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Posts Tagged ‘John Cusack’
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Knowing the basic premise of HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, you’ll probably guess that jokes about the 80’s are going to run rampant throughout. You’d be right in that assumption because most of the best laughs in the film revolve around the main characters either making fun of the decade or working in a joke where they know something about the future the others do not. Although some might complain about that, the truth is that the 80’s are ripe for jokes and just setting your movie in that decade is going to make it funny. Would anyone have enjoyed THE WEDDING SINGER had it been set in present day? Thankfully, the filmmakers played up the 80′s gag while at the same time inserting enough comedy to keep it rolling and keep the audience laughing.
After a failed suicide attempt of one of their friends, three guys get together and take their troubled friend to their old partying grounds on a ski resort. But time has not been kind to their old party place and now it’s a run down hole in the wall. Luckily, there’s a hot tub and so the gang hops in and gets plastered while wishing their lives had turned out differently. As you know from the title, the hot tub is also a time machine and the gang awakens to find themselves in 1986. While there, they have to decide if they want to change their future, or keep everything exactly as it was.
The story itself is completely far fetched, but there were a couple of things they could have done to make it a little smoother. First, Chevy Chase’s Repairman acted as the guide on the journey, but he was more confusing than anything and didn’t serve much of a purpose, other than to give the group a reason to get their deeds done before dawn. What I didn’t like was the gang’s initial decision to be careful not to change anything in fear of altering the future. This didn’t last long, but it felt like an unnecessary plot point and things didn’t get funny until they decided to change the future. I would have liked more time with the gang trying to live the perfect night of their youth and less time with them worrying about how the future was going to unfold.
As for the 80’s gags, there were plenty, ranging from the obvious 80’s background music to the subtle wardrobe choice of John Cusack wearing his trench coat from SAY ANYTHING. But the funniest part of the film was Rob Corddry, who was seemingly told to let loose and go crazy with this role. He did a great job and had some of the best comedic dialogue we’ve seen in a while. I haven’t really liked him in anything before this, so it was a nice treat to watch him hit this out of the park. Cusack and Craig Robinson played their typical characters with Robinson almost playing the exact part he played in ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. But it works for him, so there’s no reason to change it up.
We’ve seen some of the time-traveling gags before in movies like AUSTIN POWERS, but they work again here because the four characters are pretty likeable. We accept their outrageous circumstances almost immediately, and we begin to care about their plights. It helps that the gags keep coming and although some were obvious, most were clever enough to make for some original comedy. It’s also impossible to watch this film only once and catch all the 80’s references. John Cusack alone digs at his 80’s resume several times, each time making the film that much more enjoyable.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: Fox delivers a great video transfer with even the 80’s wardrobes looking good on this Blu-ray.
Audio: The audio was also impressive and this comedy used the surround channels more than most comedies to the fullest effect.
Deleted Scenes (11:45): A lot of these are extended cuts, but they’re worth the time. Rob Corddry does some nice improv and several other scenes add in a few gags.
Mini-Featurettes (6:34): I wasn’t sure what to call these since all of them are so short. They’re listed separately on the back cover, but they shouldn’t have been. None of these offer any information about the film and feel like they were made for marketing purposes.
Overall, I’m disappointed with the special features on this disc. Every comedy, especially one like this, has a ton of extra scenes with actors improv-ing various scenes. It would have been nice to get some of those gags on this disc. And how about a group commentary with the gang cracking each other up?
Tags: Blu-ray, Craig Robinson, John Cusack, movie reviews, Rob Corddry, Steve Pink
Posted in Blu-Ray Reviews, Reviews |
Friday, May 7th, 2010
Posted by: Kristy Sturdivant
MGM Home Entertainment and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will be releasing the comedy HOT TUB TIME MACHINE, starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke, on June 29, 2010. The follows a group of friends as they try to reconnect with a trip to a run-down ski resort. When they take a dip in the hot tub, they find themselves back in 1986 and hilarity ensues. This film actually opened March 26, 2010 and did well at the theaters, so well in fact, they are releasing the Blu-ray just three months later. The Blu-ray will include both the theatrical release as well as an unrated version with 10 extra minutes of footage. Special features include:
- Theatrical promotional spots (BD-exclusive)
- Totally Radical Outfits: Dayna Pink
- Totally Radical Outfits: Dayna Pink
- Production: Acting Like Idiots
- Crispin Glover: One Armed Bellhop
- Chevy Chase: The Nicest Guy in Hollywood
- Deleted Scenes
- Theatrical Trailer
Tags: Blu-ray, clark duke, Craig Robinson, John Cusack, movie news
Posted in Blu-Ray News, News |
Monday, March 29th, 2010
I have actually complained about movies, comedies especially, that use their best lines in the previews. It’s a legitimate complaint, you paid the money, you want a little more bang for that buck than what everybody sees in the TV ads. But I’m sorry, even though I’d seen it a million times in all the spots and previews the past few weeks, when Craig Robinson looks at the camera and says, “It’s like some kind of…Hot Tub Time Machine,” I just lost it. Hilarity ensued. And it’s with those simple, expected laughs that HOT TUB TIME MACHINE excels, and rides that ridiculous premise to a genuinely funny buddy/time travel movie. And while I say “ridiculous premise,” I can’t imagine the concept meetings went too well at first when Universal wanted to make a movie about a time machine manufactured from a DeLorean. So let’s not throw stones.
