Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 15th, 2010
The name says it all. With just those four words, you can pretty much figure out everything you need to know about Hot Tub Time Machine. This is very much a party film in the tradition of the Saturday Night Live alumni movies of the 70's and 80's. With the release of this movie, you no longer need to travel back in time to 1986 to watch a film that relies almost entirely on sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll for most of its situational comedy. The rest gets filled in with your standard toilet humor. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, or who exactly I should blame, but at some point filmmakers decided that the only way to elicit laughter was to gross you out. Before long a sort of Hollywood arms race had started. Each new film had as its primary mission the objective to out-gross the ones that came before. If you wish to measure success on that axiom, Hot Tub Time Machine is a very successful movie.
Meet four guys who are in a desperate need to get a life. Adam (Cusack) has just lost his live-in girlfriend. It seems she took a lot of the good stuff, including the television, with her. Nick (Robinson) was once a promising local musician with a loving wife. Now his wife is cheating on him, and he works at a doggie spa named Sup Dawg removing crap from rich folks’ constipated dogs. Lou (Corddry) is divorced, broke, and alone. While getting carried away listening to a rock song on the car stereo, Lou almost kills himself in a closed garage with the car running. His friends, who really don't even like him that much, had long since abandoned him. Now that they think he tried to commit suicide, they get guilted into taking him out for a good time. Together with Adam's geek nephew Jacob (Duke), they decide to go back to the location of their glory years of youth, a ski camp. Of course, a lot has changed in 25 years. The place is now a ghost-town dump. On the bright side, their hotel room comes equipped with a hot tub. The four guys party hard and into the night. When they wake up, the place is packed and jumping like it was in the good old days of Winterfest 1986. There's a good reason for the change. The hot tub has transported them back to 1986 into the bodies of their younger selves. Their good times are hampered by the appearance of a cryptic hot tub repairman (Chase) who appears to know what's going on. He warns them that if they change anything, there could be dire consequences. Jacob's worried that he might not even be born.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on July 7th, 2010
Mention the name of George A. Romero to anyone even remotely familiar with horror movies, and the first thing they're going to think of is zombies. Why shouldn't they? It was Romero who made what might be the first little film that could. Long before Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, Romero set out with his trusty 16 mm camera and a crew of pretty much local Pittsburgh friends, to make Night Of The Living Dead. With this film and the ongoing "Dead" franchise, Romero has pretty much written the rule book on zombies. He is no doubt the zombie king. That's the kind of thing you think of when someone mentions George A. Romero. But, there is this small, at least until recently, group of die-hard Romero fans that might have thought of another film. They might, just might, mind you, be thinking of an obscure 1973 film called The Crazies.
It's a typical small American town. Kids are blissfully riding their bikes. It's the opening day of Little League baseball. Everyone is just enjoying their idyllic Norman Rockwell existence. Don't worry. No one is really trying to pull anything over on you here. We know this pleasantry isn't going to last when the first few seconds of the film depict this very town burning to the ground. Our first hint that something isn't quite as American Pie as all that is when town drunk Rory shows up on the kids' baseball diamond packing a 16-gauge. The gory results cause the town to ask some very easy questions, like why did Rory show up totin' that double-barrel? Sherriff Dave (Olyphant) investigates that very question along with his wife who happens to be the town doctor (Mitchell). The answer, it seems, can be found in the town's water supply and a recently-crashed plane. The U.S. Government has accidentally infected the water supply of a small town with the engineered bio-weapon called Trixie. It eventually infects people and becomes airborne instead. The first stage is a little harmless catatonia. The second stage turns its victims into raging maniacs on steroids before killing them 48 hours later. The feds close down the town and try to round up the residents, corralling them into two groups: The ones who have the virus and the ones who don't. But Dave and his pregnant wife don't intend to stick around while martial law reveals sheer brutality in this once picture-postcard town. It's a tough time to be on the run. Doesn't matter who you run into, crazies or soldiers, both are gonna kill ya dead.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on June 7th, 2010
"I try to believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. Count them, Alice. One, there are drinks that make you shrink. Two, there are foods that make you grow. Three, animals can talk. Four, cats can disappear. Five, there is a place called Underland. Six, I can slay the Jabberwocky."
