Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

My first guilty pleasure of the year, I thoroughly enjoyed Hot Tub Time Machine, a title that truly describes this movie. It’s like ‘Old School’ meets ‘The Hangover.’

I really like that this movie plot is so stupid that they don’t even try to hide that fact. All the characters easily accept that a hot tub can take them back to 1986. The movie dedicates less than two minutes to an explanation of time travel with the only credentials being that it is from a guy from writes ‘Star Gate’ fan fiction.

The movie plays on popular 80’s movies such as ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Red Dawn’, and any stupid movie that takes place in a ski resort.

The movie starts with three friends who are down on their luck. One tries to kill himself with a mix of whiskey, auto fumes, and a Motley Crue power ballad.

The three plus one ( the nephew of the John Cusack character) take a trip to a ski resort that they used to go to in their prime only to discover it is now a first class dump. Somehow, it really doesn’t matter, they have a working hot tub. They party. They get stupid. They end up in 1986. Don’t ask.

Now they in 1986 as they the ages there were at in 1986. The audience sees them in there 40’s but everyone sees them as teenagers. Only through mirror do we see them in there youth.

As in any time travel movie they can’t do anything that didn’t in the past lest irrevocably change the future. Chaos theory, what not!

I know what you’re thinking. Didn’t we see this plot in an episode of ‘Family Guy?’ Of course, we did. It worked there and it works here.

There are minor roles for Crispin Glover, George McFly in ‘Back to the future,’ and Chevy Chase. In true 80’s teen spirit there are copious amounts of drugs and brief nudity. They do a good job of picking music you may not have heard since 1986, such INXS’s ‘What you need’ and Poison; anything from them.

It is more than fair to stay that Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson carry the film.

I enjoyed this movie from beginning to end.

W. (2008)

Brillant! A bio pic on a sitting president. I think this is the first time this has been done. Not only that, but a president that the country is so divided on. W. seems sort of doomed to begin with. Those on right will not take any negative criticism, and others want a conviction on George W. Bush. Then there is the fact that most people are tired of Bush, and probably do not see a movie about George W. Bush as entertainment.

As a film maker Oliver Stone has to make his main character, our president, likable enough that the audience cares about him and his story. You really like W. after watching this film. You feel sorry for him.

The story finds Bush after 9/11 and the time is during the events that lead up to the Iraq war and then the Iraq war quickly turning into a disaster. The movie shows events that lead up this moment using flash backs. According this movie W. thinks about his life a lot.

We meet the young George Bush Jr. in a Skull and Bones hazing ritual at Yale. We learn that he gets into trouble, has bad grads, and is a disappointment to his father. As he gets older we see W. as a womanizer, a man with a major drinking problem, and basically getting through life as spoiled rich boy with his father getting him out of jams often. There seems to be no end to what George H.W. Bush, W's. father, will go for him. However, young W. always pines for his father's acceptance and outward displays of affection, which seem to be hidden behind an old world waspy guard.

It is overly simplistic, as it is like Homer Simpson as George W. Bush, but get some broad brush stroke on the major events of his life. Nothing that Bush does is ever with malice. He is either having a good time or just dumb.

Oliver Stone doesn't show W.'s use of cocaine. This is probably because audiences don't like to see that. Audiences can accept alcoholism just so long as it is rehabilitated by the end of the movie.

The great part of the film is W. as president. While the back story was entertaining, the White House story is where Stone nails it.

So, how do you make a film depicting the events of the past almost eight years that are so horrific. Well, I guess you don't show them. The Bush administration has had a disaster to deal with every few months. First there was the dot-com bubble burst, then the biggest 9/11, then war in Iraq and hurricane Katrina , and now the financial meltdown. How could you put all of this in one film and do it justice? Well, Stone basically ignores it, except for Iraq.

This scenes, statements and situations are taken right from well documented news conferences, pictures and popular books that most people have seen on the evening news. The meetings were shown just has Paul O'Neal described them in Ron Suskind's book "The education of Paul O'Neal",and the description of the Dick Cheney's concept of the One Percent doctrine is done perfectly from Ron Suskind's book of the same name. The One Percent doctrine is if you think there is a 1% that something bad could happen you act like it is a 100% chance that it will happen. Of course , the problem with this is that it foregoes reason, probable cause, and means you are 99% wrong all the time. If you are familiar with other books on the Bush Administration you will see allusions them too. Not just Ron Suskinds.

The administration's chemistry and personalities seem pretty right on. If you are familiar with cover of the book Hubris that scene is recreated. Also, Bush's tendencies of giving people nickname will be found too.

The dynamic between the Colin Powell and the Neo-Cons seems to be as it has been written. That dynamic is that you have Colin Powell who is a military expert. and the Neo-Cons who see the world as through there ideological prism. They clash.

In the movie, W. is very much maneuvered by these Neo-Cons. W. wants to see the world as fitting into his own simple views.

Stone gives W. a very decent personality. He is not prejudice; more so than probably any president in history. He treats everyone the same respect no matter what social class they are in. He just seems over in his head, and is how the movie ends.

This is, of course, not a complete story. That is obvious. And it is not clear how much Stone got right, but it looks he did something right.

This is a very interesting movies. It is one that you want to talk about at length after it is over. In someways it is not really over yet.

What Happens in Vegas (2008)

Definitely competing for the worst movie of the year, What Happens in Vegas fails to meet my lowest of expectations. I never thought this movie would be good. I expected some cheap laughs. Maybe a reliving of my youth, as That 70’s show is one of my all-time favs. From the trailer, that promised a romantic comedy, it looked like Ashton Kutcher was reviving his role as Michael Kelso from That 70’s show; like Kelso grew up and was living with Carmon Diaz. In fact, there were about three Kelso moments but that was it. Overall the movie seemed to be a testament of why people hate America.

