Todd Phillips’, The Hangover, is a comedic masterpiece stuffed with huge laughs, crazy surprises, and extraordinary performances. It is by far the funniest film I’ve seen so far this year.


Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis star as Phil, Stu and Alan, three friends who are super excited to throw their best buddy Doug (Justin Bartha) a bachelor party he’ll never forget. But shortly after the guys arrive in Vegas and start drinking, things quickly get out of control. Forward to next morning, and Phil, Stu and Alan awake in their suite having absolutely no recollection of what happened just a few hours earlier. Doug is nowhere to be found, the suite is completely destroyed, and the bathroom is occupied by a freakin’ tiger! Oh, and there’s a baby in the closet…


With no idea whatsoever what happened, Phil, Stu and Alan head out to piece together the puzzle and follow whatever clues they can find that may help them remember how the hell they lost their best friend.


Indeed, I really can’t remember when I last laughed so hard in a movie theater. From the first memorable quote of “Paging Doctor Fa**ot!” to the less than tasteful photos during the credits, The Hangover boasts a horde of completely absurd moments that are as amusing as any comedy you’ve seen. As brainless and vulgar as the film is, it manages to deliver exactly what it promised: a great time with good friends and hangover.

Ever taken a long look at every single film playing in theaters then turned to your left looked at your date and ran the f**** out of the place yelling,


“What ever happened to good ol’ fashioned substance and measurement like the subtle nuances of Cape Fear or the swift dynamics of say, Casino!” If you have then we feel your pain and if you have not good patron then we suggest to remain on that role you avoid the multiplex.

This month is as haggard as that crushed velvet cap your neighbor keeps squashed between her legs.


At the Box Office and Theaters:


Star Trek: Better then Grandpa’s Star Trek, huh? Grandpa’s dead.


X-Men Origins: Wolverine: I’m speechless. No Jamie Kennedy? WTF!


Ghosts of Girlfriends Past: So all his ex-girlfriends are dead? Weird? Awesome!


Obsessed: Not with this suggested sexual thriller, more like a fart on a cupcake.


17 Again: Neutered again and again and again. Then it stops, then it starts.

Some days when I’m feeling very nostalgic, I’ll make my way over to my DVD stand (or VHS stand to be really old school), stare at the titles that I’ve collected over the years and search for something that grabs my attention and something that I haven’t seen in a very long time. One movie that I’m always in the mood for is Columbia Picture’s 1988 underrated gem ‘Pulse’.


This sci-fi thriller is well directed by Paul Golding and focuses on David (played by a young Joey Lawrence) who comes to live with his father Bill (Cliff De Young) and his father’s new wife Ellen (Roxanne Hart) in sunny California.


Once David has arrived, he’s truly less then thrilled with the entire situation in general but a certain tragic event that occurred in the neighborhood days earlier has taken his mind off of his current living situation. The old man that was living in the house directly across the street from where David is now living supposedly went insane, claiming that electricity is a living presence whose voice can be silenced by unplugging or destroying anything that can capture the voice.


Young David starts to believe that there might be some truth to what the old man was claiming because mysterious events begin to occur in his very house. An electric spark ruptures a gas pipe nearly killing David as he’s trapped in the garage, Ellen is scalded in the shower by the electric water heater and then an electric fire starts which turns their house into a severe blazing inferno. Who will survive long enough to actual pull the plug to stop the evil presence?


This truly is a very scary and interesting movie because as human beings, we do not even realize how much of our lives actually DO rely on the use of electricity. Unless your Amish, you will use and come in contact with some type of electrical device such as a microwave, television set, shaver, telephone, lamp, electric clock…well you get the point. What would happen to the human race if something like this did occur? Well we would probably end up dead one way or another. That’s for sure!


(This movie should not be confused with the awful 2006 horror flick of the same title starring Kristen Bell and Christina Milian or the 2001 Japanese flick for which the 2006 American version is based off of.)

