Brad reviews THE HANGOVER PART III (2013), directed by Todd Phillips!

Posted on December 25, 2025 by Bradley Crain

In THE HANGOVER PART III, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), and Doug (Justin Bartha) get back together so they can help Alan (Zach Galifianakis), whose gone off his meds and seems incapable of handling his dad’s sudden death. After a family intervention, the guys are driving him to a rehabilitation facility when their car is forced off the road and out steps the gangster Marshall (John Goodman), assisted by Black Doug (Mike Epps). Marshall kidnaps (white) Doug as leverage to force the guys to bring him their old friend Leslie Chow (Ken Jeong) within three days, or they won’t see Doug alive again. It seems that Chow, who recently escaped from a Thai prison, had stolen $21 million in gold from Marshall, and he’s pissed. The Wolfpack head back to Vegas, and with the help of a few old friends, they do whatever they have to do to save Doug one more time!

Released in the summer of 2013, THE HANGOVER PART III pulled in around $362 million in worldwide box office against a $103 million budget. While definitely a box office hit, these numbers are a big step down from the prior film’s $586 million, so up to this point, Part III has remained the Wolfpack’s last adventure. While THE HANGOVER PART II was practically a remake of the first film, PART III seems to be going the opposite way and actively tries not to repeat itself. The “what the hell happened last night” plot lines are abandoned for something different, and honestly, that’s probably about the smartest decision the filmmakers could have made for this installment. The film plays more like a darker, R-rated crime comedy, leaning into the action, heist, and confrontation sequences. While the change isn’t entirely successful, I definitely appreciate the attempt to come up with something different.

Even though THE HANGOVER PART III isn’t as funny as the prior films, I still enjoy the chemistry between Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis as the primary members of the Wolfpack. I also thought it was funny that Justin Bartha’s pack member Doug is once again relegated to the guy who’s not really involved, as he’s the one who’s kidnapped. Ken Jeong’s Mr. Chow, as cartoonish and unhinged as he is, is probably my favorite character in the series at this point. He pretty much steals every scene he’s in. John Goodman is a welcome addition as the intimidating bad guy, and he’s good in the film, but it’s the kind of role he could do in his sleep. I also really liked the fact that PART III returned to the initial setting of Las Vegas, which provides a nice sense of closure to the series, while also allowing for the participation of former characters like Heather Graham’s Jade and her son Tyler! It was nice to check in with them again.

Ultimately, THE HANGOVER PART III is a pretty good conclusion to the series. It’s certainly not as funny or outrageous as the prior films, but it does deserve some credit for trying something new instead of simply repeating the formula for a third time. And I also thought the final scenes were emotionally effective as they took us for a quick trip down memory lane with the Wolfpack. It felt like the end, and I felt good watching it.

Brad reviews THE HANGOVER PART II (2011), directed by Todd Phillips!

Posted on December 20, 2025 by Bradley Crain

In director Todd Phillips’ THE HANGOVER PART II, the night before his wedding, groom-to-be Stu (Ed Helms), his two best friends, Phil and Doug (Bradley Cooper and Justin Bartha), Stu’s soon-to-be brother-in-law Teddy (Mason Lee) and Doug’s brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis), sit on a beach in Thailand for a toast to the bride and groom. After cracking open sealed bottles of beer in the beautiful setting, the movie screen goes black, and soon we see Phil, Stu and Alan wake up in a seedy room in Bangkok with absolutely no memory of what happened the previous night. The room is trashed, there’s a monkey wearing a denim Rolling Stones jacket, a naked Chow (Ken Jeong) is sleeping under a pile of blankets, Alan’s head is completely shaved, Stu has a face tattoo, and both Doug and Teddy are nowhere to be found! Doug calls and he’s back at the resort, but the only trace of Teddy is his severed finger, which is now in possession of the monkey. With the wedding just hours away, the three friends follow any clues they can find in a frantic search for Teddy. The search leads to the surprise discovery that Stu had intimate relations with a transsexual stripper, a tattoo parlor run by Nick Cassavetes, a dangerous and duplicitous American gangster named Kingsley (Paul Giamatti), and an arrested, ancient Buddhist monk who’s taken a vow of silence and who’s also confused for the 16-year-old, Teddy. Hell, at one point Mike Tyson shows up and sings the classic Murray Head single, “One Night in Bangkok.” Most importantly though, will the friends find Teddy alive and still have time to get back to the resort in time for Stu’s wedding?!!

