Hot Tub Time Machine

Impressions before seeing it
Time travel stuff is always fun, although it's done dramatically more often than comedically, so I was looking forward to it. And I like the cast as well.

How was it?
A recurring theme throughout Hot Tub Time Machine is its borrowing from other time travel movies (mostly Back to the Future). There's a scene where Nick (Craig Robinson) performs a song from the future, and a story arc about making money off of knowledge about sports outcomes; Jacob (Clark Duke) occasionally flickers in and out of existence because he wasn't born in 1986; there's a recurring bully character much like Biff, and an all important item that the guys need for the hot tub to take them home; instead of returning home one character stays behind like Doc Brown in the old west, and Crispin Glover even shows up as part of one of the funniest running gags, a bellboy who has one arm in present day, leaving the guys in anticipation of seeing him lose it in the past as he gets into a series of near accidents. However, being that the hot tub took them back to the '80's it felt right that they should pay tribute to an '80's time travel movie, and so I didn't feel like they were cheating me with a plethora of rip-off scenes.

One thing I'm not sure I liked was the decision to depict the guys as their forty-something year-old selves in the past. I understand that it was necessary so that our lead actors had more to do than just the first and last ten minutes of the movie, but I don't know if that was the only reason or if the filmmakers thought that showing them as young guys for too long might make us forget that they are still older men on the inside. Hopefully just the first reason. But I would like to say that the kid playing young John Cusack was so well cast, I almost thought they'd digitally inserted old footage of young Cusack into the mirror. Just look at the similarities on the poster. See what I mean?

Recommendation
I had fun because, as I said, time travel is a blast, and there were some hilarious moments - a lot of them from Rob Corddry as the wildest of the group. Definitely check it out if you are a Back to the Future fan. You might appreciate the nostalgia, and have some laughs as well.

The Golden Compass

Impressions before seeing it
I think The Golden Compass and Holes may be the only two instances where I can say I read the book before seeing the movie. I really enjoyed the book because it had some cool ideas and was a fun read, so I'd been wanting to see the movie for a while, but I tried not to keep my expectations too high because I knew it sort of bombed given that the two sequels didn't show up.

How was it?
It's not the movie's fault, but the unfortunate thing about reading a book before the movie is that it's disappointing if characters or events don't turn out the way you imagined them while reading. There were several instances of that, from Lee Scoresby being an old long-haired guy when I imagined him more like Brad Pitt clad in suspenders and a newsie cap to Mrs. Coulter's golden monkey looking like a miniature long-haired baboon when I thought of him as a golden version of the monkey seen in Friends or Ace Ventura. Also, while I enjoy the work of Ian McKellen and can't deny that he has a cool voice, he didn't seem right for the voice of Iorek Byrnison. I always thought of something bigger and deeper, like the voice of John Goodman or Wrex from Mass Effect.

But even aside from that I still had a few problems. The script made it obvious that the book was being abridged to fit into a two hour length, because it felt choppy and abrupt in parts. If I hadn't already read the book I might not have even known what was going on because of it. One of the other unfortunate things about adaptations (or at least this one, but others do it too) is having to resort to characters explaining things that were much better demonstrated in the book because it didn't have to be diluted by a character's voice. And what was the point of merging Tony Makarios's character into Billy Costa's, other than that it probably cut costs for not hiring another child actor? That seemed almost as pointless as changing all the character names when A Prayer for Owen Meany was adapted into Simon Birch. And finally, they reversed the order of two major events and cut out the book's ending to make the movie's ending happier. I don't agree with that either, because this movie was meant to be the first part of a trilogy. Why on earth does it need to end happily when you have two more chapters to work back up to that? An unhappy ending makes audiences want to come back so they can see the problems get fixed. From reading the movie's Wikipedia entry it sounds like the studios forced the director to make a lot of stupid decisions he didn't agree with, so I will blame them.

Recommendation
You might enjoy it more if you haven't read the book - or, as I said, it may confuse you due to the script's truncations - but in spite of my complaining I didn't hate it. It was certainly disappointing, but it was still enjoyable in parts, and some things did look as I imagined them (Lyra's clothing, Mrs. Coulter, Lord Asriel's laboratory), so that was satisfying at least. And two armored polar bears fighting to the death can never be a bad thing (although I dislike that they were constantly referred to as "ice bears" and never once as "armored bears" like in the book). While I am generally against remakes, I wouldn't mind seeing this one remade if they can put it in the hands of studio executives who aren't morons.

This Week in Television - June 14-18, 2010

Only one show left now. I doubt I will be getting into any of the summer programming (while I'll miss my shows, it's relieving to not spend such a big chunk of my week watching TV).

