This Is the End (2013)

Let's be very clear on this.  Even though this got an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and a sold showing of 7/10 on IMDB, this is not a great movie. Perhaps part of my problem is that I didn't find the slapstick humor very funny, and I didn't find the actors, all playing themselves, to be very likable. 

Seth Rogan is visited by his long time friend Jay Barushel.  Jay doesn't like LA and he doesn't much like Rogan's new friends there.  He is making an effort to repair his ties with Rogan, who seems altogether oblivious to the tensions, but then again, their relationship may not be all that deep to begin with.  They begin the weekend with smoking pot, video games, mixed with alcohol and not much else.  This is a relationship you could pretty much have with your dog--save the video games--but then a partner is not entirely necessary for that either.  You can play solo, or get on the Internet and play with an unnamed partner.

Rogan takes Barushel to a party at James Franco's house, which is populated with many well known actors behaving badly, and where he has an exceedingly bad time, but largely with first world problems.  Then come the four horsemen of the apocalypse riding through town.  People are raptured to heaven, the ground opens and swallows many into hell, and as luck would have it, these guys remain in limbo.  It is just no where near funny enough or thoughtful enough as a movie to make it as entertainment from my point of view--although many critics and movie goers disagree with me on that count.

I did find myself thinking about and then talking about The End Times, and that is why I reviewed it, because there is something positive to be said about preparing for the worst (especially if you have a strong pessimistic streak like myself).  I think that to live your life as if each day might be your last is an approach that leaves you with few regrets, because none of us really know when, or how, the end will come.