This Is The End

In 2011 Seth Rogen provided the voice for the alien Paul in the film 'Paul' written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Now Seth Rogen has co-written and co-directed a film about the end of the world. Coincidence?
There has been a lot of criticism about the films released in this year's blockbuster season. That they mostly deal with doom and gloom and the end of the world. While 'This Is The End' deals with that subject it is done in a humourous way. When actors play themselves in films there is mixed emotions. On the one hand there is delight in seeing an actor being themselves as opposed to a character they are playing. But you are left wondering if they are 'really' playing themselves. I think there is a certain thrill in guessing what's real and what's not. The apocalypse premise is just there to let these actors play around with their public perceptions and hopefully develop funny situations. When these guys have improvised in the past, for me, it did not always seem funny. But I really liked this one. There are some quite funny scenes here and I found myself enjoying it a lot more than I expected.
When actors are playing themselves, are they really acting? I the guys are playing more the public perception of them and not the real selves. Even so it is quite funny. Normally I am not a fan of Danny McBride but I thought he was quite funny here. His scene with James Franco where they discuss porn is the highlight of the film. The other thrill is seeing all the cameo appearances by famous faces. Michael Cera also has some of the films best scenes.
It might not really be how these actors behave but it is still quite a funny film. Any film that ends with a musical number is not all that bad.