Seth Rogen has a number of exciting projects in the pipeline. He’s producing a reboot of the The Fabelmans.
While fans wait for these movies to arrive in theaters, there are plenty of great Rogen films to rewatch in the meantime. From This is the End, some of Rogen’s comedy classics are endlessly rewatchable.
Paul (2011)
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost brought their unique on-screen chemistry across the Atlantic Ocean for their sci-fi comedy gem Paul. The Cornetto stars, who also wrote the script, play a pair of comic book nerds who set off on a road trip stopping at every UFO site in the United States.
Along the way, they encounter a real-life alien, voiced by Seth Rogen, who’s on the run from the U.S. government. Paul isn’t quite as tightly constructed as Edgar Wright’s Cornetto trilogy, but it has a surplus of laugh-out-loud gags and scene-stealing ing players like Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader.
Sausage Party (2016)
Rogen applied his raunchy R-rated sensibility to an unusual satirical target – Pixar cartoons about anthropomorphized objects – with the talking food antics of Sausage Party. With an 89-minute runtime, Sausage Party moves nice and briskly between its outrageous hard-R set-pieces.
On top of gags like Edward Norton playing a bagel as a neurotic New Yorker, the movie’s exploration of the lies that foodstuffs are told about the fate that awaits them in the “Great Beyond” offers a surprisingly poignant satire of organized religion.
50/50 (2011)
According to 50/50 was loosely inspired by screenwriter Will Reiser’s own battle with cancer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays a stand-in for Reiser, who is diagnosed with spinal cancer and learns that he has a 50% chance of survival, while Rogen co-stars as his loudmouthed yet ive best friend.
50/50 is more dramatic than the average Seth Rogen movie – it’s a comedic piece, but it has plenty of genuine tearjerking moments – and Rogen deftly handles the more emotional scenes with Gordon-Levitt.
Zack And Miri Make A Porno (2008)
Kevin Smith assembled a hilarious cast of Apatow regulars (Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Craig Robinson) and his own frequent collaborators (Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson) for one of his funniest movies, Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
Two down-on-their-luck roommates decide to make their own adult movie to pay the bills and end up falling in love in the process. As with all of Smith’s movies, this raunchy sex romp has an underlying sentimentality that makes it endearing.
Knocked Up (2007)
Judd Apatow gave Rogen his first TV roles, and after he transitioned into feature filmmaking, he made Rogen one of his go-to leading men. In Apatow’s sophomore directorial effort Knocked Up, Rogen plays a slacker who has to grow up and get his life together after a one-night stand results in an unplanned pregnancy.
According to ShortList, the script was inspired by the birth of Apatow’s first daughter. As a result, the storytelling and character work have a real ring of authenticity.
Pineapple Express (2008)
Pineapple Express might be the most action-packed stoner movie ever made. Rogen plays a process server who goes on the run with his weed dealer after witnessing a mob hit.
The interplay between the characters is a lot of fun and the action is full of great slapstick moments, like Danny McBride’s head taking down a sink and James Franco’s foot going through the windshield of a cop car.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
Rogen isn’t the lead of Jack Black plays the lead role of Po, an underdog who emerges as an unlikely hero, while Dustin Hoffman plays his reluctant mentor, Master Shifu. Rogen instead rounds out the Furious Five alongside Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, and David Cross.
The movie has lovable characters, beautiful wuxia-inspired animation, an abundance of gags that land, and above all, an inspiring message about not underestimating people’s abilities.
The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)
Apatow’s debut feature, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, established his groundbreaking comedic style: raunchy R-rated humor with a subversive dose of sweetness. Steve Carell stars as a middle-aged virgin who sets out to have sex for the first time and ends up falling in love. Rogen, Paul Rudd, and Romany Malco play the co-workers who try to get him out on the dating scene.
The movie has some fun, broad gags like the chest-waxing scene, but it takes the character and his insecurities seriously. The laughs never get old, and neither does the emotional catharsis.
This Is The End (2013)
Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg made their directorial debut with This is the End, an apocalyptic farce in which Rogen and his regular collaborators – Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, etc. – all play themselves as the Rapture hits Los Angeles. None of the vapid Hollywood stars are beamed up to Heaven and are instead forced to fend off demonic forces in a fiery hellscape.
This is the End isn’t just one of Rogen’s funniest movies; it’s also one of his most visually interesting. It isn’t lit like a comedy; it’s lit like a gloomy, ominous horror movie.
Superbad (2007)
Rogen and Goldberg’s first produced screenplay was honed over years of development. Superbad has a more authentic portrayal of high school life than the average high school movie, because according to CDC, Rogen and Goldberg began writing the script when they were in high school themselves.
The premise is familiar – two horny high schoolers set out to lose their virginity before graduation (with disastrous results) – but the story has an uncharacteristically emotional undercurrent as the two friends confront their separation anxiety before heading off to different colleges.
