If you like your humor broadside up, hold the subtlety, you’ll want to nurse this Hangover with your best buds. The ensemble cast meshes perfectly–it’s like a super-R-rated episode of Friends: silly, slapstick, and completely in the viewer’s face. When four pals go to Vegas to celebrate the imminent nuptials of one of them, they partake in a rooftop toast to “a night we’ll never forget.” But they’re in for a big surprise: their celebration drinks were laced with date-rape drugs, so when they awake in their hotel room 12 hours later, not only are they hung over, but they can’t remember what they did all night long. Oh, and they’re missing the groom-to-be.

The film is so cheerfully raunchy, so fiercely crude, that the humor becomes as intoxicating as the mind-altering substances. The standout in the ensemble is Zach Galifianakis, who is alternately creepy and hilarious. Ed Helm (The Office), in addition to his memory, loses a tooth in uncomfortably realistic fashion, and Bradley Cooper (He’s Just Not That into You) has deadpan comic timing that whips along at the speed of light. “Ma’am, you have an incredible rack,” he blares to a pedestrian from the squad car the guys have “borrowed.” “I should have been a [bleeping] cop,” he tells himself approvingly.

Director Todd Phillips brings back his deft handling of the actors and the dude humor that worked so well in Old School, as well as the unctuous Dan Finnerty, memorable as a lounge/wedding singer in both films. But it’s the nonstop volley of jokes–most cheerily politically incorrect–that grabs the audience and thrashes it around the hotel room. Just watch out for the tiger in the bathroom. –A.T. Hurley

Chris Rock in 3-D? That’s more or less what you get with Kill the Messenger. Recorded in 2008, the 79-minute show is actually a compilation of three different gigs (in London, New York, and Johannesburg, South Africa) deftly edited into a single performance, presumably drawing on the best takes from each. It’s an effective technique, as it sustains visual interest (i.e., Rock’s wardrobe changes) and reveals the comedian’s gift for making his act seem spontaneous when in fact it’s basically the same every night during a given tour. As for the content, it’s what you’d expect from Rock: rude (f-bombs fall like acid rain, the “n word” flows freely, and the sexual references are extremely graphic), incisive, and hilarious. Some of the material has already passed its sell-by date; jokes about the ’08 presidential election, while funny (John McCain is “so old, he used to own Sidney Poitier”), are obviously no longer current. Elsewhere, Rock riffs on the difference between “career” and “job,” gay fans, ringtones, and even Gwen Stefani, but it’s his observations about race that are central to the performance–and they never lose their bite, especially when it comes to black-white relations (on black men’s predilection for, uh, larger women: “A black man’ll drop-kick Keira Knightley to get to Rosie O’Donnell”). On the whole, he seems optimistic, if somewhat bemused (“All my black friends have a bunch of white friends. All my white friends have one black friend”), even as he remains acutely aware of the persistence of racism and inequality. If you’re easily offended, steer clear of Kill the Messenger. Otherwise, get ready to laugh. –Sam Graham

The Original Kings of Comedy achieves the seemingly impossible task of capturing the rollicking and sly comedy routines of stand-up and sitcom vets Steve Harvey, D.L. Hughley, Cedric the Entertainer, and Bernie Mac and the magic of experiencing a live concert show. Director Spike Lee and his crew plant a multitude of cameras in a packed stadium and onstage (as well as backstage, as they follow the comedians) to catch the vivid immediacy of the show, which is as much about the audience as it is about the jokes. And the jokes are funny.

All four riff fast and furiously (and with much swearing) on the world in terms of race, family, sex, and in one routine, outer space. Hughley takes comedic aim at extreme sports and eating disorders, while Cedric harks back to the day when gang fights meant calling opponents out onto the dance floor. Bernie Mac, the self-confessed id comedian of the group, presents a routine that is simultaneously offensive and hilarious–an apt reminder that comedy can and should be vicious if we are ever to learn to laugh at ourselves and hopefully be the better for it. Harvey, who acts as the MC for the show, has some transcendent moments with the crowd (a ’70s slow jam sing-along, anyone?) that have to be seen to be believed. There’s no doubt as to why Kings was a hit with concert and movie audiences; the laughs keep coming, in the tradition of Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy, with a sharp eye on the nuances of today’s racially affected culture. –Shannon Gee

The audacious concert film Eddie Murphy Raw rubbed some people the wrong way upon its release in 1987, but there’s no denying that between Murphy’s more insensitive bits about women and gay men is some of his most inspired material. While the young comedian indulges an unattractive homophobia and rants about the sexual manipulativeness of all females, he makes up for it with an amazing story about being chided by Bill Cosby for obscene humor and does a great impression of Mr. T falling under the spell of a Jedi mind trick. The best stuff comes deep into the show, particularly a long tale of being pressured into a fight at a club, resulting in a phone call to Murphy’s drunk father, the latter in the middle of a verbal attack on his wife. The scene is genuinely horrifying and funny, testament to Murphy’s early reputation as heir to Richard Pryor’s mercilessly autobiographical brilliance. –Tom Keogh

The record-setting number one concert film, EDDIE MURPHY: RAW shows Eddie Murphy doing what he does best: making people laugh. Filmed live at New York’s Felt Forum, Murphy delights, shocks, and entertains with celebrity impersonations, observations on ‘love, sex and marriage in the 80′s, a remembrance of Mom’s hamburgers and much more.

After his last two highly rated specials and multi-platinum selling albums, Dane reinvented his act and took it to the stage in front of 400 people at the Laugh Factory in Hollywood. This intimate show was performed in a nightclub atmosphere where Dane shared the audience’s energy in a real-time performance, without a safety net. Here, he showcases a darker and more personal set with cutting edge material that pushes the envelope.

DVD Features:
- 30 Premeditated Acts
- ISolated INterview

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