Claire's blog

Claire: 5/5 stars, 9.8/10.

Carolyn: 5/5 stars, 10/10.
Native ratings: 3.4/5 stars Netflix, 7.1/10 IMDB.

If you’re going to watch one post-apocalyptic comedy movie this year, it should be this and not Rapture-palooza. Then again… Watch Rapture-palooza and THEN watch this. This was funny as hell. Literally. And awesome. Literally. Starring tons of our favorite comedy actors all playing themselves, taking place mostly at a party, with all kinds of ridiculous things happening. The contrast between the severity of the situation and the behavior of the characters is the main source of humor.

Really…. This is one of those movies that we knew we’d like a LOT just from the description and the talent. Sometimes we’re dead right about these things.

This was way, way, way better than Hangover 3! This is maybe the best new comedy of the year so far.

Written & directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen.

Starring a bunch of actors playing themselves:

James Franco (127 Hours, Pineapple Express, Spring Breakers, Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, Oz The Great And Powerful, Harry Osborn in the Spider-Man movies, The Wicker Man, Date Night) as James Franco.
Seth Rogen (Kung Fu Panda, The Green Hornet, Funny People, Observe And Report, Fanboys, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Pineapple Express, Step Brothers, Knocked Up, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Anchorman, Young George Bluth in Arrested Development, 17 eps of Undeclared) as Seth Rogen.
Jay Baruchel (Undeclared, How To Train Your Dragon, She’s Out Of My League, Fanboys, Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Knocked Up) as Jay Baruchel.
Jonah Hill (Superbad, Allen Gregory, Get Him To The Greek, Django Unchained, How To Train Your Dragon, The Invention Of Lying, Funny People, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Knocked Up, Grandma’s Boy, The 40 Year Old Virgin) as Jonah Hill.
Craig Robinson (Darryl from The Office, LaVar ‘Freight Train’ Brown in The Cleveland Show, Rapture-Palooza, Hot Tub Time Machine, Pineapple Express, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Fanboys, Zack And Miri Make A Porno, Shrek Forever After, Miss March, Knocked Up) as Craig Robinson.
Danny McBride (Eastbound & Down, Superbad, Good Vibes, Despicable Me, Observe And Report, Fanboys, Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, The Foot Fist Way) as Danny McBride.
Emma Watson (Hermione in the Harry Potter movies, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower) as Emma Watson.
Michael Cera (George-Michael Bluth in Arrested Development, Childrens Hospital, Superbad, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, Nick And Norah’s Infinite Playlist, Juno, Youth In Revolt, 1 ep of Drunk History) as Michael Cera.
Mindy Kaling (Kelly in The Office, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Wreck-It Ralph, Despicable Me) as Mindy Kaling.
David Krumholtz (Goldstein in the Harold & Kumar movies, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story , I Love You Man, Superbad, 2 eps of Undeclared, 1 ep of Childrens Hospital) as David Krumholtz.
Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad, How To Train Your Dragon, Kick-Ass, Movie 43, Year One,) as Christopher Mintz-Plasse.
Rihanna as Rihanna.
Martin Starr (Sam in NTSF:SD:SUV::, 1 ep of Drunk History, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Adventureland, The Invention Of Lying, The Incredible Hulk (2008), Knocked Up, 1 ep of Undeclared) as Martin Starr.
Paul Rudd as Paul Rudd.
Channing Tatum (Side Effects, G.I. Joe movies) as Channing Tatum.
Kevin Hart (Scary Movie 3-4, Death At A Funeral, Superhero Movie, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Little Fockers, 3 eps of Undeclared) as Kevin Hart.
Aziz Ansari (Human Giant, Observe & Report, I Love You Man, Get Him To The Greek, What’s Your Number?, 3 eps of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of The Venture Bros., 1 ep of The Life And Times Of Tim) as Aziz Ansari.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1245492/combined

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: Porky’s 3: Porky’s Revenge aka Porky’s 3: Revenge (1985)

Claire: 3/5 stars, 6/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 6/10.
Native ratings: 4.2/10 IMDB.

Porky is back.  I think this is the worst of the 3.  It wasn’t the same writer & director as the previous movies, so that might have hurt it some.  It was still entertaining enough.

Not as good.
More of a sports comedy, with only one main conflict, instead of the 4 or so main conflicts of part #2. Not as much depth.
Not as many pranks.
Wendy Williams is mysteriously not with Peewee anymore; no fucking explanation whatsoever. It’s like the writer who wrote #3 didn’t watch #2.

