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SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY:


Almost, but not quite, as funny as The Hangover, this is a real laugh riot.  I laughed until I cried and I left with my side in utter agony.


WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!!


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I know, I know...Hot Tub Time Machine is not necessarily a genre movie.  But it does feature time travel and there's even a reference to "Stargate" fan-fiction so I'm reviewing it anyway.  Besides, it's a GREAT fucking movie.


Everything about this movie is funny and the jokes are unrelenting--not a minute goes by that you aren't laughing at something.  John Cusack is in top form, basically playing a grown version of any one of his characters from the actual 1980's, Craig Robinson is his usual deadpan self, Rob Corddry turns in what is easily his funniest work to date, and Clark Duke is great as the young, geeky member of the group.  The brilliant Chevy Chase is wasted, though, in a bit part as the mystical hot tub repairman.  That was especially sad since he's been putting out some fantastic work on "Community" week after week.  My favorite character, though, was Crispin Glover's bellhop; he shows up at the beginning of the film (in the present day) with one arm missing but when the guys meet him in 1986, he has both arms.  The mystery of what happened to that arm is one of the funniest recurring jokes I've ever seen.


I've said pretty consistently since last summer that The Hangover is the funniest movie ever made and, having seen it 6 or 7 more times since then, I still agree with that assessment.  What's funny and what isn't funny is sort of fluid with me so this seems like an endorsement that may change with time but, for now, I feel completely comfortable stating that Hot Tub Time Machine is the 2nd funniest movie ever made.  If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and check it out.

SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY:


The Destiny crew finally meets an alien race and the result is the best episode since the series premiere.


WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!!


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Man, oh man, how I've missed "Stargate Universe".  Sure, I agree with those that say it's nothing more than "Battlestargate: Voyager" but it's a damn fine show nonetheless.  And it's world's better than "Caprica", it's mid-season replacement.


This week the crew finally meets an alien race which results in a few nice space battles and the return of Dr. Rush.  We don't learn much about the aliens but again, that's part of the charm--if I wasn't already going to keep watching, the mystery surrounding these blue-skinned kidnappers would be enough for me to stick around.


As this is a character drama, there are a lot of stellar performances sprinkled throughout the episode: Ming-Na is excellent as IOA member Camile Wray, a character I'm beginning to like more and more, and Louise Ferreira is fantastic as usual as Colonel Young.


I especially loved the montage at the end of the episode showing the isolation that being stranded alone on the far side of known space would bring.  It's little moments like Colonel Young mending a sock that are so simple yet their impact helps make this such a good show.


Next week: A coup d'état!

SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY:


A great fantastic epic, well worth your theater dollars--but don't see it in 3D; you're not missing a thing.


WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!!


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I have a confession to make: before today I'd never seen the 1981 original Clash of the Titans.  I know, I know, it's nerd blasphemy.  I did, however, seek to remedy that affront before I set out to see the remake.  This morning I queued up the original on Netflix and watched it on the Xbox.  I enjoyed it a lot more than I'd anticipated.  Now, the only reason I bring all of this up is so you realize that this review is not written from the point of view of someone who grew up with the original and has that nostalgic love for it.


Going in to the new Clash of the Titans, I still really wanted to hate it.  In fact for the first quarter of the movie, I kinda did.  It was a little boring and a lot of the changes to the plot made little sense.  I'd read a few other reviews and was almost certain that I would end up agreeing with all the naysayers.  But after the visit with the Stygian witches, things took a turn for the better.  Perseus's speech brings the group together and the movie takes on the feel of a classic fantasy quest, ala Lord of the Rings.  Now, this movie is no LOTR by any stretch of the imagination.  What I mean is that, as a fantasy fan, what appeals to me is a band of heroes coming together and venturing out on a quest.  It's the classic setup, one that makes not only LOTR great, but also Star Wars, the Dragonlance series, or Shannara.  Unlike the original, in this version all of Perseus' men are given personalities and lives that you truly care about.  After that I was totally on board.


Let's break it down into what worked and didn't work.  I absolutely loved: Io (beautiful, smart, and cunning), Black Pegasus (I sneered at first but it's actually pretty badass), Medusa (beautiful but deadly--perfectly rendered), The Djin (my favorites of the whole movie), Charon & The River Styx (although Dante's Inferno did it better), Ralph Fiennes & Liam Neeson (both stellar actors, neither one dumbing it down), The Kraken (epic and frightening--again, perfectly rendered), Pete Postlethwaite (one of my favorite character actors; a shame his part is so small), The Bubo cameo (such a stupid character but totally worthy of a cameo), Alexander Siddig (the DS9 vet has a teeny, tiny role as Hermes).

