Movie Review: The Hangover 2

The Bangkok weather ain't
the only thing that's hot
in The Hangover 2!

The secret to a good recipe is that it's repeatable. You should get the same result every time you put the same ingredients, in the same amount and follow the same  instructions. That's exactly what Todd Phillip's did with The Hangover 2. He took the same characters and placed them in a very similar situation and hoped to produce the same results.

This time, it was Stu (Ed Helms) getting married. The difference is that instead of returning to Vegas, the action takes place in Bangkok because Stu's bride Lauren (Jamie Cheung) is Thai. With Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Alan (Zack Galifianakis) in tow, instead of loosing the groom, they lose the bride's younger brother Teddy (Mason Lee) a boy genius. We even have Ken Jeong reprising his role as Mr. Chow and a cameo from Mike Tyson.

Once again, the guys wake up without a clue as to what happened to Teddy and, for that matter, what happened the night before. To find Teddy, they have to sort it all out. Tattoos, chain-smoking monkeys and missing fingers are just the tip of the iceberg.

I never have high expectations for sequels. I just don't. While The Hangover 2 is definitely formulaic, I did have some laugh out loud moments. I also enjoyed how they kept the integrity of The Wolf Pack. Justin Bartha's Doug wasn't stuck on a rooftop this time around but he didn't stay with the group either and that was a wise decision. Phil, Alan and Stu work will together (along with Mr. Chow). There was no reason to mess with that part of the formula.

I laughed throughout The Hangover 2. I think I had more laughs with the original but I enjoyed myself and so did the audience I saw it with. Like the original, it is raunchy and there is some male frontal nudity (but nothing that's impressive).

However, let me add. I watched part of Wedding Crashers last night on cable. Bradley Cooper was kind of cute there but he was actually hot in The Hangover 2. I mean he was sexy! Hubba hubba!

But back to the review. I would say that it wasn't as funny as the original but it was funny. I had a good time. If this (and Bridesmaids) is your cup of tea, I think you'll enjoy it.

Glee: New York! New York!

It's taken me a while to write this recap because it's taken me a while to process it. I have to finally admit that as much as I wanted to love this episode, the last one of the season, I didn't. Despite some great character development, over all it left me a little let down.

I guess the biggest letdown was the music. I wasn't familiar with the Madonna New York song or the other song featured in the mash-up. I did like the energy of it though. The only song I thoroughly enjoyed was Rachel and Kurt's duet of For Good from Wicked. It was even better because they did it on the Wicked stage (and I saw Wicked performed there!). However, the rest of the songs were just okay.

During the competition, both New Directions original numbers were good but not great. And Vocal Adrenaline was a huge disappointment. Every other time we've been treated to a VA performance, it's been filled with choreography and showmanship. You can immediately see why they are the ones to beat. But a solo by Charice and that's it? Let down!

But let's move on to the plot. Hated how Shue gave up on his dream so quickly (his song was forgettable too). Why not just stay in NYC over the summer and then go back to Lima?

I did love Finn chasing after Rachel. I do think that she caved a little too quickly though. The kiss during their performance was great but again, ... too soon. I kept wating for Rachel to get mad. I mean this guy has been stringing her along almost all season. He couldn't forgive her for making out with Puck, which she admitted to him in an attempt to be completely honest. Yet, he could forgive Quinn for sleeping with Puck (not to mention losing her virginity to him), and then trying to pin a pregnancy on him. Not to mention, he lost his virginity to Santana of all people. Rachel has so much passion about her career but acts like a complete doormat when it comes to Finn.

Anyway, as much as I hated the Vocal Adrenaline performance, I loved their coach Dustin Goolsby who actually (unlike Sue) still has a reason to hate New Directions. They're the competition! He did his best to play a mind game on the kids by telling them of Shue's Broadway adventure. However, he had the best lines of the night at the bar with Shue! I absolutely want to see more of him next season. Hopefully, we'll see more of VA and the Warblers too.

Blaine telling Kurt that he loved him was perfect as was Kurt's shocked expression. I mean, it came out of nowhere but I'm sure he was thrilled to hear it (because he obviously loves Blaine too).

And finally, maybe Ryan Murphy has been reading my blog, some love for Mercedes! And with Sam no less! As soon as they walked into the coffee shop, I knew they were together! And I've read since the finale that they will be a couple at the beginning of next season as well. Hopefully, maybe we'll get to see more of Mercedes back story ... maybe even meeting her parents, which I would love.

So we're off for the summer. I'll be combing the web for Glee news over the summer, so when I find it, I'll post it here!

Breaking News: Big Change for Law & Order SVU

I don't know if I'd be smiling afer
walking away from $385,000
per episode!

