Tag Archives: The Hangover

Review: The Hangover Part III

The-Hangover-Part-III-PosterWho hasn’t woken up with a hangover and said you’re never drinking again only to hit the bar a few days later? That’s fine for us, but Todd Phillips better keep his word. “The Hangover Part III” absolutely must be the end.

The Wolf Pack is back together again, but not for more wedding shenanigans, rather a funeral and a trip to a rehab facility. After Alan (Zach Galifianakis) literally gives his father (Jeffrey Tambor) a fatal heart attack, his mother, sister, and Doug (Justin Bartha) decide that it’s time for Alan to get some serious help. With Phil and Stu’s (Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms) support, they stage an intervention and head out to bring Alan to New Horizons. However, while en route, the Wolfpack is ambushed by Marshall (John Goodman) and his thugs. Marshall takes Doug as collateral while Phil, Stu, and Alan meet his demands – bring him Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong).

Part of the appeal of the original film was the fact that it focused on four real guys in the middle of a very relatable situation. It’s highly unlikely many have had an encounter with Mike Tyson’s tiger or made a quick $80,000 counting cards to pay off a gangster, but the idea of four guys getting so wasted during a bachelor party that they can’t even remember the crazy time they had is charming. But fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Back in 2009, the idea of one friend accidently roofie-ing his buddies was a novel scenario, but the sequel proved the concept didn’t have the appeal and flexibility for another go-around. It seems as though Phillips and co. recognized that issue because we get a different narrative here, but now we’re left with the problem that these characters just aren’t appealing or engaging enough to sustain any feature length scenario.

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The 8 Worst Movie Characters to Have Babysit Your Kids

Mind your children – the babysitter of doom, Noah (Jonah Hill), is about to arrive in theaters in The Sitter on December 9th. Okay, Noah really isn’t thatbad; it’s actually the kids who cause most of the trouble. Blithe, with an affinity for celebrity life, Slater with his “issues,” and Rodrigo with a passion for cherry-bombing toilets. But still, even if the trio of little monsters did behave themselves, Noah probably would have spent the night on the couch, watching TV and giving them zero attention.

Well, it could be worse – way worse actually. Turns out the Pedulla’s got lucky finding Noah for their babysitting gig because these option would have returned their children in far worse condition.

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Review: The Hangover Part II

The second the trailer hit, we knew The Hangover Part II was basically The Hangover, but in Thailand. While simply recycling a storyline is generally a cause for concern, that’s really the point of this film, otherwise we’d be getting some sort of odd spinoff or no sequel at all. The Hangover Part II could have failed on just about every cinematic front as long as the boys experienced a drug-induced night of debauchery followed by a hilarious attempt at recovery. Unfortunately, just like the memory of the wolf pack’s big night out in Thailand, funny jokes seemed to have simply slipped the filmmakers’ minds.

With Doug (Justin Bartha) happily married and sunburn-free, it’s Stu’s (Ed Helms) turn to tie the knot, albeit not to a Las Vegas stripper. This time around Stu’s keeping it classy and marrying a beautiful, family oriented woman named Lauren (Jamie Chung). The ceremony is to be held in Thailand where Lauren’s entire family, including her disapproving father and genius of a younger brother, Teddy (Mason Lee), will be on hand. Naturally, coming out to support the groom is none other than his buddies Doug, Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis).

Determined to keep things simple and problem-free, Stu opts out of sharing a beer beside a bon fire with his buddies and Teddy. However, at his fiancée’s urging, Stu heads out to the beach for just one drink. Phil proudly presents a six-pack of sealed beers, but, sure enough, something isn’t quite right and that one beer turns into yet another night Phil, Stu and Alan can’t remember. However, this time around, Doug makes it home safe and sound; it’s Teddy the trio manages to lose in the heart of Bangkok, Thailand.

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Interview: Limitless’ Bradley Cooper

While promoting the film Limitless, Bradley Cooper brought up an interesting topic: the character an actor plays winds up reflecting upon that actor. Basically at one time Cooper was seen as the nice guy from Alias then the jerk from Wedding Crashers and then the good looking smart aleck from The Hangover. Nowadays Cooper is most directly associated with Phil thanks to The Hangover’s continued success, but he’s gearing up to turn that image upside down yet again with his latest film, Limitless.

Cooper plays a guy named Eddie Morra, a writer who was once on top of the world with a book deal, but now sees that deal winding down with no book to show for it. Everything changes when Eddie comes across a new illegal drug called NZT. He pops one pill and is granted access to his entire brain, allowing him to recall every touch, taste or smell he ever encountered, digest information at an incredibly accelerated rate and ultimately always be steps ahead of the competition. Sounds too good to be true, right? Of course. Like most drugs, NZT has its downsides and they’re deadly. If Eddie is going to stay alive and continue to build upon his newfound success, he’s going to have to keep the NZT flowing.

During a recent press conference Cooper went into depth about his character and NZT in addition to the actual filmmaking process and how he shot one of director Neil Burger’s many visual tricks. Cooper also recalled his very first encounter with his co-star, Robert De Niro, and touched upon The Hangover and how that film’s success changed his life and enabled him to take on projects that he’s passionate about, like Limitless. Read about all that and more in the interview below.

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Fantasy Thanksgiving: Guess What Wolverine’s Bringing To Dinner?

On Thanksgiving, most people find themselves with family, sitting around a table piled high with homemade holiday treats. There’s fresh, seasoned turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, candied sweet potatoes, green beans, apple pie and so much more. Well, that’s if you opt for the Thanksgiving Dinner for 6 from Fairway Market. So is life in a house sans cook.

It’s that time of year again and while I’m looking forward to some family time and a feast a la supermarket, I can’t help but to dream of what my ideal holiday dinner might be like. I’m most thankful for my family, but I’m also grateful that I’m able to make movies such a large part of my life, hence the fresh-out-of-the-oven Film Thanksgiving Dinner is born.

Check out my dream team of movie characters of 2009 who’ll help me trash the pre-made meal and celebrate Thanksgiving the way it should be, with homemade eats, a little entertainment and even some clean-up assistance.

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