Pineapple Express

We all learned what the meaning of Pineapple Express was when Hollyscoop was on the red carpet premiere of the movie earlier this month.

So now it's clear that the movie is about drugs! But that's just a little too crazy for the Brits, who decided to cut an entire drug-related scene out of the flick! Yeah, the same Brits who have brought us endless entertainment with Amy Winehouse, Kate Moss, and Pete Doherty…

Seth Rogan was forced to cut a hardcore drug scene from the movie because it was too explicit for British viewers. The British Board of Film Classification even censored it!

He says, "We had to remove stuff from the movie to get the rating that we needed. We're actually more responsible in the U.K. than we are in the States. There’s a scene in the movie when we sell to high school kids that's still in there I assume. But in the American version of the scene we also smoke weed with them and hang out.

It's a really explicit scene of us getting high with these 11-year-olds. I think for the U.K. they've kind of softened it a bit. We had no moral obligation with this movie. I mean, it's an R-rated movie, you have to be 17 in order to see it so we figure at that age you're an adult. I've been seeing R-rated movies since I was 12 years old and I'm OK! Not really."

'Tropic Thunder' reigned at the box office this past weekend pulling in $16.1 million dollars. 'The House Bunny' came in at number #2 with $15.1 million, and 'Death Race' pulled in $12.2 million.

Here are the top 10 grossing movies for Aug 22-24 weekend...

1. Tropic Thunder--$16.1 million
2. The House Bunny--$15.1 million
3. Death Race--$12.2 million
4. The Dark Knight--$10 million
5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars--$5.6 million
6. Pineapple Express--$5.6 million
7. Mirrors--$4.8 million
8. The Longshots--$4.3 million
9. Mamma Mia!--$4.3 million
10. The Mummy--$4 million

 Image by wenn.com

Judd Apatow's 'Pineapple Express' is a refreshing cinematic herb taking what could've been standard stoner fare and injecting a top notch action film within, complete with shootouts and explosions reminiscent of Lethal Weapon and Rush Hour.

Seth Rogen is Dale Denton, a clever process server delivering subpoenas to people in various costumes from delivery man to doctor, pissing off everyone in the process (no pun intended). During his free time, he visits his barely legal girlfriend in high school and smokes enough pot to make people in the next state consider rehab. His herbal supplier is Saul (James Franco), a likable stoner stereotype who looks so much like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo that you expect him to say "Zoinks." Saul has an almost savant type innocence and a desperate need of friendship. When referring to the high blend sticky dubbed Pineapple Express, he waxes on that it's so rare that smoking it is like "killing a unicorn."

During a late night attempt to serve drug kingpin Ted Jones (Gary Cole), Denton witnesses Jones and crooked cop Carol (Rosie Perez) shoot a rival dealer in the back of the head. Ouch. Denton is tracked down due to the titular joint he discarded and soon he and Saul are on the lam and pulled into an adventure with more violence than a Grand Theft Auto trilogy.

In what easily could've been called "Bromancing the Stoned," Pineapple Express features a familiar staple of Apatow films such as Superbad: male bonding. Co-writers Rogan, Apatow and Superbad alum Evan Goldberg aren't scared of letting men share their feelings. Unfortunately, the longer it goes, the creepier it gets. Luckily, you're too busy laughing to let it get to you.

The violence deviates from the normal Apatow path, but indie director David Gordon Green (Undertow) balances out the gruesome with Pythonesque results. The closing scene of the three heroes is almost a nod to a The Holy Grail's Black Knight.

James Franco easily steals scenes with his near homoerotic profession of love (in a friendly way) for Rogen to leading one of the craziest chase scenes of the year. Danny McBride as the near indestructible Red is hilarious as he struggles between being a spacey coward and a watered down Rambo delivering the line "You just got killed by a Daewoo Lanos!" that is funny on so many levels. And watching ecologically friendly nice guy Ed Begley, Jr turn Elmer Fudd alone is worth the price of admission.

Dale has an epiphany when he realizes he's "not very functional" when he's high and conversely, you don't have to be a stoner to enjoy Pineapple Express, the movie, that is.

Rated: R (for strong language, drug use, sexual references and violence) Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Billy Tatum gives Pineapple Express 4 (out of 5) Scoops

TGIF! It's that time of week again! Here are this week's new releases:

Pineapple Express:
Seth Rogen and James Franco are stoners who go on the run after witnessing a murder by a crooked cop and a dangerous drug lord.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2:
Four lifelong friends wear the traveling pants again and embark on separate paths for their first year of college and beyond.

Check out the Los Angeles movie premiere and trailer for 'Pineapple Express' below...