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The Hangover, a review by dfmorgan

The Hangover

Year: 2009
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham

Overview: They planned a Vegas bachelor party that they would never forget. Now they really need to remember what exactly went down! Whose baby is in the closet of their Caesars Palace suite? How did a tiger get in the bathroom? Why is one of them missing a tooth? And most of all, where is the groom?! What the guys did while partying can't compare to what they must do sober in an outrageous caper that has them piecing together all their bad decisions from the night before - one hazy clue at a time. Director Todd Phillips (Old School) and an all-aces comedy cast bring it big time with unpredictable situations that somehow all fit together.

Watched: 2nd May 2010
My Thoughts: An enjoyable romp. No real laugh out loud moments for me but I found it overall humourousish. I couldn't really believe that the groom-to-be would have two best friends who appear to be such opposites but then again stranger things do happen. Wasn't too sure about the Mike Tyson doing Phil Collins but that was probably because I had got used to seeing a gorilla doing Phil Collins in an advert for CDM.

My Rating: Overall a 3

Dave


(From Dave's DVD/Blu-ray Reviews on May 2nd, 2010)

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, a review by Jon

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince ***
3 out of 5



As Lord Voldemort tightens his grip, Hogwarts is no longer a safe haven. Harry suspects perils within the castle, but Dumbledore is intent upon preparing him for the final battle.

I haven’t read the Potter books, but if the screenwriters have stuck to the story, they must have had a nightmare adapting it. In fact, is this the instalment I heard about that people weren’t so keen on? After all, Potter is on his own most of the time, engrossed in a potions book he has found that belonged to the mysterious “Half Blood Prince”, ignoring his friends who have nothing to do but be lovesick and frequently being very angry because of the events of Order of The Phoenix. And to cap it all, a downbeat ending that, unlike benchmark Dark Episode from the Star Wars saga, The Empire Strikes Back, promises no defined path for the part. A vague reason, but no path.

I assume all that was stronger in the book, because as if almost afraid to rock the lucrative boat, the film lacks vitality, not helped by a lack of action and being much too over-long. While Daniel Radcliffe was traditionally the weakest of the three kids, he’s grown to be on a par, but here, it’s like he’s holding back on the emotion again. It doesn’t help that the other two are nowhere to be seen in the stories handful of set-pieces. I actually think this had the potential to be one of the most interesting and powerful stories though, if they had gone for it and dialled the scale back to a lonely, hurting and dangerous hero; Harry Potter as if by Martin Scorcese!

Considering this was probably the hardest to make and stick to the tried and tested formula, I think David Yates has done a great job and I hope he has been able to build on it for The Deadly Hallows, because he deserves a blistering sequel. I like contrasts, and he brings a sure-footed elegance to the drama, but proves to still have an eye for scale in the all too few fights. Harry versus Draco in a grim, and eventually bloody, bathroom showdown; defending the Weasley house from Death Eaters; and Dumbledore’s finest moment destroying a legion of... things... about to drown Harry (plus he has just had his hardest moment of the series so far).

As I said, I think Radcliffe did ok, but was probably unsure how to tone the performance and so often appears lost and never sells the seething rage Harry must surely be feeling. Meanwhile Grint and Watson are hilarious with the various easy side-show romance shenanigans. Ron is very funny indeed when he falls victim to a love potion! Of the adults, Rickman once again works wonders with a gift of a character in Snape who keeps us guessing even now, while Gambon makes his mark with an enigmatic turn as Dumbledore. I’d love to have seen what Richard Harris would have done with the role by this point, but the unique relationship between the Professor and Harry is very well-done. Willing, classy support comes from the regular cameos (love Helena Bonham Carter!) and newbie Jim Broadbent.

I can’t think of another franchise to reach this many films, when the plot is essentially the same one throughout and so essential it leads into the next part. Different stories, of course, but the plot stays the same. It’s clearly a curse, because while this film is very well made, it suffers from familiarity and yet wanders in a no man’s land as far as the franchise is concerned. But this is the sixth film and you can excuse them losing the plot once, though it is a shame they didn’t have the confidence because it could have been something different with such room to play with.