A massive box office hit in the summer of 2011, THE HANGOVER PART II became the highest grossing R-rated comedy up to that time, with a worldwide gross of $586 million, against an $80 million budget. It was also the highest grossing R-Rated film to have opened over Memorial Day weekend, raking in over $118 million in its first four days. The story went to the well again with its still clever, but not quite as unique premise, comprised of a mystery-driven plot line where we follow the investigative adventures of Phil, Stu, and Alan and discover what happened the night before at the same time that they do. This allows for another series of outrageous, raunchy, surprising, and funny moments that escalate in absurdity over the course of the film’s 102-minute running time, culminating with another secret roll of pictures on Teddy’s camera that fill in the crazy events from their wild night in Bangkok. Based on the familiarity with the characters and the types of situations, I didn’t laugh out loud quite as frequently this time around, but the film still has its share of amusing moments, and I enjoyed revisiting the film again after a number of years. One of the things that I noticed about THE HANGOVER PART II is that it does not have the re-quotability factor going for it like the first film does. Alan and Chow have some funny lines, but honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever re-quoted a single one of them. I will agree with Alan on one point though, “When a monkey nibbles on a penis, it’s funny in any language.” I’d say that this film is more about mining comedy out of the extreme and absurd situations that our heroes are put in and less about clever, quotable quips.

THE HANGOVER PART II works because of the outrageous situational comedy, as well as the exceptional chemistry between Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis. Ken Jeong has a bigger part this time around as Mr. Chow, and of course he’s hilarious. I did get some solid laughs from its combination of shock-value, sight gags and character interplay. The Bangkok we see here also makes for a seedy, raunchy and dangerous background to the crazy action. Of course the biggest negative of the film, as is the case with many sequels, is the fact that it’s practically a remake of the first HANGOVER, just set in Bangkok instead of Vegas. Think Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH (New York) versus DEATH WISH II (Los Angeles). Also like the first two DEATH WISH films, THE HANGOVER PART II pushes the boundaries even farther, with even more graphic nudity and just overall harder material in general. Sequels always up the ante, but lose a little of what makes them so special in the process, and that’s definitely going on here.

Ultimately, while THE HANGOVER PART II was even more financially successful than the original, it’s not quite as fun because we’ve seen it before in the first film. But I loved the first film, so I enjoyed this one as well, just not quite as much.

#MondayMuggers presents FLIGHT 7500 (2014) starring Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten, and Amy Smart!

Posted on February 17, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. Tonight, Monday February 17th, we’re watching FLIGHT 7500 starring Leslie Bibb, Ryan Kwanten, Amy Smart, Jamie Chung, Nicky Whelan, and Johnathon Schaech.

FLIGHT 7500 is the story about an airplane that departs the Los Angeles International Airport bound for Tokyo. As the overnight flight makes its way over the Pacific Ocean during its ten-hour course, the passengers encounter what appears to be a supernatural force in the cabin!

Although FLIGHT 7500 was chosen by Sierra, I’m looking forward to watching it for the first time for several reasons:

I’ve always liked Ryan Kwanten as an actor. I first discovered him on the HBO series TRUE BLOOD, and I’ve just always enjoyed seeing him in anything since. And here he plays a character named “Brad” so I’m hoping that he turns out to be a brave hero.
Nicky Whelan from HALL PASS (2011) is in this film. HALL PASS is one of those movies that cracks me up, and I thought Nicky was especially good in it.
Director Takashi Shimizu has made some creepy films in the past, like films in the “JU-ON: THE GRUDGE” series and the regular old “THE GRUDGE” series. The guy seems to have a grudge so I’m looking forward to seeing how it plays out in FLIGHT 7500.
I think the plot sounds interesting, so we could be in for a scary good time!