Happy Town
I forgot to mention it when he showed up in a previous episode and was reminded when I saw him again this week, but the bald guy in the bowler hat looks like an observer from Fringe. Moreso last time I saw him, because he was just sort of passing through the shot like they tend to do on Fringe. How awesome would it be if he just started sneaking into the backgrounds of every show on television? But anyway: old TC was sloppy once again. When Big Dave said he wanted one more night to tell his mom what he'd done, I knew he was going to skip town. I realize TC trusts him an awful lot because they're old friends, but as sheriff he probably should have seen it coming. I did and I am terrible at predicting things. I wonder what Farmer's motives are for being so extreme if he's not the magic man (and I don't believe he is, because that would be too obvious). I guess he probably lost someone to him too. But best cop ever? I don't think so, Dan. What about the Kindergarten Cop, or the Beverly Hills Cop? No way you're awesomer than them. Just for fun I'm going to make a crazy prediction and say Root Beer is the magic man. Why? Because he's the perfect surprise suspect. He's a cop, he's a very under the radar minor character, and everybody tends to shrug him off quickly, like that time TC and Grieves stumbled upon him in the middle of the night and didn't really question him. I think Rachel was being returned at that time, but since the magic man is so fast, he probably would've had time to bring her back as TC was leaving and then make an appearance to be above suspicion. Just a random accusation, but if I end up being right then I will look even awesomer than Farmer thinks he is.

Breaking Bad - Season One

The first three episodes of Breaking Bad are some of the finest television I've seen in a long time. That's not to discredit the other four episodes from season one, because they were all enormously engrossing, but in the first three we have a high school chemistry teacher, Mr. White, and a former student of his, Jesse, trying to get themselves out of a dangerously unfortunate situation, and watching this unlikely duo team up is so damned enjoyable I didn't even want to blink. After the initial three we get a couple of episodes with them apart (after having agreed to go their separate ways so that they wouldn't get stuck in another giant pickle), which wasn't as interesting as their scenes together but it gave us some important character development and led them to the realization that they need to keep cooking meth and they need each other to do it, because times are tough and they need the cash.

It may not sound interesting to just say that Breaking Bad is about two dudes cooking crystal meth, and I certainly wouldn't have been sold on that description alone, but the arc of episodes one to three is so intense that I can't see someone not getting hooked. I also have to mention that, for a TV show, the writing and acting are movie quality. Oscar movie quality. I could have just said Emmy quality, but that wouldn't cut it. Bryan Cranston is so seamless it's hard to picture him as the dad from Malcolm in the Middle, and Aaron Paul makes the petty street kid much more human than the thuggish brute he probably would've been written as on another show. I am officially addicted to Breaking Bad, and luckily I have the season two DVD to move on to. If you appreciate good entertainment, you might want to look into this one.

Shutter Island

Impressions before seeing it
The trailers really built it up as a mindblowing mystery, plus with a good cast and director backing it I knew it was going to be good.

How was it?
Shutter Island starts out like a classic mystery (trenchcoats, fedoras and all) and then, taking place in an island-locked mental institution, progressively gets more muddled and confusing. This isn't a bad thing, as everything makes sense by the end; in fact it makes the experience more enjoyable because I went through several different theories about what was going on, and then changed them each time a character offered a new explanation or piece of evidence. I won't spoil the ending here but I will say that one of my guesses was correct... partly, anyway.

As with anything involving a twist ending, Shutter Island can be appreciated in subsequent viewings because you can look for the hints and have a better understanding of what's going on. I've only watched it once, but just thinking back to certain moments makes the ending even better. I will admit, though, that the reveal didn't exactly blow my mind. While it wasn't necessarily expected, I was just sort of like "Oh, okay, that's what's going on. Makes sense." Maybe it was the manner in which it was executed: people standing around and calmly explaining it. I suppose it was necessary, but it almost felt anti-climactic.

Recommendation
I think I was just a tad disappointed, but I don't want this to sound like a negative review. It is a very smart and well made mystery that keeps you guessing (a lot), and I'm glad I watched it. You probably will be too.

The 4400 - Season One

I started getting into The 4400 because I heard it was a Lost type show, and with Lost over I needed something to fill the void for a while. Season one is a mere five episodes long (an odd number, because I thought the shortest a season of any show could be was six episodes), but I picked up the entire series on DVD so you'll be seeing the following seasons on here soon enough.

