Movie Reviews By Movie Reviews Pro

Hot Tub Time Machine

Rating:

Movie: Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Studio : Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 100 min

Website : hottubtimemachinemovie.com/

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbmlpy

Review:

Adam (John Cusack), Lou (Rob Corddry), and Nick (Craig Robinson) are lifelong friends who are unhappy with their lives, who along with Adam’s nephew Jacob (Clark Duke), find themselves trapped in 1986, via the hot tub time machine, as their younger selves, reliving their past and missed opportunities, with a possibility (or impossibility?) of changing their present/future.

Much of the film’s strength is the fact that it takes place in the 80’s–the funky hair, the music, the slang, and the nostalgic factor. Loosely based on Back to the Future’s time traveling plotline, it also pokes fun at Quantum Leap, and various other 80’s films. Added to that is male-bonding comedy about lovable losers reliving their pinnacle moments of their past, and to the film’s credit, those moments provide poignancy.

This is a sci-fi B-movie-style broad comedy. This film is directed by Steve Pink who wrote the screenplay for Grosse Pointe Blank and High Fidelity. I wished he had also written this film because this film could’ve used some of his sharp wit. While the film is mostly funny overall, occasional jokes do fall flat and some parts could’ve used one more draft of rewrite. Better or for worse, much of the humor (although not surprisingly) involve toilet and sexual humor, with some gratuitous drug use and nudity.

This isn’t sophisticated stuff, but this film isn’t trying to be. It’s called Hot Tub Time Machine, after all. The film works because the characters are likeable and the time travel concept is fun. John Cusack plays his usual, likeable everyman role. Lou (Rob Corddry) provides much of the extreme, wild humor. There are fun geeky references, familiar faces, and nostalgic elements for those of us who grew up in that era–the younger generation may have a hard time fully appreciating some of that. Nevertheless, the filmmakers know it’s silly stuff and they milk and revel in the concept to its fullest extent, which is all one can ask for.

-“D-Art” Kang

Comedy, In Theaters, Reviews by Genre Comedy, John Cusack

The Natural (Director's Cut)

Rating:

Movie: Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Studio : Millenium Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 144 min

Website : N/A

Trailer :

Review:

“The Natural” was one of the first major films directed by Barry Levinson who has produced 41 projects, written 26, and directed 34, on top of acting in 9, making him one of the most prolific film makers in Hollywood 25 years later. In 1984, only his third film made was a sensation, much having to do with the movie starring Robert Redford, backed by Glenn Close, Kim Basinger, Robert Duvall, and Wilford Brimley. For Redford, this was his 51st project, which might have seems anti-climactic for the actor, having followed such projects as “The Chase” starring Marlon Brando, “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “The Sting” costarring alongside Paul Newman, “The Great Gatsby”, and “A Bridge too Far”. Already 48, Redford’s acting career had seen some of its greatest successes. Despite being in the shadow of many of his greatest successes, there is the ability to say that he might not have peaked until the making of this film. Between Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB, “The Natural” didn’t make a huge impression on the public, but some of the movies with the highest production value go unseen.

Like every film, the first five minutes are key. The film opens with a young Roy Hobbs (Redford) diving for a catch in a tall, grassy field. A soft fanfare accentuates the catch. Redford immediately is shown, remembering the lessons of his youth including him witnessing the death of his father. The second most important character of the film is shown almost immediately afterward, his baseball bat, “Wonderboy” which he hand-carved from the wood of a tree struck by lightning. After boarding a train, he is elicited the challenge to pitch to a character that can only be Babe Ruth. In three pitches, he strikes “Whammer” out. Though he is on the train to become the newest member of professional baseball, Hobbs makes it no further than the train, being shot by a silver bullet from an assassin’s gun. The story is based on the novel written by Bernard Malamud who fictionalized the career of Philadelphia Phillies’ Eddie Waitkus, who was shot by an obsessed fan.

The film is well written, with a style that sounds truly natural (forgive the pun) coming from each of the of the incredible performer’s mouths coupled with the direction of Levinson and the script by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry.
The film’s lighting is incredibly positioned, with soft key lights and orange filters which gives the movie a warm, summer-like feel which is fitting of a baseball movie. Because of this, the primary colors are warm tones, including the New York Knights’ accentuating red on their uniforms. The warm tones also help to create an old feel, as Wilkus’ and subsequently, Hobbs career was primarily in the 1930s.

The color red is almost in every shot of the film, from the roses during his first dinner in a hotel, which foreshadows Hobb’s passionate relationship with the girlfriend (Basinger) of one of the other baseball players (Madsen). Because of the filters, the blue is do dark that in many shots, it looks little more than a deep purple or even black. At moments in the film, only natural light is used, coupled with dark silhouettes, giving the look of inspiration coming from filme noir that was popular during the era, which helps to give authenticity to the project. During the time that they play early on, the filters are changed to a blue, reflecting the feeling of depression and frustration by all of the characters, despondent over the fact that they have been on a severely losing streak. One pitch is sent to him, which passes him without a swing. His second pitch is accentuated with a lightning bolt as his bat connects with the ball, knocking the leather from the insides. Immediately afterward the warm filters are back, the news reporters already.

There are many points of humor, which are only moments here or there, grouped together, including the 7th inning stretch speeches which liken losing to a disease.

I won’t ruin the last 2/3 of the film. What I can say is that it definitely is worth the watch, having a runtime of almost 2 ½ hours. Not only is this probably Redford’s greatest film, it is also one of the greatest films ever made, with a story that ends naturally, neither happily nor sad, but with great closure to a great story. If you haven’t seen this film, or if it’s been years, it would behoove you to change the habit, pick it up from the rental store or put it in the queue of your Netflix account. You won’t be disappointed.

