Hot Tub Time Machine

Year: 2010
Directed By:Steve Pink
Written By: John Heald, Sean Anders, and John Morris

RYAN’S REVIEW

I remember seeing the advertisement for this movie and thinking I had never heard of something so stupid.  Hadn’t time travel story lines already been played out? A hot tub, really? It all seemed too stupid to me and I just wasn’t interested.  I don’t really know what prompted us to sit down and watch the movie, but we did.  I was so surprised when I thought it was awesome. It’s a silly movie, but silly movies can sometimes turn around a bad day when they really are funny.

This movie doesn’t have a cast that pops out at me.  I have never been a fan of John Cusack and Rob Corddry had yet to impress me in anything.  Clark Duke has been making somewhat of a rise lately but I only see him as a poor man’s Jonah Hill. I was a fan of The Office when it was still funny and liked Craig Robinson’s role quite a bit.  He seems to get aggressively fatter with each new season of the show though and I haven’t been such a big fan since he hosted the last season of Last Comic Standing. I had never watched the show before and thought it was really funny but Robinson specifically was horrible in the role of host.  He seemed completely unnatural at it and I felt NBC was reaching and grasping at straws when they cast him.  I do like Robinson but he isn’t enough to get me interested in a movie cast alongside other actors I’m not interested in. Chevy Chase has a small cameo in this movie and while Chase had his day I am always telling people how much he sucks now.  Crispin Glover has a really funny part in the movie as a guy we know will lose his arm and it’s only a matter of time before some accident takes it.  Lizzy Caplan is also in the movie and I think she is so smoking hot.  I had never noticed her until she was so aggressively naked in the first season of True Blood. I think she looks better naked than almost any other actress I have ever seen.  If this movie has any major downfall it’s that she is in it and not naked because it is a crime to cover her amazing body.

I am always pleased to be surprised when watching something new and this movie surprised me as much as any comedy has in a while.  I think the movie is really funny despite all the cliches and typical story lines.  The movie has a great soundtrack.  I specifically like the scene where Craig Robinson sings the Black Eyed Peas song and I love the ending with “Home Sweet Home” by Motley Lue.

There isn’t much more to say about this movie.  It’s just silly enough to be acceptable and it is a really funny movie.  I love a movie that will curb an ill mood and this one does that for me nearly every time.  I think that it is more than worth your time and I would recommend it to anyone.

AMBER’S REVIEW

So many people think this is the dumbest movie that they have ever seen. OF COURSE IT IS. That was the point. Do you think that the writer and director of this movie took it seriously? Or did they look at it like: this movie is so super cheezy that we can do almost anything? I like to think that they knew how crazy and stupid of an idea this movie made and went with it. I think it worked. I do come from the creative world, so I can just imagine these people sitting around coming up with ideas for this movie and it makes me laugh. I love this movie and all its absurdness.

See, even the poster is awesomesauce. The typography is big and bold and leaves you thinking, “What the fuck is this movie about, that sounds like the dumbest thing I have ever heard.” OH, and look they used the hot tub as the O. Clever. And last by not least, they have the awesome web address as kicksomepast.com.

NEXT MOVIE: House of 1000 Corpses (2003)

1408

Year: 2007
Directed By: Mikael Håfström
Written By:Matt Greenberg and Scott Alexander
Based on the Steven King story

RYAN’S REVIEW

I bought this movie on a whim when I was actually staying in a hotel room alone one time, it served me well.  It isn’t a great movie but it’s creepy, it’s effective, and it has Samuel L. Jackson.  1408 is based off a short story I didn’t read by Stephen King.  I am a big Stephen King fan but I didn’t really like his first novel about an evil hotel and I think a short story about an evil hotel room means he was running out of good ideas.  I’d have to check to say this with any accuracy but I would bet this is only loosely based on a Stephen King story and his name was added to increase interest in the film.  I think this was effective because I bought this movie spontaneously, I bought it new.  Typically I only buy a movie new if I really loved it or I absolutely knew it would be awesome even though I hadn’t seen it.  This was neither but I took a chance, and if I was on the fence at all it was Stephen King’s name that won me over.

Now, since this is the first opportunity I have to talk about him, let’s cover the great Samuel L. Motherfuckin Jackson.  He may always be the same character, Jules from Inglewood, in the majority of his roles, but what movie isn’t enhanced by that character? I think we all know that while the wallet may have belonged to Tarantino, Samuel L. Jackson was, is, and always will be the “Bad Motherfucker.” If he had said nothing else in this movie other than “it’s an evil fucking room man” the movie still would have been that much better.  He plays this role so well that you start to wonder if his character is supernatural and not just a hotel manager.  He really read all the books by the author John Cusack was playing? If it was anybody else you would be asking yourself “what are the chances of that?” but when it’s the Bad Motherfucker you just think “whoa, maybe he isn’t just a hotel manager, maybe he just…knows things, maybe he has…powers.”

I see this being a forgotten film in the end, but I enjoyed it.  I took a chance on it and wasn’t disappointed, it may have played into my circumstances and had an unfair advantage, but the movie is worth your time and I would recommend it.

AMBER’S REVIEW

This film has all of the elements of a successful horror film. I thoroughly enjoy it. I am not the biggest John Cusack fan, but I do think that he realistically portrays his character in this film. A writer that used to smoke but doesn’t anymore yet carries the cigarette behind his ear for superstition’s sake. I also love the line he uses when Samuel L. Jackson asks if he drinks, “I said I was writer.” Speaking of the great Samuel L. Jackson, I think he was the best part of the movie. They even stuck in some “fucks” here and there, and the movie wouldn’t have been the same if Jackson didn’t say his signature word. I love him. I won’t go into too much detail here about him though, as we have a plethora of movies that will feature his awesomeness.

All in all this a great movie where you don’t have to think too much into and you can just sit back and watch it for what it is. It will make you jump here and there and it will make you feel for the main character and his pain of losing his daughter. Check this one out if you are in the mood for a scary flick.