3 movie mini-recaps: The Hangover; Terminator Salvation; Star Trek

The Hangover (2009)
Director - Todd Phillips
Cast
Phil - Bradley Cooper
Stu - Ed Helms
Alan - Zach Galifianakis
Doug - Justin Bartha
Jade - Heather Graham

EDIT UPDATE: I saw this movie again on DVD in January, 2010, and I want to invoke my mulligan. This movie is a train wreck. I understand how many people loved this and told everyone to see it, because I sort of got tricked as well. My initial viewing of this film was with a group of friends and we were having a great day and a good time, and I think our laughter just carried over to each other and fromt he audience in general. A second viewing of this film reveals a mess, with no more than 15 minutes of actual funny moments.

** out of 5

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ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Phil Wenneck: [his answering machine message] Hey, this is Phil. Leave me a message, or don't, but do me a favor - don't text me, it's gay.

If you think that line can be funny in the proper context you'll love this film. I may be leaning a bit too high here, probably due to the lack of good comedies the past few years, but I literally laughed out loud more during this movie than any in recent memory. Sure, some of it is pretty dumb, but only some of it, and I can look past the 20 minutes that weren't funny at all and remember the parts that made me spit out soda. Plot is easy - Vegas bachelor party gone bad. Crude movie and a great time.

**** out of 5

Terminator Salvation (2009)
Director - McG
Cast
John Connor - Christian Bale
Blair Williams - Moon Bloodgood

This movie was sort of funny, so that can't be good, considering the genre. Plot? Umm... you've seen the other ones, right?

** out of 5 seems right, but I'm more than willing to go to

* 1/2 out of 5

Star Trek (2009)
Director - J.J. Abrams
Cast
Jame T. Kirk - Chris Pine
Spock - Zachary Quinto
Spock Prime - Leonard Nimoy

Star Trek was, to me, very surprisingly enjoyable, on a very base level. Kind of hokey in parts and I can't stand Chris Pine in anything he does, but from a standpoint of someone who knows nothing about the history of Star Trek I found the movie to be fun to watch. It DID NOT live up to the hype, I don't think, but I would tell people to see it if they are not sure what to see and like that genre.

*** out of 5