Review: 'Last Rampage', The Bloody True Story Of Gary Tison's Final Weeks

There is a certain aura around movies that tell true stories. I’m not talking about films that are ‘inspired by true events’ – whatever that means – or movies based on true events. I’m talking about true stories. Last Rampage is one of those films that tells the story of real events, and when you remember that, it sends a chill through your body.

Last Rampage depicts the prison escape of Gary Tison (Robert Patrick) and Randy Greenwalt (Chris Browning) from an Arizona State Penitentiary in 1978 with the help from Gary’s three sons, and the harrowing few weeks that follow. As you may garner from the title, the film is not one happy-go-lucky tale of family bonding – it is a disturbing account of lunatics on the run, and the destruction they leave behind. The film does not go into much detail about Gary Tison or Randy Greenwalt’s pasts other than mentioning murder a few times. These men are clearly deranged and dangerous.

The film begins by showing Tison and Greenwalt’s prison escape. One may wonder how two prisoners who were both serving life sentences would even be in a position to break out of prison. Tison and Greenwalt had been transferred to a low security area of the Arizona State Penitentiary due to excellent behavior. This terrible mistake by the prison and their staff allowed for Tison’s three sons Donnie (Alex MacNicoll), Ricky (Skyy Moore), and Ray (Casey Thomas Brown) to break their father and his fellow prisoner out of the penitentiary in broad daylight. Their plan works perfectly and before word of the prison break gets out, the group is miles away hiding out in a cabin.

While all of this is happening, Gary’s wife Dorothy (Heather Graham) is being hounded by reporters and the police who are all trying to get some information about Gary and the boys. Dorothy wholeheartedly believes that Gary is not a monster and is just misunderstood. Gary has his whole family brainwashed as Donnie, Ricky, and Ray also seemingly worship their father and follow his orders without question. Everything is going according to plan until one flat tire leads to a spiral of death and destruction and the Tison boys get a glimpse of the monster that their father really is.

Last Rampage is a tense drama that does a fantastic job of telling the story of Gary Tison’s escape from prison and the weeks to follow. Director Dwight H. Little manages to capture the vile nature of Tison and Greenwalt as they make their way down south to Mexico. The relationship between Gary and his sons is a vital piece to the story and the maturation of this relationship is incredibly interesting to watch unfold. Last Rampage portrays a chilling story perfectly and is an enjoyable watch, regardless of how unsettling its source material may be.

Rating: 4 out of 5

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Review: 'Wetlands' Is Much Dryer Than Its Name Suggests

Wetlands tells the story of Babel ‘Babs’ Johnson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a Philadelphia detective who comes back to the area outside of Atlantic City that the film is named after, the wetlands, after a mysterious incident in Philly. The wetlands are miles of swamp land that has a small town feel to it where everyone knows everyone. Babs is hoping to have a new start in Atlantic City, one that includes his ex-wife Savannah (Heather Graham) and his daughter Amy (Celeste O’Connor). Savannah has moved on and is now dating a surfer girl (Reyna De Courcy) who has gotten mixed up selling dope, and of course keeping a little bit on the side for herself. Babs is worried that the dangerous people that Savannah and her new girlfriend are mixed up with will put Amy in danger.

Toss in a few other characters – Paddy Sheehan (Christopher McDonald), Bab’s wacky detective partner, Sheehan’s wife Katherine Buchanan (Jennifer Ehle), who seems to harbor some romantic feelings towards Babs - and then include a natural disaster in Hurricane Suzy who is heading straight for the Wetlands. Put it all together, stir, and you have the jumbled mess that is Wetlands. There are numerous players the film features with very little to no character development and this leaves the audience not caring about any of them. It seems like most of them have their own demons and are falling apart like the city that surrounds them. Babs is guilty of this and often acts erratically, seemingly without any contemplation of consequences that may arise from his actions.

