In 2009, The Hangover went from sleeper hit to worldwide blockbuster, becoming the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time and jumpstarting the careers of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis. Crude, outrageous, and absurd, The Hangover was a breath of comedy fresh air. The Hangover: Part II, not so much. Trying to replicate the original’s success, Part II bombed hard critically in summer 2011 by being nothing but a “do-over” of its predecessor. While the film still managed to take in over $200 million at the domestic box office, Part II left a very, very bad taste in many fans’ mouths. Now here we are two years later and The Hangover: Part III, despite changing up the formula, has done the same thing and then some: it has tarnished the reputation of the Wolf Pack so severely we’re not even sure we can call the original such…
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Raw, honest, tender, fearless, intimate, humorous, and heartbreaking, Richard Linklater’s Before Midnight is more than just the best film of 2013 thus far. Along with its equally-as-daring predecessors – 1995’s Before Sunrise and 2004’s Before Sunset – Midnight makes for one of the most unique and emotionally startling cinematic experiences I’ve ever been apart of. Entirely composed of slow-burning conversations, these films depict the evolution of a couple, irresistibly played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, following them as they slowly open up to one another and climaxing in moments of catharsis that will have you questioning and confronting your own thoughts on life, love, regrets, and dreams. Not even the world’s most cold-hearted man will be able to keep his emotional guard up and his vulnerabilities suppressed, especially during this third installment, easily the best and most meditatively gut-wrenching entry in the series. In other words, Before Midnight is…
I often refer to the Fast & Furious franchise as the Citizen Kane of mindlessness and Fast & Furious 6, despite some initial disappointment, lives up to this title. In other words, Fast 6 is bat shit crazy – it’s super insane, super ridiculous, and, most importantly, super fun. Not every franchise lives through six films, but by embracing the meta age with each installment, the Fast movies have become makeshift blockbuster tentpoles, films that know just how absurd they are and relish in their macho-charged lunacies, leaving the audience with movies that do nothing but entertain on a steroid-injected level. What’s not to love? This “leave your brain at the door” mentality turned 2011’s Fast Five into a franchise milestone as it mixed elements of Bullitt with Ocean’s Eleven to create one wild cinematic ride, and while this sixth installment doesn’t quite reach the speed of its predecessor, 
With the school year winding down, everyone has been seeing a lot more papers and exams than movies and spending a lot more time in the library than at the theater lately. Luckily, last Friday not only brought the end of the Emerson College school year but it also marked the start of the 2013 Summer Movie Season with the release of Iron Man 3. From May-August, Hollywood will break out the big guns as studios release many of the year’s biggest and most anticipated movies. Ah, the blockbusters! We’ve missed you this year more than ever! While it will be hard reaching the box office heights of last summer’s The Avengers, the 2013 season has its fair share of blockbuster epics, comedies, and superhero films to make it one of the highest grossing summers on record. After last summer’s independent boom thanks to Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of…
SHARF @ THE MOVIES 