Short Review: Hot Tub Time Machine.

Note: I know, I feel so late to the game on this one... but *insert time travel joke here*.

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Premise: Three old friends and one's nephew accidentally travel back in time via hot tub to 1986 to relive an important night in their lives.

Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, Crispin Glover, and Chevy Chase.

My Reaction: Horribly disappointed with this film after hearing such good things about it. I laughed maybe twice in the whole film (I particularly enjoyed both the "great white buffalo" joke and the Crispin Glover arm gag). Rob Corddry's Lou was incredibly annoying and nearly unbearable for the majority of the film, only becoming watchable near the last act. I know the character is supposed to be an ass, but there's a way to do that and still want to watch the film. I came close to turning off the movie before they even traveled back in time. The others were pretty good, though. The other parts of the film that didn't include Corddry (and there were very few moments where that happened) were alright. But otherwise, the movie was pretty predictable and largely unfunny with only a couple parts here and there. The movie isn't honestly as bad as I'm making it sound, but it's nothing I'd go out of my way to watch again.


Feed Me, Seymour!

ALICE IN WONDERLAND.

I tried going last weekend, but it kept being sold out. So I went this weekend instead. And my showing was still relatively full, but it didn't get that way until right before the movie started, so it was easy enough to get it early. Anywho... let me prelude by saying I have no deep connection or obsession with the original cartoon movie or the source material. I also do not obsess over Tim Burton, though I do enjoy (most of) his movies. And it didn't bother me in the slightest that this one followed his formula: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, twisted designs, and black and white juxtaposed against brighter colors. In other words, what every other movie blogger/review has been bitching and moaning about for the last year hasn't bugged me whatsoever. In fact, most reviews I've read have focused on the fact that it's Tim Burton being Tim Burton, while I looked at the movie purely as a movie and not as a "Tim Burton" movie. That being said, let's get into it.

This film acts like a sequel of sorts where Alice (Mia Wasikowska) is grown up and about to be proposed to by a Lord. But when she runs off to go think about it, she falls down the rabbit hole yet again. Despite growing up with strange dreams of Wonderland, she doesn't recognize any of it and can't figure out what to do, which causes some of its bizarre characters to wonder if she's truly "the" Alice. You see, Underland (not Wonderland) has been taken over by the tyrannical Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter) because she controls the dangerous Jabberwocky. But it is apparently Alice's destiny to regain the Vorpal Sword, return it to the White Queen (Anne Hathaway), and become the champion that will slay the Jabberwocky and return peace to Underland. To help her are some memorable characters including, but not limited to, the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), Tweedledee and Tweedledum (Matt Lucas), the Cheshire Cat (Stephen Fry), and Absolom the Blue Caterpillar (Alan Rickman). Other actors to grace this film include Crispin Glover, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall.

There's not a whole lot to say about the movie. Let's start with the positive. Visually, the movie is magnificent. There are a couple issues here and there, but for the most part, the CGI is wonderful to look at. The story itself is also interesting, though there are a couple logic holes here and there. For instance, if the Cheshire Cat can evaporate and do whatever he wants, what stops him from just destroying the Red Queen himself? He's already damn near invincible. Also (bit of a spoiler here), there's kind of a leap of faith to take that the Bandersnatch will change sides just like that (end spoiler here).

Acting-wise, it was about half and half. Mia Wasikowska does pretty good as Alice, and Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, and Matt Lucas are the next stand-outs. In fact, I really only had three issues with certain characters. First was Crispin Glover's character. Something about how he moved really irked me and just came off as overly fake, like they weren't done with the CGI but released the film anyway. I really didn't care for that character overall. The next big issue I had was with Anne Hathaway. I don't know whether to blame Hathaway or Burton, but the way the character was portrayed was just... stupid. It was overly regal and just plain silly. Her hands wear always up like a drunken T-Rex, and she had to flow about and spin around to make any kind of basic movement. It was all incredibly annoying to watch. Luckily, though, she's not in the movie all that much. The last little irksome bit was actually with Depp. I'm sure it was to help portray his character as, well, mad... but his constantly changing accents bugged me. Sometimes he'd be British, sometimes Scottish, sometimes... well, who knows? It was more of a subtle thing, but it still bothered me a bit.