Atlantic City, which was once a thriving city filled with huge hotels and casinos, restaurants, and clubs is now a shell of itself. First time director Emanuele Della Valle does an admiral job of showing the desolation of Atlantic City in Wetlands while incorporating the look and feel of some classic films. This is especially portrayed by the seemingly muted colors throughout. The use of a narrator that chimes in at various points in the movie was a decent touch, but it was too little too late… a subpar movie with certain stylistic elements mixed in is still subpar. Wetlands never truly establishes what it is and what it wants to be. Eventually a murder occurs and aspects of a detective film come forth, with Babs trying to track down the killer, but at that point the movie is closer to the closing credits than the opening ones. There was a chance, and some elements in Wetlands that could have made it a success – unfortunately it falls short.

Rating: 2 out of 5

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Review: 'Norm of the North' Featuring The Voices Of Rob Schneider, Ken Jeong, And More

Every time I think I'm over being surprised at the crap that some studios expect parents to shovel into their kids' faces, they manage to outdo themselves.  The latest insult to children's tastes is Norm of the North, courtesy of Splash Entertainment, better known for their tie-in videos for Bratz dolls and a blink-and-you'll-miss-it theatrical release of a CGI Strawberry Shortcake movie.  So this is their first "real" movie, but they're not a studio known for making anything other than cheap cash-ins on a market segment that has yet to build up any real defenses against commercial pandering.  And that sensibility comes across in the writing, which comes primarily from a pair of (I'm assuming, from their names) brothers who once wrote direct-to-video sequels to the already-bad live-action Scooby-Doo movies.

On top of that, it's a Rob Schneider movie.  Don't worry, he's still putting out lazy, puerile garbage for overgrown middle-schoolers; The Ridiculous Six is doing quite well on Netflix, evidently.  But as his movie career has faded he seems to have picked up a sideline doing voice work for, well, cheap computer-animated toy tie-in cartoons.  Thankfully his usual adolescent sense of humor doesn't carry over, though one of the very few oblique references aimed at anyone over six in the audience turns out to be a gay joke.  Seriously.

All this goes to say that Norm of the North isn't just accidentally bad, it has bad baked right in.  This is a movie that started at bad and then set up a committee to ask where it could cut even more corners.  It's a pastiche of pop-culture references and stereotypes as they might appear to someone who doesn't have any real understanding of them.  Just like, well, what had become of Saturday morning cartoons, before everyone realized how terrible they'd gotten and pulled the plug.

So the Arctic is in trouble, which kids might have heard about from the news.  Except the danger isn't climate change; it's an overzealous developer (Ken Jeong) who wants to install pre-fabricated architectural monstrosities for some reason called "condos".  His director of marketing, Vera (Heather Graham), comes up with the idea of a polar bear mascot to drive interest in the venture.  Which is where Norm (Schneider) comes in: as one of two polar bears who -- no explanation even attempted -- are able to "speak human", he wants to get the mascot job and bring down the project from the inside.

It's kind of impressive that an 86-minute movie -- including the longer-than-average credits typical of animated fare -- still feels so padded.  The actual storyline has no development whatsoever; the time is instead filled with subplots.  Norm feels different from the other bears, and isn't good at hunting.  The other arctic animals like the recent increase in tourism and don't see the danger.  Vera has misgivings about the plan, but needs the developer's recommendation to get her daughter into an exclusive private elementary school.  And even more.  As a result, the movie has about four distinct endings, none of which feel satisfying, and they still leave loose ends around.

These are signs that the producers, at best, do not care about your children beyond exploiting them for profit.  Telling a worthwhile story is secondary to providing moment-by-moment distractions.  Throw in some indestructible lemmings as a cheap rip-off of Despicable Me's minions; kids seem to love them.  Pad out a slow bit with a random mass-produced pop song they might recognize.  The Peanuts Movie at least had the decency to commission one that vaguely supported its plot, but there's not even that fig leaf here.

