Take heart, Team Minus Zero! I totally identify with the anti-Apatow sentiment. In a lot of ways I don't see too much difference between what he's doing now and what various SNL alumni were doing in the 90s, and I don't really understand why he's taken so seriously and given the benefit of so many doubts when his work is at just about the same quality level, where all the various SNL movies of the 90s were greeted with the same universal groaning and forehead slapping. People talk about the Judd Apatow "canon" and treat him like he's got this zeitgeist-capturing window into the postmillennial single-stoner-guy soul, but nobody said that about Adam Sandler, who had the same basic lovable slacker-stoner characters and pretty much the same amount of dick/fart/vagina jokes per film. And even most Apatow fans will tell you that at this point his track record is basically 50-50. I don't think he's nearly as smart as everyone tells me he is, or nearly as much of a superprolific wunderkind as everyone tells me he is. So I agree with you there.
And I am also a HUGE David Gordon Green fan, and in a lot of ways, I SHOULD be as angry as you that's he's doing Pineapple Express, but take heart! I'm not, for the following reasons:
1.) In the same way Judd Apatow's movies are all the same, DGG is similarly formulaic these days too, and a change of pace could be good for him. Even if it doesn't result in a good film, it could just be sort of a nice palate-cleansing exercise for DGG. All of his movies have always had a certain amount of humor to them - All The Real Girls was hilarious, I thought - so I'll bet that he's probably been waiting for the chance to do a straight-up comedy, if only to just get it out of his system.
2.) Whether or not Pineapple Express sucks, it's nice to see DGG getting paid - he's earned the right to cash in a little bit. He's obviously not going to make a habit out of it, so what the hell.
and most importantly,
3.) Every time I get close to getting bummed out about Pineapple Express, I just cheer myself up by thinking about the Suspiria remake that DGG has in the works now, which will be INSANELY good.
So cheer up, Team. Don't let the haters get you down (or that is, the haters who hate that you're a hater, or whatever)....if we Apatow-haters have to grit our teeth and bear David Gordon Green's Pineapple Express, just console yourself by remembering that it's making David Gordon Green's Suspiria possible.
Also, I just watched the trailer after I wrote that, and it doesn't look so bad. I mean, I wish that DGG would make more George Washingtons as much as anybody, but if he's got to cash in, it could be a lot worse. That looks like it's got a few chuckles in it, and it doesn't look totally soulless. And it's got the guy who played Bust-Ass from All The Real Girls in it - in a neck brace, no less. That's pretty funny right there.