At least we got a happy ending for Balbreaker, and everybody finally graduated.

The franchise is over! It should be, at this point. Probably should have ended with #2.

Wait, what?! The Ramones song “Do You Wanna Dance?” is a cover?!?!?!

Directed by James Komack (3 eps of Welcome Back, Kotter, 11 eps of Get Smart, 1 ep of Star Trek) (Not Bob Clark, who wrote & directed the first 2).
Written by Ziggy Steinberg (1 ep of It’s Garry Shandling’s Show, 1 ep of Three’s Company, 1 ep of The Bob Newhart Show, 1 ep of The Mary Tyler Moore Show).

Starring some of the same people as the previous movies:
Dan Monahan as Pee Wee.
Wyatt Knight (1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1 ep of Family Ties) as Tommy.
Mark Herrier (1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Billy.
Tony Ganios (Die Hard 2) as Meat.
Kaki Hunter (Just the Way You Are) as Wendy. What did she look like in 2012? http://www.popsafari.com/celeb/8D5301A4-0175-474C-8CC5-8B7572160066
Scott Colomby (Caddyshack, 1 ep of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, 1 ep of The A-Team) as Brian Schwartz.
Nancy Parsons (Where the Buffalo Roam, Steel Magnolias, 1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Balbricker.
Bill Hindman as Coach Goodenough.
Ilse Earl as Mrs. Morris.
Eric Christmas (2 eps of Coach, 1 ep of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Ally McBeal, 1 ep of Roseanne, 1 ep of Mad About You) as Carter.

Return of:
Chuck Mitchell (Better Off Dead) as Porky.

New people:
Rose McVeigh as Miss Webster.
Fred Buch (Commissioner Hurley in Porky’s 2, Caddyshack) as Mr. Dobish. Weird, this guy played a different character in this movie than he did in Porky’s 2.
Wendy Feign as Blossom, Porky’s daughter.
Kim Evenson as Inga.
Heidi Helmer (What Women Want, Beach Balls) as Connie.
Nancy Valen (23 eps of Baywatch, 1 ep of Friends) as Ginger.
Donna Rosea (Revenge Of The Nerds 2: Nerds In Paradise) as Lana.
William Fuller (Eustis the Klan Leader in Porky’s 2) as Gus. Another one who played a different character in Porky’s 2.

Main characters from the previous 2 movies were missing, pretty much with no explanation:
Roger Wilson as Mickey (blonde kid).
Cyril O’Reilly (Airplane!, 1 ep of The X-Files, 1 ep of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Tim (racist dad guy).

Also missing:

Joseph Runningfox as John Henry.
Bill Wiley (1 ep of The Sarah Silverman Program, 1 ep of Wings, 1 ep of Coach, 1 ep of Punky Brewster, 1 ep of Hart To Hart) as Reverend Flavel.
Edward Winter (14 eps of Herman’s Head, 12 eps of Angry Beavers, 3 eps of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, 2 eps of The Real Adventures Of Johnny Quest, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Weird Science, 1 ep of Seinfeld) as Gebhardt.
Cisse Cameron (1 ep of Three’s Company, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley) as Sandy Le Toi.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089826/combined

Porky’s 2: The Next Day (1983)
Claire: 4.4/5 stars, 8.2/10.
Carolyn: 3.2/5 stars, 7.2/10.
Native ratings: /5 stars Netflix, 4.5/10 IMDB.

Porky’s doesn’t exist, but we’ll still call this movie Porky’s. WTF.

…But anyway, the pranks! OMG, the pranks. It just seems like, in the world of this movie, that in the 1950s there was nothing to do or spend your money on other than pranking your friends and enemies. The pranks were epic.

In some ways, this movie is worse than the original… And yet in some ways, it is better than the original.  Yea, there are things they don’t pull off as well, but they also successfully made a much grander sequel

…And it worked! We [barely] like this one better than the original! Which makes it the best of the 3 Porky’s movies!

The plot was a bit more spread out, with 4 or so subplots–so a lot more was going on. That counted against it for coherence, but for it for interestingness. And all the plots were tied up very well.  More assholes in the movie, yet less violence than the original. This movie gets to say a big fuck you to religion, the KKK, politicians, AND meddling parents. That’s more well-played “fuck you”s than most movies that we watch!
Written & directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story).