So, join us tonight for #MondayMuggers and watch FLIGHT 7500! It’s on Amazon Prime.

I’ve included the trailer for FLIGHT 7500 below:

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.9 “The Family Business” (dir by Sanford Bookstaver)

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Lisa Marie Bowman

We all knew that, at some point, Dexter would have to welcome Harrison into the family business. It finally happened on this week’s episode of Dexter: New Blood.

Set on Christmas day (but, oddly enough, airing during the first week of January), the ninth episode of Dexter: New Blood found Dexter and Harrison finally bonding. Dexter told Harrison the story of Wiggles the Clown though, at the insistence of Ghost Deb, Dexter said that he just told Wiggles to stop doing what he was doing. Even when Dexter was telling the story, it was obvious that Harrison knew there was more to it than just Dexter giving a stern lecture.

Harrison also told Dexter that he had stabbed his friend and that he wasn’t the hero that everyone made him out to be. Yeah, we all figured that out a while ago, Harrison! Still, it was interesting to watch Harrison discover what the rest of us take for granted. We’re so used to the idea of Dexter tracking down serial killers and murdering them that it’s easy to forget just how weird and traumatic it would be for someone to learn about it or witness it for the first time. One of the big problems that I had with the final season of Dexter’s original run is that Deb never seemed to be truly shocked at the discovery that her brother was a serial killer. Fortunately, the reboot did a better job with Harrison than the original did with Deb.

And yes, Harrison did learn the truth. He and Dexter tracked down Kurt’s secret lair and saw Kurt’s “trophies.” And when Harrison announced that Kurt needed to die, just the slightest smile came to Dexter’s lips. Dexter managed to bring Harrison over to his side without actually having to confess to all of the people that he had killed. Only after Harrison had announced that he was on board with the idea that some people deserved to die, did Dexter admit to killing Wiggles the Clown and Arthur Mitchell.

Kurt met his end in this episode. Harrison watched as Dexter killed him and then, somewhat ominously, had a flashback to Rita’s murder. Is Harrison going to realize that, for all of Dexter’s rationalizations, his father is a serial killer as well? If Harrison truly buys into the code, then Dexter could be in some trouble.

Actually, Dexter might be in trouble regardless. Angela appears to have figured out that Dexter killed the drug dealer. And, at the end of this episode, she received a letter telling her that “Jim Lindsay Killed Matt Caldwell” and one of the titanium screws that was left behind after Dexter burned Matt’s body. If Angela learns the truth, will she arrest Dexter or will she let him and Harrison go free? Angela has sworn to uphold the law but Kurt also murdered Angela’s best friend. And, as we learned on Sunday, Kurt also murdered Molly. Angela might be tempted to let Dexter escape. I guess we’ll find out next week.

It was an excellent episode, though I have to admit that I was really disappointed when Molly showed up as one of Kurt’s trophies. When Molly first appeared, her character annoyed me but, as the season progressed, I came to appreciate both the character and Jamie Chung’s performance. In many ways, she was the stand-in for the viewers. It was hard not to feel that she deserved better than to be killed off-screen. Indeed, considering that she knew that Kurt was probably a killer, you have to wonder how he managed to ever get to her in the first place.

Still, that aside, The Family Business was Dexter at its best. The deliberate pace and the atmospheric direction all reminded of the classic early seasons of Dexter. Michael C. Hall perfectly captured Dexter’s love of his work while Jack Alcott played Harrison with the right mix of fascination and fear. Still, I have to wonder what the show’s end game is going to be. Ghost Deb was pretty adamant about Dexter not bringing Harrison into the family business and Ghost Deb usually know what she’s talking about.