HOT TUB TIME MACHINE starts with the depressing lives of our four protagonists, three of which are one-time best friends who’ve simply drifted apart. John Cusack plays Adam, a man bouncing from one ruined relationship to another. He is taking care of his young nephew, Jacob (Clark Duek, out of nowhere), who is a slave to his computer Sim game (a commentary on the current generation). Craig Robinson steals the whole movie as Nick Webber-Agnew, an ex-musician now working as a dog groomer (the place is called “’Sup Dawg” and Robinson must greet customers as such) who caters in all ways to his wife, to include adding her last name onto his. And Rob Corddry rounds out the cast as the uber-depressed, alcoholic, divorced train wreck that is Lou. After an “accidental” botched suicide attempt by Lou, the friends get back together to go skiing at Kodiak Valley, an old haunt for the guys that they think will cheer Lou up. The resort is a wreck, complete with a deranged, one-armed bellhop played by BACK TO THE FUTURE’s Crispin Glover, and the town is run down and miserable.
Luckily there’s the hot tub, leading the guys to wake up in 1986. They are tipped off by the fashions, the technology and clips of “ALF” on TV and an old clip of MTV from when they actually played music. Cusack plays the leader of the group, trying to make sure they don’t ruin anything in their pasts, while Craig Robinson reels and panics, Duke tries to find the way back, and Corddry just tries to party as much as he can but is still held to the same loser status he had before. As I said, hilarity ensues.
Cusack is funny in his initial depressed state, but also has a funny side story with an old girlfriend he breaks up with at the Winterfest ’86 and she reacts poorly. There are plenty of quick jokes you have to pay attention to catch, including an old line from Cusack’s ‘80s canon BETTER OFF DEAD, but also 80’s cameos throughout, to include Chevy Chase as the mystical hot tub repairman (a line I thought I’d never write) and William Zabka from KARATE KID (listen carefully for the “Get him a body bag” line). Craig Robinson is hilarious throughout and should get larger comedic roles based on the strength of his work here. He and Cusack sell their friendship well, to include inside jokes never explained: something involving Cincinnati and a whispered line about The Great White Buffalo. Crispin Glover has a great running gag as we await the loss of his arm, though I thought for sure they were going to have him deliver some of his lines from BTTF, and there was no reference to “Are you okay?” or “I’m your density,” delivered in that quintessential George McFly way. Clark Duke doesn’t do much, but he does have some funny lines and a mystery about the identity of his father due to his mother’s wine cooler-fueled promiscuity. But the majority of the big laugh lines are given to Rob Corddry, some of which fall flat out of his trying too hard, but others that really knock it out. Ridiculous concept, of course, but still a really funny movie. And that line by Craig Robinson will make me laugh no matter how many times I see it.
Tags: Craig Robinson, John Cusack, movie reviews, Rob Corddry, Steve Pink
Posted in Reviews |
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010
I didn’t catch 2012 in theaters, but I heard what everyone was saying and I knew it wasn’t nice. However, I held out hope because I really wanted to defend the movie and say that we should appreciate it for being fun. I typically like these kind of movies and despite the negativity, I was still excited about it. But it wasn’t meant to be and I quickly learned that the negativity I had heard wasn’t even close to being harsh enough. This movie isn’t even close to being enjoyable.
It took about 20 minutes before I understood anything that was said in the film. It’s not because they were speaking “too technical” or that the script was over my head, it’s because the dialogue was nonsensical and completely random. It sounded like a little kid wearing a doctor’s coat and pretending to be smart. That’s when I knew that the people who wrote the script had absolutely no comprehension of science beyond a fifth grade level. And this is coming from a guy that thought they did a good job in ARMAGEDDON of making it seem believable, so I’m not quick to insult the intelligence of a screenwriter. But anything involving the science of 2012 was ridiculous.