-M. Sigurd Hall

Drama, On DVD, Reviews by Genre, sports Drama, Robert Redford, Sport, The Natural

Brooklyn’s Finest

Rating:

Movie: Brooklyn’s Finest (2010)

Studio : Millenium Films

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 132 min

Website : brooklynsfinestthemovie.com

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbjqfc

Review:

I’m currently teaching a class in introductory literature, during which students are required to read one play. This semester, that play will be Oedipus Rex. As I’ve been rereading the play and attempting to tie it into my lessons on Greek tragedy, I couldn’t help but think of Brooklyn’s Finest, which stars three characters who could easily be tragic heroes in a Greek drama.

The first is Tango (Don Cheadle), a narc who’s been undercover for so long that he’s become confused about where his loyalties lie, particularly to Caz (a returning Wesley Snipes), a drug dealer who apparently saved him during a prison riot when he did an undercover stint there. Eddie (Richard Gere) is a burnt-out patrolman with seven days left before retirement. We first see him when he wakes himself up by chugging some whiskey and pointing a revolver into his mouth. Ethan Hawke is Sal, a detective with a wife and family that’s too big to support, with a set of twins on the way. In desperation, he’s taken to robbing drug dealers.

The movie intercuts these three stories, as we’re meant to see the hardships that real New York City cops endure: it’s the antidote to the fake buddy cop picture. We see Tango’s frustration appear to drift into borderline madness as he keeps being promised Detective First Grade by his supervisor (Will Patton) and threatened by a slimy agent (Ellen Barkin) if he doesn’t bust Caz. Eddie’s being asked to mentor rookie cops by taking them into the high-crime Brooklyn streets that have worn him down. His “retirement ceremony” brings some dark humor, all the more because it’s so sad. Sal’s wife (Lili Taylor) has to go to the hospital because of mold on the ceiling, which is threatening the health of her unborn twins. “Can you move to a bigger house?” the doctor asks. If only he knew…

The pacing here is excellent. Antoine Fuqua, the director of Training Day, does a great job at moving back and forth between these three stories, never dwelling on one for too long but allowing us enough time to get to know each character. The only downside was I had a hard time sympathizing with Hawke’s character, who seems to have put himself in his predicament of “too many kids.” My reasons will make me sound inhuman, so I’ll stop there.

The cinematography is fitting to the story as well. We don’t see overhead shots of the Brooklyn Bridge with the Manhattan skyline in the background, like most New York-set movies. Shots are limited to the streets, because this is the world occupied by these cops. The romance of New York is lost by most people who live there, but these guys appear to see it as a crime-ridden hellhole. With the exception of a shot of a subway station and the Brooklyn accents (well-done by both Gere and Hawke), this could really take place in any city.

One of my favorite movies is Requiem for a Dream, based on the Hubert Selby book. I hadn’t seen his name on any of the previews, but I wondered for a bit if the screenplay had been adapted from one of his novels. Brooklyn served as a fitting backdrop for his stories, all of which focused on multiple characters suffering from their own faults, and ultimately, succumbing to the consequences to follow. Michael C. Martin and Brad Caleb Kane, the screenwriters, certainly seem to have been inspired. It’s well-written and well-made. Not as good as Training Day, but worth the trip to the theater.

-Craig Wynne

Action, Crime, Drama, Just left Theaters, Reviews by Genre, Reviews by Status, Thriller Action, Brooklyn's Finest, crime, Drama, Richard Gere, Thriller

Alice in Wonderland

Rating:

Movie: Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Studio : Paramount Pictures

Info : Click Here

Runtime : 108 min

Website : aliceinwonderland

Trailer :http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcevm5

Review:

Roger Ebert was the person who got me started reviewing movies for my middle school newspaper. In preparing for my reviews, I usually read his, and he came to an epiphany about Alice in Wonderland: Lewis Carroll didn’t write it for children. As I watched the film, I reflected back to when I was six years old, when I first saw the film. I remembered being completely confused throughout the film and somewhat frightened when Alice was being chased by the Queen and her mob of cards (I also thought back to why my friends and I were so fascinated by it during college). As I write this review, I realize Tim Burton was the perfect candidate to direct this version, which plays like a tripped-out nightmare (which Carroll’s story essentially is).

This version starts off with little Alice having just returned from Wonderland, being comforted by her father. We quickly cut to Alice at age 19 (likably played by Mia Wasikowska), who is about to enter an arranged marriage with Hamish Ascot, a total doofus (Leo Bill). Rightfully afraid of the monotonous life that awaits her, she flees in the middle of the ceremony and chases another white rabbit down a hole. Two seconds later, she’s back in Underland and off on a new adventure.

The visual elements here are amazing, as is characteristic of Burton. Bonham Carter has (literally) taken on a swelled head for the role of the vengeful, jealous Red Queen, and Tweedledee and Tweedledum are complete grotesques. Burton also gives this world a very dark-looking tone, which is actually even more fitting for the story than the generally pleasant-looking one of the 1951 animated version.

Burton mainstay Tim Burton gives the Mad Hatter (who turns out to be an instrumental ally in Alice’s quest) a third dimension. The story, while slow in spots, picks up when Alice is thrust into a war between the Red Queen and her sister, the benevolent White Queen (Anne Hathaway). There’s also one memorable exchange between Carter and Hathaway that allows us to peer into the mind of the evil Red Queen and infer how she came to be the creature that she is.

I enjoyed the movie, but I’ll warn parents of very young children that this is only for ages 8 and up. A very young child left the theater with his mother, in tears at one of the more violent sequences. However, in a few years, the kid probably will be enthralled by it, as will the parents.

-Craig Wynne

Adventure, Family, Fantasy Adventure, Alice in Wonderland, Family, Fantasy, tim burton