We’ll find out next week!

TV Review: Dexter: New Blood 1.4 “H is for Hero” (dir by Sanford Bookstaver)

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Boom! I predicted Harrison would be a budding serial killer so give it up for me!

Well, to be honest, I’m probably not the only person who predicted that. I haven’t been reading any other reviews of Dexter: New Blood beyond my own but Harrison turning out to have a dark passenger shouldn’t be a shocking development to anyone who watched the original Dexter series. The way that the Trinity Killer killed Rita was obviously designed to turn Harrison into a killer. There was even an episode during season 5 in which Dexter investigated whether or not Trinity’s son had taken up his father’s bad habits. (And let’s not forget that, in the books, Dexter quickly realized that Rita’s children were sociopaths.) Harrison following in his father’s footsteps was something that was set in motion long ago. It’s an inevitable development. The only question really is whether or not Harrison has killed before or if his attempt to kill his high school friend was his first dry run. And will Dexter forgive his son, partner with his son, destroy his son, or be destroyed by his son?

While I’m patting myself on the back for being correct about Harrison, I should also admit that it appears that I was wrong about the identity of the killer sniper. I was sure that it was going to be Olsen but the end of this episode seems to suggest that it’s Kurt. Of course, Kurt could be working with Olsen. Considering what’s happened in past seasons of Dexter, it wouldn’t be a shock to discover that the Sniper is actually more than one man. Perhaps Matt was a part of the organization as well. I mean, he certainly was trigger happy.

It was a good episode. I’m cringing a little bit at the character of Molly Park, if just because she sometimes seems like a boomer’s version of what a podcaster is like. (“Those crazy kids, with their cursing and their drunk sex….”) But, I do think there is some potential to her “alliance” with Angela. I also felt the fallout of the school stabbing was handled well, particularly Harrison’s new status as the town hero. In many ways, Harrison is living Dexter’s fantasy. He’s killing (or nearly killing) and he’s being celebrated for it. He’s a hero, just like Dexter always wanted to be.

(That said, even I could tell that Harrison obviously stabbed himself. Have the people in this town never watched an old episode of CSI?)

For me, the best part of the revival remains Ghost Deb. She really deservers her own show, though plotlines would probably be limited by the fact that she’s just a figment of Dexter’s imagination. Still, Jennifer Carpenter was one of the key parts of what made the original Dexter such an entertaining series and the way that show’s final season rather cavalierly killed her off is one of the many reasons why so many people hated the original finale. Though Ghost Deb may not be solving crimes, she’s still calling everyone on their bullshit. It’s good to have her back, in all of her profane glory.

The Films of 2020: Dangerous Lies (dir by Michael Scott)

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As soon as Elliott Gould showed up, I knew he was going to die.

Now, of course, I should clarify that I didn’t think that Elliott Gould the actor was going to die. Instead, I thought that the character he was playing — Leonard Wellesley — was going to die. Leonard, after all, is a wealthy man who has no family left and who is in bad health. He keeps trying to give money to his caregiver, Katie (Camila Mendes). Katie consistently refuses the money, even though she could really use it. She and her husband, Adam (Jessie T. Usher), are drowning in debt. Even after Leonard hires Adam to work as his gardener, they’re still struggling to make ends meet. Still, Katie doesn’t want to take Leonard’s money because Katie doesn’t want to take advantage of him.

For the plot to move forwards, it’s necessary for Leonard to die, though not before changing his will to leave everything to Katie. Normally, when this happens in a movie, it turns out that the caregiver actually manipulated her employer into changing the will before murdering him but, in this case, Katie is totally innocent. It’s actually kind of a nice twist. As played by Camila Medes, Katie is someone who sincerely is trying to do the right thing, even if it means her life is occasionally difficult. As played by Elliott Gould, Leonard may be a bit eccentric but he’s still just sincerely trying to thank the person who made his final days bearable.