And, worst of all, they're probably right.  I'm sure many parents do care enough about their children's media diets to steer them away from empty calories like this, but there are plenty who don't.  The executives at studios like Splash are not stupid; pumping out cheap crap is their business model, and as bad as Norm of the North is they're still likely to turn a tidy profit.  In fact, they've already greenlit two direct-to video sequels.

Rating: 1 out of 5

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Review: 'Horns' starring Daniel Radcliffe and Juno Temple

After graduating from the magical confines of Harry Potter, it would have been easy for Daniel Radcliffe to simply sit back and continue to do what's familiar. Instead we've seen quite the unpredictable streak; embracing his dark side in the Gothic horror The Woman in Black, playing Beat Generation writer Allen Ginsberg in Kill Your Darlings, and even venturing into traditional rom-com territory in What If. Horns brings Radcliffe back into the realm of the supernatural, but also into territory he's never tread: film noir, dark comedy, and Greek tragedy.

Directed by Alexandre Aja based on the devilishly fun novel by Joe Hill, Horns is a gear shift not only for Radcliffe, but for the filmmaker as well. Aja has mostly kept busy in the horror genre, but has never really planted a flag in a specific style. So a psychotically tense film like High Tension feels nothing like the goofy, exploitative Piranha, which doesn't come close to resembling The Hills Have Eyes. His diverse ability makes Aja perhaps the most obvious choice to handle an odd mix of tones, although the results are a little bit messy in execution.

Radcliffe is Ig Parrish, the suspect in the rape and murder of his girlfriend Merrin, played by Juno Temple in yet another role that finds her as the surreal object of desire. The small-town residents all hate Ig with a passion and believe he's gotten away with the crime; even the local media has him pegged as the killer. But Ig insists he's innocent, drowning himself in alcohol and vowing to avenger Merrin's death by finding the true killer by any means necessary. And as if his prayers had been answered, the following morning sees him waking up with two magical horns sprouting from his head that force others to confess their deepest, darkest sins. Here is where Aja seems most comfortable, indulging in the bizarre and comical side of Ig's investigation into his newfound powers. Basically, Ig brings out the worst in everybody. A hateful bartender wants to burn his own bar to the ground; a pair of cops reveal their deep passion for one another; and a gaggle of news reporters break out into a pier six brawl just to get a scoop. Even Ig's twitchy musician brother (Joe Anderson) is susceptible, but his altruistic childhood friend Lee (Max Minghella) is strangely immune.  The townsfolk's deep-rooted revelations only get weirder by the encounter, and soon Ig has thrown everything and everyone into chaos. Perhaps it's due to our affinity for Radcliffe, but Ig remains a sympathetic character despite his clear enjoyment of the damage he's causing. Or more likely it's because the people he meets are so depraved. Heather Graham is terrific as a fame-whoring waitress who lied to the cops about Ig just so she could get on the news. These people deserve whatever they get, but does Ig deserve to give it to them? The screenplay by Keith Bunin teases but barely considers Ig's use of his satanic gifts.

It's as Aja transitions into serious mode that things get a little messy. Through Ig's drunken flashbacks we're treated to what amounts to a whimsical, nostalgic romance, and while it's beautifully shot it doesn't conform to the dark tidings of the present. As Ig learns more and begins closing in on the suspect, he understandably grows more demonic with rage, and the film begins to embrace its horror aspects fully. But it can't completely escape the silliness of what came before, except during the truly heartbreaking scenes with Merrin's distraught father (David Morse), who believes his daughter was murdered by the man she loved.  Plenty of sinister revelations are to come, and numerous red herrings are thrown out, but other than Ig few of the suspects are interesting enough to be compelling.  That's not a knock on the performances, which are solid all around. This is Radcliffe's show, though, and it's genuinely fun to watch him in something this weird that is clearly aiming for mature audiences. Not only does he drop a lot of F-bombs, he does some truly heinous things that are very un-Harry Potter. With his scruffy beard and sullen eyes, Radcliffe looks like a man who has lost love only to find sadness and rage, and it's a tragic side to the actor that we've rarely had a chance to see. He's great here, but these Horns just aren't as sharp as they could have been.

