Hot Tub Time Machine

Directed by: Steve Pink

Written by: Josh Heald, Sean Anders, John Morris










"Hot Tub Time Machine" - the title pretty much reveals the central plot point of the film, while also giving away the basic absurdity of the premise.  If you're not intrigued by the title, this movie probably isn't for you.  (And even if you are interested by the title, there's no guarantee you'll like the actual result.)

Essentially, the movie tells the story of four men who accidentally turn their hot tub into a time machine.  They're transported back to 1986 - specifically, to a night that served as a major turning point in all their lives.  As they try to figure out how to return themselves back to their normal time period, they also realize that they have an opportunity to change the course of their lives.

"Hot Tub Time Machine" could have gone in one of two directions: either a straight comedy, or an an absurdist comedy (as the title would suggest).  Unfortunately, it tried to be both at the same time, leading to an unevenness which scuttled the film.  Some of the actors (such as Cusack) played their characters like just about any other comedy, but others (such as Robinson) played their characters with a wink-and-nod style.  One or the other would have been fine, but with both it felt like the film couldn't decide which direction to take.

The 1980s element of the film added a bit of fun, and played off pretty well.  (Those who made "Take Me Home Tonight" should have taken notes.)  It may have only been important to the plot at a few points, but it was consistently used in the background to add to the atmosphere.

A special note should be made about Crispin Glover's performance as Phil, the ornery one-armed bell boy.  It was a small role, but it was played to perfection.  His presence elevated every scene he was in, and at some points I kept watching just in the hope that his character would pop up again (and I was not disappointed).

Overall, "Hot Tub Time Machine" wasn't great, but there were enough funny elements to make it worth seeing if you ever need to waste a couple of hours.

Jaws

Directed by: Steven Spielberg

Written by: Peter Benchley, Carl Gottlieb










I'll start by being as clear as possible: I love "Jaws."  It's the kind of movie that, no matter what else is going on, I will go out of my way to see.  I've seen it on the big screen three or four times (thanks to midnight movies and my local theater's "Classic Film Wednesday" series).  It was one of the first DVDs I purchased.  Heck, I'll even watch it edited on TV - commercials and all.  This fanaticism may seem a bit much, but Spielberg's final product is so great that I feel it's totally warranted.

Let's start with the cast.

--Roy Scheider plays police chief Brody, who has moved to Amity to get away from the dangers of being a police officer in a big city.  A bit ironically, he's taken a job as police chief on an island despite the fact that he's afraid of water - an irony that comes into play when the shark attacks begin.  What makes Scheider's performance so amazing is the way he managed to flesh out the character with little subtleties.  There are hints that something traumatic happened to him wherever he worked before, but he wears that trauma in his eyes and the way he responds to situations.

--Richard Dreyfuss is fantastic as Hooper, a young marine biologist who arrives to investigate the shark attacks and finds out exactly what kind of monster they are up against.  He manages to keep one foot in the world of "preppie" and another in the realm of "rugged individual."

--Robert Shaw brings mad shark hunter Quint to life, a character cut from the broken mold of Captain Ahab.  The "Indianapolis" speech he gives just before the final scenes is unforgettable.  Shaw's performance in this film is, without a doubt, one of the greatest acting performances in the history of cinema.

--The supporting cast - Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, etc. - help bring Amity Island to life and provide verisimilitude to what could have easily deteriorated into an absurdity of horror.

I said I'd start with the cast, but I also think I'll end with the cast.  I could go on and on about "Jaws" and what makes it great, but ultimately you should experience it for yourself.  You need to hear for yourself John Williams's amazing score, which, without any visuals, could evoke the presence of the beast.  You need to see for yourself what happens to the Orca fishing boat.  None of it can be conveyed, it must be experienced.

I'll wrap it up simply: "Jaws" is one of the greatest films ever.  There is very little wrong with this movie, and a whole lot that is done right.  I'd even argue that it's nearly perfect.

The Natural

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Written by: Roger Towne, Phil Dusenberry (screenplay); Bernard Malamud (novel)









Some movies have good plots.  Some movies have quotable lines.  And some movies have scenes which transcend film and become iconic.  The climactic sequence of "The Natural" has become one of those scenes.

