Cinema 2011 #53: The Hangover Part II

The Hangover Part II is everything you’d expect it to be, and nothing more. Fans of the raucous original will undoubtedly howl with laughter at the booze-fueled antics of Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms’ Wolf Pack, as they waver episodically up a muddled memory lane, piecing together just what happened the night before. And those fans mean serious business, given the worldwide gross of $467 million, and Golden Globe, earned by the original, the sleeper hit and critical darling of the 2009. Those less inclined, however, to Todd Philips’ particular brand of American Arsehole Anarchy™ – Old School, Due Date, Road Trip – where grown men make self-serving choices and jokes at the expense of the poor, the aged, women, the disabled, homosexuals, ethnic minorities and anyone else who isn’t a upper middle-class dude, will also get everything they’d expect, and nothing more.

Cinema 2011 #45: Cedar Rapids

David Aldridge has, to quote the Radio Times, “spent the past 30 years watching square and rectangular screens” in an effort to hone his critical scrutiny of the week’s selection of cinematic fare. At the pleasure of the Great British licence fee-payer, David Aldridge is currently at the helm of BBC Radio Five Live’s weekly film and DVD phone-in programme, as well as a former editor of Film Review magazine. In short, David Aldridge is a professional, and thus, David Aldridge’s byline rides high on the poster of Cedar Rapids, blazing a guiding light to would be moviegoers of the virtues of the film, like some sort of cinephilic pharos amid the murky blockbusters of the Megaplex…

“… if you liked The Hangover you’ll love this”                                                                                                                                 - David Aldridge, BBC Radio 5 Live

Ladies and gentlemen, David Aldridge is an idiot.