Paul

As cliché as it may sound, Paul is a movie made for geeks, by geeks, about geeks. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play two British sci-fi enthusiasts traveling across America in an RV who encounter an extra-terrestrial name Paul. The movie's got car chases, explosions, references to classic (and not so classic) sci-fi films, and a subplot that seems to exist only to make jokes at the expense of fundamentalist Christians. While Paul might not be as good as Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz (Pegg and Frost's two prior cinematic pairings), it works along similar lines, mining laughs from pop culture's past and finding a satisfying center in a story based around friendship. And jokes about three-breasted women, can't forget about those.

Rating: 79%

(Image from filmofilia.com)

Get Him to the Greek

Aaron (Jonah Hill) is a lowly record company employee tasked with getting whacked out rock star Aldous Snow (Russell Brand reprising his role from 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall) from London, England to the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles for a big comeback concert. Get Him to the Greek is an odd couple road trip comedy set squarely within the Apatow universe of films (the Apatowniverse?), which should tell you right away if this is the sort of movie you would want to see. Hill and Brand play off each other well, with most of the jokes stemming from the indignities Hill must suffer in order to get Brand's character to do anything. One of the most welcome surprises in the movie comes from Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, who plays Hill's boss at the record company. Combs gets lots of good lines and doesn't have to stray far from his "real-life" persona. As mentioned, this movie is part of the Apatow canon, so expect colorfully casual profanities, minimal roles for women, drug use, characters who appear to have it all together but who are actually really lonely, and bromance.

Rating: 80%

(Image from filmofilia.com)

The Road

The Road is a 2006 novel by Cormac McCarthy. It's the story of a father and son on an arduous journey in a post-apocalyptic future America. Also, it's chock full of cannibalism. You may have heard of it because it was selected to be part of Oprah's Book Club a few years ago (Yay? Boo?). While I don't keep up with Oprah's Book Club selections, I have to assume this one was a bit out of the norm for her club. Even though I recommend the book, it should be noted that McCarthy's minimal punctuation style may frustrate some readers.

Rating: 87%

(Image from inktank.ca)