'THIS IS THE END'

'THIS IS THE END' (R) (4 STARS) (HIGHST RATING)

Written and Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen
Actors playing themselves: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd, Rihanna.

There are iconic summer comedies at the movies that we grew up with from every decade that have surprised us, made us laugh out loud a lot and then have become our favorites that we revisit every so often. I think we can all agree that these comedies include "Animal House, "Ghostbusters", "National Lampoon's Vacation", "Caddyshack", "Superbad" and one of my personal favorites "Kingpin". These are comedies that have stayed with us because they have continuous great jokes throughout the whole movie, characters we care about and love and an actual story. You can now add "This Is The End", a gut busting, hilarious, raunchy, brilliant and continuously funny movie. The proof of a great comedy is one that makes you laugh till you cry several times and one that never lets up on the laughs or never loses focus and that is this soon to be summer classic.

This brilliant comedy was written by the same writers as "Superbad", Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and "Superbad" was definitely no fluke. Their movies have a lot of great raunch and big laughs but also heart and a story here that is not too long, is just the right length and made me laugh harder and longer than any other comedy since "Bridesmaids". Seth Rogen and his real life friends play themselves attacking their own vanities as they go to a star studded party and then confront the apocalypse together. The movie starts out on a high as Seth Rogen picks up his friend, actor Jay Baruchel, to stay at his apartment and spend the weekend together. Their back and forth dialogue in the car is brilliantly improvised and had me laughing for a continuous 10 minutes. They then attend James Franco's party at his lavish estate like house where they encounter Rihanna who is involved in the first hilarious scene.

That scene will also involve a Michael Cera (Superbad) that you have never seen like you will see him here. That is the second time I laughed till I cried. Then you have James Franco making fun of himself and coming off as great and hilarious as he was in "Spring Breakers". All the actors will make fun of themselves including a very funny Craig Robinson and Danny McBride (also the funniest he has ever been). This movie is just not non stop jokes though I wouldn't have minded if it was just jokes. It actually has a very creative end of the world story that is focused and very smartly written with huge laughs that mostly come off the actors playing an exaggerated form of themselves and it is brilliantly executed. That includes hilarious and wonderful, twisted special effects used as brilliantly as they were used in "Ghostbusters".

"This Is The End" is now one of my all time favorite comedies not only because I haven' laughed this hard and long during a movie hardly ever. It is also because like most comedies, it doesn't lose steam, focus or become old and lame. The jokes keep coming, the brilliant execution of special effects are always on high and the writers and actors keep making fun of themselves in new and refreshing ways. The movie has huge, brilliant laughs literally from the first frame to the last. This could have been a hit and miss comedy that missed a lot but it actually scores on 98% of it's laughs and I am serious. I promise you that you will laugh more than you have laughed in one single comedy in your lifetime. This is a brilliant and hilarious comedy that shows that actors can make fun of themselves and that the audience will find it charming and as funny as anything you will ever see on screen in a big budget comedy. I can't wait to see it again and again and I am sure it will hold up every time I see it.