It's too bad that the rest of the film doesn't live up to that final moment.  "The Natural" isn't bad, but it's not as great as the final scene that punctuates it.

The fact is, most of the movie is slow and dry.  Even some of the more exciting moments - Bump Bailey crashing through the wall - don't feel organic or alive.  Once each step of the plot unfolds, there is only one possible direction to the next step, so there's a sense of inevitability rather than surprise.  Meanwhile, none of the characters are terribly vibrant despite what is a very strong cast, so there is really nothing left to keep the story floating.

As if that were not enough, the film is very heavy handed.  There are two very clear sides: good and evil.  The good side is perfect and pure.  The evil side is totally rotten and twisted.  There is no middle, and it is almost always obvious as to who is on which side.  All of this leads to some very obnoxious symbolism.

Still, all of this absolutely worth sitting through to get to that final scene.  That final sequence - with Roy Hobbs stepping to the plate with so much on the line, his side bleeding (there's that symbolism again) - makes the entire film an instant classic.

That iconic scene expressed the spirit imagination of every little boy who ever dreamed of playing professional baseball.  It's almost embedded in the American subconscious at this point - the swing, the crack, the lights shattering, the silhouette of Hobbs rounding the bases as he's showered in sparks.  The climax evokes the magic that makes movies worth seeing.

Moonrise Kingdom

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Written by: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola









I've been a huge fan of Wes Anderson for years (though, considering I've never covered a film of his here, you probably wouldn't know it).  I find his work to be complex, intelligent, and visually stunning. His films can be a bit abrasive if you don't know what you're getting in to, but require an open mind to understand what he's trying to convey.

"Moonrise Kingdom" tells the story of of Suzy (Hayward) and Sam (Gilman) - two young teenagers who decide to join their miseries together and run away into the wilderness.  Being stuck on an island, the children are easily tracked down by the local police force (Willis) and Suzy's parents (Murray, McDormand), but with a little help from some friends Suzy and Sam decide to try one more daring escape.

There's so much to say about this film, I don't know where to start.

I'm amazed at how Wes Anderson was able to pull fantastic performances out of each of his actors.  Even Bruce Willis, who has been phoning it in lately ("Cop Out," anybody?), is stellar as the sweet-but-not-smart police captain.  Some of the supporting performances, such as Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, and Harvey Keitel, were great and could have stolen the show if the stars hadn't been perfect.  Hayward and Gilman, with no previous experience in film, give the performances of a lifetime as the young couple at the heart of the story.

There is so much else I could talk about, but I'll cut it as short as I can: Wes Anderson knows how to make good movies.  He understands how to create a fictional world which effectively mirrors reality, both in content (Suzy's science fiction books) and emotion (the love story).  He uses all the tools of the filmmaking medium - set design, camera movement, coloring, musical cues - to enhance his film both as story and as art.  I could point to almost any scene in the film as an example of how much depth the movie has.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather just encourage you to go see "Moonrise Kingdom" and enjoy it for yourself.

Rounders

Directed by: John Dahl

Written by: David Levein, Brian Koppelman










There was a point - namely, the late 1990s - when Matt Damon could basically do whatever he wanted and still be king of the hill.  "Rounders" comes out of that time period.

Mike (Damon) has traded in his poker chips for a girlfriend (Mol) and law school.  But when his best friend Worm (Norton) gets out of prison, the allure of the high stakes table draws him back in to the game.  But things go suddenly wrong, and the stakes become even higher, until he has to lay it all on the line and go all-in against notorious underground poker champ Teddy KGB (Malkovich).

(If anyone can fit in any more cliches into that summary, I'll be happy to add it in!)

There's not a whole lot wrong with this movie.  I'm not saying it's great, but it definitely wears its flaws well and plays to its strengths.  And its strengths are in its principle actors - Matt Damon and Edward Norton.  Damon gives his standard performance as the lovable sinner-with-the-heart-of-gold.  Norton shines as the aptly named Worm; he exudes his character's sliminess.  Even Malkovich does a fantastic job.  (The less we say about Gretchen Mol in this film, the better.  Her part was so small that it was almost negligible.  I'm not quite sure how she ended up on the poster.)

