Altered States

Dan Bartlett (John Cusack) is a lovestruck teen who misses his plane to the Caribbean in this engaging comedy. He was to join sweetheart Lori (Wendy Gazelle) and her father Bill (Monte Markham) in the tropical paradise. Determined to get to the island, his efforts are stalled by three natives with a penchant for marijuana. After he shakes the stoners, Dan is captured by the pirate Mac MacClaren (Robert Loggia). He escapes the scurvy buccaneer only to land in jail on bogus charges. Dan later follows his sweetheart to a yacht where her family is being hijacked by another crook. Veteran funnyman Jerry Stiller provides comedy relief. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Critically acclaimed director David Gordon Green takes a break from the brooding drama that defined such early efforts as George Washington and Undertow for this action-flavored buddy comedy concerning two pot-smoking friends (Seth Rogen and James Franco) who unwittingly become involved with a vicious gang of drug dealers. Judd Apatow and Shauna Robertson produce a script co-penned by star Rogen and Evan Goldberg. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Welcome back for another round of over-the-top outrageous humor at Paddy's Pub with TV's least wholesome barflies in the third season (2007) of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. The FX original comedy chronicles the dysfunctional lives of a group of dive bar owners -- Mac (Rob McElhenney), Charlie (Charlie Day), Dennis (Glenn Howerton), Dee (Kaitlin Olson), and their twisted father figure, Frank (Danny DeVito) -- as they relentlessly scheme to get ahead by leaving no politically incorrect issue unexamined. The gang plows recklessly through such themes as racism, sweatshop labor, dumpster babies, sex offenders, the homeless, serial killers, transgender lifestyles, international terrorism, drug dealers, organized crime, vigilante justice, and the mentally challenged. This 15-episode set comes packed with irreverent bonus features including behind-the-scenes making-of featurette, character profiles, select episode cast commentaries, and TV spots.

After successfully seeking out the ultimate slider in the 2004 stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, the cannabis-craving twosome returns in this high-flying sequel that finds them labeled terrorists for attempting to sneak a marijuana-smoking implement on a flight to Amsterdam. Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) have just finished gorging themselves on savory White Castle hamburgers when they return to their apartment and hatch a plan for Harold to win the heart of his crush, Maria (Paula Garcés). Maria is going to Amsterdam, and if Harold can catch up with her overseas perhaps he can strike up a real love connection. After a close call with airport personnel and a chance encounter with Kumar's ex-girlfriend Vanessa (Danneel Harris) -- who hadn't yet told Kumar that she's engaged to be married -- the pot-loving pals finally board their flight for Amsterdam. Unfortunately for Harold, Kumar isn't able to endure the lengthy flight without an innocent puff or two from his smokeless bong. When the plane hits some turbulence and the bong is mistaken for a bomb, the flight is diverted to Guantanamo Bay and our spliff-smoking heroes are detained by overzealous Deputy Chief of Homeland Security Ron Fox (Rob Corddry). Now, if they can just escape from the world's most notorious prison compound, perhaps this hapless duo can succeed in convincing the authorities that they aren't enemy combatants, and that Kumar made the mistake of his life by letting Vanessa go. But before they can prove their innocence and get the girls, Harold and Kumar will have to outsmart the dreaded Ku Klux Klan, contend with a particularly precocious Cyclops baby, and successfully elude everyone's favorite debauched former child star -- Neil Patrick Harris. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Taking inspiration from Morgan Spurlock's Super Size Me, Michael Blieden's documentary Super High Me charts what happens to comedian Doug Benson as he spends thirty days smoking marijuana. Benson also abstains from the drug for thirty days so that the movie can highlight the various differences between clean-living and waking and baking. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

America's favorite pot-dealing soccer mom is more addictive than ever in the third season of WEEDS, the highly acclaimed Showtime(r) Original Series. Emmy (r) and Golden Globe(r) winner MARY-LOUISE PARKER stars as Nancy Botwin, a single mom who resorts to dealing pot after her husband dies suddenly. But when an off beat way to make ends meet grows into a mini-empire, the mother of all dealers finds she may be in over her head - and on the verge of taking everyone else with her. Hilarious and subversive, WEEDS is the hit that put the herb in suburb.

