Michael Gildea (mjgildea)

While being subjected to multiple viewings of Frosty the Snowman at the hands of my 2 year-old daughter, I remembered/realized that Frosty the Snowman was never that good and I never really liked it. The Rankin/Bass team hit gold with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and were chasing the dragon ever since. When you stop to think about it, making an hour or half hour Christmas special out of a 2-minute song isn't much better than, say... making a two-hour movie out of a kids book you can knock off in ten minutes. Yeah, could be better but it could also be a hell of a lot worse...

If I'd seen The Hangover opening weekend as opposed to a month later (and had managed to avoid everyone in the history of everything telling me how it was the best movie ever made) I'd say it was fucking hilarious. But since a few of the key parts (namely a specific shot during the end credits) were kind of blown for me I'll say The Hangover was goddamned hysterical. Aside from many instances of comic gold being dropped in your lap, Todd Phillips put together a well-made movie. The chemistry between Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis was nothing short of hysterical. So many great one-liners in this movie but Galifianakis' delivery made the movie for me--especially his wolf pack speech on the roof. The Hangover isn't so much a movie as it is a series of really, really funny scenes. And that shot of Galifianakis in the elevator at the end during the slide show was one of the funniest things I've ever seen in my entire life. The Hangover was a very welcome break from the nonsense that's plagued the metroplexes this summer. A little was lost on me with the second (unrated) viewing but still a damn good time...

Jack Nicholson is a magical combination of rambunctious and hilarious as Bad Ass in this riotous and sometimes touching movie wonderfully done by Hal Ashby. The drunken parking lot and hotel scenes are great, but the bar scene is one of my new favorite scenes ever. ("I am the motherfucking shore patrol, motherfucker! I am the motherfucking shore patrol! Give this man a beer!") My only gripe was that the ending was kind of anticlimactic and really fizzled out even though I knew how it was going to end. But still--I'm not so sure that Chinatown is my favorite Nicholson movie anymore. It's also great for some much-needed laughs.

One of the most amazing movies ever made. Not a dull moment and not a bad song. Too bad there's a sequel.