According to TVLine, Christopher Meloni who has played Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: SVU will not be returning for Season 13. His 'partner' Mariska Hargitay, who plays Detective Olivia Benson, will be back though. It will be hard to see Oliva without Elliot but according to SVU producers they are already in search of a 'big name' to replace Meloni.

So what happened? Well, what always happens. Money! Contract talks broke down when they couldn't agree on a pay raise. From what I can tell, he and Hargitay were some of the best paid actors in a dramatic series. Hugh Laurie pulls in around $400,000 per episode and Hargitay/Meloni were right behind him at $385,000 per episode.

So we see the end of an era! I'll be eager to see who they nab as a replacement.

Movie Review: Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids proves how funny us girls can be when we stop trying to be polite and play nice. With many laugh out loud moments, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie ... and it isn't just me, everyone I've talked to about this movie has enjoyed it just as much.

Annie (Kristen Wiig) is searching for rock bottom. Her baking business has folded and her boyfriend/business partner left at the same time. Now, she's underemployed (at a jewelery store), living with a pair of self-satisfied British siblings and having occasional okay sex with an asshole (played wonderfully by John Hamm - who definitely lives up to his name). As Annie's downward spiral picks up speed, her best friend's upswing just keeps getting better and better. Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is marrying her rich boyfriend and also picking up a new best friend in rich, gorgeous Helen (Damages' Rose Bryne). If there is a downside, it's that Lillian's fiance just isn't that cute (not even in a dorky way).

The bridesmaids in question are the unhappily married with kids, Rita (Reno 911's Wendi McLendon-Covey), naive newlywed Becca (The Office's Ellie Kemper) and Megan (Mike and Molly's Melissa McCarthy) as the groom's burly brusque sister (who had a lot of the film's best one-liners). Together, they endure the engagement party where Helen and Annie use the toast to try and show who's the better friend to a potential Vegas misadventure.

What makes Bridesmaids such a fun movie is that these women aren't afraid to be dirty, raunchy, honest and just plain funny. So often romantic comedies feature pretty funny girls like Julia Roberts or Cameron Diaz and while they are willing to take a risk for a joke, I doubt either woman would go as far as these bridesmaids do for a joke.

And yes, there is romance. Irish actor Chris O'Dowd plays a sweetie of a state patrolman who is a former fan of Annie's bakery who quickly becomes a fan of Annie.

At the beginning of Bridesmaids, there are a few lulls but as the movie picks up steam, it picks up a ton of laughs along the way!

Celebrity Apprentice Gets Rich!

Wanna be the Celebrity Apprentice? It helps
if you bring The Donald a cowboy hat.

Okay, I missed last week's recap. Suffice to say, did anyone think the final two wouldn't come down to Marlee Matlin and John Rich? Lil John acted like he didn't even want to be in the final two and Meat Loaf was just too damn emotional.

The task was to come up with an ad, commercial and concept around 7-Up Retro. Marlee was to base her ad in the 70's with a little help from The Harlem Globetrotters. John Rich had the 80's with Def Leppard. To help them out, several former contestants came back. Team Rich included Lil John, Star Jones and Mark McGrath. Team Matlin had Richard Hatch, LaToya Jackson and Meat Loaf.

Both groups came up with excellent can concepts, both of which will be available soon in a store near you. I enjoyed both commercials as well. Team Matlin had a serious coup when they scored Geoffery Holder for their commercial (the black guy with the white suit and the deep voice that was featured in many of the 7-Up ads in the Seventies). The guys roped in Dee Snider from Twisted Sister for their spot - very 80's.

However, when it comes to executing the event, Team Matlin had the edge. Their event flowed seamlessly and all the members of their team greeted and shmoozed with Trump and the 7-Up execs. Meanwhile, Team Rich didn't greet the VIPs at all. To make matters worse, they started 20 minutes early and Def Leppard hadn't even arrived when John had announced them.

On the bright side, even though this wasn't a fundraising challenge, John Rich managed to collect checks from several participants totalling $275,000. When Marlee Matlin found out about that she was not happy.

However, this was a live 2-hour finale so there was a lot of fluff and reunion mess. To sum it up quickly. Gary Busey is still a nut. Star and Nene still hate each other. The rest of the 'celebs' are still trying to play nice.

If Trump was basing his decision off of this task alone then Marlee had the edge because her event went off without a hitch. Also, if we are looking at body of work, she also raised more money than anyone in Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice history. Yet, for reasons we may never know, he went with John Rich.

That's okay with me though, because I pegged him to win it all weeks ago and I like to be right!

