The Hangover 2 (2011)
One Line Description: Hijinks and debauchery ensure when four friends travel to Thailand for their friends wedding and wake up the day of with no memory of the previous night.
We talked about this on episode 3 of the Hippo Podamus, but I liked this movie a lot. The fear of sequels and bad reviews had me worried, and even with the re-use of some jokes and storylines the movie exceeded my expectations. Zach Galifianakis is nearly as funny as in The Hangover without getting too ridiculous. Ken Jeong wasn’t overused and neither was the monkey from the trailer. There are plot holes and some questionable scenes but it doesn’t take away from the hilarity. We will have to see if it’s infinity re-watchable as the first, but it’s definitely a must see if you liked the original.
Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
One Line Description: Evil alien robots come to Earth to target a boy whose mind has been filled with cryptic symbols from an extraterrestrial rock.
Terrible. That’s the word I am going to use. I didn’t love the first one but I figured I should at least check out the sequel. I didn’t even make it halfway through before I gave up. Shia LeBeouf is bad. Megan Fox is worse. Even Michael Bay’s over the top action can’t save this one for me. I don’t know what needs to change about me to like this one but I hated it.
Last of the Mochicans (1992)
One Line Description: In the midst of the French and Indian War, a white, “adopted” Mohican indian falls in love with the daughter of a British colonel and goes to great lengths to protect her.
I know this is based on a famous book from like 200 years ago, but the movie just wasn’t entertaining. I just didn’t like the characters and found it to be a little uninteresting. This felt like a very typical movie from the early 90s, something about the aesthetic and flow and the way that the violent scenes were shot. I think this movie would be drastically different if it was made in 2011. Maybe I would enjoy it more, maybe not. It did win an Oscar, but it was for sound editing. The score is considered pretty amazing and the White Sox use the music in their scoreboard intro video on US Cellular Field so it holds a special place in my heart.
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
One Line Description: The Russian captain of a new high-tech nuclear submarine decides to defect to the United States and creates an Atlantic-wide manhunt led by a CIA analyst who no one believes.
Based on a Tom Clancy novel of the same name, and the first in the series of books and movies based on fictional CIA analyst Jack Ryan. The captain of a new class of new class of nuclear submarine, played by Sean Connery, decides to commit treason against Russia and defect to the United States. All but his officers are told that the mission is to bomb New York City and then flee to Cuba. Connery is great, but Baldwin is even better as a svelte Jack Ryan. The movie has lots of exciting moments but at times it seemed like they dodged the bullet just a few too many times. The cheesy moment at the end could have been left out too, but a very entertaining movie with some solid acting.
Mother (1996)
One Line Description: A middle-aged man with two failed marriages moves back into his childhood home with his widow mother to try and understand why he’s failed in life.
Albert Brooks and Debbie Reynolds take 90% of screen time in this movie that has several laugh out loud moments. The early exchanges between the two about food are priceless. The second half of the movie drags a bit as the story hits the climax and Brooks figures it all out. Rob Morrow plays Brooks’ rich, successful brother who tries to get his mother to use a video phone. I feel embarrassed to say that I haven’t seen many of Reynolds’ pictures, but she is so solid in this. There isn’t a lot to this movie, but I laughed enough to make it worth my two hours.