Some of the same people as the last movie:
Dan Monahan as Pee Wee.
Wyatt Knight (1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1 ep of Family Ties) as Tommy.
Mark Herrier (1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Billy.
Roger Wilson as Mickey.
Cyril O’Reilly (Airplane!, 1 ep of The X-Files, 1 ep of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Tim. (When I saw his name, I kept thinking of Cyril O’Reily from Oz.
Tony Ganios (Die Hard 2) as Meat.
Kaki Hunter (Just the Way You Are) as Wendy.
Scott Colomby (Caddyshack, 1 ep of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, 1 ep of The A-Team) as Brian Schwartz.
Nancy Parsons (Where the Buffalo Roam, Steel Magnolias, 1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Balbricker.
Bill Hindman as Coach Goodenough.
Ilse Earl as Mrs. Morris.

New people:
Joseph Runningfox as John Henry.
Eric Christmas (2 eps of Coach, 1 ep of Seinfeld, 1 ep of Ally McBeal, 1 ep of Roseanne, 1 ep of Mad About You) as Carter.
Bill Wiley (1 ep of The Sarah Silverman Program, 1 ep of Wings, 1 ep of Coach, 1 ep of Punky Brewster, 1 ep of Hart To Hart) as Reverend Flavel.
Edward Winter (14 eps of Herman’s Head, 12 eps of Angry Beavers, 3 eps of Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, 2 eps of The Real Adventures Of Johnny Quest, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Weird Science, 1 ep of Seinfeld) as Gebhardt.
Cisse Cameron (1 ep of Three’s Company, 1 ep of Laverne & Shirley) as Sandy Le Toi.

Hehe, from the goofs:

Revealing mistakes

When Gloria fakes her death in the cemetery, she can clearly be seen breathing.

That should be “incorrectly regarded as goofs” because she was faking, and I think her breathing was on purpose.
Missing:
Chuck Mitchell (Better Off Dead) as Porky. No mention of the movie’s namesake.
Kim Cattrall (Dee in Producing Parker, Samantha in Sex And The City, Star Trek 6, Big Trouble In Little China, Police Academy, Mannequin, 2 eps of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Rugrats, 1 ep of Dream On,) as Honeywell. (They mentioned she was fired due to her antics from the previous movie)
Boyd Gaines (The Sure Thing, Fame, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Caroline In The City) as Coach Brackett. (They mentioned he was fired due to his antics from the previous movie)

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086129/combined

Claire: 4.4/5 stars, 8/10.
Carolyn: 3/5 stars, 7/10.
Native ratings: 3.3/5 stars Netflix, 6.0/10 IMDB.

Claire had seen this when he was a kid, but Carolyn had never seen it. Claire actually rememebered nothing, but he liked the comedic effect of having an actual conflict. It’s an entertaining movie with tons of laugh-out-loud moments.

One thing that is interesting about 1954, when this takes place, is that cops aren’t such fucking assholes. People don’t run and go the other way from a cop. They don’t keep their distance. They’ll talk to them the same as any other. Kids will get drunk and run around making trouble, but if they see that nobody is really getting hurt, the cops don’t give a shit. They’re primarily concerned about *protecting* people.

Fancy that! So idealized. But this is the way it should be. Not how it is in America now. This was a nice glimpse at our police, pre-militarization, back when they were actually peace officers and not intimidators. Sure, the downtrodden races depicted in the various Porky’s movies have more equal rights nowadays, but every single one of has us diminished rights compared to 1954. Looking back at the way it is supposed to be — it looks strange and foreign. It shouldn’t.

Written & directed by Bob Clark (A Christmas Story).

Dan Monahan as Pee Wee.
Mark Herrier (1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Billy.
Wyatt Knight (1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation, 1 ep of Family Ties) as Tommy.
Roger Wilson as Mickey.
Cyril O’Reilly (Airplane!, 1 ep of The X-Files, 1 ep of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Tim. (When I saw his name, I kept thinking of Cyril O’Reily from Oz.
Tony Ganios (Die Hard 2) as Meat.
Kaki Hunter (Just The Way You Are) as Wendy.
Kim Cattrall (Dee in Producing Parker, Samantha in Sex And The City, Star Trek 6, Big Trouble In Little China, Police Academy, Mannequin, 2 eps of The Simpsons, 1 ep of Duckman, 1 ep of Rugrats, 1 ep of Dream On,) as Honeywell.
Nancy Parsons (Where the Buffalo Roam, Steel Magnolias, 1 ep of Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Balbricker.
Scott Colomby (Caddyshack, 1 ep of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, 1 ep of The A-Team) as Brian Schwartz.
Boyd Gaines (The Sure Thing, Fame, 1 ep of Frasier, 1 ep of Caroline In The City) as Coach Brackett.
Doug McGrath (The Rocketeer, 1 ep of Puppets Who Kill) as Coach Warren.
Susan Clark (Webster, Maid In America) as Cherry Forever.
Alex Karras (Webster, Maid In America, 1 ep of The Ben Stiller Show, 1 ep of M.A.S.H.) as Sheriff Wallace.
Chuck Mitchell (Better Off Dead) as Porky.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084522/combined

