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Living Here in Alan Town

In the classic Murray Head song, there’s the lyric “One night in Bangkok makes a hard man humble.”

That’s the basic plot of The Hangover Part II, in which the Wolfpack, in Thailand for Stu’s (Ed Helms) wedding, wake up in Bangkok and can’t remember anything that happened the night before.

If you’re thinking, “Isn’t that basically the same exact plot as the first Hangover movie? How could that happen again?” then you’re right. But if you like the characters and the movie’s funny, then the plot’s not exactly important.

So let’s move on, then, shall we? Continue reading →

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Livin’ Aqua de Vida

23 May

You always hope it’s great when beloved characters return to the big screen after an absence.

Remember how good it felt to see Woody and Buzz again last summer in Toy Story 3?

Well, when Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow — excuse me, Captain Jack Sparrow — reappears on screen at the start of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the first Pirates film in four years, you can’t help but smile.

His creation is so full of whimsy, style, and swagger, and while Depp’s performances in the series have always been fun, the movies themselves have been hit and miss, with none able to recapture the delight of the first, The Curse of the Black Pearl. Continue reading →

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Categories movies

Maid of Dishonor

12 May

Like going to a friend of your girlfriend’s wedding, the movie Bridesmaids goes on too long and it’s filled with all kinds of jokes that she may find funny, but at which you barely crack a smile.

Produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by star Kristen Wiig, the film tells the story of Annie, a single woman whose luck only gets worse when her best friend from childhood, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), gets engaged. Forced to deal with a motley group of fellow bridesmaids (including an ultracompetitive one who wants to be maid of honor), Annie finds herself and Lillian drifting apart.

Chick flick? You betcha. And as noted, the film just goes on waaaaaay too long. Thankfully, this review will keep it short.

I’m giving Bridesmaids a C–.

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Categories movies, wedding

Leave It to The Beaver

11 May

It would be tempting to see The Beaver and want to draw parallels between the film’s plot and star Mel Gibson’s last couple years.

After all, the film tells the story of a man who reaches bottom and finds an unusual method of snapping out of it and reconnecting with friends and family. But that would be too easy … and perhaps more importantly, I’ll bet even Mel Gibson, crazy as he is, wouldn’t go so far as to talk through a hand puppet.

Yes, that’s the plot here: Walter, a depressed husband and father (Gibson), finds a beaver hand puppet in a dumpster and adopts it as his sole means of communicating with those around him. (Yes, really.) Continue reading →

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Categories movies

It’s Mission In-Freakin’-Sanity

9 May

It’s the rare film series that makes it to a fifth entry and still manages to entertain.

And who’da thunk it that the Fast and Furious series would be a series that did both?

Fast Five reunites original cast members Paul Walker, Vin Diesel, and (the gorgeous) Jordana Brewster, and shifts the action to Rio, where the team schemes to pull off a heist involving the city’s largest crime lord.

New to the series is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, as an FBI agent hot on their trail. (No wonder Walker and Diesel’s characters bring back other former F&F stars, including Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Tyrese Gibson, who both appeared in the second film). Continue reading →

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Categories movies

Sell Out

25 Apr

It’s not exactly breaking news that advertising and marketing is everywhere.

Anyone who’s visited Times Square knows this, as do the millions of viewers who watch American Idol every week. (Seriously, who hasn’t cringed multiple times when seeing the judges drink from their Coca-Cola glasses or the finalists perform in another Ford commercial?)

So Morgan Spurlock’s latest film, The Greatest Movie Ever Sold doesn’t exactly shock.

Nor does it present new revelations.

However, it does entertain.

Like his previous film Super-Size Me, Spurlock handles his topic with humor and self-awareness. Continue reading →

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Categories movies

No Man Can Walk Away from His Own Story

29 Mar

From out of the desert, a man with no name arrives in a run-down town in the Old West.

And though that sounds like the plot of a stereotypical western, Rango takes the cliches and tweaks them.

For one thing, this is no ordinary man; in fact, it’s not a man at all. The title character is a chameleon who can’t blend in because he has such a penchant for sticking out.

And his eccentricities lead to him becoming the sheriff of and savior for a town called Dirt, where the residents are down to their last drop of water. Continue reading →

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Categories movies

Accurately Named

28 Mar

The difference between average movies and very good ones usually comes down to one word: characters.

If the filmmakers can’t make you believe that the people on screen are real, that they have actual emotions and feelings, and if you don’t care what happens to them, then chances are good that they’re overcompensating with high-concept gimmicks, lame jokes, or special effects.

There’s no need for such things in Win Win, a film that’s special because it’s got great characters you can’t help but like and root for. Continue reading →

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Categories movies

He Can See Clearly Now

21 Mar

Nancy Reagan and South Park‘s Mr. Mackey would not be fans of Limitless, the new movie in which Bradley Cooper takes a drug that makes him smarter, faster … better.

Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a struggling writer in New York, who is introduced to the aforementioned smart pill, and is instantly able to write, predict stocks, outsmart others, dress better, and more. I’d let you predict what happens from there, but to its credit, the film’s plot is not entirely predictable.

Limitless is fast-moving and generally enjoyable, but I’ve gotta admit that it feels a bit too self-aware, like it’s trying too hard to be a hip and cool version of Flowers for Algernon or something.

There are worse ways to spend your time, but I’m only going to give Limitlessa B.