Imagine that one day you’re going about your daily business as usual and then suddenly, out of nowhere, you can see your friends being brutally murdered one by one and the most disturbing part about it is that you’re able to see these horrific events unfold through the eyes of the sadistic murderer. Sounds scary? Well that’s the basis for Columbia Picture’s 1978 suspense/thriller ’Eyes of Laura Mars’


The very successful, high profiled fashion and advertising photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) is at the top of her game. She’s beautiful, witty and smart and not only is she a fantastic photographer who’s controversial erotic photos create an interesting buzz among the press, she also has a group of great friends who will stop at nothing to keep her at the top of her game. There’s only one problem… these great friends are being slain one by one and she’s able to witness these brutal murders from the murderer’s P.O.V. (point of view). Not understanding how or why she’s the only one who can see the murders, the very confused Laura Mars teams up with detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones) to hopefully identify the murderer before she’s the next victim.


A couple of weeks ago, I attended Fangoria’s Weekend of Horrors convention at the Los Angeles Convention Center. At one panel, I learned that a certain director has already completed a first draft of an updated version of ‘Laura Mars’. Of course!! Another remake of a classic. Why am I not surprised!! Also, I heard that the part of Laura Mars in the remake has been offered to actress Briana Evigan of ‘Step Up 2: The Streets’. If this is true and not a rumor, I believe that she can pull it off. I’m a big fan of Briana and have seen her genre acting skills put to the test as she appeared in a short lived horror series on NBC called ‘Fear Itself’.


Nevertheless, the original ‘Eyes of Laura Mars’ will remain a classic for a number of reasons. First, the haunting story was conceived by original ‘Halloween’ director John Carpenter who’s well known among the horror community. Second, the true beauty and vintage essence of New York City in the late ‘70s was captured by cinematographer Victor J. Kemper. Third, the film’s soundtrack is very up to date with the music of that era and includes the main love theme ‘Prisoner’ which was performed by the legendary Barbara Streisand. Many fans of Ms. Streisand consider this to be one of the best songs that she has ever performed. So if you’re in the mood for an intriguing movie that offers vintage fashion, disco music, thrills and kills, then this movie is for you.



Review by Darien Moutrie.

“All’s fair when love is war” is the generic tag line for Screen Gems’ new thriller ‘Obsessed’ opening Friday April 24th. Coming from director Steve Shill, this movie appears to have a decent storyline that will gain enough interest from moviegoers to place this movie at the #1 spot on the box office charts opening weekend.


The film centers on asset manager Derek Charles (Idris Elba). While being highly successful with his career and in his marriage with his beautiful wife Sharon Charles (Beyonce Knowles),his world is turned upside down when his company hires a seemingly perfect temp named Lisa Sheridan (Ali Larter) who begins to stalk him, placing his life, job and marriage in jeopardy.


I’m 99.9% positive that when this film gets released, certain film critics will butcher it and spew out lines such as “this film is unoriginal and has been done before in the past and better too.” So who gives a crap if it’s original or not. Nothing in Hollywood is original. I, for one, am a huge fan of these type of thrillers such as 1987’s ‘Fatal Attraction’, 1994’s ‘Disclosure’ and even 20th Century Fox jumped on the stalker ban wagon with the teen version titled ‘Swimfan’ in 2002.


‘Obsessed’ is a film that I’ve been anticipating for a while now. The story might be similar to previous films but it looks like a fresh new approach to the stalker genre. Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles and Ali Larter seem to have perfect chemistry to make the situation very believable. Besides, I’m always down for two beautiful females in a heated cat fight!

As a huge fan of horror, there’s nothing more disappointing then eagerly waiting for a movie that appears to be good, hyped up and finally when I get a chance to view the film, it turns out to be a huge waste of time. An utter letdown. That’s exactly what ‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane’ turned out to be. Director Jonathan Levine was lucky enough to snag another movie after this one with ‘The Wackness’ in 2008.


Mandy Lane (Amber Heard of ‘Never Back Down’) is lusted after every horny male in high school. After a tragic event occurs at a wild party and leaving one of her fellow friends dead…or not, she withdraws from society mentally and emotionally. Nine months later, the mysteriously quiet Mandy is still being lusted after by the males (surprise surprise) who have graciously invited her to tag along and some others as they head to a ranch for a weekend of drinking, smoking and sexual escapades. Once they arrive at the ranch, they meet the ranch caretaker Garth (Anson Mount of ‘Crossroads’) and that’s when the gang is picked off one by one. Is it Garth or is it somebody else from the past? The world may never know!