The 1.5 hour pilot reeled me in fairly quickly because of the cool concept: 4400 people disappeared over the course of about 50 years, then were returned in a mysterious ball of light in present day, none of them having aged but all of them given special gifts or abilities. When my dad saw the DVD cover he guessed that there would be a religious theme due to a belief he'd heard that only 4400 people would get into heaven, but if that is the case then the show has not yet gone in that direction. As of this season, the show basically has two parts: the FBI running an investigation on what happened to the 4400 while they were gone (and what's happening to them now), and the 4400 themselves as they try to adjust to their new lives and abilities upon returning. I have to admit the whole FBI angle is getting tiring after watching Fringe, Flash Forward, and V this season, but I can tolerate it because I, too, am interested in the mysteries behind the 4400. And, mysteries aside, I find the characters likable and sympathetic (as a refreshing change of pace I even like Shawn, the high school student who can give and take life, and I don't really have a track record for liking high school student characters). As the season closed they hinted at a sense of destiny, which I like because that's the kind of thing that makes a rewatch more enjoyable, as you can see everything coming together. Also it was kind of cool that the first four episodes all ended with Kyle, who was sent into a coma when Shawn interrupted his near abduction, because in episode 5 he gave us some important exposition that sets us up for the next season. I love stuff with weird mysteries. This is going to be cool.

This Week in Television - June 7-11, 2010

Glee
I liked that New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline performed songs at Regionals from two of the greatest 80's rock bands ever (Journey and Queen), but both teams butchered their songs and the performances were pretty underwhelming even though we as the audience were supposed to be amazed. New Directions actually put on a better show at Sectionals, so it sort of makes sense that they won there and lost here. Also I like that they stopped with the "Finn is a superstar" mentality, because he's nowhere near as talented as Rachel. And even though I would love to see Sue Sylvester crush the glee club, it's nice seeing her show compassion. The final scene with her and Schuester was great, with him showering her with sappy Hallmark compliments while she responds "I'm about to vomit directly into your mouth." Sometimes I feel that way about Glee too, Sue. But the season's over, and while it is a highly average show, it could've been worse. Just a bit.

Happy Town
This show needs more M.C. Gainey so I was glad to see him awake again. I'm not sure if the ending with Dan Farmer taking off with Georgia and Andrew was meant to reveal that he is the magic man, or just make us think he is. Hopefully the latter, because it's too big of a mystery for an easy and obvious reveal like that. It worked on Dexter when they showed us who the ice truck killer was before any of the other characters knew, but I don't think it would fly as well here. Or maybe the person strangling Grieves at the end was supposed to be the magic man, since we didn't see his face.

Dexter - Season One

I actually finished the first season a few weeks ago, but now that the TV season is winding down I'll be discussing some TV shows on DVD. I have to admit that while I enjoyed the first two episodes, they hadn't really hooked me (probably why it took nearly a year for me to come back and finish the season). As for now I can say that I am hooked. I think it happened during the episode "Return to Sender", my favourite of the first twelve, where the ice truck killer fetches one of Dexter's victims from the ocean floor and places it back at the crime scene for the cops to find, and Dexter very nearly is caught because of it. The tension just made for an awesome hour of television, and then the episodes following it just suddenly became more gripping. I even enjoyed Rita's story arc, as she became likable and I applauded her moments of strength because of her inversely disappointing moments of weakness when she falls prey to her ex-husband Paul's aggressive persuasion. However I still dislike Laguerta (don't think I mentioned that in the earlier post), and I don't feel that she became more sympathetic at all, though I can at least admit that the captain was cold to her toward the last episodes. But I do have much appreciation for the comic stylings of Doakes and Masuka (the former for his artful pronunciation of swear words, and the latter for his inappropriate and perverted comments). And finally, I mentioned before that I got spoiled regarding the ice truck killer's identity, but really it had no effect on my enjoyment of the season. What I heard was the reason for the ice truck killer's targeting of Dexter, not his exact identity, and I correctly guessed who it was before the reveal anyway, so it didn't matter. But I like the implication in the final episode that Dexter is slightly more than just Harry's code. It makes him easier to root for, even though I was already doing it.

A Scanner Darkly

Impressions before seeing it
Richard Linklater is an interesting director, and I was a fan of the animation style he had previously used in Waking Life. Also movies based on Phillip K. Dick novels tend to have cool ideas.

