ROTTEN TOMATOES: Total Recall: Seth Rogen's Best Movies

Total Recall: Seth Rogen's Best Movies

by Jeff Giles

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89%

2. Kung Fu Panda

While it may not have collected quite as many critical palm fronds -- or inspired the sort of impassioned political debate -- as Pixar's WALL-E, DreamWorks' Kung Fu Panda did just fine for itself, earning over $600 million in worldwide grosses and a very respectable 89 percent on the Tomatometer, thanks to reviews from the likes of the San Francisco Chronicle's Mick LaSalle, who credited it with "[getting] across important and inevitable plot information in ways that are novel and unexpected." It was yet another link in an increasingly impressive chain of well-chosen projects for Rogen, who lent his voice to Master Mantis, one of the quintet of talking creatures trained to protect the Valley of Peace threatened by the villainous leopard Tai Lung. While voicing the diminutive martial arts master may not have given Rogen as much of the spotlight as some of his other recent projects, it put him in excellent company -- including Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Ian McShane, and Jack Black, just to name a few -- and provided a guaranteed paycheck for the inevitable sequel, scheduled to arrive in 2011.

90%

1. Knocked Up

Two years after helping Steve Carell break a 40-year streak of sexual inactivity, Seth Rogen played a character on the verge of a different sort of threshold -- namely, fatherhood -- in Knocked Up. The movie also presented a career Rubicon of sorts for Rogen; after playing a secondary character in Virgin, he moved into the ranks of unconventional comedic leading men with Knocked Up, starring opposite Katherine Heigl as the ambition-deficient half of a couple thrown together by the unplanned results of a one-night stand. It was Rogen's fourth project with Judd Apatow, and the basic, seemingly effortless likability that the director had seen in his star since their Freaks and Geeks days resonated with audiences -- to the tune of nearly $220 million in box office receipts -- and helped earn Knocked Up some of the best reviews of the year. Salon's Stephanie Zacharek was one of the many critics who found it Fresh, praising what she saw as "a picture that refuses to fetishize either the ability to conceive or the significance of our place in the universe once we've done so."

Don't forget to check out out Seth Rogen's complete filmography, and see the rest of our Total Recall archives.

Finally, we take you back to where it all began, with Rogen's audition for Freaks and Geeks:

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(1-20 of 52 posts) | Reply

ledawg1138 writes:
on Apr 08 2009 03:56 PM

Seth Rogen is a funny dude. He looks funny, he has great delivrey, but most of these are great. Except "Spiderwick", which sucks.

(Reply to this)

Seamus M. writes:
on Apr 08 2009 04:11 PM

Seth Rogen rocks! He is the funniest dude alive! Carmen Elektra, you suck!

(Reply to this)

rickderris writes:
on Apr 08 2009 04:28 PM

"Like i have a dick-skin condom, I'm an inventor!"

(Reply to this)

FinalDestination019 writes:
on Apr 08 2009 04:29 PM

I love Seth Rogan. He's hilarious in everything! I will probably go see Observe and Report, even if it doesn't get great reviews.

(Reply to this)

shane f. writes:
on Apr 08 2009 04:37 PM

He is one funny guy.

On this list though is waaaaaaaay too much annimation (and should 'voice only' films be counted?).

(Reply to this)

Jansen writes:
on Apr 08 2009 05:03 PM

RT, please correct this injustice. Even though Rogen had little to do with these movies, being just a minor side character, DONNIE DARKO and ANCHORMAN are not even listed in his filmography.

Thanks,
J

(Reply to this)

Ben C. writes:
on Apr 08 2009 05:19 PM

blue duck blog. my top 5 sports films
http://blueducksports.wordpress.com/2009/04/08/top-five-sports-movies/

(Reply to this)

Weedy McSmokesalot writes:
on Apr 08 2009 05:57 PM

Rogen's gotta have on of the highest average Tomatometers of any actor.

(Reply to this)

SamuelPilsner writes:
on Apr 08 2009 06:04 PM

You can see Seth Rogen in the movie Donnie Darko for about a total of 1 minute. He's in various small scenes as the friend of the psycho with the knife. He probably wasn't even credited.

(Reply to this)

AnthonyDidge writes:
on Apr 08 2009 06:14 PM

In reply to this comment (#2417160)
I was impressed he only had one "rotten" film as well! I forgot that Pineapple Express wasn't as highly rated. I friggin' loved that film, one of my favorites of last year definitely!

(Reply to this)

digitalrelic writes:
on Apr 08 2009 06:37 PM

I just want to point out that "Bridge to Terabithia" is rated even higher than The Spiderwick Chronicles on the Tomatometer so I don't see why the two wouldn't be "lumped" together...

(Reply to this)

King Thor writes:
on Apr 08 2009 07:08 PM

Lord of the Rings a 'kid wiz franchise'? lmao i don't think so...

Anyways, Seth Rogen is a real hilarious dude...best of luck to him.

(Reply to this)

dommico writes:
on Apr 08 2009 07:27 PM

They missed fanboys, from what i remember he had a bit more than a cameo right?

