This is the End

"This is the End"

"As Reported by Dollyforme"

Well, do YOU like Grindhouse movies? I bet you do. The original plan was to show “This is the End” as a double feature with “Machette”. Due to the 1st Grindhouse movie bombing due to its excessive length this didn’t happen.

In Europe those original Grindhouse movies were released separately (Planet Terror and Deathproof) and made a killing at the box office – so these two movies were released separately. Everywhere – both US and Europe. Good thing – I mean, who wants to sit through a four hour movie?

Anyway, this crude, rowdy, self-indulgent buddy-movie mash-up travesty about the end of the world, in which smoking weed, ejaculation jokes, exorcism and a decapitated head kicked around like a soccer ball are par for the course. In this, Rogan's directing debut with his writing partner Evan Goldberg, the conceit allows the actors and their characters to be one - that is for the actors to play themselves.

There is a hot blonde in the movie – she does appear nude and performing hot sex – so I was a happy camper. Sadly, she only has a very small part however. It must be sad being a Hollywood actress and only do nude sex scenes.

The movie is about six friends in an actual Hollywood party who go through their paces in this mock-horror, feature-creature, and apocalyptic spoof with lots gross out horror scenes in it. It's not my bag, but there is no denying the film generates an essence of good will through the craziness and interaction between the cast, who are clearly having a fun time as they seemingly improvise preposterous scenarios.

The film begins at the airport, when Jay Baruchel arrives in LA to stay with his buddy Seth Rogan. Baruchel is full of insecurities and less than enthusiastic to head over to James Franco's flash new pad for a party, but by the time they smoke some weed, they are armed and ready.

The sequence in which the apocalyptic moment arrives is amusing and takes place in a convenience store. But most of the action is in Franco's mansion which is filled with questionable art installations including a giant, patterned penis. Michael Cera is hilarious and totally over the top as one of the party guests whose obsession with sex is crudely expressed. Emma Watson is also memorable - especially when yielding an axe. A bare-bottomed Channing Tatum appears in a cameo of disrepute.

With the Hollywood Hills in flames, body parts flying, water drunk from martini glasses and Danny McBride wearing a T-shirt with the words 'Take yo Panties Off', it's an incongruous mix as beams of blue light flash from the sky to suck good-doers to heaven. Redemption is clearly wanting for those remaining.

There are some funny concepts and I did chuckle at a couple of bad-taste jokes. I also cringed. Then the alien creatures appear, one of which looks as thought it has escaped from a Chinese New Year parade. The giant molten man with writhing asps and fiery penis is a great creation. There's a lot of bad language, jingoistic dialogue and the calling of 'man' and 'dude'. Rogan and Goldberg seemed to have captured the tone they were after and full marks to the cast for playing it for real 100% of the time.

Be warned, there is some Gay stuff in the film, maybe in real life the actors are fudge packers…….but there is enough straight sex and female nudity to keep everyone happy in this movie.

Go rent it and see this amazing flick that was originally to be a double feature. You could of course rent both this movie and Machete together for four hours of sex, nudity and strangeness………