How was it?
I haven't read the book, so I don't know how much of the movie is Dick's and how much is Linklater's, but I think it was needlessly complicated. Having undercover cops wear "scramble suits" to keep their identities anonymous (even from each other) was a neat idea, but combined with a drug that causes split personalities and multiple levels of sting operations it sort of makes a mess out of character identities. I mean I'm not saying I had trouble following who anyone was, but they did, and when even the characters aren't sure who they are it muddies the plot. There were also some weirdly out of place comedic moments that felt a little too bizarre for a movie that is, at other times, trying to be smart and provide serious social commentary on the war on drugs. A lot of that comes from Robert Downey Jr., who is playing almost the same quirky, fast-talking weirdo he played in a short film I saw called Whatever We Do (which I also didn't like, and for many of the same reasons here). Also I'm pretty sure Keanu Reeves only wore one facial expression for the entire movie: concern over how confused he is.

Recommendation
The animation is cool to look at, and it's an interesting watch for one viewing, but I don't think it's something that would hold up after seeing it a second time. The most effective part of the message came after the movie was over, when Dick's afterword was displayed, listing many of his friends who had died or been severely damaged by drugs. But this movie just kind of went over my head. If you want a real anti-drug movie, watch Requiem for a Dream.

This Week in Television - May 31-June 4, 2010

Glee
I guess there isn't a single woman anywhere on this show who can resist the charms of Mr. Schuester. Not even his nemesis, Sue Sylvester. I can buy that she might respond to him out of loneliness and desperation like she said, but I have trouble believing that she wouldn't suspect something was up when her sworn enemy suddenly started seducing her. Come on, Sue, that's the oldest trick in the book. But I did enjoy seeing the inside of her house overflowing with a collection of trophies so numerous that I'm not sure any one person could win that many in one lifetime.

Happy Town
Sheriff Tommy was being sloppy. If I were him I would've told Big Dave my spruce planting story as soon as I saw him. Comparing the magic man's acts to magic tricks was interesting. It was a lot like a magic trick when he took Rachel: the disappearance, the switch, misdirection, and then the reappearance. And after the discovery of the severed hand in the "bready", I am still maintaining that there is something important in the theme of chopping off hands with wedding rings on them.

Celebrating One Year of Nobody Reading This

Well, look at that, it's been an entire year since I decided to start recording my viewing habits. I'm pretty sure I don't have a lot of readers, but it's fun for me anyway and helps me think my way through the movies and shows I've seen. So congratulations, me, and thanks for reading, you. Let's take a look back with some pointless and mostly uninteresting stats about this blog.

Number of posts before this one: 111

Most posts in a single month: 13 in August 2009

Most posts in a single day: 5 each on July 15, 2009 and Aug. 10, 2009

First movie reviewed: The Tracey Fragments

First TV show reviewed: Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume One

Most TV shows watched in a single week: 11 from Nov. 16-20, 2009

First Hero of the Week: Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation

First Douchebag of the Week: Dale Snitterman from 30 Rock

Hero of the Week most times: Ron Swanson from Parks and Recreation (3 times)

Douchebag of the Week most times: Parvati from Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (3 times)

Show with the most Heroes of the Week: Parks and Recreation (4 times)

Show with the most Douchebags of the Week: Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains (a whopping 9 times)

Only person to win both Hero and Douchebag of the Week: The Heroes tribe from Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains

Only inanimate object to win Hero of the Week: Megadesk from The Office

Only character in the current title banner to never be written about in this blog: Kimberly Joyce from Pretty Persuasion

Number of stats I just listed: 15

This Week in Television - May 24-28, 2010

Glee
I'm not surprised that an episode with a Lady Gaga theme turned out to be the worst Glee episode ever. Everything about it was either stupid or boring, and no Sue Sylvester at all! (unless she was in the beginning, because I missed the cold opening). So yeah, I did a lot of cringing, except when Kurt's dad yelled at Finn. That part was actually kind of awesome.

Flash Forward
The show had its ups and downs (mostly downs) but I liked how this episode ended. Of course, this was the final episode so I would've like it more if it was going to return for a second season. Had this show been successful it would've been an interesting concept to have a new blackout every season. I'm still glad they gave us a taste of some flash forwards though, because frankly I was expecting it to end with everyone passing out and we wouldn't get to see anything until the theoretical second season. I remember seeing a gun being loaded and a page from someone's will, and a May 2011 date written somewhere, but that can't be the date of the flash forwards because someone went way into the future and saw Charlie as a teen. Unless the point was that this time, not everyone's will happen at the same time... Maybe I should just stick to the present. One other little thing I liked was that the flash forwards didn't happen exactly as they were seen. Lloyd kept his shirt on, Mark didn't tell him to "go to hell" over the phone, Wedeck's seemingly mundane "I was on the toilet" vision turned into him hiding in the stall only to bust out and cap one of the masked men coming after Mark, Nicole thought she was going to be drowned but it turned out the hands clutching her were saving her life... Those were necessary changes so that a prophecy-centric show like Flash Forward can avoid an abundance of predictability. Not that it makes any difference now. In the show's defense, I will say that one possible reason ratings declined is that Thursday at 8:00 is a bad timeslot, especially for a new series, because Thursdays are incredibly busy nights in TV land (I myself watched a maximum of 6 shows every Thursday this season, more than half of my TV week). If they had put it on, for example, a Monday or Tuesday, it might still be here. It seemed to work for V.

