Hot Tub Time Machine Thoughts
Before I discuss the story problems with this film, I want to preface it. I’ve been looking forward to this movie for months. John Cusack, the king of the 80’s, returning to an era he knows all too well, joined by talented funny guys, how could it go wrong? But while the concept was fun, it missed a lot of marks.
1) Humor — this movie has been advertised as a raunchy, crazy comedy, but it didn’t really do that at all. There were some subtle jokes thrown in the film, which I appreciated, but the laughs just weren’t frequent enough. I found scenes where it appeared they didn’t try to put any sort of jokes in it. For screenwriters the universal rule is there needs to be at least a joke on every page. Even if it’s not the funniest joke every written, you need something for everyone included.
2) Time Travel Talk — they spend way too much time discussing the theory of time travel, or how it worked, yada yada. At this point in the history of cinema, everyone has seen a few time travel movies. We get it. Just move on. Take a cue from Coppola’s only comedy (from the 80’s) “Peggy Sue Got Married.” Just jump into the story, let the characters and audience figure out what’s going on as the story continues. Don’t stop the action so these guys can sit in a room for what felt like 5 minutes.
3) The bad guy sucked — big time. The big “rival” to Rob Corddry’s character was hardly threatening, and I never felt like the guys were ever in any real danger of not returning. Part of the problem is you don’t ever meet this character until a third into the film, which is a real problem. The script needed to take a closer viewing of Back To The Future and see how they handled Biff, introducing him as a jackass who controls Marty’s Fathers life, to the end, where he kisses his ass.
4) The whole premise of Hot Tub Time Machine is that they travel back in time. And that’s why we are in our theater seats! So why do they wait until Act 2 before they FINALLY travel back in time? Too long! Too much backstory! I want to see these guys rip apart and make fun of people in the 80’s, not bitch and moan for the first 20 minutes about their lives.
I really wanted to love this film, it was aware the premise was ridiculous and was ready to go crazy. But then they backed off by trying to instill more of a deeper meaning into the film, which wasn’t going to work. Would I watch it again? Sure, but only for the actors…
And just like that, he’s gone. It’s been an interesting few weeks with all the back and forth negotiations between NBC and Conan, with Leno and Letterman stirred in. There was always a small hope of mine that perhaps they could figure out some alternative plan and keep Conan around, but apparently it wasn’t in the cards. I’m glad I was able to at least participate in history, as one of the first audience members to ever see his show, and now a small group who ever attended during its brief run. Perhaps now my Tonight Show hat and ticket are worth something.
I’d like to issue a challenge to screenwriters who pen teen comedies. Push yourself. Try to do more than dick and fart jokes. I know it’s difficult, give it a shot.
I just finished reading Time magazines article on “The End of Excess,” and one part that particularly struck me was that during the 70’s, a time of renewed entrepreneurship and creative thinkers, Microsoft and Apple were formed. So I began to think, how can a business today do things in a fresh and more efficient way than it’s already being done?
I used to think Hollywood was about creativity, the best of the best, where money and talent goes to make something awesome. Then I discovered the truth, especially in more recent times. Independent films is where creativity goes, because the studio system has almost given up on creating fresh ideas. This post is spurred by the recent news that a Total Recall remake is on track. Yes, the 1990 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Because apparently its TOO OLD? Utterly ridiculous. You want to remake a movie, pick some old Cary Grant movie. With this mind set we’ll be seeing a Back to the Future remake soon.
I caught Zack and Miri Make a Porno at my local $1.50 theater, and thought it was pretty entertaining. It had some unforgettable gags and is a movie worth watching again. I went home and looked up the reviews for it on RottenTomatoes, and was a little surprised about how much it was bashed. Particularly the most annoying thing was how much the critics would try to size up Kevin Smith to Judd Apatow. Apparently since 40 year old virgin, there is a bar held out at a certain height, and you must clear the Judd Bar. Why do they insist that Kevin Smith, the pioneer of witty dialogue and offensive jokes, have all the same moments and beats?
As the economy continues to spiral downward as the problems continue to compound, there is still an industry going strong. Your local box office. Despite people having less money, people still continue to go to the theater, so as long as there is worthwhile films to watch. Unfortunately less funding is available to the production companies due to everybody tightening up their wallets, but this continues to display that even in times of economic hardship, people still need to escape their lives for two hours. Let’s hope the SAG doesn’t go on strike, and things start to turn around.
You may wonder, how do I know this? And then I’ll tell you. Because IMDB has posted a news article about Lindsay Lohan complaining about getting locked out of her account on Facebook. Yes, quite the news indeed. I’m wondering if IMDB has hired someone who sits there and is told, if Lindsay updates her MySpace blog, I want you to copy what she says and post it on our site. This is CRITICAL. I don’t think I could ever be a journalist, particularly for a magazine like People, because I’d have to write articles about topics that in the real world mean absolutely nothing. IMDB, if I cared what Lindsay thought of things, I’d read her myspace page. OH gotta go, Paris just updated her blog!