June Nights

Movie, best: The Hangover. What do a baby, a missing tooth, A Chinese gangster, a stripper/escort, a tiger and Mike Tyson have to do with best friends Phil (Bradley Cooper) and Stu (Ed Helms of The Daily Show fame), and the groom's brother, Alan (Zach Galifianakis)? Plenty, as it turns out, but i'm no snitch. All I can tell you is that The Hangover is summer's best comedy and an instant comedy classic. Galifianakis steals the show as the oddball of the four that head to Vegas for a bachelor party these boys won't forget. That is, if they can remember what the hell happened, find the groom after losing him to a wild night, and come back home in time for his wedding.

*** 1/2 stars out of ****

Movie, worst: I love mindless, stupid action movies. I praised Micheal Bay's work in Transformers for the charm many of the characters had, the near-perfect comic timing, and letting F/X and the action to wow us but allows us to breathe and take in who's fighting who. All of this is chucked out the window by Bay with Revenge of the Fallen, a loud, dumb, violent, racist, and misogynistic spectacle that makes you wonder how in the hell this POS even got made (hint - guys like me and you who made the first Transformers movie a hit). All the charm and teenage awkwardness that Shia LeBeouf showed as Sam Witwicky was sorely lacking. The comedic timing from John Tuturro as Simmons is forced and embarrassing. The Autobots and Decepticons - from the way they transform to how they fight - becomes unexciting to watch. And don't even get me started on Skids and Mudflap....
* 1/2 stars out of ****

Runner-up, godawful: My Sister's Keeper has got to be the most shameless tearjerker that forces you to cry, damnit, cry! This family is being torn apart by the youngest daughter's (Abagail Breslin) decision to sue mommy (Cameron Diaz, in total bitch mode) for emancipation for medical needs becasue she wants to take her kidney away and give it to her dying sister (Sofia Vassilieva) with lymphatic cancer! Squirting any tears yet? I didn't think so. This is a film for the Lifetime channel, not the big screen.

* star out of ****

Surprise, biggest: I walked into The Proposal with low expectations and to get the stench of Revenge of the Fallen off of me. I left with a smile on my face. It's a predictable romcom where the leads get together in the end. What works are the insane mishaps along the way. Margret (Sandra Bullock) bribes his assistant, Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her, then getting divorced in order to keep her place as a publisher in Manhattan. You should know what comes next, they meet the parents in the quintessential small town where, in the next few days, shit gets blown out of proportion before the wedding. For what it's worth, Renyolds and Bullock milk it for what it's worth. The jokes don't always stick, but when they do, a big grin will be slapped upon your face.

** 1/2 stars out of ****

Acting, best: Betty White as the crazy grandma in The Proposal. Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds had chemistry on-screen, but the 87 year-old best known for her work on Golden Girls steals the show from under the leads. Runner up is Sofia Vassilieva as the cancer-stricken older sister in My Sister's Keeper. I hated the film, but the movie's one star is for her tender and heartfelt performance, that even the filmmakers couldn't sully.