Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine
Year: 2010
Director: Steve Pink
Cast: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Chevy Chase

In My Own Words
I remember the first time I heard about “Hot Tub Time Machine”. My fiancé and I went to the Arclight Cinema in Hollywood in February to see “The Wolfman”. When the preview for “Hot Tub Time Machine” came on, we look at one another at one another with our “You have got to be joking” looks. Let’s look at the concept for a moment. A group of guys go away together, jump into a hot tub and get transported back to the 1980’s. Come on. What a ludicrous concept. Judging a movie by its title, you would have to think that people are running out of ideas for films. However...after I have seen the film, it reminds me how good scriptwriters can make even the most ridiculous ideas work on screen. I was pleasantly surprised. So I give a huge thumbs up to the writers, Josh Heald, Sean Anders and John Morris, for making “Hot Tub Time Machine” work.

One thing that I really enjoy about being a reviewer, is seeing how audiences vary across different films. A couple of weeks ago I was watching “The Last Station” thinking how at 27, I was definitely the youngest in the audience. Today, I thought I was going to be the oldest in the audience. Funny that considering the film is rated MA15+ here in Australia. I’m positive that there were some young boys in the cinema that were not 15 yet. Friday night at the cinemas is an interesting night. All the rowdy school kids come out to play and the boys love yelling things out to make the others laugh. There is always a pattern to this too. They start off in the previews and everyone laughs, 15 minutes into the film when they do it again they get told to where to go. There comes a point in time when their rowdiness, which starts off being funny to their peers, just becomes annoying to everyone else. I can’t help but just sit there and giggle. Was I ever like them? Surely not.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
“Hot Tub Time Machine” wins most ridiculous movie title of the year, but could also win the biggest surprise packet of the year. Like the title, it is very silly, but it is also fun, funny and entertaining. Not everyone’s type of humour, but much funnier than the majority of films in the same genre of humour that this film belongs in. The film begins with the coming together of old friends, Adam (John Cusack) who has just broken up with his wife, Nick ( Craig Robinson) who is not the pant wearer in his relationship and the out of control troublemaker of the friends, Lou (Rob Corddry). They decide to relive old times and go up to Kodiak Valley and take Adam’s nephew, nerdy Jacob (Clark Duke). After arriving and finding that things are definitely not as they left them, they retreat to the hot tub, which has amazingly started working after it was plagued by dead animals when they arrived, for a night of binge drinking. They awake the next morning to find everyone wearing fluro and listening to walkmans, all pointing to the fact that they have gone back in time to the 1980’s. Now they are all able to go back and do the things they have always wanted to do differently, or will they?

If you go into “Hot Tub Time Machine” expecting it to be ridiculous and gruesome, you will be pleasantly surprised. Truth being told it is not going to win any awards and is not the best acting performances by any of these performers. You will definitely get the most out of this film with the lowest expectations. However, it is a great story of friendship and a reminder of how you should make every moment count as, unlike in this film, people are not able to go back and recreate those moments that make your future. Pretty in depth for a film by the name of “Hot Tub Time Machine”. It is very well written and the director, Steve Pink, and the writers have made not a bad film out of a very silly concept, which signifies a job very well done. There are still some very silly moments and there are many things that just don’t make sense. Some people may see this as one of the funniest movies of the year and it may well be the funniest film of the year for people who like this sense of humour, while other s will still see it as completely ludicrous and in some parts, completely revolting. In other words, it does depend who you are and what your sense of humour is as to whether you will like this film.

Whether you are into this type of humour or not, there are undeniably some very funny moments. John Cusack’s, Adam is probably the least funny out of the characters, yet Cusack still has that likable persona. Lou, played by Rob Corddry, can be extremely vile at times, yet does give some of the great one liners of the film. Perhaps one of the funniest parts of the film is the one-armed Phil and the way he is incorporated into the film is very clever.

“Hot Tub Time Machine” is a lot of fun silliness. However silly it may be, it is not nearly as silly as what a movie with this concept could be. Definitely a funny film and very entertaining from start to finish. Just take this film as what it is, don’t expect to see amazing visuals or fantastic acting, just watch it to have fun, have a laugh and to relive some great 80’s music.
6.5/10

2012

2012
Year: 2009
Director: Roland Emmerich
Cast: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson, Oliver Platt

In My Own Words
When “2012” was announced, I groaned. Another world disaster movie. It doesn’t seem to be something Hollywood tires of very easily, or at all. The heroes, the villains, the special effects, the demolition of large cities….all pre-requisites for disaster movies. Today was the only day I could have gone and seen the movie as it requires a full three hours of your time, a reason many people will probably not go and see it. I caught the early session so it didn’t take up too much of my day off.

I was hoping this movie may pleasantly surprise me as I am a John Cusack fan. It wasn’t the worst movie ever, but when it comes down to it, wasn’t original at all. That will never score many points with movie-goers. As I said, wasn’t to worst movie that I’ve seen this year, it did have some good points, but its length and unoriginality do not make it a masterpiece by any means.

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The well known premonition of the world ending is the basis and just another reason to make the newest disaster movie “2012”. The film itself is like a tsunami, volcano, flood, and earthquake film rolled into one, with the 2 and a half hours to carry each one. There are some good points about this movie, but it is really what is to be expected from a film such as this. However, it is entertaining and is definitely worth seeing the film in the cinema for its special effects.

The movie begins in 2009 and shows how the world is preparing for the end of the world as we know it in 2012. However, the end is closer than people think, as discovered by Adrian Helmsley ( Chiwetel Ejiofor) , who alerts the American government. The protagonist of the story is California writer, Jackson Curtis (John Cusack) who has taken his two children to Yellowstone National Park, where they stumble upon a top secret government “hot spot” and he finds out about the 2012 conspiracy. He, his children and ex-wife (Amanda Peet) survive the demolition of his hometown by many close calls to try and join in the survival of the human race. As expected, the film contains loads of special effects, some which seem more realistic than others. This may have something to do with the unrealistic scenes in which the unrealistic special effects occur in. There are several times in the movie that the lead characters have near misses. One can believe one or two near misses to keep the suspense, but too many can lead to the audience rolling their eyes and sarcastically thinking “Wow, I did NOT see that one coming”. It is almost exhausting how many things happen in the film and how long the film is doesn’t make tit any better.

However, the acting in “2012” is really not too bad. Cusack gives a good performance, as does Ejiofor and Morgan Lily, who plays Lilly Curtis, gives a great performance at such a young age. Roland Emmerich’s direction and script is also commendable. There is great character development with the main characters and the audience does indeed connect with them. The role of Carl Anheuser, as played by Oliver Platt, is particularly unlikable and well played for this reason. It is proof that the characters are really forming a relationship with the audience when one feels such dislike towards one of them.

The film does have some good points, as pointed out, but its lack of original content does let it down.

5/10