Warner Brothers / 2011 / 102 Minutes / Rated R
Street Date: December 06, 2011
Genres: Comedy
Starring: Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis
Director: Todd Philips
Plot Synopsis: Just when you were starting to sober up after The Hangover… along comes The Hangover Part II--a deft dose of hair of the dog that will keep fans of the original screaming with laughter once again. Director Todd Phillips brings back his great cast--Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, and Ed Helms for another splendid exercise in debauchery--and its painful aftermath. And perhaps surprisingly, The Hangover Part II keeps the laugh levels high. While the element of surprise is not here in the sequel, writer Craig Mazin, Scot Armstrong, and Phillips have upped the shock factor, resulting in humor that's sometimes not exactly politically correct, but is fall-down funny anyway. In The Hangover Part II, Stu (Helms) is marrying a Thai-American woman (Jamie Chung), and the entire wedding party is flying to Thailand for the ceremony. Quicker than you can say "bachelor brunch," the boys are off on some kind of mystery adventure that results in some pretty serious, and pretty hilarious repercussions. (There's an unfortunate tattoo incident, one not easily covered up; there's an unexplained monkey--in a Rolling Stones shirt--now added to the entourage; and one of the group is missing.) The setup is familiar, but the ensemble of actors is so confident, their chemistry so easy, that the viewer enjoys their long, strange trip with bust-out-loud laughs. And you can't ask for much more in a buddy comedy.
Disc Features:
'The Hangover Part II' two disc edition includes about 40 minutes worth of special features, all of which are in high definition.- Unauthorized Documentary: the documentary about the documentary they don't want you to see about the making of The Hangover Part II (HD, 25 mins) -- This is a fun meta-premise. It's a documentary aimed to be expose the horrors behind the filming of 'The Hangover Part II'. It features interviews with the cast as well as Hollywood producers like Morgan Spurlock, J.J. Abrams, and Todd Black. You won't learn how they made the movies, but I love how these guys allow themselves to be the butt of the joke.
- Behind The Story (HD, 16 mins). This section is made up of three separate featurettes. The Comedy Rhythm of Todd Phillips explores the director's creative and improvisational process. Not Your Everyday Monkey chronicles Crystal the Monkey and her onset adventures (and one romance). The Bangkok Tour with Chow is an in-character Ken Jeong special feature. A few laughs here.
- Gag Reel (HD, 5 mins) -- Laughter is infectious. Looks like it's so fun on set that one of the hardest things to do for the actors is keep a straight face.
- Action Mashup (HD, 1 min) -- All the action from the entire movie in 46 seconds.
Disney/Buena Vista / 2011 / 146 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: December 06, 2011
Overall Grade 
Recommended Genres: Drama
Starring: Emma Stone and Bryce Dallas Howard
Director: Tate Taylor
Plot Synopsis: There are male viewers who will enjoy The Help, but Mississippi native Tate Taylor aims his adaptation squarely at the female readers who made Kathryn Stockett's novel a bestseller. If the multi-character narrative revolves around race relations in the Kennedy-era South, the perspective belongs to the women. Veteran maid Aibileen (Doubt's Viola Davis in an Oscar-worthy performance) provides the heartfelt narration that brackets the story. A widow devastated by the death of her son, she takes pride in the 17 children she has helped to raise, but she's hardly fulfilled. That changes when Skeeter (Easy A's Emma Stone) returns home after college. Unlike her peers, Skeeter wants to work, so she gets a job as a newspaper columnist. But she really longs to write about Jackson's domestics, so she meets with Aibileen in secret--after much cajoling and the promise of anonymity. When Aibileen's smart-mouthed friend Minny (breakout star Octavia Spencer) breaches her uptight employer's protocol, Hilly (Bryce Dallas Howard) gives her the boot, and she ends up in the employ of local outcast Celia (Jessica Chastain, hilarious and heartbreaking), who can't catch a break due to her dirt-poor origins. After the murder of Medgar Evers, even more maids, Minny among them, bring their stories to Skeeter, leading to a book that scandalizes the town--in a good way. Not since Steel Magnolias has Hollywood produced a Southern woman's picture more likely to produce buckets of tears (and almost as many laughs).