By now, you’ve probably heard that the world is going to end on December 21st of 2012. This particular date is “famous” because to the ancient Mayans, this was their day for Armageddon (the end of the world, not a screening of the Michael Bay film). In the film, we start in 2009 when two scientists discover the increased temperatures of the earth’s core and that leads them to deduce that the world will end in 2012. We pick up again in 2012 as the prediction has started to come true. Aside from a few government types, we also follow the events through the eyes of Jackson Curtis (John Cusack), a struggling author and divorcee that’s taking his kids to Yellowstone. For some reason, Yellowstone is the center of where all of this destruction is taking place and Jackson and his kids get a firsthand look at what’s about to come.
As of this point, we haven’t seen anything interesting. This is a big-budget, high concept, end of the world film and it took almost 30 minutes to get to the first action sequence. The first action sequence is Jackson and his family racing through LA in a limousine while the city is destroyed around them. You’ve probably heard that this scene is great and the effects are amazing. I hate to break this to you, but this is one of the worst CGI scenes we’ve seen in the past five years. The destruction of the city is great, but any scene involving the car and especially scenes that cut to the actors in the car are embarrassingly bad. Remember those old SNL skits where people would be in a car and extras would hold cardboard cut outs behind them to make it look like the car was moving? That’s exactly what this looked like. But the path of the car and the scale of the car to rest of the world was completely off. At times it either looked gigantic or miniature; and that’s just a lazy effort from the special effects team.
But it’s an end-of-the-world film and so they have to have some sort of human element to keep people emotionally involved. Love him or hate him, Michael Bay understands this and usually manages to excel in that arena. He should give Roland Emmerich some lessons because Emmerich seems to have no understanding of how to get audiences emotionally involved in characters. Even with the likeable John Cusack, I couldn’t have cared less about the fate of Jackson Curtis and during his blatant POSEIDON rip-off at the end, I was just waiting for the film to end.
I didn’t want to be another critic that took shots at 2012, but this was a horrible film. So to sum up, this film had bad acting, atrocious dialogue, b-grade special effects and screenwriters that couldn’t be bothered with research. Audiences don’t need much to be entertained, but I don’t even think these guys were trying.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
I have admit that as I started watching these special features, I kept waiting for someone to burst out laughing. Something just didn’t seem right as everyone was talking about “what an important movie they were making” or how this is “the best film we’ve made”. Were they joking? Was this just a gag to make fun of the audience? I guess not because they kept their serious tone throughout.
Video: There’s no denying that this 2.40:1 widescreen transfer was wonderful. Although the CGI needed some work, it at least looked beautiful.
Audio: As good as the video was, it couldn’t compare to the 5.1 DTS-HD audio track. This track is booming throughout and made the movie somewhat tolerable. This had some scenes that would work great to show off your system.
Commentary with Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser: Like I just mentioned, these guys take this film way too seriously. I felt like I was in a lecture where the guest speaker didn’t want to be there. As they move along in a very monotonous manner, they keep mentioning how important the film is and just dive into various aspects of the movie. I found it to be dry and a little forced.
Picture-in-picture: Roland’s vision: This is an alternate track you can play and serves as a picture-in-picture commentary where they cut to different interviews with the cast and crew and show some behind the scenes footage on the special effects. I thought it was a cool track and definitely a worthy extra for those that dug the film.
Alternate ending (3:58): This ending was a little odd and I guess this was the first theatrical ending. Neither were worth writing home about, but this ending is the lesser of the two.
Tags: Amanda Peet, Blu-ray, Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Cusack, movie reviews, Roland Emmerich
Posted in Blu-Ray Reviews, Reviews |
Monday, January 18th, 2010
by: Brad Sturdivant and Kristy Sturdivant
He Said/She Said is a bi-weekly column where a male and female reviewer from the site team up to debate the merits of a particular film.
HE SAID
I’ve never actually met anyone that didn’t like the quintessential 80′s teen romantic film SAY ANYTHING, so I find myself in new territory having to defend it. I keep wanting to write “but it’s SAY ANYTHING!” over and over and somehow, I don’t think that’s going to get my point across. There are so many things that make this film great, but keep in mind that it came out in a time of John Hughes movies where the characters were interesting but fake in a way that distanced them from the audience. I’m a big Hughes fan, but I never felt he captured the reality behind all the teenage angst and drama he so often focused on. Cameron Crowe, however, perfectly captured it.
Cameron Crowe has made three films with three different characters that so accurately capture what it means to be those people that every audience member instantly relates to them. Of course, those characters are; Lloyd Dobler (SAY ANYTHING), Jerry Maguire (JERRY MAGUIRE) and William Miller (ALMOST FAMOUS). But the focus here is on SAY ANYTHING. Dobler is not a loser or nerd and is definitely not a popular jock. He, like 98% of the world, falls somewhere in-between; caught between the two extremes. As most of us know, that middle ground has its own drama and that’s what Crowe captures so well, all set to a great soundtrack.