(Admittedly, another reason why I knew Leonard was going to die was because, whenever a veteran actor like Elliott Gould shows up in a movie like this, he’s usually going to end up playing someone who dies under mysterious circumstances. Call it the Rule of Eric Roberts.)

Moving into Leonard’s house, Katie and Adam are surprised to discover a large trunk of cash. While Katie wonders why exactly Leonard would have a huge trunk of money hidden away in his house, Adam is more concerned with what they can do with that money. While Katie tries to resist the urge to get greedy, Adam starts obsessing on the money. What else does Leonard have hidden around the house?

Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Hayden (Cam Gigandet) watches the house and plots his next move….

Dangerous Lies is a thriller that was released on Netflix back in April. This is probably one of those low-budget movies that would have been overlooked if not for the fact that everyone was pretty much locked inside their house when it was released. Watching Dangerous Lies provided a nice escape from the bad news of the pandemic. Speaking for myself, it was kind of fun to watch Katie and Adam explore their new home. After being stuck inside of mine for a month, the idea that I could suddenly inherit a mansion provided a nice bit of wish-fulfillment.

As for the film itself, it was a diverting thriller. Elliott Gould brought some unexpected depth to the role of Leonard and Camila Mendes and Jessie T. Usher were believable as the couple at the center of the story. They had a believable chemistry and Usher did a good job of portraying Adam’s losing struggle with his own greed. This is the type of simple but entertaining film that you watch if you have a few hours to kill in the afternoon and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Sorority Row, Review By Case Wright

Posted on October 1, 2019 by casewright

Horror can make a political statement, it can make you reflect on your status in society, or it can just entertain. The first two types are good, but it’s also nice to just have fun! “Sorority Row” written by Josh Stolberg & Peter Goldfinger and directed by Stewart Hendler is a 1990s throwback. It had a real “I Know What You Did Last Summer” feel to it. Honestly, the reviews are not fair to this film. A lot of people want horror to be all things, but it’s supposed to be fun too. So, just relax and have a good time. Also, it doubled its money, which is what a movie is supposed to do- especially horror. It’s one of the few genres left that can produced by mere mortals.

What I liked mostly about the film was the writing. It had a lot of great humor without it being campy. I’ve gotten to know Josh Stolberg on twitter the script has quite a bit of his personality: clever and quick-witted. I especially enjoyed Jessica (Leah Pipes). As a man who went a Greek dominated college, she was very realistic. Her character and one-liners gave the story a mix of comic relief and reality. I practiced Criminal Law for waaaaay too long and I can tell you that even honest people can turn to something wicked if they feel threatened. People will invariably choose themselves over a possible life ending punishment.

The plot is similar to the original House on Sorority Row: a prank run a muck. The girls belong to Theta Pi and they to love to party, prank, and get murdered. Garrett a brother of the Sister “Chuggs” cheated on Megan another Theta Pi, which is not okay! So, the sisters have her fake an overdose so that Garrett believes he killed Megan. The sisters: Jessica, Ellie, Cassidy, Claire, Megan, and Chugs are all in on the prank are a little too convincing because they make Garrett believe that they need to hide Megan’s body in a mine shaft or their lives will be ruined. The sisters say they have to get rid of the air in Megan’s lungs or she’ll float back up. So, Garrett takes the initiative as a true go-getter and uses a tire iron to stab Megan to death. Jessica decides very quickly that they need to hide Megan’s body for real. When Cassidy refuses to participate, they wrap the corpse in Cassidy’s coat and throw it down the mine shaft. Jessica really thinks fast on her feet.

I don’t know about you, but I think Jessica would be good marriage material. Hear me out: she’s determined, quick-thinking, has a college degree, and is ruthless to protect her goals. Also, Cassidy tried to be all above it, but as Jessica said- “you could’ve called the police, but you didn’t!” Agreed. You don’t get to benefit from something wicked and then look down on everyone else. Jessica made her choice and stuck to it. She made a good point as to protecting everyone’s future and ran with it. Cassidy kept Hamletting over her bad choices. Do it or Don’t. Jessica, don’t listen to the haters.