Rating: 3 out of 5

For more, check out my interview with Alexandre Aja here!  Horns is available now On Demand!

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Katie Aselton Joins 'Sea of Trees'; Yolanda Ross Heads to 'Meadowland'; Heather Graham Casts 'Half Magic'

 Mark Duplass' multi-talented (and extremely funny) wife Katie Aselton (The League, Black Rock) has joined Matthew McConaughey,  Ken Watanabe, and Naomi Watts in Gus Van Sant's Sea of Trees. She'll play McConaughey's mistress in the film about two men who meet in Japan's "Suicide Forest" with plans to kill themselves, but instead embark on a journey of self-discovery. [THR]

I've raved about John Sayle's film Go for Sisters here in the past, in particular the lead performance by Yolanda Ross, and so it's good to see her getting a little bit of attention from others. She's joined the cast of Meadowland, reuniting with her Yelling to the Sky director, Reed Morano. The film stars Olivia Wilde, Elisabeth Moss, Luke Wilson, and Natasha Lyonne in the story of a couple whose son disappears, setting the wife (Wilde) on a dangerous journey in which she seeks a relationship with a neglected boy. Ross will play one of Wilde's colleagues. [Blackfilm]

Heather Graham is set to direct, write, and star in Half Magic, a film she's been developing for awhile and is finally moving forward on. In fact she's up and skipped out on Neil Labute's upcoming stage play in order to focus on the film now that all of the pieces have fallen into place. Co-starring Josh Lucas, the story centers on "a woman who wants a nice guy and great sex, preferably in the same package. "  [Deadline]

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Review: 'Behaving Badly' Starring Selena Gomez and Nat Wolff

A number of really talented people make appearances in the wretchedly unfunny teen sex comedy Behaving Badly; so many that you wonder if a producer has incriminating photos stashed somewhere. Not that there are a lot of expectations for a film so obscure even Selena Gomez's fans don't know it exists, and likely won't have a kind word to say about it even if they do. It's the kind of film where one can sense writer/director Tim Garrick throwing in every half-assed idea he can think of in hopes something works, but when nothing does turning up the raunch is his only fall-back plan.

Nat Wolff, who was excellent as a blind cancer victim in The Fault in Our Stars, must've been blind to agree to this humorless farce that wants to be outrageous and risque but comes up limp. Wolff plays Rick, and in the opening moments we get close-up of his crotch followed by the admission he has somehow contracted crabs. Yep, that's the level of moronic humor that is quickly established and becomes the standard throughout a painful 96 minutes. So what's Rick's deal? He's supposedly a virgin but that's not really a big deal because every hot piece of tail is throwing it his way. That includes his best friend's frisky mom (Elisabeth Shue), a smokin' drug-addled lawyer (Heather Graham), and random prostitutes. His mother (Mary Louise Parker) is a raging drunk, but she also appears as some sort of dominatrix-clad guardian angel. What that's all about is unclear and pointless to the "plot" anyway.

But for all the sex Rick can get he really has eyes for one girl, the saintly Nina (Gomez) who he has had a thing for all his life. She's the model of goodie two-shoes perfection and wholesomeness, certainly too nice for an awkward sex fiend like Rick. Of course she takes a liking to him, anyway, even as he gets neck deep in trouble with the local Mafia. Why's the Mafia in this? You got me. But then again there's not much explanation for Jason Lee appearing as a priest of suspect morals, or Dylan McDermott as a sex-crazed strip club owner. Notice a theme here? Sexual perversion has never seemed so tame, and as Garrick piles on one "outrageous" situation after another it only gets more desperate.