Sorry, no more Hero/Douchebag awards for a while. The only shows left for the rest of the season are Glee and Happy Town, and it's not as fun when there's only two shows to choose from.

Lost - The Final Episode

Six years ago, I began watching Lost because one of my professors took the time to convince the students in my first year film class how awesome the pilot episode was. I then proceeded to watch the better part of the first season on an antenna that received ABC as fuzzy and colourless. I think that, as much as anything, is a testament to my addiction to (and love for) this show. At the time there was absolutely nothing like it on television, and even now there are shows that try but still cannot live up to the epic juggernaut of a show that is Lost. It was hard to wave goodbye to my favourite show, but I like to think it smiled back at me as I did so.

With such a large cast it was vitally important that the show be just as much about characters as it was about the crazy island mysteries. I remember how exciting each season one episode was simply on the basis that we got to learn about a different character for the first time each week. So it was only appropriate that we end with that in mind. Even though we'd already seen all of the dead characters come back at least once since their deaths (with the exception of Mr. Eko, who was only alluded to in season 4), it was still amazing to have all of them reunite in the same episode. Additionally it was a nice touch to have everyone in the flash-sideways world get flashes of their island lives, because it was like rewarding us regular viewers with sweet reminders of the show's best moments and how much some of these characters mean to each other. The cast handled it beautifully (I'm picturing the genuine smile of enlightenment on Locke's face), and I have to admit I teared up more than once. They included slightly less direct throwbacks to earlier episodes as well, which I loved, including: Jack and Locke gazing down a deep, dark hole (the hatch, season 1 finale), Apollo bars getting stuck in vending machines (Jack and Jacob, season 5 finale), Jack and Locke arguing over what will happen when Desmond visits the light (the hatch computer, season 2), Kate making a joke about guys always trying to stop her from coming with them into the jungle (practically every episode in the series), and so on. Again, this is stuff for the fans and not for the losers who casually watch Lost and then complain that they don't understand it when they don't even watch every episode. The writers know they've got tons of loyal fans, and this episode was for them.

Jack's fight with Locke in the rain, complete with running jump punches, reminded me of Neo's final battle with Agent Smith in The Matrix Revolutions. Probably wasn't an intentional reference, but there was the similarity of the flash-sideways world being very matrix-like. So Desmond's destiny was to pull out the island's plug (withstanding loads of electromagnetic force in the process) long enough to make the Man in Black mortal and give Kate the opportunity to come in with a rifle and spout a cheesy action movie line upon shooting him in the back. Although the line was admittedly awesome because I laughed at its blatant badassness.

The game changer: the flash-sideways world was a purgatory of sorts where our beloved characters ended up following their deaths! The one criticism I have about this ending is that it fits perfectly with season 6 but is unconnected to the rest of the series without flash-sideways stories in the first 5 seasons. Actually my other criticism is that I always sort of hoped Lost would go out with a bang, the way earlier seasons have ended, with a grand reveal or cliffhanger, but that doesn't make this one unsatisfying because it was highly appropriate due to the legacy of the show's characters. And I like the effect this has retroactively on the earlier season 6 episodes: Jack's bleeding neck was a purgatory hint trying to make him remember his death, Locke's dad was paralyzed as punishment for being one of the biggest douchebags in the series (and other events could be looked at as punishments or warnings as well, such as Sun almost losing the baby for having an affair and constantly lying to Jin), and characters like Ben and Sawyer get to make up for shady actions in the past by being almost opposites of what they were in life. But why are they all so important to each other that they get to move on together, and not with people from their off-island lives? Because of what Jacob told them, and what we've been seeing for six years: they were lonely and miserable. I wouldn't have accepted it otherwise, but these people had dull lives full of mediocre relationships, and that makes their island friendships the best ones they've ever had. Except for Ben, who isn't a part of that group simply because his group is Alex.
Aaaand we end with a mirror image of how we began: Jack lays down in the bamboo forest; his eye closes as Vincent wanders by. It's not a crazy reveal and it leaves a lot of mysteries unanswered, but the writers managed to make us not care about that because we love the characters so much. Curse you, magnificent bastards!