Zach Galifianakis

About 15 minutes into "The Hangover," the movie arrives at the scene that unquestionably served as the screenwriters' initial inspiration. It's a worst-case-scenario of bachelor party morning-after, and it is howlingly funny. A blow-up doll floats in the Jacuzzi, and a chicken struts through the living room. One of the chairs is on fire. There's a tiger in the bathroom. You don't want to know what's in the closet. The damning evidence keeps piling up: a hospital bracelet, a missing tooth, a stolen police car, and we still haven't heard the half of it. We're in urban legend territory here.

A good example of Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim's uniquely manic comedy comes early in their first movie, "Tim & Eric's Billion Dollar Movie. " Tim and Eric, given $1 billion by studio executives to make a movie, have turned in a three-minute disaster. Faced with financial ruin, they must fire their spiritual guru who penned the poem that inspired the film, Jim Joe Kelly (Zach Galifianakis). We've seen such a scene in many movies before, the angry split between close collaborators.

*** PUSS IN BOOTS Directed by: Chris Miller Written by: Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Jon Zack, Tom Wheeler Starring the voices of: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs, and Jordan"s Furniture IMAX in Reading and Natick Running time: 90 minutes Rated: PG (adventure action and mild rude humor; hairballs) Just as the 3-D revolution is sailing over the edge of the cliff to overpriced, under-produced ruin, here comes "Puss in Boots.

COMEDY THE HANGOVER PART II (2011) Ed Helms is getting married in Thailand, so naturally Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis tag along to make sure he has one very wild night in Bangkok before the ceremony. We're not part of the pack that rates this stuff as iconic comedy - and the movie boasts several self-referential moments that assume you do - but Galifianakis is amusing, and a couple of Billy Joel flourishes are screwy fun. Extras: A flat production mockumentary "exposes" the behavior of the guys on location.

½ HORRIBLE BOSSES Directed by: Seth Gordon Written by: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs Running time: 121 minutes Rated: R (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some drug material) The most startling comic vision in “Horrible Bosses’’ is Colin Farrell as Bobby Pellit, one of the three title terrors.

THE BOX *** (HBO on Comcast) In this movie from Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko," "Southland Tales"), James Marsden and Cameron Diaz, looking like a Pan-Am flight attendant, play a nice Virginia couple who receive a box that, should they press its red button, will make them rich (for 1976, anyway) but cost the life of one stranger. The beauty of Kelly's imaginatively conceived science-fiction thriller is how what seems so cosmic turns out to be of this diabolical world - yet intriguing hard to unravel all the same.

COMEDY THE HANGOVER PART II (2011) Ed Helms is getting married in Thailand, so naturally Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis tag along to make sure he has one very wild night in Bangkok before the ceremony. We're not part of the pack that rates this stuff as iconic comedy - and the movie boasts several self-referential moments that assume you do - but Galifianakis is amusing, and a couple of Billy Joel flourishes are screwy fun. Extras: A flat production mockumentary "exposes" the behavior of the guys on location.

LOS ANGELES — Will Ferrell’s dastardly schemes continue to succeed, with the animated “Megamind’’ staying at the top of the box office. The DreamWorks Animation 3-D comedy, featuring Ferrell as the voice of a super villain, made just over $30 million in its second week in theaters, according to studio estimates yesterday. It’s now made nearly $90 million total. “Megamind’’ also features the voices of Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, and Jonah Hill. Opening in second place was the 20th Century Fox action thriller “Unstoppable,’’ starring Denzel Washington and Chris...

Hollywood’s hangover is a lot bigger the second time around. “The Hangover Part II’’ hauled in $86.5 million in its first weekend, putting Hollywood on course to set a new revenue record for the long Memorial Day weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. From Friday to Sunday, Hollywood’s domestic take totaled about $220 million. Once Monday’s receipts are counted, the industry should finish the four-day weekend with around $270 million, easily topping the $254.6 million Memorial Day record set in 2007, said Paul Dergarabedian,...

New releases ½ The Hangover Part II Raunchier, nastier, darker. More predictable, too, which is ruinous. The sequel to the runaway 2009 bad-lad hit sends the boys to Bangkok for, quite literally, more of the same. Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis reprise their roles, but only the latter is able to summon much comic energy. Dire stuff. (102 min., R) (Ty Burr) ½ Hobo With a Shotgun There is a hobo (played by Rutger Hauer), and he has a shotgun, which he uses to visit vigilante justice on the creeps of Scum City.

*** PUSS IN BOOTS Directed by: Chris Miller Written by: Brian Lynch, David H. Steinberg, Jon Zack, Tom Wheeler Starring the voices of: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs, and Jordan"s Furniture IMAX in Reading and Natick Running time: 90 minutes Rated: PG (adventure action and mild rude humor; hairballs) Just as the 3-D revolution is sailing over the edge of the cliff to overpriced, under-produced ruin, here comes "Puss in Boots.

The "Shrek" movies may not even exist as far we're concerned in "Puss in Boots," which is fine, because they just kept getting worse; last year's "Shrek Forever After," in 3-D, felt especially flat. But the franchise reboots anew here, if you'll pardon the pun, with great energy, creativity and aplomb. This spin-off is actually a prequel, providing the origin story of the diminutive, swashbuckling kitty voiced with great charisma, as always, by Antonio Banderas. The role has been an ideal showcase for Banderas to have a little fun with his suave, sophisticated...

THE BOX *** (HBO on Comcast) In this movie from Richard Kelly ("Donnie Darko," "Southland Tales"), James Marsden and Cameron Diaz, looking like a Pan-Am flight attendant, play a nice Virginia couple who receive a box that, should they press its red button, will make them rich (for 1976, anyway) but cost the life of one stranger. The beauty of Kelly's imaginatively conceived science-fiction thriller is how what seems so cosmic turns out to be of this diabolical world - yet intriguing hard to unravel all the same.

½ HORRIBLE BOSSES Directed by: Seth Gordon Written by: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein Starring: Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx At: Boston Common, Fenway, suburbs Running time: 121 minutes Rated: R (crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some drug material) The most startling comic vision in “Horrible Bosses’’ is Colin Farrell as Bobby Pellit, one of the three title terrors.

New releases . Art Safari This set of three short documentaries about contemporary artists Maurizio Cattelan, Matthew Barney, and Takashi Murakami is bright, engaging, and healthily skeptical. Ben Lewis, the winning English presenter, is its secret ingredient: He’s smart, funny, and never takes himself too seriously. (84 min., unrated) (Sebastian Smee) . The Woodmans The photographer Francesca Woodman was only 22 when she killed herself, in 1981. C. Scott Willis’s dispassionately involving documentary lets us hear her parents, themselves noted artists, her brother, and...