HOT TUB TIME MACHINE

Early in the movie, once the 4 main characters have come the realization that they've travelled back in time to 1986, Craig Robinson's (Darrell, from The Office) character looks directly into the camera and says, "It's like it's some kind of....Hot Tub Time Machine".  It's clearly meant to be tongue-in-cheek, and very clearly tells the audience - "Do not take this seriously.  We are not taking this seriously".

Complete with leg warmers, Miami Vice t-shirts, neon colors, and a Poison concert, the film plants us back firmly into the mid 80's (or at least Hollywood's version of the '80's).  Thanks to a faulty (wait for it......... Hot Tub), all 4 guys are thrown back 25 years.  Why?  Well, it's presumed so they can right all the wrongs that have gone wrong in their lives, except that they're told by a magic repairman (Chevy Chase, in a brutal, unfunny, unnecessary role), that they must replicate their decisions and actions from 25 years ago, and not change anything..... It's ok, it's not supposed to make sense.

What happens isn't important, but just know that it involves an illegal Russian energy drink, cocaine, a fork to the eye, and John Cusack walking around with a "I'm getting paid in cash for this, right?" look on his face the whole time.

The best gag in the movie involves a one armed Crispin Glover (Marty McFly from Back to the Future) and our waiting to see just how he became the one-armed man.  A slew of great 80's songs make up the soundtrack and work very well.

The movie stops short of being a direct parody of Back to the Future, though not by much.  The dials on the hot tub look like the Flux Capacitor, we hear a song from the future at a dance, the 'Biff' character is in place, and some future sports betting even takes place.  Crispin Glover is the icing on the cake.  Thanks guys, we get it.  It's like Back to the Future....yeah, we GET IT!

The movie is rude, crude, and quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen.  Having said that, I must have laughed out loud at least a dozen times.  Sure it's stupid, but it lived up down to my expectations and was what I thought it was. 

If you think it looks stupid in the previews, just wait until you actually see it......... 2.5 out of 5 stars.

THE TOWN - Trailer

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/07/15/must-watch-first-official-trailer-for-ben-afflecks-the-town/

This isn't exactly breaking news, but you need to check out the trailer for the new Ben Affleck movie 'The Town'. Looks fantastic - I'm totally pumped to see this movie.  Just hearing the word "Charlestown" in the trailer gives me goosebumps.  Can't wait.  Click the link above to check out the trailer.

THE COVE

Typically, my Netflix queue isn't exactly teeming with documentaries.  Hot Tub Time Machine is at the top of my queue right now - if that tells you anything......

Over the past couple of years, I've read articles, snippets, and other reviews about The Cove.  It won for Best Documentary at the Oscars in 2009. I heard so many good things, I finally bumped it to the top, and had to check it out.

While this is a documentary, it really doesn't come across as one.  Many people think documentary = boring.  Not true.  Especially not here.  This movie is a Flipper/Bourne Identity piece of work, focusing on the entrapment and sale of dolphins for marine water parks throughout the world (Sea World, Swimming with Dolphins programs, etc...).

The majority of The Cove is filmed in a very small town in Japan, and centers around Ric O'Barry, the creator of the television series Flipper.  As O'Barry says in the movie, "I spent 10 years building up this business and now I've spent the last 30 years trying to tear it down".
O'Barry and his crew are not welcome in the area due to their opposing views of the fishermen, and every effort is put forth by the Japanese harbor men, police and government to move the crew out and disallow them from filming the goings-on in any way.

The under-the-cover-of-darkness, night-vision-goggle, mission-impossible trek that O'Barry and his team embark to plant underwater cameras, mountain cameras and sound devices is the best part of the movie.  They're chased by cops, hide behind trees, run into vans to escape security...all in the name of getting some footage of what goes on at The Cove.

The dirty secret of course isn't that the dolphins are captured and sold - but rather that the dolphins not sold or wanted, are corralled into a separate part of the cove, and killed.  Mercilessly.  Graphically.  Yes, it's horrific. 

The film does an excellent job showing us the secrecy of the Japanese surrounding the operation, and the final reveal of what they're doing with the dolphins that aren't sold, and the impending massacre, is a worth while payoff for the viewer. 

I couldn't help but think of comedian Denis Leary's take that, "we only care about the cute animals - oh look, a dolphin, you're so cute!  What are you?  I'm a cow.  Get in the truck! You're a baseball glove!".  Coarse?  Sure, of course it is.  But that's what makes it true.  Cows, chickens, pigs are slaughtered everyday in what are surely horrible manners as well.  Dolphins are cute - nobody wants to see a cute dolphin slaughtered.
This still doesn't take away from the impact of the movie.  It's moving, it's touching.  It's a very well made documentary that will have you disappointed in mankind, and angry that this sort of thing is allowed to go on on the other side of the world, and nobody even knows about it.........
4 out of 5 stars.

INCEPTION

So now that I just told you how I don't have time to go the movies, here I am reviewing a movie that's been out for about a week.  The lesson as always..... I'm an idiot...

I was able to catch a Tuesday afternoon matinee by myself this week, and boy am I glad that I did. I don't know that I have the capability to explain the utter joy I experienced watching this movie.  I'm no expert on movie making or cinematography (I know, refrain from gasping), but Inception was so visually spectacular, so utterly magnificent, that I left the theater feeling like I should have paid more to see something that transcended any movie I've ever seen.

