...In which our heroine rides the express and questions more of her life.

After Emily's going away party last night, which was ironic since I'm going to be her roommate, I went to see Pineapple Express, a movie I've been excited for since the first R-rated clip hit the internet. The fanboys at AICN have been salivating over the preview screenings for like a year so I was further intrigued.

And with the film, Judd Apatow continued his streak of not letting Katydid down. Since The 40-Year Old Virgin, there hasn't been an Apatow written/produced/directed film I haven't liked. Express is very different from all the other films though--it's the first of the films to feature significant violence and not place the romantic entanglements of its man-boy protagonist at the forefront. The most loving relationship in this film was Seth Rogen's love for his dealer, James Franco, and it's a real buddy comedy. Instead of having big laugh moments like the chest waxing in Virgin, or Micheal Cera singing in Superbad, Express was filled with a lot more subtle moments of laughter throughout.

It wasn't nearly as serious as the other Apatow films either, but for a stoner flick it was pretty damn good. Most stoner movies run dry with jokes about munchies and laziness after about twenty minutes, but Express keeps it going, which was greatly aided by the fact that it's an action movie at heart too.

As much as I hate to admit it, Seth Rogen was probably the least interesting character, although I would still marry him tomorrow. James Franco was so good, so greasy as dealer Saul, but the movie was stolen by supporting characters. Danny McBride as Dale and Saul's frenemy and fellow dealer Red was so hilarious and so hard to explain--part redneck, maybe gay, delusionally gangster. He gets all the best lines in the movie. Rosie Perez and Gary Cole were under-utilized as villains, but as far as stoner flicks go, Pineapple Express is the new gold standard. (Sorry Coen Brothers.)

In going to the movie, Katydid reached another milestone in her summer of epiphanies. I was supposed to go with Paul, but ended up with Josh and Francesco, who were both at the party. As soon as I saw Josh, we had ten million things to talk about, from My Bloody Valentine to The Dark Knight. For someone I only got to know this year and then only casually, he's one of my very favorite people in the whole world. It's just so different to talk to him about cultural things because I don't get a blank stare, and he's totally removed from the miasma of bullshit that is the day-to-day of teenage life.

Being with Josh and Francesco made me think that maybe I spent high school with the wrong people. I don't want this to sound like I don't love my friends because I do, but I couldn't help but think that maybe there were other Josh Kufeldts within the halls of PHS that I never talked to because they weren't in the IB Overachievers Club. Since last night, I've been questioning the fact that I stayed in such a bubble. If I would have met people like Josh and Francesco when I was a freshman, I know that I'd be a different person today. I live my life without regrets, but I do wish I would have tried to expand more instead of what was comfortable.

I feel as if this is all summer has been: me reaching conclusions that have been there all along and questioning things I should have a long time ago. What's the name for that? Oh yeah, it's called growing up...