Film Review - Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Hot Tub Time Machine stars John Cusack as a man who along with his nephew and two best friends go to an old ski resort but they manage to find an old hot tub, which is also a time machine.

Time Travel has always been an interesting genre in film but not the easiest to make work either, some like the first two Terminator movies make it work but most flounder, which is also the case here as for the most part I found this movie to be fowl and obnoxious as well as a little on the predictable side, Cusack is good but the scene stealer is Chevy Chase, looking like he's crawled out of the Jurassic era but is also sadly seen too little, I also was reminded of the first Back to the Future film and in all honesty, you're better off renting that instead as this film suffers from an identity crisis, wanting to be both Back to the Future and last year's The Hangover rolled into one.

1 and a half out of 5.

Film Review - Rocky II (1979)

Rocky II is the sequel to the 1976 film Rocky and sees Sylvester Stallone back as Rocky Balboa and also in the director's chair, taking over from John Advilsen who directed the first film, the story here is that Apollo Creed played by Carl Weathers wants a rematch as he becomes convinced that the first fight was little more than a fluke, but the Italian Stallion wants none of it, or does he.

Rocky II starts off slow, spending the first half of the film with him and Adrian and their life together, it is here that the heart of the film if not the entire series is felt; that of someone who is determined to do what's right and go the distance to achieve that goal, even though he tries to find a normal life in order to please others, he also can't deny the one thing that gives his life meaning.

But I can't mention this film and not mention the terrific climax bout, the first film didn't have such a climax, it felt empty as a payoff, here that's rectified as much of the last act is devoted to the boxing match, and wow what a heart stopper, at times you really feel you're a part of the crowd cheering along with them even though you're only watching it, a very cool feeling indeed.

All in all, an entertaining sequel, 3 out of 5.

Film Review - Tomorrow when the War Began (2010)

Tomorrow when the War Began is based off a series of novels written by John Marsden, the story here is that a group of young teenagers go off for a weekend camping in a secluded country spot, but when they return they find all their loved ones missing and a maelstrom of decay, where ordinary kids can become battered and smashed.

To be honest, I walked into this movie expecting nothing at all, as having seen the previews for this when watching Iron Man 2 earlier in the year, it reminded me of Mad Max and as long time readers will know, I am a massive fan of the first two movies in that series.

But did my expectations get surpassed or not, well they did but not by anything special as this movie felt very by the numbers, I mean don't get me wrong the young actors are solid and I enjoyed myself but all I thought when I walked out was that it was okay, but nothing special.

But if anything my main objection with this film is this, when I think of Aussie action pictures what comes to mind is the Mad Max series (well the first two movies in that series mainly) and I'm sorry but this movie is nothing but a pale shadow of that great film, at times taking direct inspiration from Mad Max 2, boy I'm REALLY starting to get sick of this, if anything it feels worse here than in Book of Eli or The Road because it's Australian filmmakers getting in on the act, I have said this before but I'll say it again, please make this stop someday.

So all in all, don't have high expectations and you might enjoy yourself, a 2 out of 5.

Film Review - The Book of Eli (2010)

The Book of Eli stars Denzel Washington as Eli, a man in a post apocalyptic world who is journeying west to a place beyond the vermin who have inherited the Earth, but his journey won't be gone on alone.

The Book of Eli was I thought, not a terrible film as there were some good parts but it's also a film that's not very good either, first off Washington is awesome, showing the same star power that Clint Eastwood showed, minimal, full of depth but never boring, another that impressed was Mila Kunis who is starting to turn into a promising actress, Gary Oldman was a little over the top but overall I thought the film was just okay at best overall, had it not been for Washington being so good in this film, it would have certainly been a failure.

The other factor that I should really talk about and is what lies at the heart of the problem I had with this movie is the Mad Max influence, you see whenever I see a new apocalyptic film and The Road from earlier this year also qualifies, both of them in the end make me want to watch Mad Max 1 and 2 more than anything else, as both of those films mentioned borrow very heavily from that film in terms of the main plot and character, they're either drifters coming through a compound be it a town or otherwise and promises to help them as they travel wherever to their place far beyond the reach of men on machines or their wanting to do what I just mentioned, travel to their place in the sun beyond that vermin on machines, where the main lead lives on only in their memories, I mean come on guys this is really starting to get on my nerves.

So yeah folks, if you want a good apocalyptic ride, go rent the first two Mad Max movies, only rent this one if you must, 2 out of 5.