Not helping matters is a completely uninspiring performance by Wolff, and it's hard to tell if he's just bored or terribly miscast. Ultimately it doesn't matter, does it? He actually makes things considerably worse and every scene he's at the center of more painful than the last. Gomez is kind of fun in a squeaky clean misplaced Disney starlet sort of way (kind of like Spring Breakers), but that seems to be the only role she's capable of playing. And I have to admit getting a chuckle from Shue's endless flaunting of her rack, reminding me of her unsung performance in the trashy crime flick, Palmetto. But those are hardly enough reason to suffer through a movie this lazy and lacking in any laughs.  Those who don't run away screaming from Behaving Badly after 10 minutes will spot a brief cameo by Justin Bieber. What drags him into a movie like this? It was shot more than two years ago back when he and Gomez were still a tabloid item. Can't imagine why this has been sitting on the shelf for so long...

 Rating: 1 out of 5

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Daniel Radcliffe Has a Devilish New Look in First 'Horns' Trailer

Hard to believe that in all those years Daniel Radcliffe was Harry Potter he never had occasion to greet his rabid fans at San Diego Comic-Con. This despite there being a sizable number of attendees dressed as Hogwarts faculty and alumni, mixed with the occasional Death Eater. But Radcliffe will be making a trip to Comic-Con later this month, and the film that finally got him there is Horns. To help tease his appearance the first trailer for the film has been released and it promises a Radcliffe you've never seen before.

Horns is based on the popular novel by Joe Hill, and those who have read the novel know he's inherited his dad Stephen King's gift for horror. Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) directs the adaptation which stars Radcliffe as Ig Parrish, who is accused in the rape and murder of his girlfriend. Waking up in the woods after a hard night of drinking, Ig discovers he's sprouted two small magic horns on his head that force others to indulge their worst urges and confess sins. Using his newfound abilities Ig tries to discover the truth behind the crime.

Also starring Max Minghella, Juno Temple, Heather Graham, Kelli Garner, Joe Anderson, and James Remar, Horns opens in the UK on October 31st but has yet to gain a U.S. date. 


Horns Official Teaser Trailer (2014) Daniel Radcliffe Horror HD by Newest Trailer

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Selena Gomez and Nat Wolff are 'Behaving Badly' in New Trailer

The month of August has not been nice to Selena Gomez. Last year she appeared in the laughable car chase flick, Getaway, which ended up on the "crap list" for a lot of folks and deservedly so. This summer she's starring in another film that doesn't look so hot, a comedy titled Behaving Badly, and despite a cast of some pretty big names the film is being dumped into limited release with little fanfare.

Shot in only twenty days about two years ago, the film is an adaptation of Ric Browd's novel, While I'm Dead Feed the Dog, and basically this looks like something that should be on the Disney Channel. The Fault In Our Stars' Nat Wolff stars as 16-year-old Rick Stevens who has the hots for Nina (Gomez), but to win her heart he'll have to deal with a whole cast of crazy characters. Heather Graham plays a sexy attorney, Elisabeth Shue a sexy neighbor, Mary Louise Parker a sexy saint, and...well, you probably get the drift. Dylan McDermott, Jason Lee, Gary Busey, and Cary Elwes co-star.

Behaving Badly opens August 1st, directed by Tim Garrick.

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Review: 'The Hangover Part III', starring Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis

When The Hangover first knocked us out four years ago, it was a complete revelation. Here we are with this fresh, uniquely-structured comedy full of gonzo characters, a wacky premise, and enough quotable lines to make it an instant classic. And to be fair, that's exactly what it was and still is; an instant classic. It made nearly $500M, basically guaranteeing a sequel, which took the fabled Wolfpack to Bangkok for an overly-familiar story most couldn't hang with.  For me it was less interesting and certainly predictable, but hardly an utter failure. No, that distinction was saved for The Hangover Part III, a comedy which is never funny, strains to be offensive, and seems to have replaced its memorable group of trouble-finding buds with lame imposters.

