I’m always skeptical when a film receives too much hype. With the on-again, off-again quality of American fare, I try not to set my hopes too high, especially when it comes to a film about the D.C. Comics's The Joker, by the director of “The Hangover” series. It is with great pleasure that I report that, while the film itself isn’t the cinematic masterpiece that some have christened it, Todd ... more >
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“Joker,” a morality-defying, two-hour drop down a man’s impaired psyche
This is Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips's first collaboration together
Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz and Frances Conroy
Directed by Todd Phillips
The Hangover II
Same shenanigans new locale
Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms
Directed by Todd Phillips
I watched “The Hangover II” (a.k.a H2) at the multiplex because I wanted to find out how the sequel would stack up next to the original and wildly successful 2009 original, and also because I wanted to be part of the event of watching the movie inside a theatre packed with movie-goers rearing to go. H2 is an event because it helped launch—together with “Kung Fu Panda 2”—this summer tentpole ... more >
Hangover sequel hits theatres this week
This week Todd Phillips' "The Hangover Part II" opens in theatres here and in Europe and I haven't felt this excited about a comedy in a long time. But I'm not excited just because it's a comedy about guys getting drunk, blacking out and waking up next to their drug dealer who happens to be a capuchin monkey. I'm excited because Warner Brothers has not only put comedy, a genre that hasn't done so ... more >
REVIEW – The Hangover
[rating=2] "The Hangover" opens from the desert around Las Vegas. A man bleeds from his lip as he speaks into his cell phone. He instructs a faraway bride to hang up her bridal gown. She’s not going to need it. They don't know where the groom has vanished. This edgy scene suggests that if you eat to the center of this comedy, you will find a secret of darkest cherry – something bleak and ... more >