Disc Features:
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 3 minutes) – Director Tate Taylor introduces two excised scenes, one that's comedic and one that was supposed to close the film, but was cut because it was too much of a "downer" for such a hopeful movie.
- Music Video: "The Living Proof" (HD, 3 minutes) – Mary J. Blige provides a souful, passionate reading of the movie's anthem in a straightforward video that mixes film clips with shots of Blige in the recording studio.
These are the meat-and-potato supplements, and they are all Blu-ray exclusives.
- Additional Deleted Scenes (HD, 7 minutes) – Three more excised scenes are included here (bookended by the two described above) and further flesh out bits of character and random plot points.
- Featurette: "The Making of 'The Help': From Friendship to Film" (HD, 23 minutes) – Not quite the same as most making-of featurettes, this absorbing behind-the-scenes chronicle looks at the lifelong friendship between director Tate Taylor and Kathryn Stockett, author of 'The Help' novel, and how their bond ultimately forged a major film. Stockett talks about how she based one of her characters on actress Octavia Spencer, a long-standing friend of Taylor, and we discover that actress Allison Janney is another pal of Taylor's and has appeared in almost all his movies. Taylor and Stockett both reminisce about their Southern childhoods and close relationship, we learn about Stockett's struggle to get her book published, and tour the various locations where the picture was shot. In addition, Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Bryce Dallas Howard, among others, chime in with their views about the story and film, and their importance.
- Featurette: "In Their Own Words: A Tribute to the Maids of Mississippi" (HD, 12 minutes) – This tender and moving featurette profiles several black maids (one of whom worked for director Taylor's family), who outline their duties, talk about their thwarted dreams and grueling schedules, address the issue of segregation, and share some personal memories. The daughters of a few of the maids also relate their impressions of the era and salute their mothers for the sacrifices they made on their behalf. A very worthwhile and interesting piece that enhances the film experience.
Universal / 2011 / 118 Minutes / Rated PG-13
Street Date: December 06, 2011
Overall Grade Recommended
Genres: Action, adventure, sci-fi, western
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Abigail Spencer
Director: Jon Favreu
Plot Synopsis: The Old West.. where a lone cowboy leads an uprising against a terror from beyond our world. 1873. Arizona Territory. A stranger with no memory of his past stumbles into the hard desert town of Absolution. The only hint to his history is a mysterious shackle that encircles one wrist. What he discovers is that the people of Absolution don't welcome strangers, and nobody makes a move on its streets unless ordered to do so by the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Ford). It's a town that lives in fear. But Absolution is about to experience fear it can scarcely comprehend as the desolate city is attacked by marauders from the sky. Screaming down with breathtaking velocity and blinding lights to abduct the helpless one by one, these monsters challenge everything the residents have ever known. Now, the stranger they rejected is their only hope for salvation. As this gunslinger slowly starts to remember who he is and where he's been, he realizes he holds a secret that could give the town a fighting chance against the alien force. With the help of the elusive traveler Ella (Olivia Wilde), he pulls together a posse comprised of former opponents-townsfolk, Dolarhyde and his boys, outlaws and Apache warriors-all in danger of annihilation. United against a common enemy, they will prepare for an epic showdown for survival.
Disc Features:
- Audio Commentary
- Finding the Story (HD, 5 min) — The very brief short piece discusses the origins of the story, the mixing of genres and capturing the right mood when translating it all to the big screen.
- Outer-Space Icon (HD, 10 min) — Made mostly of great behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, this segment shows viewers the design of the alien creatures, the animatronics and filming a mix of live-action with digital effects.
- The Scope of the Spectacle (HD, 7 min)
- U-Control
- Igniting the Sky (HD, 18 min)
- Conversations with Jon Favreau (HD, 80 min) — A great collection of interview-like conversations of the director. Each can only be watched separately and shows Favreau chatting with his cast and crew on a variety of topics. It features Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, Brian Grazer, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof.
- Second Screen
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