I don’t think this is as weak as Chamber of Secrets, but so much more was expected following the truly great last few instalments as the kids had finally come almost to the front-line and now they wandered back again. This is the first film that has made me pay more attention to the books potential though. The Half Blood Prince is simply a thankless instalment to adapt. Too dependant on what came before and what will come, while leaving a big bland hole to fill with an inevitably depressing end. Despite all this negativity, I did really enjoy it, as always. Go figure!

(From Jon's Alphabet Marathon 2010 on July 7th, 2010)

The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series, a review by addicted2dvd

CAST:
Robert Reed as Mike Brady
Florence Henderson as Carol Brady
Ann B. Davis as Alice
Maureen McCormick as Marcia
Eve Plumb as Jan
Susan Olsen as Cindy
Barry Williams as Greg
Chris Knight as Peter
Mike Lookinland as Bobby

This past Friday I watched the TV Movie Growing Up Brady. This instantly put me in the mood to watch this complete series set again. This is the second time for me to go through this set since I bought it 3 years ago. In only 6 days I watched all 5 seasons of the series.... and the bonus disc with contains 2 reunion movies and  2 episodes of the animated series The Brady Kids. This series started in 1969... the same year I was born. So while I never saw the original run of the series... like many people I grew up watching reruns. When I was a kid I never considered this to be a favorite series of mine... but good enough to watch. Then many years went by without me seeing any episodes. One day I walked in to find my daughter watching some episodes on TV with her grandmother. And she was enjoying it. So I decided to buy this set so she would have a chance to see the entire series. Ironically in the 3 years I have owned it she never bothered to watch the set. But as I was watching the set I found that I oddly enjoyed it more now then when I was a kid. I don't know... maybe it is a strong nostalgic thing. Maybe a reminder of simpler times. But it really grew on me.

Now, about this set...

The first thing to notice is the gimmicky packaging. In my opinion the packaging fails on all levels. It is not pleasing to the eye (come on... green shag carpeting!?!?). All the discs are housed in one (flower shaped) cardboard accordion envelope (Much like the two in the I Love Lucy complete series set). So I am always worried that the discs will scratch. In my personal opinion... the person that designed this packaging should have been fired as soon as he suggested it!

The discs themselves are the same discs that are in the individual season sets. So that means the only thing that makes this Complete Series set worth it is the addition of the bonus disc with the reunion movies and cartoons. Which I enjoyed the reunion movies a lot... so  that made it worth getting the set to me personally.

Of course the show itself is basically what you would figure from the time. A half an hour sitcom where all their problems are solved with a happy ending by the end of each episode (except for the handful of multiple part eps. of course.) The series did bring in quite a few familiar faces...

The Brady Bunch Guests:
- Marion Ross (Happy Days)
- Herbert Anderson (Dennis the Menace)
- Desi Arnaz, Jr.
- E.G. Marshall (The Defenders)
- Marcia Wallace (The Bob Newhart Show)
- David "Deacon" Jones
- Julie Cobb (Charles in Charge)
- Jackie Coogan (The Addams Family)
- Jim Backus (Gilligan's Island)
- Jay Silverhills (The Lone Ranger)
- Davy Jones (The Monkees)
- Don Ho
- Vincent Price
- Nicholas Hammond (Amazing Spider-Man)
- Joe Namath
- Melissa Sue Anderson (Little House on the Prairie)
- Ken Berry
- Natalie Schafer (Gilligan's Island)

The Bonus Disc...
As I said... there is 2 reunion movies which I really enjoyed. Unfortunately the whole gang wasn't completely brought back together for neither one of them. In the first reunion movie, A Very Brady Christmas, Susan Olsen didn't come back so the part of Cindy Brady was played by Jennifer Runyon. And then in the movie the Brady 500 (Which is actually the first 2 episodes of The Bradys edited together to make a movie) Maureen McCormick didn't come back... so the part of Marcia Brady was played by Leah Ayres.

While the 2 episodes of the animated series The Brady Kids was entertaining enough... they are my least favorite of the included extras. It isn't a cartoon I watched much as a kid.... so the interest just wasn't there for me as much.

Over-all I am glad I did add this set to my collection. The bonus disc makes the purchase worth it in my opinion. Though I don't know if I would double-dip this series just to get this bonus disc. If I already had the season sets I doubt I would have bothered.



(From The Brady Bunch: The Complete Series on November 17th, 2011)