Obscuriosities

The Hangover Part Deux suffers from the same problem as every sequel to every small, indy film that hits big at the box office; It's basically a cash-grab by the studios, trying to recapture the lightning in a bottle. This means that a lot of the heart, and earnest energy of the first film is lost in favour of the swagger of a filmmaker that knows they're making a hit regardless of what ends up on screen. It is fortunate for us then that director Todd Philips has used his carte blanche to push the boat out and make a movie that is ambitious, but adheres to the same 'whodunit' structure of the first film. This time around, the set pieces are bigger, the performances are broader and the comedy is blacker. There are some solid laughs and the plot is actually a lot smarter than it has any right to be. I was pretty much grinning or cringing throughout the entire running time (especially during the end credits which, again were the highlight of the film for me). Overall I wou

I think I might be a closet Michael Bay fan. I was so deep in the closet I didn't even know I was in the closet. I didn't even know the closet existed. Now I suddenly find myself very aware of said closet and my location therein. Here is Bay's filmography as director from IMDB: 2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon ( post-production ) 2009 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen * 2007 Transformers ** 2005 The Island ** 2003 Bad Boys II ** 2001 Pearl Harbor 1998 Armageddon 1996 The Rock *** 1995 Bad Boys A '*' means I've seen the film and a '**' means I saw it and enjoyed it. A '***' means I think it's genuine classic. That's four out of five that I liked. One that I think is a goddamn classic of the whole goddamn action genre. I'm having all these weird feelings I've never felt before. I thought I was just experimenting, having fun. But I always

Lots of stuff to get through so let's get to it! Thor - Action/CG clunky. - Performances way OTT but mostly good. - Visually luscious. - Tough to follow for a Thor newbie. - Average. Playing Columbine - Fascinating look at controversial video games and the 'are games art?' question. Hanna - Great action. - Great score. - Fun performances playing on the fairytale theme. - One or two of the characters annoying as all hell. Portal 2 - Not a movie but incredible nonetheless. - Great story, characters and acting. - Challenging puzzles with great 'aha!' moments. - The ending is like a (figurative) layer-cake. With each successive layer being sweeter and more surprising than the last. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs - This film is very close to my heart - Criminally underrated - Hilarious - Bizarre - Touching - Visually sumptuous Priest 3D - Pretty 'meh' vampire movie - Post-apocalyptic western styling quite good - Everything else quite bad Misfits - Fun superhe