How does someone direct the Sitter win best director at Berlin Festival?

Comedy can be a slippery slope. Some films go over people's heads and some do wonderful. He worked with a lot of the same people in The Sitter, that he did in Pineapple Express. Probably felt he was making something great. Jonah Hill's popularity as the funny fat kid had a lot to do with it too. That film did feel like a cash cow. I'm still wondering if Green is going to do that suspiria remake he was pushing for. I'm curious and interested in seeing that.

Yes. A very good reason.

Commercial films make him money, which fund his independent projects.

Commercial films make him money, which fund his independent projects.

Plenty of directors manage to have a career making independent projects without having to attach themselves to low-brow cash cows like Pineapple Express/Your Highness/The Sitter/Black Jack.

And when these directors do make those independent personal projects, they're usually of a higher calibre than generic melodramas like Joe, which are about as creative and provocative as an average movie of the week.

The truth is they guy's a pretender.

The truth is that it is becoming harder to make independent projects today than it used to be. I mean, it is possible, but you basically have to suffer and beg for money. In the New Hollywood era (1970s), studios funded independent filmmakers better; this is before they reshaped the industry into what it is now.

This being said, you are kind of right. I think Green sort of digs the experience of making these mainstream films. He is not a dissident, but a willing and enthusiastic contributor to Hollywood's consumer culture.

It's called taking risks.