Media Junkie

Bad Cinema: Pineapple Express

Pineapple Express
Columbia Pictures
Unrated
117 Minutes
2008

It was inevitable that the comedy goldmine of Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen would hit a wall eventually.  After truly gut-busting comedies like Superbad, Knocked Up, and the utterly classic 40-Year-Old Virgin, it seemed like young writer/actor Rogen and producer Apatow were unstoppable, producing hit after hit and raking in the box office dough. 

With the release of Pineapple Express, however, the duo have not only hit the wall, they crashed into it going 160 miles per hour.

Bad Cinema: Hostel

Hostel
Lions Gate Films
Rated: R
94 Minutes

Hostel is a movie for no one.  No one that appreciates cinema should see this film.  No one should ever see this film because this film should never have been made, but for Roth's friendship with Quentin Tarantino who fronted much of the money to get this piece of drivel made.

Hostel is, without question, one of the absolute worst pictures I have ever seen in 29 years on this earth.  The only thing it succeeds in doing is leaving a bad taste in your mouth and bringing you 90 minutes closer to the end of your life.  At no point during this all-too-long gorefest was I entertained, intrigued, interested, impressed or anything but disgusted by the complete lack of cinematic innovation within.  But it wasn't the blood and gore that shocked me or left me feeling sick to my stomach.  It was the fact that some studio executive thought this movie needed to be shown to the general public.

Bad Cinema

"That wasn't so good, was it?"

That is the catchphrase uttered by Dan Aykroyd as Leonard Pinth-Garnell in Saturday Night Live's classic "Bad Cinema" sketches, wherein the character and his panel of guests watch some astoundingly bad cinema.  It is with that in mind that I introduce you to a new feature that will be appeared on Media Junkie in the very near future, appropriately titled, Bad Cinema.

In this feature, I'll be taking a look at some truly awful films.  They will follow the same general review structure as any other piece on this site, but movies worthy of the tag will be noted as such (as well as still being categorized under the Movie Reviews section). 

Many of these reviews will be more light-hearted in nature and less about outright bashing because, let's face it, sometimes it can be just as fun to watch a bad movie as it is a good one, but I reserve the right to vent when I see a film I feel is deserving of being raked over the coals.

Keep your eyes peeled for the first entry into this feature, appearing soon!