It seemed to be a mix of self absorbed, stupid people with lots of money, who are psychotically aggressive. The plot is pretty true to the trailer. Two people down on their luck go to Vegas to feel better about themselves. After a night of heavy drinking they get married. The next day the hit a jackpot which motivates them to stay married. They are ordered to stay married for six month in order to cash in. Then somehow they fall in love.

I don’t know what to say, it was really bad. Almost everything about it didn’t work. Cameron Diaz working on the floor of a stock exchange that was as believable as the reactions she was getting to the stupid way she spoke. Queen Latifah as Marriage therapist, come on, don’t these roles have to be at least somewhat believable. I did some how buy Ashton Kutcher doing nothing and hanging around the house all day.

I think what was most insulting was the idea that when one acts as a stupid over-the-hill clubber the higher one gets in life. I am not sure how old the Diaz character was suppose to be, but she looked like she was in her earlier forties. Diaz has not taken very good care of herself as she is only 36. Kutcher , 30 looks about 24 years old, so maybe they were going for the Kutcher really life senario of being married to a much older woman. It was just a little bizarre.

The movie is barely watchable. Rob Corddry is comic relief in a movie that should be a comedy, but I have been soap opera’s with better story lines. Coddry is good as always.

The movie seems to be shot mostly in the DUMBO area of Brooklyn, which my favorite area in that borough, so that was cool. I always find it funny to see people doing things in movies which you could never do in real life. There is a scene in the movie Kutcher and Corddry are hitting golf balls in a park in DUMBO. You so can’t do that.

Anyway this movie is so bad.

Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008)

Can’t help feeling a little disappointed with this sequel. The first one was a classic. I am not saying that Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay wasn’t funny. You laugh through the whole movie, but the laughs seem hollow. It lacks focus and purpose, which might be hard to comprehend since the last one, an all-night odyssey to get to White Castle, seems noble somehow.

In this one, Kumar brings a bong into a plane and everyone thinks it’s a bomb on their flights to Amsterdam. (get it bong v. bomb) Both are mistaken for terrorists and sent to Guantanamo prison. They face real terrorists and prison abuse from the guards. They manage to escape and make it back to the U.S. then make their way to Texas in an effort to clear their name and stop the marriage of Kumar’s ex-girlfriend.

It’s this Kumar romance that kills it. It makes the movie boring, because the rest is great!
Actually, Kumar is lame in this one. He makes the same faces and delivers his lines in a tired manor. Something in the chemistry with Harold doesn’t fly either.

The movie takes place right after the first one finishes. Maybe too much time elapsed between the makings of both films; something of the sprit of the first one is missing.

Now, what really does work is the critique of our post 9/11 world. The film neither takes an all pro or all against stance. In fact, President Bush is the hero of the film. Somehow Bush is made fun of and honored at the same time.

In the film, Kumar is randomly stopped for a searched at the airport. Kumar makes it clear that it is not entirely random. When on the airplane an old woman sees him as an Islamic terrorist just because of the color of his skin. When Harold and Kumar are in custody, the government agents believe they are terrorists despite all the evidence to the contrary.

Rob Corddry is the best part of this movie. He brings the most life and energy into it. He plays the myopic Homeland Security agent. There is another agent played by Roger Bart, who represents a silent faction of American Society disagree with these tactics but keep their mouths shut for the most part.

The trail of two idiot stoners is a perfect vehicle to poke fun at the country. It makes it clear that white people view non-whites through lens that are often negative and are unable to lose their prejudices or see clearly. Of course, some people are cool, but they aren’t the ones who cause all the trouble for Harold and Kumar.

It is nevertheless refreshing as ever to see a Korean and Indian guy going through the world in a non-ethnic stereotyped portrayal. Neil Patrick Harris, no doubt, makes his appearance in the film, but, sadly, is shot to death in the end.

There are plenty of pot jokes and potty jokes. It seems like it would get better the more times you see it. So it will be true cable movie. Alas, it is no Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.

Semi-Pro (2008)

About 10 years too late. Somehow a retro 70’s movie seems passé in this retro 80s, soon to be retro 90s era. Semi-Pro is another common man Will Ferrell feature with a strong supporting cast, but unlike Anchorman and Teledega Nights this one lacks something in Ferrell’s character development. Still, it follows the genre of a common alpha-male kinda getting somewhere in a semi-professional talent pool, which is funny because we can all relate to that in someway.
It is really well edited. The movie moves very well also. It turns out to be an underdog Basketball movie that you have seen before many times over. However, they do a good job of it, and the movie is mildly entertaining throughout
The supporting cast really does support Ferrell tired shtick. One might even say that the supporting carries the film, most are up and coming character actors that you know from the Daily Show or movies like Superbad. Also, actors like Woody Harrelson can hold their own.

As for the Ferrell character Jackie Moon, he doesn’t seem as well developed as his previous films, nor does the movie seem to be as focused exclusively around him.
Semi-Pro starts out with a hilarious song over-the-top sexual song sung by Farrell and an introduction equally as funny. You see Jackie Moon in his natural environment, which is almost exactly like the start of Anchorman. Then it goes into that underdog sports story, and loses some steam.
Sadly, there are no guest appearances by the Wilson brothers or anyone like that.
Overall, it is worth a Saturday matinee price but probably not any more than that.