(Reply to this)

matt h. writes:
on Apr 08 2009 11:27 PM

Am I the only person who doesn't want to bend over for Seth Rogen? Don't get me wrong, I loved 40 Year Old Virgin, but the hype and overkill of Knocked Up and Superbad really deflated those movies for me, as well as the fact that they were just going for gross out laughs which gets old. I'm not a Seth Rogen fan at all because he is the next Will Ferrell, who plays the same character in every movie they star in. He has zero depth they just throw his "lovable loser" character into any movie and he feeds off of the supporting cast. (Paul Rudd makes Knocked Up, James Franco steals Pineapple Express, Bill Hader in Superbad, Justin Long in Zack and Miri...and the list goes on.) He'll just keep cranking out movies until they get awful (a la Observe and Report) just like Will Ferrell did. Please stop getting down on your knees for this guy.

(Reply to this)

jason913 writes:
on Apr 09 2009 06:59 AM

If RT was to update this list, Observe And Report would be No.10 on the list, that would mean that he's had 10 fresh flicks.
Not bad, considering he's only been acting in supporting or lead roles in movies since 2005.

(Reply to this)

Gimy writes:
on Apr 09 2009 07:07 AM

dude's hilarious. that whole crew(segal,apatow,rogen...the rest of em) seems to be the safest pick when seeing a comedy nowadays. even their ok movies are better than most comedies. his voice just makes characters hilarious, it has this chris farley type hilarity...

i'll probably catch observe and report but...doesn't look that good. we'll see...

(Reply to this)

JRW1980 writes:
on Apr 09 2009 08:18 AM

Will all of the Seth Rogen fans please get off of your knees, close your mouths and wipe off your chins already. He is probably the most overrated "comedian" in Hollywood. As an earlier poster pointed out, he has zero range. He is the same ugly, usually drug addict, loser who somehow bags a hot chick in every movie......As far as this article, when you say such and such star's films it's usually assumed they are the lead or co-lead of it. You, Me and Dupree, Horton Hears a Who, Spiderwick Chronicles and Kung Fu Panda are very minor roles for him. I would hardly call them Seth Rogen films. It's like saying Major League 2 was a Jay Leno film since he was in it at some point. Those previously mentioned films are movies with Seth Rogen in them, not Seth Rogen movies. It's a big difference and one which I would think RT would know by now......On to the actual Seth Rogen films:
Zack and Miri- I am a huge fan of raunchy comedies. That is my sense of humor at it's best. This film though was a complete flop. B-movie raunchy at best.
Pineapple Express- I thought I'd give the Crapatow gang another chance by going to see this last summer and wanted my money back. I think the whole theater did actually. The only thing needed that day were some crickets to chirp to break the silence in the theater. One lady in it gave about half a laugh the whole movie. It was bad.
Monsters vs. Aliens- This movie is borderline with me as far as being a Seth Rogen film....The movie itself was good but Rogen's role was less than likable. His voice as the blob literally gave me a headache. It easily was the worst part of the movie.
40 Year Old Virgin- The movie that pretty much got people on the Crapatow bandwagon. Some many people like it but I was not one of them. There was one scene that absolutely had me cracking up but the rest of the film delivered zero laughs for me.
Superbad- Wasn't as the name implies. It was actually a decent comedy. Rogen wasn't his cookie cutter role here and that was a huge plus. The rest of the cast did a good job too here. The movie is still way overrated though.
Knocked Up- Omg, talk about overrated. I just don't see how people found this movie funny. It was so tired and predictable. Take the standard, no delivery ability of Rogen and pair that with inability to act miss Katherine Heigl and there is a recipe for yet another Craptow piece of **** comedy.

I don't blame Rogen though since he was trained at the Apatow school for how not to be funny in the least bit yet somehow gain tons of fans. It really amazes me how Apatow and his croonies ever became popular. Apatow tries to make adult comedies and fails on every level in my book. Anyone who got their start with him should move far away from him and his style if they want a chance at being funny.

(Reply to this)

Big Poppa Fig Newton writes:
on Apr 09 2009 09:41 AM

In reply to this comment (#2417714)
I would be able to more effectively respond to this novel of a comment if I wasn't completely overcome with laughter as a result of your terribly clever "Crapatow" moniker. Based purely on this comment, I'm going to have to assume you are about eleven thousand times funnier than Seth Rogen and you have yet to be discovered for some reason which I can't possibly comprehend. Don't worry though, I'm sure that all of the big names in Hollywood have read your brilliant comment and will be knocking on your door momentarily. In conclusion, no one cares how you feel about Seth Rogen because while he's off entertaining millions, you're on your computer at 8 in the morning.

(Reply to this)

King Thor writes:
on Apr 09 2009 10:54 AM

In reply to this comment (#2417790)
HAHAHHAHAHA. damn big poppa

(Reply to this)

Rolento88 writes:
on Apr 09 2009 11:31 AM

Seth Rogen is hilarious... I hope he keeps making movies for years...

(Reply to this)

2. Kung Fu Panda

1. Knocked Up

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