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New clip and posters from 'The Hangover Part III'

An angry gamecock, paternity tests, and Leslie Chow. Somehow all of these things are going to come together to make up the weirdest, and final, adventure for the Wolfpack in The Hangover Part III. Todd Phillips has kept most of the plot elements secret, but has been upfront about this essentially being a story about Alan (Zach Galifianakis), and how one awful decision he made years earlier continues to plague his buddies. It looks like Doug (Justin Bartha) is back in trouble again, and the only way to save him is to locate Chow (Ken Jeong), who has stolen a large sum of cash from a villain played by John Goodman.  Chow has been a friend and foe up to this point, but as the newly-released clip makes clear, now he's nothing more than a cancer.

The Hangover Part III opens on May 24th.

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Review: 'At Any Price' starring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron

How much does the American Dream cost? What is one willing to give up in order to achieve it? The answer is pretty much right there in the title of acclaimed director Ramin Bahrani's At Any Price, a brilliant morality tale that further establishes him as one of today's finest filmmakers.  Bahrani's first three films, Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, and 2008's Goodbye Solo, told uniquely American stories through the lens of the immigrant experience. But here he turns his insightful eye on the small-town Midwest, where family legacy is of paramount importance, and success is measured by hard work and desire.

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Melanie Lynskey and Paul Schneider to headline 'Goodbye to All That'

I was a little bummed over the weekend when we learned that Melanie Lynskey(Heavenly Creatures) and her husband Jimmie Simpson(D.E.B.S.) were splitting up. Not just for the obvious reasons of seeing another Hollywood couple bite the dust, but also because she's just now getting the acclaim she's so long deserved for her breathtaking performance in Hello I Must Be Going(review here). So while that's definitely sad news and all, at least it looks like the studios have taken notice, as Lynskey has lined up another shot to show what she can do as a headliner.

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Heather Graham to return for 'The Hangover Part III'

It was a huge disappointment when we didn't see Heather Graham come back for The Hangover Part II. I thought she did a great job as Jade, the stripper who married a drunken and drugged up Stu(Ed Helms) in the first film. For whatever reason, she wasn't around for the sequel, which had Stu marrying somebody else. With The Hangover Part III looking like the final leg of a trilogy, and a number of past supporting players already confirmed, Graham is coming back to join the party.

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Provocative new poster and trailer for 'About Cherry', starring James Franco and Ashley Hinshaw

The last time we caught up with About Cherry(formerly titled Cherry), the porn-centered film was still seeking US distribution. But with James Franco, Heather Graham, and Dev Patel on board, it was only going to be a matter of time. Deconstructions of the adult entertainment issue are nothing new, but with porn star Lorelei Lee co-writing the script, her insight should make About Cherry a little bit different than all the rest.

Ashley Hinshaw(Chronicle, LOL) is Angelina, an 18-year old girl who ditches high school and heads off to San Francisco with her best friend(Patel), and finds herself lost in the industry. James Franco plays a drugged out lawyer who becomes introduces her into the high life, while Heather Graham is an ex-porn star turned director who sees something of herself in Angelina.

The trailer is definitely provocative, and Lee looks to be using her own vast experience to make a statement about the real power women wield in the porn industry. Directed and co-written by Stephen Elliott, About Cherry hits VOD on August 9th, followed up by a theatrical run starting September 21st. Check out the trailer below...

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Blu-Ray Deal of the Week: Austin Powers Collection for only $16.99

Yeah, baby! The Blu-Ray deal this week is shagadelic! Ok, that's enough. Seriously, though, this is an amazing deal for fans of Mike Myers' spoof spy series featuring the randy secret agent, Austin Powers. You can get all three movies, International Man of Mystery, The Spy Who Shagged Me, and Goldmember together on Blu-Ray for only $16.99! That's more than half off the retail price! Why waste time and risk losing your mojo? Buy yours today right here!

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Trailer Time: 'Cherry', featuring Heather Graham and James Franco

In May of last year we first learned about Cherry, a low budget drama surrounding one woman's journey into the porn industry, directed and co-written by Stephen Elliott. Along with having porn star Lorelei Lee as a writer on the film, no doubt pulling from some of her own experiences, the most intriguing thing about it was the talent they managed to snag to star. The ever present James Franco, Dev Patel(Slumdog Millionaire), Lili Taylor(Six Feet Under), and Heather Graham were all aboard, with newcomer Ashley Hinshaw in the lead role.

