietly leaves the scene, catching the attention of the murderer by hitting a few parked cars on the way out. Little does Dale know that the murderer is the drug lord who sold the stash to Saul, so when the half-smoked joint is found in the street, henchmen are sent to Saul's for cleanup. Only by putting their two fried brains together will Dale and Saul make it out of their shenanigans on top. Pineapple Express isn't Sony just another Half Baked or Rogen and Franco as potfriends in Pineapple Express. Dazed And Confused. What sets it apart from every other stoner comedy is the way that it mixes genres to form a uniquely blended movie. It ends up feeling like a stoner comedy meets a spoof of lame '80s action flicks - like Death Wish - and bad '80s buddy movies -- like Three Fugitives (Haven't seen it? Don't). The really surprising thing about Pineapple Express is James Franco's performance. Through every movie he has been in to date, he has yet to play a character. He always plays the same whiny pretty boy who unreasonably becomes tough and victorious. In Pineapple Express, he plays the filthiAug.! through Sept. 13 est and funniest drug dealer you'll ever see on the big screen. If you don't mind constant pot smoking, the corny , :t * Students w/cunent ID can buy HALF PRICE r nature of '80s buddy flicks i Monday - mursdov fix week of show dote. and the cheesy unrealistic f $ * Studenls w/currenl ID con buy HALF PRICE ! violence of action movies, r Friday & Saturday oftei 4 p.m. day of show. £ 5 , then you'll definitely want to take a hit of Pineapple Exress - if not two or three. G 801.226.8600 £ 225 West 400 North O www.HaleTheater.org Sony Pictures Wait for it to come to the dollar theater!! Festival Cinemas Utah County's Premier Dollar Theater Showing major Hollywood movies mixed with quirky Independent films For showtimes Call 226-1770 or go to www.festivalcinemasutah.com HALF PRICE TICKETS-STUDENT RUSH i | Student Prices only $1.00 959 South 700 East - Orem (behind University Mall) |