Hot Tub Time Machine

Starring John Cusack, Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry and Chevy Chase

It's about damn time we had a comedy that didn't care about itself or take itself too serious. Believe me when I tell all you high brow people that think this looks stupid based on the previews, THAT'S THE IDEA!!!!!!!!! Ive heard a few people say this movie looks dumb and yet these are the same people that shovel over their money to go see whatever else Hollywood decides to spoon feed them and pass off as a comedy and for the most part it comes down to star power. There is no huge current comedic actor in the forefront and maybe that's the source of your skepticism. Trust me, the people involved are funnier than or at least as funny as Jim Carrey or Seth Rogan of late.
Story? Shut up. This is a strong R rating and pulls no punches in the raunch dept. There's your story. Even John Cusack himself said it best when he called this the best hot tub time machine movie of all time. Crispin Glover is fantastic with a one armed running gag and for enthusiast's his presence is no accident (think time travel movies). The same can be said about Tom Lennon and his early appearance (he too was in a movie of the same vein). These little nods are clever if you can pick up on them.
The soundtrack is another reason to sit back and enjoy if the 80s were your bag with the likes of Public Enemy, Motley Crue, INXS and others.
That brings us to the best eye candy of all, the outfits/hairstyles are bang on and the whole atmosphere reeks of 1986 and its a good reek.
Not only am I recommending this movie for anyone old enough for this to mean something but I am also eagerly awaiting a sequel for either the 70s or 90s.

Rating 3 1/2 Red Dawn clips out of 5

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The Green Zone

Starring Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear

I will be the first to admit that after seeing the preview for this movie and knowing that it Starred Damon and was helmed by the man that brought us 2 of the 3 Bourne Redundancy movies, I expected more of the same. Luckily that wasn't the case. If you can call this a factual account of the search for the WMD's in Iraq that lead to Saddam Hussein's eventual downfall, then that's what we get.
Damon is leading a team in Iraq to several empty locations that promised a cache of these so called weapons of mass destruction and after the 3rd strike, he gets a little upset. Our hero starts to ask questions that no one wants to hear, questions like "Who is our intel source?" And "Why does he suck?"
The only major difference between the look of this film and the other Bourne movies is that Damon gets his ass kicked a few times here and isn't nearly as cool as he thinks he is. We are however treated to the same style of camera work that frankly ruined the Bourne franchise for me. From out of focus shots to blurry and shaky hand held garbage, movies like this are an epileptics nightmare. I fully get that this so called "style" is used to put the viewer in the action and make it all the more realistic, but in that regard it simply doesn't work. I'm sorry but there is one scene that starts off out of focus and that doesn't make me think I'm right there in the thick of it all. It makes me think that you made a gigantic mistake.
All of my griping about the technical disaster here aside, the story is rather engaging. From the Iraqi's point of view to the average American soldier thinking that something just isn't quite right, we gain several perspectives as to the atmosphere of the time and the course of events that lead us to 7 years later still cleaning up the poorly run campaign/war that began with "Shock and Awe"
For war nerds and history buffs, this movie works. For the action fan, it works just as well. But for people that would rather watch a cleanly filmed and frankly better war movie such as The Hurt Locker, maybe you should skip this one.

Rating 2 lousy intel reports out of 5

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Cop Out

Starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan

Kevin Smith tries his hand at the old buddy cop formula here and well, 48 hrs it ain't.
That being said, there are some funny moments here and there from Tracy Morgans character who is pretty much just his 30 Rock persona only with a gun. Between the shouting of every punchline and zinger the more subtle lines end up being the best. Willis looks tired and perhaps that's warranted after having played a cop in at least a dozen films to date, but he manages to let Morgan do his thing and believe me, this isn't a Bruce Willis movie despite his top billing.
Now onto the little things that tick me off in movies like this. I know Kevin Smith doesn't have the biggest budget in the world but small things like the thugs having tattoos that look like an 8th grade art class drew and applied them just kinda bugs me. Sloppy oversights like no one wearing seat belts, cops or bad guys, just seems lazy. Also the over use of certain Latin bad guys is getting stale quickly. The head baddy here is played by Guillermo Diaz and you may recognize him as playing the Latin bad guy in The Shield, Weeds, Law And Order, E.R, The Sopranos or in other drug related movies like High School High, Half Baked and so on. WE GET IT!!!!! You are the only actor that can play a no good Latino. This sort of type casting makes me cringe.
Again, you get what you pay for I guess.
I did at least love the soundtrack with the film opening to the Beastie Boys No Sleep Til Brooklyn and keeping an old school flair with Run DMC and even a little Poison thrown in for good measure. The music fit nicely into every scene, especially the one with the bad guy Mexicans and Insane In The Brain (Spanish version) by Cypress Hill being the backdrop. Clever.
You will chuckle here if you like Tracy Morgan but he definitely isn't for everyone. All others, tread lightly.

Rating 2 movie quotes out of 5



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