You know the feeling you had after the first time you saw The Matrix?  That you just couldn't help but think, "I've never seen anything like that before"?  I had the same feeling after seeing this movie.  I quite simply, haven't seen anything like that before.  (I am in NO way comparing the 2 movies, I've just been struggling for 3 days to put what I saw into words). 

The movie ended, and I just sat in my seat, watching the ending credits roll, with an enormous smile on my face.  Utter joy in the movie-going experience.  If there were more than 10 of us in the theater, I think a standing ovation would have been appropriate.

In a very small nutshell, the movie is about the ability to enter another persons dreams (or subconscious), and implant an idea.  In the words of Cobb (DiCaprio), "An idea is the most resilient thing that can enter the body.  It's stronger than any parasite.  Once an idea enters your mind, you can't get rid of it".
The problem for Cobb is that as he enters someone else's subconscious, he can't stop his own experiences and memories from entering as well.  This produces the underlying subplot of the film, and the only piece that I thought could have been played up even more.

Cobb leads a team consisting of Joseph Gordon Levitt (500 Days of Summer), Ellen Page (Juno), and a couple of other guys I didn't know before this movie.  Tom Hardy, who plays Eames, is sure to get a launch in films from this role.  Cillian Murphy (Scarecrow from Batman Begins) is the target, with Ken Watanabe playing a major role as well.  Tom Berenger shows up half way through the movie looking like the guy who ate Tom Berenger... Jake Taylor is long gone folks....

I'm not going to go too in depth with what happens, since I don't want to give anything away that might ruin your experience in viewing the film for the first time.  The movie goes into depth on how a group of people can manipulate someone elses mind, and even delves into dreams within dreams, within dreams (I think we got 4 levels deep towards the end). It forces you to pay attention, question everything you see on the screen, follow the action.  It does NOT cater to the lowest common denominator.  Having said that, I had absolutely no problem following what was going on.  Sure, it gets a little confusing (especially in the last 45 minutes or so), but it's worth the journey to get to the destination at the end of the road.  The ending?  Goodness.....the last 10 seconds of the film will have you talking for hours after you leave the theater.  For me? I think there's no question of what happens, but I understand how many can and will take the opposing view. (My vote would be for what would be considered the 'happy ending').

 It is again, one of the most visual amazing things I've ever seen.  I thought that what Christopher Nolan did with The Dark Knight, in taking a superhero movie and making it worthy of a Best Picture consideration, was amazing.  I'd be absolutely shocked if this picture isn't nominated itself. 

I know it just sounds like 5 paragraphs of gushing, but I was utterly impressed by this movie. This was a blockbuster movie in the strongest sense of the term.  Fantastic.  See this film at your earliest convenience.
I know for a fact that I'll be going back for a 2nd viewing sometime very soon.  5 out of 5 stars.  No question.

THE BOOK OF ELI

The Book of Eli has been in my queue for quite some time now, getting moved up and down as newer movies came out that I wanted to see.  I finally got a chance to watch this yesterday.  While I enjoyed it overall, it wasn't all that I hoped it would be.  It also has constant religious overtones, that may put off some viewers...

The story centers around Eli (Denzel Washington) and his quest to walk west across a barren, post-apocalyptic earth (Go west young man!).  Broken down cars line the sides of partially demolished roadways, and chaos, thieves, and murder reign supreme.  Eli is a loner.  He wields a machete, guns, a backpack, and is most definitely a badass.

Early in the movie, he comes across a gang that demands that he hand over his belongings, or die.  Such is life in this type of civilization.  Perhaps the best shot in the movie occurs at this point, as an almost comic-book like fight ensues.  The camera is panned back about 50 yards, and the whole scene is shot almost in black and white, all shadows, and is very well done.

As the movie progresses, we encounter Carnegie (Gary Oldman), who's an avid reader and leader (tyrant?) of a small town that looks like something directly out of the wild, wild west.  As we find out, Carnegie is a bad man that wants only to find a very specific book (guess who has said book?), that he insists will change the world.  Here, Oldman (who we last saw as Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight) takes a great turn as a villain and does a fine job.

Without giving away too much of the movie, 2 things jumped out at me that I can't shake. First, what was the deal with showing everyone your hands?  "Are you one of them?"  One of who?  Never explained.  And second, how did Eli become a one man wrecking machine? He's like a Bruce Lee/Stallone/Eastwood hybrid.  Apparently, he was just born with this gift.  And 30 years??  30 YEARS!??  That's a long time to be walking around aimlessly.....

Regardless, the movie does have a great surprise/twist ending, that despite constant clues throughout the movie, I never saw coming.  There's also no color until the last 10 minutes or so.  It's not that it's shot in black and white, it's just that everything is dusty, and shades of gray, black and brown.  It's awfully depressing....

 I think that in order to really enjoy a movie, you need to be totally invested in the characters and 'care' about what happens to them.  I really didn't.  Mila Kunis seemed miscast in the movie as well, but did well with what she had to do.

In the end, I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either.  3 out of 5 stars.

Welcome

 After some gentle prodding, I'm going to take a shot at starting my own blog.  I have many thoughts.  Many are impure at best.  Having some extra time on my hands, I've had the ability to catch up on some movie watching.  I enjoy reading other peoples thoughts about movies they've seen, and I think I may have something to offer in my own right.  As a result, I'm going to spew my thoughts, reactions, feelings and feedback on any new movie that I see.  Now, many of my 'new' movies are going to be months, often years old.  Maybe you've already seen them, maybe you haven't.  Either way, feel free to leave your own comments concerning my posts, and I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.