Pineapple Express

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

• hearken back
• whimsical
• campy
• stoned

• buddy comedy
• pot
• absurd
• stoner movie

• high
• deleted scenes

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Can you imagine combining an action movie with a buddy comedy about a couple of pot-smokers? It may sound absurd, but that’s exactly what Pineapple Express does.

After Dale, played by Seth Rogan, witnesses a murder, he turns to his buddy Saul for help. Together, Dale and Saul have to escape from the dangerous gangsters who want them dead, which leads to some pretty intense fight scenes.

It’s a movie that’s both really funny and full of action, a silly stoner movie and a touching story about two friends all at once. But Devan thinks it sounds a little weird. Listen to her and Mason talk about it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Devan

Mason

Devan:  So, did you see Pineapple Express?

Mason:  I did. Uh…I was kinda in the mood for like a stupid, fun movie.

Devan:  Was it fun? See, I talked to someone at a bookstore who advised me not to see it.

Mason:  Really? I mean, depending on what grounds they laid for not seeing the film, I could validate that…but, uh…

Devan:  Well I’ll tell you how they explained it to me and then you can tell me what they…what you thought about it.

Mason:  OK, cool. Hit me.

Devan:  They said it was like two hours of deleted scenes, where a scene like…things just got…all the scenes were carried out and seemed unnecessary and were the kind of things that normal movies would’ve cut from their movies because they realized it wouldn’t have been good enough to be put in a movie. What do you think?

Mason:  I mean, I guess I could see that. If your expectation is that… It’s a totally absurdist movie. It hearkens back to like almost old like Chevy Chase, just kind of whimsical...And it turns into a really violent film in weird ways, but campy violence, like Seth Rogen and James Franco being stoned out of their minds and like running through fields of gunfire and somehow not getting shot and killing all the bad guys.

Devan:  Right.

Mason:  Which is not at all what I expected.

Devan:  Yeah. Did you enjoy it though?

Mason:  Uh, yeah. I mean coming from someone who is not a pot-smoker I was like, “I think I’m high” after I left that film.

Devan:  Well maybe I’ll check it out and give it a chance.

Quizzes

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Lesson MP3

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