I'm behind on a bunch of movies, so this week will be a two parter for Review Roundup. Kinda sucks, cuz I wanted to do standalone reviews for a few of them, but I know they would of been backed up. Anyhow, here we go.
The Hangover
After a bunch of duds (School for Scoundrels, Starsky and Hutch), director Todd Phillips returns with the drunken comedy The Hangover. If you're a fan of his other hit Old School, then surely you'll love this one. The studio was so confident that this movie would be a hit that they already planned a sequel before this movie was even released. Luckily for them, their predictions were correct: The Hangover is now the number one R-rated comedy of all time.
You've heard the story by now: group of friends go to Vegas for a bachelor party weekend, lose the groom over night, search ensues for the missing groom. What makes the movie fun is that although its a comedy movie, underneath it all, it's a mystery movie. Every scene our party of friends receives a new clue that brings them closer and closer to finding their buddy. Lace that with some wacky hijinx and you've got a great movie.
The breakout star of this movie was clearly Zach Galifianakis. Zach plays Alan, the groom's future brother-in-law, who apparently has some mental issues (a "reh-tard" as he might say). Its his character that provides some of the best moments in this movie.
In the end, I think The Hangover was better put together thanks to a better story, but I liked Old School more because of its goofiness and zaniness.
Obsessed
What a shit movie. This movie is basically the 2009 version of Fatal Attraction only not as good. Basically Ali Larter's character is hired as a temp for Idris Elba's company. For some unexplained reason, she becomes Obsessed with him (see what I did?) and tries to seduce him over and over. As he resists all her attempts, she becomes much more aggressive, leading to an eventual separation between Elba and his wife, Beyonce Knowles.
The movie was dumb because there was zero motive for Larter's character who is the focal point of the conflict. From minute one, she's already Obsessed (I did it again). We can't get behind any characters because we don't understand why they're doing what they're doing.
We're supposed to sympathize with Beyonce because she's the more homely woman, and they convey this by keeping her au naturel through the majority of the movie (but she does get a hot little dress later and make-up... rawr). Ali Larter is quite the onscreen eye candy. She never looks bad in this movie, that sexy mink. But it's just too bad we don't believe her character.
In conclusion, don't watch this movie.
Observe and Report
On the flipside to the shittiness of Obsessed, is the great Observe and Report by Jody Hill (of The Foot Fist Way), the second comedy of the year featuring a mall security guard. This movie was probably not for everyone, but damn hell, it was for me. The humour is dark, vulgar and obscene, exactly the way I like my comedies.
The movie follows a mall security guard named Ronnie as he tries to track down a flasher at his shopping mall. As he goes about his daily routine, he tries to impress Brandi who works in the mall while trying not to get upstaged by a police detective who is hired to help out on the flasher case.
Some of the stuff in here I can't believe they got away with (the last scene comes to mind first). I heard it was a hard sell to the studios when they were making this. Apparently, Warner Bros. wanted them to cut the film to make it PG-13, but Hill and crew stuck to their guns, and thankfully Warner Bros. grew some balls and stuck with it too for the hard R rating.
The cast for this movie is pretty outstanding, featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, Ray fuckin-Liotta, and Michael Pena. But what really solidified this movie for me was a cameo by my comedy hero Danny McBride. He's only in a short scene but I just ate it up.
If you, like me, hate that kid friendly Paul Blart comedy stuff, then check out Observe and Report.
The Hangover
After a bunch of duds (School for Scoundrels, Starsky and Hutch), director Todd Phillips returns with the drunken comedy The Hangover. If you're a fan of his other hit Old School, then surely you'll love this one. The studio was so confident that this movie would be a hit that they already planned a sequel before this movie was even released. Luckily for them, their predictions were correct: The Hangover is now the number one R-rated comedy of all time.You've heard the story by now: group of friends go to Vegas for a bachelor party weekend, lose the groom over night, search ensues for the missing groom. What makes the movie fun is that although its a comedy movie, underneath it all, it's a mystery movie. Every scene our party of friends receives a new clue that brings them closer and closer to finding their buddy. Lace that with some wacky hijinx and you've got a great movie.
The breakout star of this movie was clearly Zach Galifianakis. Zach plays Alan, the groom's future brother-in-law, who apparently has some mental issues (a "reh-tard" as he might say). Its his character that provides some of the best moments in this movie.
In the end, I think The Hangover was better put together thanks to a better story, but I liked Old School more because of its goofiness and zaniness.
Obsessed
What a shit movie. This movie is basically the 2009 version of Fatal Attraction only not as good. Basically Ali Larter's character is hired as a temp for Idris Elba's company. For some unexplained reason, she becomes Obsessed with him (see what I did?) and tries to seduce him over and over. As he resists all her attempts, she becomes much more aggressive, leading to an eventual separation between Elba and his wife, Beyonce Knowles.The movie was dumb because there was zero motive for Larter's character who is the focal point of the conflict. From minute one, she's already Obsessed (I did it again). We can't get behind any characters because we don't understand why they're doing what they're doing.
We're supposed to sympathize with Beyonce because she's the more homely woman, and they convey this by keeping her au naturel through the majority of the movie (but she does get a hot little dress later and make-up... rawr). Ali Larter is quite the onscreen eye candy. She never looks bad in this movie, that sexy mink. But it's just too bad we don't believe her character.
In conclusion, don't watch this movie.
Observe and Report
On the flipside to the shittiness of Obsessed, is the great Observe and Report by Jody Hill (of The Foot Fist Way), the second comedy of the year featuring a mall security guard. This movie was probably not for everyone, but damn hell, it was for me. The humour is dark, vulgar and obscene, exactly the way I like my comedies.The movie follows a mall security guard named Ronnie as he tries to track down a flasher at his shopping mall. As he goes about his daily routine, he tries to impress Brandi who works in the mall while trying not to get upstaged by a police detective who is hired to help out on the flasher case.
Some of the stuff in here I can't believe they got away with (the last scene comes to mind first). I heard it was a hard sell to the studios when they were making this. Apparently, Warner Bros. wanted them to cut the film to make it PG-13, but Hill and crew stuck to their guns, and thankfully Warner Bros. grew some balls and stuck with it too for the hard R rating.
The cast for this movie is pretty outstanding, featuring the likes of Seth Rogen, Ray fuckin-Liotta, and Michael Pena. But what really solidified this movie for me was a cameo by my comedy hero Danny McBride. He's only in a short scene but I just ate it up.
If you, like me, hate that kid friendly Paul Blart comedy stuff, then check out Observe and Report.
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