To be perfectly honest with you, I have never read either of the two Lewis Carroll books on which this film has been based. Under ordinary circumstances, that would put me at a decided disadvantage in both watching the film and certainly in providing an insightful review of the movie. But these are not ordinary circumstances. The characters and their stories, originally told in both Alice's Adventures In Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There, have become an indelible part of our culture. One need not have read a word to be intimately familiar with Alice and her fanciful friends and rivals from Underland, which Alice herself interprets for us as Wonderland. There have been animated features as well as other live action attempts. The characters have become iconic and have appeared in advertising campaigns and even an episode of Star Trek. The surprise isn't that I feel like I know this story without having read the source material. The real surprise would be if there was anyone out in the civilized world who wasn't familiar with these characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 25th, 2010
"On Robben Island, in Pollsmoor Prison, all of my jailers were Afrikaners. For 27 years I studied them. I learned their language. Read their books, their poetry. I had to know my enemy before I could prevail against them. And we did prevail, did we not?"
Leave it to Clint Eastwood to make even rugby look interesting. Of course, Eastwood himself would correct me and observe that Invictus isn't really about rugby. As the words of Nelson Mandela above suggest, this movie wasn't really about rugby at all.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 19th, 2010
"It doesn't look like they have chicken tenders here."
How can you not like Jackie Chan? If there has been a more versatile action or martial arts star, I haven't heard from him. The man made a name for himself in China's film industry as a remarkable martial arts performer. For decades he's been the closest thing the film industry has seen to Bruce Lee. But, unlike Lee, Chan wasn't content with being the best in a single genre. When he finally came to Hollywood, he decided it was a good idea to work a bit more lightheartedness into his films, something he had already begun to do in his homeland, China. The result made him a unique personality on film. It didn't matter if it was straight-out comedy like the Rush Hour or Shanghai films or more serious action adventures like his Police Story outings. Chan is first and foremost ... Chan, not just an action hero. Not afraid to poke fun at himself, he's become a reliable property at the box office.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 18th, 2010
"You, sir, are guilty of disseminating disbelief. Killing dreams. Committing first-degree murder of fantasy, which by Fairy Law, in order to pay your debt to humanity, you are hereby ordered to serve time as a Tooth Fairy. The normal sentence is one week, but because you have the nerve, the unmitigated gall, to actually call yourself a Tooth Fairy, thus making a mockery of everything we stand for, I'm sentencing you to two weeks Tooth Fairy duty."
Dwayne (once The Rock) Johnson has made a bit of a new career move over the last few years. When he left the wrestling ring to "go Hollywood" the expectation was always that he would become an action hero. It's what his fans expected. It's what Johnson wanted, at the time. Movies like The Scorpion King were created completely as vehicles for Johnson to show off his physique and join the ranks of the big strong action heroes. It didn't exactly work out as well as everyone involved expected. He wasn't a flop, but he wasn't setting the movie industry on fire either. But with movies like The Game Plan and Race To Witch Mountain, Johnson appears to have a knack for working with kids in films targeted primarily at kids. He's become a big teddy bear, and it's paying off quite handsomely. While he still hasn't given up the wrestling gigs and an action role here and there, his biggest success so far in Hollywood has been with the kids.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 17th, 2010
For most of this last decade Mel Gibson might as well have vanished from the face of the planet. The once extremely popular actor had charmed the world. Women found his childish grin to be irresistibly sexy, and men bought into the “kick ass and crack a joke” style that made the Lethal Weapon films such a romp of fun. But lately, you expect him to be the subject of a “Where Are They Now” segment from a late show on television. It's no secret why Gibson climbed so quickly out of the public eye. I'm sure everyone still remembers the drunk-driving arrest where Gibson compounded his already serious case of bad judgment with even worse judgment. He tussles with the police officers who stop him and lets loose one of the worst anti-Jewish rants since Pharaoh unloaded on Moses. He apologized, of course, but some things just can never be put back into the box. There's an old Latin phrase that roughly translates to "In wine there is truth". The idea is that Gibson's true feelings were revealed by the reduced inhibitions of alcohol. Whatever his real feelings might be, none of us will ever know, and I don't really have an opinion, or care for that matter, except for the fact that it has removed Mel Gibson from the front of the camera pretty much ever since. His only projects have been as director, producer, and even writer. Even those efforts have been controversial. It's hard to watch The Passion Of The Christ without a visceral reaction to what you've seen. It's been a rough decade for Mel Gibson.
