Hot Tub Time Machine

In Hot Tub Time Machine, Adam Yates (John Cusack), Lou Dorchen (Rob Corddry), and Nick Webber (Craig Robinson) are three people with a friendship between them on the downside due to life events and issues. To try to get the chemistry back between them, the three friends head up to Kodiak Valley Ski Resort, a favorite spot of the three friends during their teen years. Upon using a hob tub, the three friends and Adam's nephew Jacob (Clark Duke) travel back time to 1986 and must following the same events of that weekend to keep the future the same.

Sure, we can admit it's a very silly plot with likely some type of inspiration from Back to the Future there. Still, the film creates a very clear path to work. This is an excellent cast that all have chemistry and this includes somebody like Clark Duke playing a character who's given the least to do but is still very hard not to like. This is a plot that combines a hot tub and ski trip into one and the ski elements feel like it's going back to one of Cusack earlier roles in, Better Off Dead, a film with also a skiing plot. This is a comedy that knows it's  silly and that does not at all take itself too seriously.

Being that it is set in 1986, one of the main elements is obviously is the 80's and director, Steve Pink sure pays a lot of good homage to that era. From the music of Poison, Motley Crue and Men Without Hats to clothing design to even cell phones, this creates some very fun aspects to the film that ultimately goes a long way into making this film work. This all creates an audience for people that grew up in the 80's and people who were teenagers of this time much like the main characters of this film.

Hot Tub Time Machine got lost in the 2010 comedy films and became forgotten soon after it's release. The movie also doesn't really have a specific target audience. Still, Hot Tub Time Machine is a fun film and a good one if you are looking for really good laughs. This is a comedy that worked even though it shouldn't have.

4/5  

The Croods

If you think about it, prehistoric times seems like it would be one of the most interesting settings for a film. It certainly is something that has not been done much. There could also be the educational and curiosity factor as it would be interesting to see prehistoric times depicted on film with the different and now extinct animals and beasts that you could use. If you really tried, you could come up with something pretty cool. That said, this idea probably would also have some difficulties though. It might be hard to come up with a plot idea for primitive cavemen. Also humans didn't live that long back then for a lot of reasons but one could be dealing with predatory animals which could be interesting and maybe challenging. The Croods is set in prehistoric times and is one of the first animation films of the year. It really does touch on a lot of the issues above and has a lot of ups and downs with mostly pretty decent results.

The film follows the Crood family who are really your basic prehistoric family, if we knew what that was. Grug ( Nicolas Cage) is the father who is trying his best to keep his family together and this character and most of the others have pretty good development throughout the movie. Ugga (Catherine Keener) is the mother of this family and the weakest character in the story who is just not provided with much to say or do. Eep (Emma Stone) is the oldest child who is hungry for adventure and wants to live a different lifestyle outside of the cave in opposition to her father and this character is developed very well. Thunk (Clark Duke) is the overweight middle child who along with the grandmother character Gran (Cloris Leachman) provide most of the humor of the story. Guy (Ryan Reynolds) is a boy who is found in the wilderness and is more advanced than the Croods who primarily stay in their cave. Guy shows the family a  new way of life and adds some nice variety to the film.

This film uses an old story-line of one world physically coming to an end which forces the characters to journey and venture to a safer land. This part of the film is a bit strange as the plot does not hint at this or lead up to this and there is no explanation  as to why this is happening. This really makes the ending kind of a mixed bag. It is original and creative but it was out of place and hard to believe and I didn't really see the point of it


                                           


Actually some of the secondary highlights of this film come close to being better then the main highlights which was probably not intended. There are some very good action scenes, nice atmosphere and  the animation fits this period with dark, light and colorful designs. The movie is visually beautiful.

I suspect that the Croods will likely be forgotten quickly as the subject matter might not be all that appealing, especially for kids who might be one of the target audiences here. A film that is a first of it's kind for 20th Century Fox, DreamWorks and the animation world and that's definitely saying something.

3.5/5