All seems fine a year later. They’ve all moved on except for Garrett who has become a wreck over his humiliation and accidental murdering. Then, they all receive a threatening group text on their very old timey looking phones- 2009 was just ten years ago and these phones look like museum pieces.

This technology allowed for some extra suspense because reception and tech wasn’t that great then; therefore, the characters can be cutoff from help. I really think horror shouldn’t be set any time after 2009 because it’s just too easy to get help now. This lack of tech added a nice layer of suspense. The text sender stalks and murders them one by one.

The kills were pretty clever: an electrocution, death by chardonnay, tire iron throwing, and a good ol’ fashioned stabbing or three. It also had a fun twist at the end like the 1990s horror films of my youth. I recommend this film. Read my past reviews- I don’t just recommend anything. I’m an iconoclast and can tell you that this was a lot of fun. Happy Horrorthon!

Trailer: Big Hero 6 (2nd Official)

Posted on September 28, 2014 by Arleigh

Big Hero 6 is the next offering from the Walt Disney Animation Studios. While Pixar has the reputation of being the top animation house within Disney, the last couple years have seen the Walt Disney Animation house taking most of the glory. First, there was the surprise hit Tangled which was soon followed up by Wreck-It-Ralph which was both a success with critics and audiences alike. Then last year we saw the unstoppable juggernaut that was Frozen.

Frozen was originally thought to be a weak offering due to a weird marketing campaign, but it soon changed both critics and audiences minds when it came out in November 2013. From there on it just stayed in the weekly top 10 box-office for months.

Now we have Big Hero 6 which brings one of the more obscure Marvel Comics properties to the big-screen. This film looks to take the characters from the original comics, but the story itself looks to be something wholly original. So, fans who have been waiting for either Pixar or Disney to create an animated film using more recognizable heroes from Marvel’s massive library will have to wait just a bit longer.

Big Hero 6 will make it’s premiere at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 23, 2014 with a wide release on November 7, 2014.

Trailer: Big Hero 6 (Official)

Posted on July 22, 2014 by Arleigh

Walt Disney Animation has always lagged behind it’s more lauded older sibling Pixar Animation. Yet, in the last couple years it’s more than held it’s own with it’s two most recent releases with Wreck-It-Ralph and Frozen. Will third time be the charm as the studio is set to release the first CG-animated feature that was greenlit after Walt Disney bought Marvel Comics over 6 years ago.

Big Hero 6 is loosely-based on the same comic book title from Marvel Comics. It tells the story of one Hiro Hamada and his sidekick balloon man….robot who must team up with an eclectic group of other would-be heroes to save the fictional city of San Fransokyo from a mysterious villain.

Big Hero 6 is set for a November 7, 2014 release date.

Trailer: Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (Official Teaser)

Posted on March 6, 2014 by Arleigh

Hard to imagine it’s been 9 years since the original Sin City hit the big screen. It was a comic book adaptation that many thought wouldn’t work, especially how Rodriguez envisioned it to be slavishly loyal to not just Miller’s dialogue but also his unique art style.

The original film’s success quickly ramped up rumors that a sequel was already being planned using the second graphic novel in the Sin City series. Rodriguez himself stated he wanted Angelina Jolie for the role of Ava Lord, the titular “Dame to Kill For”, but after years and years of delay the role finally landed on Eva Green‘s lap (not a bad choice and one I fully support).

So, we’re now going back to Basin City for more tales of booze, broads and bullets in this hyper-noir film that should be loved or hated in equal measures by those who have followed Frank Miller’s career. Once again the directing duties have been split between Rodriguez and Miller. Here’s to hoping that Miller has learned how to be a much better directer after his last film, The Spirit, tanked.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is set for an August 22, 2014 release date.