Trailer Watch: Love and Other Drugs

Possibly being used as a way to kick off the Oscar Season of 2010, two trailers for director Edward Zwick's (he made 1989's Glory and recently Defiance with Daniel Craig) drama comedy Love and Other Drugs, which stars Jake Gyllenhall as a pharmaceutical salesman who meets his match in Maggie played by Anne Hathaway, but she has a dark secret of her own.

having watched the two trailers, the one that was the most recently released stood out, the first trailer made it look like last year's sleeper (500) Days of Summer which starred Joseph-Gordon Levitt (recently seen in Chris Nolan's Inception) and Zooey Deschanel as two lovers who see through each other while the second made it look like last year's The Time Traveller's Wife, which starred Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams as two lovers destined to be together only for one to die of an incurable disease.

With that out of the way, does it make me want to see the film; well no it doesn't, as the second trailer felt like you had seen the driving force of the film, something I don't like much at all and the first made it look like another romantic drama, but while the film has received mostly positive word from preview screenings, the final film may be different altogether, especially given 20th Century Fox's notorious pennant for micro managing their directors.

But the thing that concerns me most is that Hathaway is becoming a favourite with this role for the best actress Oscar next year, something that I feel would be a big mistake, Hathaway shows enormous potential as an actress despite the industry's attempts to pigeonhole her into rom-com roles, if she were to win the Oscar for this, I fear that it might permanently typecast her into this genre, something that would see her end up like most Oscar winners of recent years, my top comparison being Renee Zellweger who started off well but after she won for Cold Mountain, her career virtually went down the toilet.

Well that's that, a movie that I might catch down the track on Blu-Ray but doesn't inspire me with confidence, Zwick's track record is spotty at best ever since Glory but I could be wrong.

Film Review - Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (2010)

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is the latest film from director Edgar Wright and based on a graphic novel, the story here is that Scott Pilgrim played by Michael Cera is infatuated with a girl named Ramona Flowers played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead, but for them to be happy together he'll have to do battle with Ramona's seven evil exes.

As long time readers of my blog will know, Wright's 2007 film Hot Fuzz warmed it's way into my heart as a real favourite and as such, was eager to see what he'd have up his sleeve next, the early previews for this made me laugh but was it going to translate into a worthy successor to the Fuzz.

Sadly, not this time around for one crucial reason: Cera himself, quite frankly there is no real reason you come to care about him as most of the time he either gets the living daylights beaten out of him or he's whining about his own ex girlfriends, he doesn't quite get it that he has to fight in order to win Ramona despite everyone trying to get it through to him, contrast that with Nicholas Angel's arc in Fuzz, he was the top cop who grew into his role as a country lawman and his journey was worth following, here that doesn't happen.

There was some good stuff though, first off the battle scenes were expertly staged and edited, the 8 bit Universal logo is a hoot and Winstead, Brandon Routh and Kieran Culkin make the best of what they have, Routh in particular steals the show with his fast talking dialogue and powers that make him strong with the force.

But in the end, it added up to nothing, as Cera was a dead weight, normally if it's a side role that can be forgiven but this is your main man, there can be no excuses for this plus I couldn't help but feel that Edgar was out of his comfort zone here, hopefully Simon Pegg will be his co-writer again and the magic of Hot Fuzz will be back, as for this well it's a big disappointment overall, 1 and a half out of 5.

Editorial - The Balcony is Closed

No not my one, that rages stronger than ever but this one is about the end of "At the Movies", Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert's movie review show that started in 1975 and came to end in 2010.

Before I delve into that, I'll talk about my own experience with this show, it was through the balcony archive on the show's site and having looked at a few reviews of Gene and Roger (I had heard of Roger but not of Gene) I felt inspired, it was like watching a master class of film criticism by two people who were passionate and articulate and not afraid of defending their point of view which made for some beautiful watching and great laughter, it's also something that I've tried to take with me ever since.

But as for the end of the show, though A.O. Scott of the New York Times and Michael Phillips from the Chicago Tribune did good as did Richard Roeper from the Chicago Sun-Times where Roger is also at, I don't think anyone could have recaptured what Gene and Roger had, their chemistry was nothing short of magic, vital for a show such as this but once it's gone, it's almost impossible to get back, if at all.

Roger himself has hinted at his own review program using those trademark thumbs which he and Gene copyrighted, I can only hope that Disney keeps the Gene and Roger archive online for future reviewers wanting some inspiration and with great interest at what Roger has up his sleeve.