If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. 

That must have been the mantra when making “The Hangover Part II,” a near identical twin to the original 2009 blockbuster comedy.

This sequel is more of the same, as “Hangover’s” original director (Todd Phillips) and cast (Ed Helms, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis) reunite to reprise the first movie’s storyline and raunchy R-rated humor. The only difference: the setting is now Bangkok rather than Las Vegas.

The sequel’s predictability is the point. If you loved it the first time, you’ll likely be happy with deja vu all over again.

Which makes it doubly ironic that the movie’s strongest character is its least predictable. That would be Alan, the idiot tag-along so brilliantly played by Galifianikis.

Most beloved...

“Bridesmaids” may have achieved a first: the graceful gross-out scene.

It happens when a bride-to-be played by Maya Rudolph is stricken with a severe case of food poisoning while trying on an elaborate, expensive wedding dress at a bridal boutique.

Three of her prospective bridesmaids -- all having dined at the same restaurant for lunch -- are also suffering from severe gastrointestinal distress and have already claimed the only available bathroom.

Rudolph dashes out of the store, intent on finding a restroom in a nearby restaurant or shop. Halfway across the street, with traffic rushing by, time runs out. With all the elegance of a prima ballerina expiring...

Car porn, judging from the blissful grins on the many men in the audience at the screening I saw of “Fast Five” in Manhattan, is as beloved by a certain half of the population as real porn.

To qualify as car porn, a movie must treat the vehicles shown -- mostly muscle cars -- with the same reverence and adoration, if not more, that it shows its human stars. The camera must caress every metallic line on the vehicles, the lighting and cinematography bring out their shiny gleam, and the soundtrack enhance the purr and roar of their accelerating engines. 

It’s not enough that the cars in car-porn movies look good -- they also must perform with va-va-vroom. These babies must go fast, bash into...

When Fox Searchlight began in the mid-‘90s, its top guns drew up a checklist of the kinds of movies they’d consider making. Earning an automatic nix was any script in which characters wore top hats or other period dress.

Historical dramas have always been a tough sell. Oh, sure, there’s “The King’s Speech,” but unless you’re handing Mel Gibson a musket and calling it “The Patriot” or painting him blue for “Braveheart,” it’s hard to get the masses to turn out.

For one thing, when folks go to the megaplex, they want to be entertained, not returned to the classroom. And if they want to watch historical reenactments, there are...