Title: The Hangover.Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Ken Jeong.
Brief Synopsis: Doug (Bartha) is getting married in two days, so his two best friends Stu (Helms) and Phil (Cooper) and his soon-to-be brother-in-law Alan (Galifianakis) head to Vegas for an all night party for Doug's bachelor party. The next morning Stu, Phil and Alan wake up in their hotel room and have no idea what transpired the night before. And Doug is missing.
Opinion: I thought this film was amazingly funny. It isn't often that you get this sort of comedy/CSI-type movie. The whole film is basically the three guys trying to retrace their steps and follow clues that they find to locate their missing friend. And it is done in such a funny way. Great film.
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Title: Old Dogs.Starring: John Travolta, Robin Williams, Kelly Preston, Seth Green, Bernie Mac, Lori Loughlin.
Brief Synopsis: Two high-class sports agents, Charlie (Travolta) and Dan (Williams) are about to break the deal of their lifetime with a Chinese company. Charlie is the smooth talker while Dan is much more the brains of the operation. As things are progressing nicely, things of course hit a snag. Dan's one0night marriage to Vicki (Preston) apparently resulted in a set of twins. Now Vicki is off to the slammer for two weeks and needs Dan and Uncle Charlie to look after the kids.
Opinion: All of the cliches are here. Of course the two twins are going to ruin everything that Charlie and Dan have worked so hard to get, but in the end it won't matter. There were a couple of laugh-out-loud moments in the film, which is why my grade is better than normal. Nice to see Lori Loughlin dust herself off for a movie - sad that this movie was Bernie Mac's last film
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Title: Taking of Pelham 123.Starring: John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, James Gandolfini.
Brief Synopsis: Walter (Washington) is running the subway cars in NYC. On this day, a former employee (Guzman) and Ryder (Travolta) decide to take a subway car hostage and make a ton of money in the stock market. Ryder contacts the subway service and talks to, and begins to like, Walter. As the police do their best to capture the suspects and save the hostages, it is Walter's job to keep Ryder calm.
Opinion: It was an interesting film. I was pretty involved in it and it kept my attention. Not the greatest of action films, as the action was never really there, but certainly a decent watch. I was a bit disappointed with the ending, but I guess I can understand it.
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Title: The Usual Suspects.Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Kevin Pollock, Benecio Del Toro, Chazz Palminteri.
Brief Synopsis: A group of guys thrown into a lineup decide to work together to make some quick money. They end up being pretty good at it and are asked to do a little more. Little do they know that they have just accepted a job for the infamous Keyser Soze.
Opinion: I was not as impressed as I thought I would be as I had heard many great things about this film over the years. I may have been a bit more impressed had I not know the twist ending going into it, but seeing as how I had never seen it before - I was bound to find it out beforehand. Still, a pretty decent film that I think may have been better had I lived under a rock.
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Title: Couples Retreat.Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Faizon Love, Jon Favreau, Kristin Davis.
Brief Synopsis: Jason (Bateman) and Cynthia (Bell) are having marriage problems and are considering a divorce. In a last ditch effort to save their marriage they look into a resort that they hope will help them see if their marriage can be saved. In order to afford the trip the couple invites their friends along - but who believe they are only there for the fun part of the resorts. Instead all couples are forced to partake in the marriage counseling and drills, and in the end learn a whole lot more about themselves.
Opinion: I was expecting a bit more, but I still came away with a few great laughs during the movie. The ending, of course, is what most of us expected to happen as we got to know the characters more, but it was still fun to see which of these couples would be able to make it through the trip and remain together.
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