It didn’t hurt that he had a young John Cusack that turns in a performance that makes you instantly like him. We root for the love between Dobler and Diane Court and the father is instantly vilified for trying to keep our lovers apart. Of course, all of this is highlighted by the amazing scene of Cusack holding the boombox above his head while Peter Gabriel sings out ‘In Your Eyes’. A great song, an incredible movie moment and worth the price of admission alone.
SHE SAID
The first time I saw this film I was in my mid-20′s and I was excited because I had heard so many good things about it. It was supposed to have a great story, great characters and of course the famous scene with the boombox and I was looking forward to falling in love with it just like the rest of America. However, I just didn’t like it. I couldn’t relate with the characters, with their love-torn plight and quite honestly I thought the entire boombox scene was absolutely ridiculous. Who would do such a corny thing? Is that supposed to be romantic? It was so over the top I laugh and cringe every single time I see it. I almost feel embarrassed for Cusak for having to live with it for the rest of his life.
I think what really bothered me about the film was Diane Court played by Ione Skye-I hated her. I found her to be extremely snotty and was unable to relate with her, and I couldn’t understand what Dobler found so interesting in her character. I love Cameron Crowe, and in all of his other films I could sympathize or connect to his characters but none of the characters in SAY ANTHING rang true with me. This film really isn’t that different from what John Hughes was doing, it’s just not done as well as we’re used to. These characters are basically the same and deal with the same things as anyone in a Hughes film. SAY ANYTHING is just too far-fetched and sappy.
Tags: Cameron Crowe, Ione Skye, John Cusack
Posted in He Said/She Said |
Monday, November 16th, 2009
If I had to guess, I’d say THE TOWERING INFERNO was the first big budget disaster flick to draw a crowd. The director of 2012, Roland Emmerich, was only 18 when that film came out, and I imagine him in the antiquated theaters of 1974 with eyes wide open, watching the building ablaze with the body count rising I can imagine the hamster in his head working that wheel with a fury, thinking of all the things he could do in the realm of disasters as a future filmmaker. He has gone on to direct aliens blowing up the world in INDEPENDENCE DAY, GODZILLA stomping on New York City in his 1998 remake, and drowning and freezing the planet in THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. And every time another film comes out, like this weekend’s 2012, much talk is made of his propensity for disaster. But we still line up to see it, as the aforementioned films have grossed $817, $379, and $544 million dollars worldwide respectively. And it’s because the man knows destruction.
First off, let me say I know nothing of the Mayan calendar. I understand much of the “debate,” if that word can be used, around the proposed ending of the world occurring in 3 years is a disagreement as to the interpretation of the Mayans prediction of the end of the world. But I thought we all came to the movies to escape rational thought? And since when do we even give the Mayans any credibility as to Doomsday predictions? But then again, the movie itself mentions the Mayans a few times, too, so maybe the debate is warranted, but again do we really care about the science behind it? When ARMAGEDDON hurled a meteor at us, we just accepted it. And Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the lead scientist in 2012, does well to explain the basics of what’s happening, so that wasn’t a problem.
As for the basics of the story, solar outbursts deliver neutrinos (yeah, I haven’t heard of them either) to the earth which heat up the earth’s core, causing…oh, you know what, let’s just admit it. We watch these movies for the drama of the protagonists stuck in the disaster, and the action and visuals of the world falling apart. And the reason this film gets the rating it does is because in these respects, 2012 succeeds. John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, failed novelist and current limo driver, estranged from his ex-wife Amanda Peet, who takes his kids to Yellowstone National Park and inadvertently stumbles on advanced notice of the impending doom. This doom was foreseen in 2009 by scientist Adrien Helmsley (Ejiofor), and a secret plan put in place between the President of the United States (Danny Glover, who is not too old for that s**t), which Cusack learns from Doomsday prophet/crackpot Charlie Frost (played with the right amount of mania by Woody Harrelson). The rest of the film involves a series of close calls in which Cusack grabs his kids and runs from Manhattan Beach, runs from Yellowstone (which becomes a super-volcano, another phrase I’ve never heard), Las Vegas and all other cities along a doomed path to China where arks are being built, complete with animals, for heads of state and billionaires who can afford the ticket.
The dramatic scenes follow a formula, somewhat. But they follow the formula well, and they genuinely affect the audience. We all know Cusack will survive the close calls throughout the film, but we still feel the tension. We know there will be monologues about sacrifice and continuing humanity, but Ejiofor and Oliver Platt (as Chief of Staff) do them with passion and brio. And the scenes of destruction are done better than any film before it, with great attention to even the smallest details. So if you don’t like disaster films, obviously this film is not for you. But if you do, this film is done exceptionally well, and shouldn’t be discounted just for the director’s continuing pattern, or disputes on the Mayan calendar.
Tags: Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, John Cusack, movie reviews, Roland Emmerich
Posted in Reviews |
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