VIDEO: MOVIES: REVIEW: The Hangover 3 (2013)

Claire: 3.4/5 stars, 7.2/10.
Carolyn: 4/5 stars, 8/10.
Native ratings: 6.0/10 IMDB. (Doesn’t seem to be on Netflix as of the writing of this review.)

This one didn’t have the same formula, and it didn’t pack the same punch as the first two.  It was still pretty funny and enjoyable, but it paled in comparison.

I kind of want to blame some of this on the fans: When Hangover 2 came out, people complained that it was too much like the original. This annoyed me more than my fair share, as all too often people complain about EVERY sequel changing things for the worse. So here we are — the one time they didn’t change things — and Hangover 2 comes out and then people complain that it was too similar! What the fuck!

Well, America, you got what you fucking wanted. A Hangover movie that isn’t like the pre-existing ones. And it’s just not as fucking good. Happy, fuckers?

I may have accidentally rated this lower than it deserves because I’m so disappointed. After #2 being so consistent with #1, I was really hoping #3 would be so as well. Maybe if I could have had my expectations set better…

So anyway, this is still decent. They wrap up a lot of things; they bring back things from the past that the audience never knew existed. Too much of the franchise, however, has been reduced to “Oh look how clueless Zach Galafianakis is!” and “Oh look how much of a crazy asshole Kim Jeong is!” … Most of the other elements of the franchise have withered away.

Good, but a disappointment. Very bittersweet.

Coincidence: Some of this movie takes place at the Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. I just so happened to be drinking alcohol out of a Ceasar’s Palace cup as I watched the movie.

Directed by Todd Phillips (other Hangover movies, Due Date, Starsky & Hutch, Old School). Written by Todd Phillips & Craig Mazin (Superhero Movie, Identity Thief, Scary Movie 3-4).

Starring Bradley Cooper (Limitless, The A-Team, All About Steve, He’s Just Not That Into You, Wet Hot American Summer, Stella Shorts, Wedding Crashers, 6 eps of Nip/Tuck) as Phil.
Ed Helms (Andy from The Office, The Lorax, Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, 5 eps of Childrens Hospital, 3 eps of NTSF:SD:SUV, 3 eps of Arrested Development, 1 ep of Ugly Americans) as Stu.
Zach Galifianakis (The Campaign, Tim And Eric‘s Billion Dollar Movie, Tairy Green from Tim And Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Visioneers, Youth In Revolt, It’s Kind f A Funny Story, Dinner For Schmucks, What Happens In Vegas, Stella Shorts, Between Two Ferns, 2 eps of American Dad, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers) as Alan.
Justin Bartha (National Treasure movies, uncredited in 54) as Doug.
Ken Jeong (Rapture-Palooza, Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, Step Brothers, 1 ep of Bob’s Burgers, 1 ep of Mary Shelley’s Frankenhole) as Mr. Chow.
John Goodman as Marshall.
Melissa McCarthy (Identity Thief, This Is 40, 1 ep of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Charlie’s Angels, Go) as Cassie.
Jeffrey Tambor (George Bluth Sr. in Arrested Development, Hank Kingsley in The Larry Sanders Show, Hangover movies, Hellboy, Superhero Movie, EuroTrip, Professor Cakes in China IL, 4 eps of Archer, 2 eps of 3-South) as Sid.
Heather Graham (Twin Peaks, Drugstore Cowboy, Boogie Nights, From Hell, Swingers, Lost In Space, Scream 2, uncredited in Anger Management, 1 ep of Portlandia) as Jade.
Mike Epps (Next Friday, Friday After Next, Dr. Dolittle 2, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, uncredited in Hancock, 1 ep of The Boondocks, 1 ep of The Sopranos) as Black Doug.
Sasha Barrese (Let Me In, American Pie, 1 ep of Robot Chicken) as Tracy.
Jamie Chung (Sucker Punch, Dragonball: Evolution) as Lauren.
Sondra Currie (she’s been around, but we haven’t seen her) as Linda.
Gillian Vigman (Date Night, Step Brothers, All About Steve, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, 14 eps of MADtv) as Stephanie.

LINK URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1951261/combined