What’s so awful about The Hangover Part II director Todd Phillips comparing his new film (Warner Bros., 5.26) to The Godfather Part II? Francis Coppola‘s 1974 classic is widely regarded as a sequel that was better (or certainly artier) than the original. Phillips is merely claiming in a droll, tongue-in-cheek way that The Hangover Part II is better than The Hangover…that’s all. Hardly a crime, even if it turns out to be bullshit.

“I think there are very few sequels that have been made that live up to or exceed their first film,” Phillips tells MTV.com’s Josh Horowitz in the above clip. “We had always planned on calling [our film] The Hangover 2, and when we finished the script, I changed the cover page and wrote The Hangover Part II, because I think the film lives up to or exceeds the first one. It was very much a nod to The Godfather.”

He actually meant “a nod to The Godfather, Part II“….Jesus, get this stuff straight.