The Reel Deal: Hot Tub Time Machine & How to Train Your Dragon
“Hot Tub Time Machine” I’ll admit it; when “Hot Tub Time Machine” managed to cram a poop joke, a pee joke, and a gag involving projectile vomiting all within the first 20 minutes of the film, I was extremely reluctant to stay and witness what other bodily functions would be crudely showcased. That, and the fact that I was watching a movie so insipidly entitled “Hot Tub Time Machine.”
To no surprise, the film was able to toss another immature gag involving semen into the mix, but that’s not the point. The real surprise here is that “Hot Tub Time Machine” is actually funny, hilarious even. It rolls with the punches and hits the gut every time.
My only word of warning is to avoid seeing this movie with a cold, especially that containing a nasty cough (as I unfortunately had to). There’s no denying that “Hot Tub Time Machine” will be any less funnier, but by the end of it all your air supply may be drastically atrophied, along with the patience of those around you.
The film stars John Cusack among comedy regulars Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, and Clark Duke as buddies who, after a night of hard partying, drinking, and male bonding in a ski resort’s hot tub, wind up waking up in the year 1986. And I thought the crew from “The Hangover” had it bad.
Typical time-travel hoo-hah ensues. The gang looks normal to themselves and to the audience, but when they gaze into a mirror they see themselves from the 80s (most hilarious is Craig Robinson’s younger self, complete with a glorious hi-top fade). Token nerd Jacob (Duke) explains that nothing can be changed in the past or else the future could be severely altered, meaning that the remaining three guys, actually alive and kicking in ’86, must relive every moment of their previous experience at the resort.
For Adam (Cusack), it involves breaking up with his then-girlfriend and being stabbed in the eye with a fork. For Lou (Corddry), he must challenge an airhead ski patrolman to a fight, and then proceed to get his ass kicked. And Nick (Robinson) needs to perform with his band on stage and hook up with an amazingly attractive coed. It would seem like he got the best gig of the bunch, but Nick still considers it cheating on his wife, even though in 1986 she was only 9 years old.
Eventually, everything goes awry, with conflict leading to hilarity. Major highlights include Robinson busting out “Jessie’s Girl” and The Black Eyed Peas’ “Let’s Get It Started” (the latter, of course, being from the future) and Crispin Glover as the resort’s doorman, whose recurring gag is one of the film’s best bits. Chevy Chase pops up from time to time as the hot tub repair man slash mystical time travel wizard, yet his performance is the only thing in the whole film that seems out of place and unfunny.
As the movie draws to a close, it piles on loopholes and loose ends with the generosity of a philanthropist. This is usually somewhat common with movies on time travel; a cinematic theme I feel will always be slightly flawed. “Hot Tub Time Machine” is extremely flawed by these ambiguities, but it is really hard to worry about inconsistencies with a film like this. I just watched (and enjoyed) a comedy about four buddies traveling through time via hot tub. Why apply logic?
“How to Train Your Dragon” is an absolutely genuine delight. Meshing the fibers of visual grandeur and family-fueled entertainment, the film is an exhilarating passage from the ordinary to elsewhere; whisking us away to a land where dragons may be real, yet the humans are just as developmentally authentic.
The film’s primary focus, a young teenager named Hiccup (fittingly voiced by Jay Baruchel), is an adolescent trapped within the confines of pubescent awkwardness. In a society where oversized Vikings rule and respect is measured through one’s ability to kill a dragon, Hiccup is merely a useless speck of lost potential, especially as the son of the village’s leader Stoick (Gerard Butler). There is a great story to be told in the relationship of Hiccup and his father, and “How to Train Your Dragon” turns the pages with a keenly mature insight into the human condition.
Hiccup’s problems become even more complicated when he encounters a dragon in the forest, only to develop a personal relationship with the creature. Torn between the realization that everything his culture knows about dragons is wrong and the reality that nobody will ever believe him, Hiccup secretly visits the dragon (whom he names Toothless) on a regular basis for training, feeding, playing, and bonding. The friendship is often reminiscent of a boy and his dog, with Toothless resembling the latter through an endlessly increased amount of liveliness and loyalty.
From DreamWorks Animation, the film is the studio’s best looking picture to date. If possible, witnessing this movie in glorious IMAX 3D is a must. While 3D can occasionally lead to the downfall of a film’s appeal, the effect works wonders for ‘Dragon,’ truly adding depth and definition to the intricately designed world and the characters who occupy it. When Hiccup hops upon the back of Toothless and soars off into the sky, the flight scenes rival, if not conquer, the CGI/live-action blend of “Avatar.”
“How to Train Your Dragon” is the epitome of a truly enchanting entertainment. To the eye, the film is a canvas of endless possibilities. To the mind, ‘Dragon’ is simply an opportunity to forget about the real world and focus pleasantly on another for 98 minutes.
Yet the reason for the movie’s true success is its ability to affect the audience where it really matters. I am not sure if it was the innocence of a bond between boy and beast, or the complexity of one between a son and his father. Either way, “How to Train Your Dragon” has heart, and by the final credits, it managed to grab hold of mine as well.
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Eh Mr. Butler, what a man
Cool site…just dropping in to say hi! keep up the good work!