I should have known that this horror/thriller was going to be a complete waste of time when The Weinstein’s distribution company Dimension Films shifted the release date all over the scheduling charts and then finally dropping the film entirely. ‘Mandy Lane’ was scheduled to be released in ‘06 but after continuous release date changes, supposedly it will hit US cinemas on July 17th of this year. However, it was released in the UK last February and hasn’t received positive reviews. I just happened to catch this flick at a special viewing.


‘Mandy Lane’ is full of awful dialogue, horrible acting by actress Whitney Able and the motive of the killer(s) is ridiculous. Whitney was recently ranked #83 on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 of 2008 list. Well maybe she should venture into modeling and just pose MUTE at the photographer. Just a thought.


There were a couple of decent points about the film which were the acting chops of the stunningly beautiful Amber Heard and Anson Mount. There were a couple of bloody scenes of death. Also, it had a ‘70s style of editing applied to various scenes throughout the film that I thought were really cool.


All in all, this movie was not worth the celluloid that it was printed on and if it actually does make it to cinemas in the US, it will not last very long and will hit video stores weeks later. All the boys may love Mandy Lane but I certainly wasn’t one of them.

Though it’s set at a low-rent amusement park, Adventureland is essentially a summer camp movie. A nostalgic look back at the fun times and summer flings you may or may not have had in your youth. Nothing in the movie really indicates its 1980 something setting besides the horrendous fashion and ‘85 Thunderbirds in the background but it does help add a cool retro feel to a very standard coming-of-age dramedy.


Coming off Superbad, director Greg Mottola delivers a much more real and sentimental value to his film than his previous work. Jesse Eisenberg was an excellent pick to play the lead as James, a young, nerdy, pseudo intellectual that’s desperate to earn a dollar after some busted Euro-trip plans. Eisenberg is awkward and geeky yet most notably, relatable. Adventureland is almost entirely James’s story, with a brief dip or two into the love story of Em (Kristen Stewart), the sulky girl who James is immediately attracted to within two minutes of taking his thankless carney job.


For the most part the plotlessness of Adventureland is fine, as the movie skates along on its own good vibes and insight into the inevitable summertime feeling of having no idea where the hell your life is going. But by the second boner joke, the movie feels like a comedy again.


Adventureland is just funny enough to be enjoyable. It makes you reflect more than laugh which is what the story intended to do so I will the give the writers that much. Mottola gets credit for trying, and once again depicting teenagers with a thought or two in their head, even if they are just sex and drugs.

Mixed Martial Arts has become quite popular over recent years. It has surpassed even that of the beer chugging giant, NASCAR as the fastest growing sport in America. Because of this, every Tom Dick and Harry thinks they can knock out Chuck Liddell because they’ve seen Bas Rutten’s instructional vide…twice. Unfortunately, that is the vibe given out in Dito Montiel’s sophomore outing, Fighting. Although the movie seems to take some great advice from its successful predecessor, Rocky, by focusing on the journey of the hero rather than pointless brawls, Fighting is a roughneck tale about realizing dreams of glory in the underground world of street fighting.



Channing Tatum stars as Sean Arthur, a young hustler who scrapes by in the tough streets of New York City. Haunted by a family tragedy and a father who shuns him, this outsider has little to be motivated by. A chance encounter with veteran street-fighting coach, Harvey Boarden, played by Terrance Howard, leads to a whole new career for Sean. The fights become increasingly difficult, not to mention increasingly dirty as the stakes get higher and higher. Sean fights to win not only the prize money, but also an unexpected love.



If this movie exhibits the same endearing character as Sylvester Stallone did with his iconic Rocky, it will succeed. Although I don’t believe that will happen being that the demographic of people seeing this movie consist of powder puff wannabe’s and their sixteen year old girlfriends, expect a semi-artsy portrayal of nothing more than a typical action flick. Skip it and rent a real fight movie, Redbelt from Netflix instead.