The Hangover Part II

"You're way too hot for me, Lauren."

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have The Hangover Part II, a movie that takes everything clever and amusing about its first part and turns it into something of a retread. We've seen it all before, and we certainly know the story - a few friends get way too drunk, wake up with no memory of anything that happened, and have to go on a fact-finding mission to recover the pieces of the night before. The film falls into the trap of its formula and can't seem to get out. It worked in the first one because there's no reason that any of that stuff should have happened - it wasn't in the nature of those characters. But, now, it is in their nature, we're taught to expect it, and there's no reason it should have happened. Again. Maybe that's funny to some people, but it belies the originality of the characters. Characters I grew to love in the first film. 

More after the cut--

Due Date, Get Low, and Others on DVD This Week

This week, we seem to be at each end of the spectrum with our major DVD releases - first, the decidedly, and surprisingly, unfunny Due Date comes to shelves, and secondly, so does the tender and heartwarming Get Low. Other releases include Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Leaving (Partir)

Perhaps the most fascinating thing about a week like this on DVD is that it follows a week of spectacular releases, and also contains a separate singular release for a title on the 25th. Megamind comes out that day, and I'll be posting a full review for its release. I saw it quite a while ago, thoroughly enjoyed it, but didn't have the opportunity to review it. This week gives me that opportunity. So, look for that.

The saddest thing about a film like Due Date is that it ignores an eerily similar film that came out before it, much like The Roommate (I swear, I should get a dime for every time I mention that film this year) after Single White Female. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles did it first, and it remains uncredited as inspiration for this slacker comedy. Note - this isn't a comedy about slackers, mind you; it's a comedy about very hard workers caught in a dire situation, but... the people involved are slacking on the comedy part. Thus, it's a slacker comedy.

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