The movie had a few pacing issues, mostly occurring when the story turned back to Damon's personal life.  Those scenes just didn't have quite the tension or drama of the poker story line, nor did they really add to Damon's character in any meaningful way.  Also, the final poker game was a bit anti-climactic.  If you don't know how that game is going to turn out, you really haven't been watching the movie at all.

"Rounders" is entertaining, and a bit of a time piece.  It shows Matt Damon before he became a caricature of himself, Edward Norton at the top of his game, and poker when it was still a bit of underground novelty outside the Vegas city line.

Big Miracle

Directed by: Ken Kwapis

Written by: Jack Amiel, Michael Begler (screenplay); Thomas Rose (book)










I usually don't buy in to heartwarming, feel-good, family movies.  But this one far exceeded my expectations.

The year is 1988, and when a family of gray whales gets trapped in an icy bay, it's up to a local news reporter (Krasinski) and his nature loving ex-girlfriend (Barrymore) to try to save them.  With the help of the local whaling community, an oil executive (Danson) desperate for good press, and a visit from a Russian ice-breaker, they put together a desperate plan to save the whales from certain death and set them free to migrate to warmer waters.

This movie is a total cornball.  But I can't seem to find a reason to hate it, the way I feel like I should.  What saves this movie is how absolutely genuine it feels, from top to bottom.  Everybody involved seemed to be trying to make a good, wholesome movie.  And they did.  Had there been a single moment of self-reflection, or a single wink from any of the actors, the charade would have been over.  Instead, it seems they managed to produce exactly the type of movie they wanted to make, no more and no less.

The word "wholesome" keeps coming to mind.  I'm not going to argue that it's Oscar worthy (because it's not).  But it's a decent movie. and a half-step above a lot of other junk out there.

(Technical note: I labeled this movie as "streaming," but I actually viewed it using On Demand.)

The Orchard Keeper

Written by: Cormac McCarthy












If only most novels were as good as Cormac McCarthy's first novel.

Set during prohibition, "The Orchard Keeper" weaves together the lives of three characters, connected first by a circumstance of which none of them are aware and later by their mutual contempt for the law.

Like a pitcher warming up before a baseball game, McCarthy's first novel is not quite up to his usual standards, but you can still see hints of what is to come later.  The voice of the prose is not quite fine-tuned yet, but is obviously distinct.  This is not a criticism, but merely an observation.

As a writer, McCarthy mastered early the ability to let the characters and their circumstances carry their own gravity.  He assumes that his reader is intelligent and can make important connections without those connections being explicitly outlined or discussed.  For example: whose body is Uncle Ather hiding?  It's obvious, so it is never outright declared.  Few writers would be so bold as to leave such an important detail unnamed, but it seems natural - if not necessary - for McCarthy to do so.

I'm not sure whether or not this would be a good place to start for newcomers to McCarthy's work.  On the one hand, it's a solid general sampling of what his work is usually like.  On the other hand, it's not one of his best pieces. (Although, on a side note, I feel like comparing his books to one another is a futile venture akin to comparing Hall of Fame baseball players.  Is it fair to compare Joe DiMaggio to Hank Aaron?  No.  They were both amazing at what they did, and there's no value added by making the comparison.)

Harold and Maude - Revisited

I jump at any chance to see this movie.  It's definitely a contender on my "all time favorite" list (which doesn't actually exist).

This time, I caught a screening at my local theater's "Classic Film Wednesday" series.  There's definitely a special charm to seeing it on the silver screen.

Charm.  That's the key-word that came to mind after seeing it this time around.  "Harold and Maude" has a lot of charm.  And it's important, because that charm draws the audience in to what would ordinarily be an absurd situation.  An adolescent millionaire obsessed with faking his own death?  An old woman who refuses to recognize boundaries and property, but never seems to get into any major trouble?  Total nonsense that goes completely unquestioned because the characters have charmed us into believing in them.

The amount of music struck me this time.  Cat Steven's backing tracks have always been a key element in the film.  But this is the first time that I noticed that basically every transition - especially early in the film - is a musical transition.  It helps to set "Harold and Maude" apart most typical films.

Go see it.  Right now.