Devil’s DVD Disappointment: The Hangover Part II

In Hollywood the adage “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” rings truer than ever. If audiences shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars for a product once, they’re very likely to do it again. And again. And, if not, there’s always the reboot. Why create when it is so much easier (and more lucrative) to re-create? Because you may end up with The Hangover Part II.

The Hangover Part II (Devil’s Advocate Review)

The “Wolf Pack” rides again, as Stu (Ed Helms), Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zach Galifinakis) get wasted and then find out that once Bangkok has you, she just won’t let go.

The Hangover Part II

In Hollywood the adage “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it” rings truer than ever. If audiences shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars for a product once, they’re very likely to do it again. And again. And, if not, there’s always the reboot. Why create when it is so much easier (and more lucrative) to re-create? Because you may end up with The Hangover Part II.

Bradley Cooper Gets Picky

With the success of The Hangover Bradley Cooper has a right to be choosey when it comes to his projects.  After duds like All About Steve and Valentine’s Day, Cooper is likely to be a bit gun shy. 

Cooper was initially on board to do a spy comedy with Reese Witherspoon called This Means War, but has dropped out citing that he intends to focus on a sequel to the summer hit, The Hangover. 

Devil’s DVD Advocacy: The Hangover

The Hangover stars Bradley Cooper (Phil, a married teacher who hates his students), Ed Helms (Stu a dentist who has a harpy of a girlfriend that controls his every move), Justin Bartha (Doug the groom), and the always hysterical Zack Galifianakis (Alan the extremely weird and creepy brother of the bride).  Four actors, who up until now lived their careers as supporting actors; I found them all to be an excellent ensemble.  Ok down to it.  I enjoyed the hell out of this movie.  It took all the necessary components of a bachelor party movie (i.e. cool car, strippers, trashed hotel room, and we can’t find the groom and he’s getting married in ten minutes) and then made it an original.  It was pumped up by the fact that nobody can remember what happened the night before.  In my opinion the best film of this type since the classic Very Bad Things.

Couples Retreat (Lonely Devil)

Seeing the previews for Couples Retreat and seeing the big name actors like Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, and Jason Bateman, it looked like comedy gold from first glance.  In Olympic terms, I give it a bronze medal, close to silver however.  While flaws were evident, the film did amuse.

3-2-1…The Summer Summation

Summer means a lot of different things to a lot of people.  Time off from school.  Days at the beaches.  Baseball.  And for those of us working here, it’s all about the stale popcorn and pertified “soft” pretzels. 

We spent a lot of time at the movies this summer.  In fact, this site went live with X-Men Origins:  Wolverine, the first film of the summer and our first film reviewed.   It only seems fitting that we sum up how our time was spent based on our likes and dislikes.   We’ve decided to go with a 3-2-1 format:  3 summer favorites, 2 summer disappointments, and 1 post-summer prospect (something we’re really, really looking forward to in the last half of ’09).   In a collaborated effort we bring you the summer as seen through the eyes of The Devil’s Advocates:

The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard (Lonely Devil)

After seeing the previews that featured a couple of actors from The Hangover,  I thought I would give The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard a try. While at times this movie seemed to try too hard to be funny, it still was good for a few chuckles.

The Hangover

Have you ever had so much fun one night, you couldn’t remember any of it? I have.  My first time in Vegas, the night we arrived was a blur.  Stories told at every get together always end the same way, “and then he passed out by the pool and was seriously sun burnt.” Words like stripper, making out with a stripper, and up 700 bucks and not realizing it pop up every time. Sounds like I had fun, but then again I wouldn’t know. I was drunk. That is nothing compared to the newly released The Hangover. A story brought to you by Todd Phillips who gave us Old School, Starsky and Hutch, and Road Trip. The Hangover is about four friends on the way to Las Vegas for a one night bachelor party.  Needless to say things don’t go as planned.

The Hangover (Devil’s Advocate Review)

I went in with high hopes for The Hangover, and those hopes were met if , I  was looking to watch a crude and over the top vulgar depiction of a bachelor party gone wrong.