Just realized the "Post Comment" links on each post weren't working--why didn't anyone tell me this?!


Anyway, it's fixed now so post away!

Only one genre title opening this weekend and that's Louis Leterrier's Clash of the Titans remake.  Reviews are mixed to mostly negative with most of the criticism aimed at the terrible 3D work.  In case you didn't know, Titans was never intended to be a 3D movie but after the success of Avatar, Warner Bros. had the film rushed into 3D in post-production.  From what I've read, the 3D is far worse than even Alice in Wonderland, which had terrible 3D in my opinion.  So is it a good movie in 2D?  I dunno.  I may get around to seeing it this weekend and, if so, there'll be a review up here asap.


Other Genre Titles Still in Theaters:


How to Train Your Dragon
Alice in Wonderland
Hot Tub Time Machine
The Crazies
Repo Men


Limited Release:


Avatar
Book of Eli
Legion
Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief
The Wolfman

First of all, I apologize for the lack of updates this week--it's been a crazy one.  There will be "Flashforward" and "V" recaps this weekend, along with a "Stargate Universe" recap after tonight's mid-season premiere.


I'm also going to start a new release Tuesday column where I'll preview all of the new releases hitting DVD/Blu-Ray each week.  But for now, here's the news:


Joss Whedon to Direct The Avengers?
IESB reports that none other than Joss Whedon is currently the front-runner to direct Marvel's Avengers movie for 2012.  Now, anyone that knows me knows that I HATE Joss Whedon (yep, I'm the one guy).  But I'm actually not at all disheartened by this news.  As much as I loathe the guy, it's his writing I can't stand--he's not too shabby in the director's chair.  And The Avengers is being scripted by Zak Penn (X-Men) so there's little chance of Whedon fucking this up.  What's more, he'll be working with established characters that will have already been introduced in their respective films (Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America).  I say let him have it.


Ryan Reynolds to star in R.I.P.D.
Producer Neal H. Moritz tells Collider that Ryan Reynolds is signed to star in the adaptation of "R.I.P.D.", a graphic novel about the Rest In Peace Department (cops for dead people).  Reynolds plays a recently deceased police officer who is partnered with a veteran gunslinger.  I haven't read the book but I like the concept and this could be a lot of fun with Reynolds on board.  Consider me intrigued.


Freddy Krueger Revealed AT LAST
Finally, we a have a good look at Freddy Krueger's face from the Nightmare on Elm Street remake, thanks to some Photoshop work by a poster over at the Superhero Hype message board.  One of their users took a studio-released screenshot and enhanced it with Photoshop to give us our first peek:

SPOILER-FREE SUMMARY:


A decent action/thriller with a top-notch cast, Repo Men falls flat due to a stilted romance and an obvious ending.


WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!!!


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Repo Men was a bit of a mixed bag.  On the whole, I liked it; but it's far from being a great movie.  Jude Law is terrific as always (has he ever made a bad movie?  Alfie didn't look that great but I never saw it...) and Forrest Whitaker is more lively than usual as Jude's partner.  The plot, if you hadn't gathered it from the trailer, is that in the future a company called The Union sells synthetic organs to sick patients but sends out its own repo men to collect the organs if you fall behind on your payments.  Jude and Forrest are two such repo men.


The first half of the movie is pretty solid.  We get to see the guys in action, get a nice feel for their world, but then the RZA (of the Wu-Tang clan) shows up and the shit just gets weirder from there.  Jude tries to repossess the RZA's heart but a faulty defibrillator knocks Jude unconscious.  When he awakens, he finds that his Union bosses have put a new artificial heart in on his behalf.  I'm sure you can guess where it goes from there: Jude defaults on the payments, his old buddy Forrest comes after him, and he spends the second half of the film on the run.


Now, that's all fine and good but it was the ridiculous romantic storyline that killed it for me.  Jude, having been kicked out of the house by his wife and son, starts shacking up with a destitute woman who just happens to have about 10 different "artiforgs" (yeah, that's what they call them) in her.  Why he does is anybody's guess.  He first spots her at a bar near the beginning of the movie and gets completely entangled with her for the last half of the film.  No offense to the actress, but she's far from drop-dead gorgeous and her homeless living conditions aren't exactly a turn-on either.  But we're supposed to believe that Jude would totally give up on his wife and son and devote his life to this stranger.  Whatever.


I won't spoil the ending for you but suffice it to say that there's an intentional reason that Jude ended up with that artificial heart and there's a "twist" ending that you'll see coming from a mile away.


Bottom line: I'd watch it again...but I'm in no hurry.