Friday, February 19, 2010

Mooshki - Movie Review - Hot Tub Time Machine


‘Hot Tub Time Machine’

Plot summary: Four guys go to a ski resort, get wasted in a hot tub and wake up as themselves in 1986. (Well, 3 of them as their younger selves - the fourth hadn’t been born yet in ‘86, so he goes back as his 2010 self.)

I love John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Lizzy Caplan, Craig Robinson and Crispin Glover, and I love ‘80s nostalgia (as long as they don’t bring back the fashion - for the love of god, people!) but this movie didn’t blow me away. I think it suffered by comparison to ‘The Hangover.’ I did laugh quite a bit, but it wasn’t ‘hard-to-breathe-clutch-your-gut’ laughter. Also, most of the ‘80s gags we’ve seen before. “Oh look! It’s a giant cell phone!”

Rob Corddry is the Zach Galifianakis equivalent, and he was funny, just not quite as funny. Part of the problem was that half of his jokes were gay jokes. “Oh my god, he’s getting naked in front of other guys!!! He must be gay! Hahahaha!” (Or not.) Not to get all pc on you, but most of it was ‘straight white guy’ humor, not ‘funny for anyone’ humor. Chevy Chase’s character was pretty much a waste. There were, of course, some ‘Back to the Future’ references, but I wish they had utilized Crispin more for that, although his character is one of the best parts of the movie. Clark Duke was also great. I hadn’t heard of him before this, but I think he’s going to have a solid career ahead of him. The rest of the cast - good, but I’ve seen them better.

My favorite things: “Two dollars,” “I write Stargate fanfiction,” and including “I Will Dare” by the Replacements in the soundtrack.

So, basic review: good but not great. I think it’s worth seeing at a matinee, or definitely as a rental, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it. (Release date: March 26th)


18 comments:

  1. Thanks, Mooshki! The cast does look good so I'm enticed to see it, but I appreciate the details and will make sure I see it during the daylight hours at the reduced ticket price.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great review Mooshki! I'm going to wait until it's on t.v. but I'll watch for it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks, Moosh. I love all these actors so will see it for them.
    I have loved Craig Robinson in absolutely everything so far - I wish he received more time on The Office.

    ReplyDelete
  4. You can go to the website and pick a screening in your area and get free tickets. You print them when the come in your e-mail,in my case,about 30 seconds.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I stopped reading at "Crispin Glover" SOLD!

    ReplyDelete
  6. You had me at John Cusack.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Nice job on the review Moosh!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks Moosh--I will wait for the DVD release.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous5:26 PM

    Moosh--I saw this at Rosedale on Wednesday. We may have been in the same room and not known it

    ReplyDelete
  10. Yep, that's the one I went to! Funny!!! If you heard a frequent loud, obnoxious laugh from down in the front section, that was me. I inherited my dad's horse braying.

    Off-topic story: My dad's best friend started the Oak Street Cinema, and my dad was on the board. They had a dinner for Elliott Gould - he was in town promoting some movie. He walked in to the restaurant, and my dad immediately said "Wow, you got big!" Every one froze, then my dad started laughing his huge laugh and everyone relaxed and started laughing too. My dad was a character!

    ReplyDelete
  11. And thanks for the encouragement, guys! I still think it's crazy that Enty is kind enough to post my very non-professional reviews. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh how meta. To those of us in my age group, John Cusack IS the 80s. I must see this movie.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous8:53 PM

    mooshki - I think I was sitting in front of you. Were you in the first couple of seats by the entrance? The boyfriend and I were in the 2nd row down right on the aisle (we normally try to get closest to the door, but there was either dried chocolate, poop, or vomit in the 2nd chair in, so went down a row).

    and for what it's worth - aside from the gay jokes, this movie was hilarious. A much better remember-the-80s movie than Superbad.

    ReplyDelete
  14. If you like Clarke Duke did you see Sex Drive?
    I thought that movie was good, bit slow in some spots, but not a bad effort! And it had Seth Green and Amanda Crew!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I quite liked "Sex Drive", actually...I was surprised, I thought it was just going to be stupid.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wait a minute - if DNfromMN was at the same theatre as Mooshki - where was Enty?!? Brain exploding! Conspiracy crumbling!

    ReplyDelete
  17. i love HTTM! our band made a song and video about it bc we love time travel and the 80s and craig robinson so much!

    www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnVsUTXjasA

    ReplyDelete