For those who have seen the British mini-series, and I reviewed it in these pages some time ago, you'll find that while the story doesn't really change, the dynamics of the story certainly change, and for the better. This wasn't a good story to drag out over six hours. The British version went into some fantasy elements that this version absolutely avoids. While Craven still appears to be seeing the "ghost" of his dead daughter, it appears to be more in his mind and a product of the grief. In the British series it got rather silly with her teaching him how to do laundry. It was quite absurd, after a time. The basic story elements do remain:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 4th, 2010
These last couple of years have seen a resurgence of a particular kind of character study. For me I think it started with The Wrestler. For Mickey Rourke, it was a powerful comeback and led to an example of grand theft at that year's Oscar celebration. Now, I wouldn't exactly say that Jeff Bridges was in any particular need of a comeback. He's had some pretty steady work over the years. Still, you just can't watch Crazy Heart and not be reminded of The Wrestler. These characters could not be more different in a lot of ways. But they are also cut from the same cloth. Both have already seen their glory days behind them. They've each indulged in some pretty self-destructive behavior. In The Wrestler, it could be argued that the abuse he put on his body was a necessary part of the life he chose. With Crazy Heart, we're talking alcoholism, pure and simple. Still, any of those old cowboys might make the argument that booze is as much a part of the life they choose as the drugs and physical punishment are for a wrestler. It's a pretty good point. Both characters are looking for some kind of redemption with a past child. In this case it's a son. Both are attempting to find healthy relationships, perhaps for the first time in their lives, with single moms who have had some bad luck in the romance department. Finally, both characters are looking for a comeback. Here is where the stories truly diverge. For Mickey Rourke's Ram, he returns because it's the only thing he knows. His job defined him. His comeback will likely mean the end of his life. For Bad Blake, the new career in music could well be his salvation and a chance at a longer life. Whatever the comparisons, both are strong character-driven pieces.
Bad Blake (Bridges) was once on the top of the country charts. But that was a long time ago. Today, he's driving around in his Suburban from gig to gig with about 10 bucks to his name. He's gone from great arenas to bowling allies and small-town dives. He still has a small core group of fans that make even this life possible. The trouble is that Bad chain smokes and drinks his health away. He can barely stand for one gig. His old guitar player Tommy Sweet (Farrell) has offered him the chance to open for his act. More important, Sweet wants him to write some new songs for him, and is willing to pay well for them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2010
"You're not in Kansas any more. You're on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact every second of every day. If there is a Hell, you might want to go there for some R&R after a tour on Pandora. Out there beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for Jujubes..."
I don't really have to tell you what Avatar is. If you haven't heard of it by now, I have only one question to ask of you: How was that coma? Ever since he cleaned up at the box office with Titanic, James Cameron has been planning this movie. The only trouble was that the technology to make it did not exist. Most filmmakers would have either tried anyway, or simply waited until the hardware caught up with their imaginations. Not James Cameron. He decided to invent the equipment himself. The result is a new 3D filming process that allows for the most realistic images you likely have ever seen on a movie screen. He combined the new process and equipment with new state-of-the-art computer-generated technology. The result is a movie that is truly the first of its kind. It was a huge risk for Cameron. A lot of money went into not only making the film but the technology development. In many ways Avatar was really an audition film. Cameron wants to make his equipment the stuff other filmmakers use to create their own silver screen dreams. It was a gamble. Judging by the box office take, it paid off big time. With a box office return of nearly $3 billion worldwide, James Cameron now has the number one and number two top-grossing movies in the history of the industry. If you're keeping count, it's a total box office take of just under $5 billion for two movies.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2010
"Imagine a world of incredible color and beauty. Of crabs wearing jellyfish for hats. Of fish disguised as frogs, stones, and shag carpets. Of a kaleidoscope of underwater life. Now go explore it."
Jim Carrey narrates this IMAX experience that takes you deep under the ocean. The film focuses on five particular locations: New Britain and Milne Bay (both in New Guinea), South Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and Indonesia. Because this was filmed with IMAX equipment and presented here in high definition, you can expect a pretty spectacular ride on this one. Most of the animals shown here are obscure and rare, including plenty of cuttlefish segments and some really bizarre but striking sea dragons. The coral reef settings are extremely beautiful. It was originally presented in 3D during its IMAX run, but that version is not included here.
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