The first trailer has been released for the film, and appears to be exploring some of the same themes we've seen in Boogie Nights and The Girlfriend Experience. Such as whether or not porn is exploitation of women or a means for them to express their feminist power. Porn is a female dominated industry, after all. Hinshaw plays Angelina, a young woman who travels to San Francisco to become a part of the porn lifestyle, and finds herself surrounded by a number of people who influence her way of thinking. Franco plays a drug addicted lawyer she gets in close with, while it's worth a chuckle watching Graham, who played the naive Roller Girl in Boogie Nights, as a veteran director who seems to be steering Angelina in a specific direction. Is this a positive or a negative portrayal of the world of porn? It's kind of hard to tell here, but I'm more than willing to find out.

Cherry doesn't have distribution yet, but with Franco on board somebody will pick it up. Check out the trailer below....

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James Franco to star in porn drama with Heather Graham, Dev Patel, and Lili Taylor

Getting a handle on James Franco's career path is an impossible thing. He's got so many projects, both in front of and behind the camera, that to start listing them would take me well into the afternoon. The guy just kinda beats to the rhythm of his own drum, which is cool because we get to see him in big time blockbusters like his upcoming Rise of the Planet of the Apes or Oz the Great and Powerful, but then he'll do indie stuff like Howl. One of the films he's been attached to is a Linda Lovelace biopic in which he'd play her awful husband, Chuck Traynor. But before that ever gets off the ground, Franco will be in another drama set squarely in the world of adult entertainment, as Variety reports he'll be starring in Cherry, from director and co-writer Stephen Elliott.

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Mel Gibson to make cameo in The Hangover 2? Heather Graham confirmed not to return

I hate that I've written two stories based off Page Six headlines in the last week, but it's hard to deny how juicy they both have been. Mike Tyson experienced something of a career resurgence last year thanks to his cameo appearance in The Hangover, poking a bit of fun at his public persona. With The Hangover 2 currently shooting, it stands to reason that director Todd Phillips would want to continue the successful trend of big attention grabbing guests looking for a PR boost. Nobody could use an injection of good will more than Mel Gibson, and according to reports it's sounding like he might be in line for one.

Last week, Sasha Barrese(Justin Bartha's fiance in the first flick) revealed that a huge cameo was being lined up for the sequel.  An inside source says that Gibson will "make a cameo as a tattoo artist." He'll reportedly shoot his scene in two weeks before the filming takes off for Thailand.

Gibson's off the set issues don't need to be discussed here, but suffice it to say the guy has got some serious issues on a multitude of fronts. There's a bit of a difference between him and Tyson, though. Despite Tyson's past rape conviction, he's perceived mostly as a pariah who squandered a fortune and has serious anger issues. Mel Gibson is seen as both a racist and a domestic abuser, and a fairly recent one at that. There hasn't been any distance from his incidents, so I doubt the public will be quite as open to forgiveness as they were with Tyson.

Also, a sad note, as it's been confirmed that Heather Graham will not be returning as Ed Helms' stripper girlfriend. Kinda sucks, because it was the best role she's had in nearly a decade. At least since 2002's The Guru. That's right. The Guru. Add it to your Netlix queue.

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Review: The Hangover

I'll admit that even though I was highly anticipating The Hangover, I was also ready for disappointment. The trailer was simply too funny, and often times that means all the good jokes have been spent to lure you in. Also, it's directed by Todd Phillips, who has a brutal track record of movies I either hated outright or liked once then learned to hate(Old School the chief culprit). But what he and writers Jon Moore and Scott Lucas have managed to create is without a doubt the funniest, non-stop hilarious movie I've ever seen. And that includes my beloved Superbad and Top Secret.

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