Todd Phillips

• Daniel Radcliffe opens up about being “reliant” on alcohol during teen years — Us Weekly
• Victoria Beckham is actually a week away from giving birth — Daily Mail
• Channel Seven has renewed Winners and Losers for a second season — TV Tonight
• Audrina Patridge is coming to Australia next week for MTV Snow Jam — Hollywood Treatment
• Network Ten has given music show Video Hits the axe — Daily Telegraph
• Paris Hilton spotted kissing The Hangover director Todd Phillips — TMZ

The expectations for the sequel to The Hangover really couldn't have been higher, considering how beloved the original is. Before you see the film, I advise that you lower the bar for The Hangover Part II, because it is, unfortunately, a shadow of its predecessor. In the second film, Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Doug (Justin Bartha) and Alan (Zach Galifianakis) are headed to a wedding and want to have one last bachelor party hurrah before one of them gets married. Sound familiar? It should. The plot is exactly the same as the first movie.

Sure, there are some tweaks. This time, it's Stu that's getting married, and the boys are all headed to Thailand for the event. When the guys decide to have a low-key night before the wedding, they toast their beer bottles . . . and then wake up the next morning in Bangkok with absolutely no memory of the previous evening. They spend the rest of the movie piecing together the details of the night so they can locate a missing member of their group.

The Hangover Part II is a retread that's so close to the original, you wonder if the writers doubted its audience's intelligence or were just too lazy to come up with something new. Either way, the movie and its signature wolf pack still get laughs but it's lacking the magic that made the original Hangover an instant classic.

To see what else I thought, just keep reading . . .

Bradley Cooper and his The Hangover Part II castmates Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong and Jamie Chung greeted fans at Wednesday night's Berlin premiere. The sequel, which opened in cinemas yesterday, throws the Wolfpack back into familiar circumstances after another bachelor party goes awry. The stars and director Todd Phillips had their first screening event last week in LA, and made a stop in NYC for another showing earlier this week. Bradley managed to swing by SNL during his stay in the Big Apple, and joined host Justin Timberlake for the after party with Olivia Wilde. Bradley and Olivia were spotted sharing an intimate chat during the soiree, fueling rumours that they're dating.

Keep reading for more photos!

The cast of The Hangover Part II got together with their director, Todd Phillips, for a screening of the comedy in NYC yesterday. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis made the trip east following the premiere of their film in LA last week, and they kept the fun coming with an after party at the Top of the Standard. Something Borrowed's Colin Egglesfield was there to show his support as was a pregnant Ivanka Trump, who tweeted that the movie was "hilarious." Also on hand were Victoria's Secret models Alessandra Ambrosio and Selita Ebanks, enjoying a funny break from their recent press for the lingerie brand. The sequel comes out in Australia tomorrow.

Keep reading for more photos!

Liam Neeson stepped into Mel Gibson’s shoes when the troubled actor was sacked from his role as a Bangkok tattoo artist in The Hangover Part II after cast complaints. But now it seems Liam’s scene from the movie has been cut — but not for any personal reasons. Director Todd Phillips says the scene following Liam’s was cut during the editing process and that due to scheduling conflicts Liam was unable to re-shoot his role (he was in London filming the sequel to Clash of the Titans). So who is his replacement? You may not recognise him on screen but you’ll recognise some of his own directorial work: it’s Nick Cassavetes, whose films includes The Notebook, Alpha Dog and My Sister’s Keeper. Todd explained, “We were in a complete time crunch so I called up Nick and asked if he would do the part. He came in and crushed it and that is the scene that you will ultimately see in the film.”

Zach Galifianakis toted his adorable French Bulldog co-star on the Due Date premiere red carpet in LA last week. The twosome posed with director Todd Phillips, Michelle Monaghan and Robert Downey Jr. on their way in to show off the buddy comedy. It's Todd's highly anticipated followup to The Hangover, and the crew from that movie, which also includes Zach, recently reunited to start shooting the sequel. There's already been a bit of controversy surrounding The Hangover 2, and Mel Gibson is reportedly furious over losing his cameo, which was given to Liam Neeson instead.

Keep reading . . .

Director Todd Phillips is talking about why he fired Mel Gibson from The Hangover 2. Mel was offered a cameo role as a Thai tattoo artist, but he was replaced by Liam Neeson after the cast protested. Todd tells Entertainment Tonight, “[Mel’s] one of our finest actors and, quite honestly, one of our finest directors. But The Hangover 2 is a family ... and as much as I loved the idea, a lot of people didn't ... I didn't want anything to come in between that family.”
At Monday’s Hollywood Awards, Zach Galifianakis joked about the incident, calling Todd “the worst Jew in Hollywood", adding, “that’s an inside joke.” Mel is reportedly feeling the fallout in Hollywood from his history of cringe-inducing rants and is planning to apologise soon in televised interview.

US Vanity Fair's annual Hollywood Issue hits stands this month—with Abbie Cornish and Mia Wasikowska gracing the cover, no less—just in time to celebrate today's Oscar nominations. The magazine highlights the bond between great actors and directors, with photos by Annie Leibowitz. Oscar nominees Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'Nique, along with their Precious director Lee Daniel feature on the hallowed pages. As does Penelope Cruz, sharing a loving embrace with her longtime friend and Broken Embraces director, Pedro Almodóvar—though she was this morning recognised for her work in Nine. The boys of The Hangover, Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis and Ed Helms, are also there, clowning around with director Todd Phillips. The magazine also captured Avatar creator James Cameron at work behind the camera, as well as Quentin Tarantino posing with an Inglourious Basterd—check out all the photos here.