If The Show is Called Glee Then Why Am I Crying?

By this point, I'd broken down in tears
at least three ... maybe four times!

Wow. I have to say I’ve stopped reading a lot of the spoilers regarding Glee. I kind of prefer watching the episode and watching the action unfold in the actual episode. So, I knew there was going to be a death but I didn’t know who.

Well, the show unfolded along two tracks and the musical track wasn’t as nearly as powerful. Jesse St. James came on board to help coach New Directions. He wanted the ‘stars’ to compete for the ‘starring’ role in their National debut. So Santana, Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel auditions. Santana sang Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black for her audition. Jesse wasn’t impressed. He also didn’t get Kurt singing Some People from the musical Gypsy. It was, after all, written for and sung by a woman. Mercedes killed on Try a Little Tenderness but Jesse didn’t think she was winning to put in the work. Of course, Rachel brought down the house on My Guy. Jesse had hoped she was singing to him and even though she said she wasn’t thinking about anyone (her thoughts turned to Finn). Jesse felt Rachel was a shoo-in but Shue overrode him and decided that they’d perform original songs as a group.

However, Becky and her mom approached Shue about letting Becky in the glee club. Sue let her go from her position as personal assistant for the Cheerios. Shue couldn’t believe it and immediately went to confront her. If Becky reminded her of her sister why would she fire her? Expecting a fight, he was shocked when Sue revealed that her sister Jean had died of pneumonia. Of course, when he tried to reach out to her, she rebuffed him.

The two New Directions members most familiar with death, Kurt and Finn, also reached out. Sue said if they wanted to help, they could help her clean out Jean’s room and plan the funeral (she wanted the Glee club there to make sure that there would be a few people at the service). While cleaning up, they did, they found out that Jean’s favorite movie was Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and they used that theme for the service.

As she entered the service, Sue was touched to see a packed house. Other patients, staff from the facility, all of the people Jean touched were there. When she stepped up to deliver her comments, she couldn’t do it, so Shue stepped in and finished reading them for her. I was sobbing at this point. New Directions ended the service with Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. I was still sobbing.

After it was all over, Sue apologized to Shue for being so anti-New Directions. She told him that he and her sister shared a sense of goodness and that she was going to turn a new leaf. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds next season.

Finally, we got some serious character development from Sue. She was becoming a one-note character. Jane Lynch is a great actress and finally got to stretch and show some range. It was great to watch.

We also had some development from Finn (who I am completely over). In the truck after the service, Finn broke up with Quinn. Something in the service resonated with Finn and he left Quinn to go after Rachel. However, when he was finally ready to make his move, flower in hand, he walked into the auditorium to find Rachel kissing Jesse.

Cannot wait for next week? What will I do afterwards???

American Idol: Top Three Revealed

The rocker rocks out!

The season is flying by. After tonight, there are just two more weeks of Idol! Instead of a group number, we kicked things off with two countrified duets. First up were James and Scotty doing Start a Band by Brad Paisely. While Scotty was definitely in his element, James (who continues to impress me) showed that the rocker boy has a little bit of good ol’ boy in him too! The girls did Gunpower and Lead by Miranda Lambert. Again, Lauren delivered; but it’s a country song so that is expected. Haley held her own.

Tonight, with just four left, Ryan announced who was making it into the Top 3. First to make it was Lauren. Before we could find out who was next, we had more musical guests.

I guess Gaga couldn’t make it, so we had a taped performance of her song You and I (the one Haley did the week before that didn’t impress the judges). I do have to give Gaga her props. She did a great job mentoring the contestants and I enjoyed her performance. Her outfit? Meh. It was a leather-studded bikini which proves my theory that it takes more than being thin to have a decent figure.

And it still wasn’t time for more results. We heard from the adorable Enrique Iglesias. He’s great to look at but as a singer? He was autotuned during his live performance of Dirty Dancer/I Like It. Dirty Dancer is a duet with Usher who couldn’t be there but was on a big screen looking like he was trying to bring back the high top fade (Seriously though, what was up with his hair?).

Ready for more results? I was … but not yet. We heard the new single from Season Six winner Jordin Sparks, I am Woman. She was trying to channel her inner Beyonce. She looked gorgeous but she needs to leave the dancing to Beyonce and J. Lo.

Now, I was really ready for some results! But … we had to see the world premiere of S Ty’s video Feels so Good featuring lead Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger.

Now, some results. The second of the three finalist was Haley. Leaving just James and Scotty. I knew what would happen next. Scotty took the final seat … sending James home.

If it’s any consolation, Week 4 is the same week that rocker Chris Daughtry got sent home and he’s had an amazing career!