I feel like a total slacker for not getting out to the theaters to catch “Pineapple Express” yet (It’s because I’m taking my fellow friend/blogger Taylor for his birthday on Sunday..so I have reasons). I’ve been extremly excited for the film for quite sometime, but I must say there is something about the way it’s being handled that really bothers me.
I really don’t mind that Judd Apatow has become the Hollywood boy of the moment, I mean he writes/directs/produces quality entertainment for the most part, but I’m dissapointed in the way he’s overshadowing the man behind the camera of “Pineapple Express”. When “Superbad” was released a few weeks after the Apatow hit “Knocked Up” last summer it instantly became the “Summer of Apatow”. The common movie goer had no clue that Apatow had very little to do with the film’s success (I’ve always had a thing against producers), but that didn’t matter because his name was slapped all over the marketing and promotion leading up to the film. The director of “Superbad” was Greg Mottola who’s resume’ includes the very underrated Liev Schriber film “The Daytrippers”, as well as directing various television episodes of Apatow’s televison two cult T.V. series. Many people complained that Mottola deserved some credit for the success behind “Superbad”, and I kind of agreed. Though I feel like the major creative drive behind the film was Seth Rogen and life long buddy Evan Goldberg’s script, a good comedy needs to have a director who can pull performances out of his actors that are well timed and most importantly….funny. Though Mottola had some work behind him, he certainly wasn’t a name that could be slapped on every poster branded with the dazed looking Michael Cera and Jonah Hill saying “From The Guy Who Brought You ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ and ‘Talladega Nights'”.
It’s been almost a year since “Superbad”, and we’ve had one more Apatow branded comedy since then, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”, in which marketing decided to follow in the very same footsteps of those cleverly bannered posters of the summer before (though I will let this go because he was a first time director). This brings me to “Pineapple Express” and the man truly behind the camera. Apatow was on Conan the other night and nary a word was said about independent cinema auteur David Gordon Green. Green is known for his down home films about family, love and morality. At the beginning of his career many compared his work to that of Terence Malick (and if you see his film Undertow, you’ll know why), but films like “All The Real Girls” and “Snow Angels” showcase a creative mind who has truly come into his own. Each of his films have been widely praised and received by both critics and audiences (though none have been overwhelming financial successes). So why is such a talented up and coming filmmaker being so atrociously downplayed? I’m by no means an Apatow detractor, but it really pains me to see that if he really is the uber producer he’s portrayed to be, and if he really respects Green as much as he claims he does, why isn’t Green sitting in that chair on Conan? Why isn’t he allowed to get his name out there, and maybe allow a few more people to check out his fantastic films he’s already done? I can totally understand the allure of working on a project with some of the most talented guys in Hollywood right now, and I’m sure the mega success “Pineapple” will be nothing but gold for Green’s career, but why is it all about Apatow, an established named all over again? From what I’ve seen of “Pineapple”, through various clips and trailers, Green’s influence on the film is obvious. I’ve also heard and spoken to many people who’ve already seen it and have told me that he is certainly the driving force of “Pineapple”. I just don’t understand, it would be nice if Apatow was more about supporting the unique talent behind “his” films rather than maintaining his status as Hollywood’s king of comedy (ok, maybe I’m a bit of a detractor.)
A great interview with Green from the AV Club can be found here: http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/david_gordon_green
And here’s two trailers from my favorite films of Mr. David Gordon Green:
First we have the great ensemble piece “Snow Angels”. I really didn’t know what to think about DGG doing a larger budget film after growing so accustomed to his smaller more intimate films, but once The National’s “Slow Show” kicked in I knew Green had delivered. I drove a good two hours in order to catch this in Sarasota at the lovely Burns Court Cinema (it opened right down the street from me a week later, but it was well worth the drive.)
“All The Real Girls” was my first foray into Green’s work. It stars the beautiful Zooey Deschanel alongside the impeccably talented Paul Shneider playing two unlikely lovers. The movie revolves around the small southern towns that are the habitat of most of Green’s films, but what’s best is that the burnouts and never beens that inhabit this town are far from two dimensional stereotypes. What I love most about Green is his ability to create characters just quirky enough that their still believable.
The Next To Last Mohican 