Those were actually my biggest issues with the movie. It didn't blow me away, but I didn't hate it. The visuals were outstanding, and most of the acting was pretty well done. The story was engaging, though it did start to drag a bit near the third act. I just wanted to get on with the battle already. Again, I'm not sure how one would take it if you're an Alice fanatic or if you have a bias against Burton for being too similar in all his movies, but if you aren't those types, then I'm sure you'll find it at least pretty good and enjoyable.


I Am McLovin!

(P.S. The 3D aspect of it was pointless. Besides maybe a couple scenes here and there, there wasn't any point to having it in 3D).

9.

I've been psyched for this movie since the first trailer hit at the end of last year. I loved the look of it, and I love post-apocalyptic stories. I also loved the idea of "StitchPunk." The movie takes place in a future where machines and humans have gone to war and destroyed the planet. The machines are no longer functional, except for "The Beast," and the last human (a scientist) gives his life to create 9 little rag dolls that will help continue life on the planet. 9 (Elijah Wood) wakes up in this strange world and is found by the elderly 2 (Martin Landau). But when 2 is taken by The Beast, 9 is then found by the other remaining rag dolls, including friendly 5 (John C. Reilly); the leader, 1 (Christopher Plummer); the bodyguard, 8 (Fred Tatasciore); and the crazy one, 6 (Crispin Glover). They also eventually find (or are found by) 7 (Jennifer Connelly) and 3 and 4 (no voices). And after 9 accidentally awakens a machine while going on a rescue mission for 2, they must find a way to defeat it or be destroyed themselves.

This movie has so much going for it, but it also has one major flaw. Let's talk about the good first. The animation is gorgeous. From the character design to the atmosphere created by the scenery and locations, I absolutely adored the visuals of this movie. It also had a ton of great and imaginative action sequences. 7 was a total badass.

I also picked up on a lot of underlying themes of religion and a hint of religion versus science/alchemy. For instance, the sanctuary--as 1 sees it--is a church, but he rebels against the safe haven of the library full of books about science and whatnot. Of course, there's the more obvious of matchup of machines (soulless AKA science) versus souls (religious). And the movie seems to be about merging the two--not in a scientology kind of way, but more in a "let's work together" kind of way. Or maybe I'm just crazy and reading too much into it, but that's how I saw it all.

The major flaw of the movie, however, was its incredibly short running time. The movie is barely over an hour long without credits (all together, it's 79 minutes). This greatly hinders the movie's potential. I found its biggest problems stemmed from this, such as not taking enough time to develop the characters and know enough about them and their backstories. The most we really get is how 5 lost one of his eyes, which is shown just minutes after you meet him. Sure, you eventually gained sympathy for them (primarily 3, 4, 5, and 7). It was hard not to like the cute 3 and 4. 5 is made purely for sympathetic reasons, and 7 is just an awesome character. But it would have been so much better had they all had more backstory. They were each unique, yes, but beyond the masks and personality traits, there was (ironically) nothing more than an empty shell/doll.

Another issue brought on by the short time span was a lack of plot explanation. I understood what was going on throughout the movie, but then the ending came, and I was like "...huh? Did I miss something?" In an attempt not to spoil things, let me say this as vaguely as possible (though there are probably mild spoilers anyway). What was the whole purpose of the amulet? It seemed circular in logic to me. It was there to release taken souls, but souls wouldn't have been taken without its existence. I was waiting for some higher purpose that never came.

Overall, though, I was highly entertained. It had beautiful animation and great action. There were some fun characters, too, but I just wish there was more depth given to them. The movie desperately needed to be longer and more fleshed out. But otherwise, it was a fun flick. And I'm scoring it based on entertainment value rather than "what it could have been" (I guess that makes me a glass half full kinda guy?).

A Keanu 'Whoa'