Zooey Deschanel, Aaron Stanford, Izabella Miko, and Christopher Lloyd star in director Michael Lehmann's comedy concerning a New Orleans cereal bar manager whose slacker lifestyle is turned upside down when a rival cereal shop threatens both his livelihood and his love life. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The true story of four men who narrowly escaped death at the hands of Argentina's military death squads during the 1970's is brought to the screen in this thriller. In 1977, Claudio Tamburrini (Rodrigo De La Serna) was a goalie for a minor league football team when he was abducted by members of the Argentine military police and taken to an unofficial detention center on the false suspicion that he was a terrorist. Over 30,000 people lost their lives at the hands of Argentinean authorities under the military junta that ruled the country between 1976 and 1983, and as he was tortured by intelligence agents looking for information he didn't have, Tamburrini fully expected to become another victim. After many sessions of brutal torture, Tamburrini and his fellow captives Guillermo (Nazareno Casero) and Tano (Martin Urruty) were being readied for execution when in a final desperate act, Tamburrini dove out a window during a rainstorm. Guillermo, Tano and another man followed, and the four, naked and with noting but their wits, began a desperate run to freedom. A major box office success in Argentina, Croica De Una Fuga (aka Chronicle of an Escape and Buenos Aires 1977) received its North American premier at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Better Luck Tomorrow and Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift director Justin Lin takes a comic look at a longstanding bit of cinema mythology with this mockumentary exploring the making of Bruce Lee's unfinished final film Game of Death. When martial arts star Lee died in 1973 after having shot roughly twenty-minutes of the full-length feature, director Robert Clouse vowed to complete the film using a Bruce Lee look-a-like. Though the film was eventually released into theaters in 1978, fans continue to debate just how much involvement Lee had in the making of the film nearly three decades after the fact. Perhaps viewers will never know for certain just how much of Lee they are seeing in the final product, but in this knowing satire director Lin offers a hilarious look at how things might have gone down while simultaneously skewering mainstream cinema for it's stereotypical treatment of Asian-American actors. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Set against the anti-war protests, rock & roll revolution, and mind-expanding psychedelia of the 1960s, Julie Taymor's hallucinogenic musical follows the arduous journey of star-crossed lovers Jude (Jim Sturgess) and Lucy (Evan Rachel Wood) as they and a small group of musicians are swept up in the raging waters of the volatile counterculture movement. Guided through their journey by a pair known only as Dr. Robert (Bono) and Mr. Kite (Eddie Izzard), Jude and Lucy are eventually forced to find their way back to one another after being split apart by powerful forces beyond their control. The music in the film consists exclusively of songs made popular by the Beatles during the time period depicted in the movie. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Operating under the assumption that by procuring alcohol for an upcoming party they will finally be able to break their longstanding losing streak with the fairer sex, socially inept high school seniors Evan (Michael Cera) and Seth (Jonah Hill) set out to secure the adult beverages that could get them off of the geek list before they even attend college orientation. Evan is a bright young student whose outward sweetness belies his suffocating fear of heading off to college without his lifelong best friend Seth -- a hormone-driven mischief-maker who wasn't accepted to the same school as Evan. But Evan and Seth both know that college is a place of personal reinvention, and that if they are able to make that first leap together they will have forged a bond powerful enough to last a lifetime. Meanwhile, Evan and Seth's friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) acquires a hastily rendered fake I.D. that instantly endears him to a pair of truly irresponsible cops (Bill Hader and Seth Rogen). Penned by co-star Rogen in collaboration with former Da Ali G Show co-writer Evan Goldberg, the semi-autobiographical SuperBad was produced by Judd Apatow and directed by Greg Mottola -- who previously helmed episodes of Undeclared and Arrested Development. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

When a one-night stand that should have stayed that way has unexpected consequences, the reluctant odd couple attempts to transform their tentative relationship into a lasting love in this conception comedy. Twenty-four-year-old entertainment journalist Allison Scott (Katherine Heigl) is on the fast track to the big time, but an alcohol-fueled hookup with responsibility-shirking slacker Ben Stone (Seth Rogen) finds her professional priorities taking a back seat to having a baby. Now, as overgrown kid Ben attempts to assume the responsibilities of fatherhood, he makes the brave decision to stand by Alison. In order to make things work between the pair, however, there's going to have to be some compromise, and when Allison and Ben decide to take a shot at love, they quickly find that building a relationship from scratch isn't nearly as easy as making a baby. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Self-made wealthy guy Rodney Dangerfield decides he needs a better education--and also to spend some time away from his cheating new wife. Dangerfield joins his son Keith Gordon at college. Dad hopes to gain his son's respect (isn't that always Dangerfield's motivation?), while son tries to fit in with his snobbish and brutish fellow students. English professor Sally Kellerman forms a strong bond with Dangerfield, encouraging both father and son to stick out their first year despite all odds. The finale involves some slapstick at the swimming pool diving board, and the obligatory commencement address delivered by Dangerfield, who proves that he can crack jokes without tugging at his tie. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide