2008: The year of the stoner comedy. Gregg Araki’s (Doom Generation) Smiley Face finally got wide distribution with a “DVD Premiere” at the beginning of January, Harold and Kumar 2 hits in the spring, and here’s Pineapple Express due in August. Of the lot, Express looks the most promising and, frankly, the most bizarre. Seth Rogen jumping from the second floor of a warehouse onto an armed goon? James Franco playing a cowardly pot dealer and hiding in a dumpster (he’s the Green Goblin, maaaaaaan.)? I don’t know what the hell is going on here but it certainly looks funny. This is another script from the Superbad team of Rogen and Evan Goldberg so it’ll be interesting to see how their collaborative skills have grown beyond their high school output. Note also the awesome usage of M.I.A.’s “Paper Airplanes” for the soundtrack.