Review: This is the End

Celebrities are (mainly) pretty shitty people. The apocalypse is a bit of a bummer. Combine these two things and the most obvious outcome is an indulgent circle-jerk of a film, with the occasional pyre of flames and caverns opening to hell. Certainly, this is what the majority of the public expected of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg's directorial debut. Yet what they got was something rather different. 

Obviously, the "classic" elements of every film our ensemble (James Franco, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and Craig Robinson playing allegedly fictional versions of themselves) has starred in feature - weed smoking, masturbation, jokes about masturbation, bromance - yet the obviously sentimental Rogen and Goldberg do allow themselves to throw in a few moments that are fairly emotional, amidst all the chaos. Overall, its the story of the disintegration of Baruchel and Rogen's friendship - it's coincidental that the world also seems to be ending. The film also contains a surprisingly religious core that is rarely - if ever - seen in Hollywood films these days. (probably because most of Hollywood are scientologists?) As the film progresses, the gang realise that they haven't exactly lived the best of lives, and that the hellfire reigning down upon them may be a little more than just a bit earthquake. 

Most of the film can certainly be admirable as an effort from first-time directors, yet there are inevitably a few flaws. Nearly all of the film's CGI elements look pretty shlocky, so much so that it's hard to believe that this is a film released in 2013. Some sections also drag, particularly those where the characters just sit around and talk in Franco's house. Clearly, this is a trait that the two have inherited from their mentor, Judd Apatow, as This is 40 was basically 2 hours of Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann sitting around and whining about their "terrible" (pretty great) lives. Rogen and Goldberg also try to counter this with many twists and turns, some of which just feel very strange. The last 30 minutes or so of the film are very surreal, and as I left the cinema, the only thing I could think to remark was "that was a strange film".

Yet, credit where it's due, I haven't laughed as much at a film in the cinema for a LONG time. The humour, unsurprisingly, is not the most sophisticated, and not every joke hits, but when they do, they are golden. Particularly excellent are the Freaks and Geeks references scattered throughout the film ("Freaks forever!" a worringly obsessed James Franco tells Seth Rogen) and a few cameos late in the film that have astoundingly been kept secret from the public. This is the End may be a little scattered, but for some of the jokes alone, it's well worth flocking to like the world is ending. 

Grace Barber-Plentie

Review: Spring Breakers

Don’t let the advertising fool you, Spring Breakers is not the Female Project X that those who have never heard of Harmony Korine anticipated. I mean, what did you really expect from the guy who directed Trash Humpers? Although the film doesn’t have a real plot or narrative, Spring Breakers hypnotises you immediately in the opening credits with its Skrillex soundtrack and images of the beautiful and the young getting crunk in the sun. The films hooks you in so much that when I left the cinema, my friend said she felt like she was on something afterwards.

After robbing a diner to pay for their Spring break trip to Florida (sound tracked by Nicki Minaj’s Moment 4 Life – nice touch), our four college girls party hard and eventually get arrested only to be bailed out by James Franco’s mesmerising Alien. This is where the film really get interesting. Korine introduces the girls to a life of crime, pink balaclavas, sex, firearms and Britney Spears covers to last a lifetime – or not, depending on what you take away from the film. This may be my favourite James Franco role to date as he completely steals the film away from our four lead actresses. Not to say that their presence goes unseen. Vanessa Hudgens was a particular stand out – she has a case of the crazy eyes that really works with her wild character, Candy and the three others played by Ashley Benson, Selena Gomez and Rachel Korine all bring it. Perhaps my only problem with the film was the all too obvious character names. Like really, a good Christian girl named Faith? A surreal gangster who shows them a whole new world, named Alien? Come on.

Personally, I have no idea what to take away from it, but I loved it in spite of that. We get the feeling that the girls know exactly what they’re in for. Even in the spectacular finale sequence, their phone calls home aren’t ones of remorse or goodbye, they’re of celebration of their time spent in this surreal world. At one point, they even tell each other to think of it as a videogame. A particular stand out has to be the strangely compelling scene in which Alien sings a cover of Britney Spears’ Everytime to the girls whilst they dance around in the aforementioned pink balaclavas holding guns. That alone should be enough to make you go and see it. 

Something that I found interesting was that as you learn about the characters, you realise that you know these girls, you might be friends with these girls, maybe you even are one of these girls and because of this, our generation watching are likely to understand their hedonistic choices more than the typical middle aged male film critic. Right now, I feel like I can safely say that Spring Breakers will be one of my favourite films of the year. Spring break is indeed forever, bitches.

Beth Johnston