HOT TUB TIME MACHINE... I saw the new comedy flick today, and if you like movies like this one and She’s Out of My League, then you’ll enjoy it. I happen to like these kinds of films, so I enjoyed it! Haha. Craig Robinson (of NBC’s The Office) and Rob Corddry (of...Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay) crack me up, and John Cusack plays his usual role as the level-headed goofball who still happens to get the hot chicks. Speaking of hot chicks, there were many in Hot Tub Time Machine: Lyndsy Fonseca, Lizzy Caplan (of Cloverfield and...HBO’s True Blood. Nice. Google ‘Lizzy Caplan True Blood’ to know why this is nice), Collette Wolfe (who was also in last year's Seth Rogen film Observe and Report), Crystal Lowe (who was in an episode of TV’s Supernatural), Julia Maxwell and Amy Esterle. In case you’re wondering how I know all these names in the film, thank the person who invented IMDb.



If there’s one lame little gripe I have about the film, it’s that why would Craig Robinson and his friends go into that hot tub when it was in dilapidated condition moments before? Wouldn’t they have found it odd that after finding a dead raccoon in the empty Jacuzzi upon arrival at that ski resort, it’s suddenly filled with warm, bubbling water? And they nonchalantly enter the water without questioning this abrupt change? Hmm. Anyways, as I said before...this gripe is lame. It’s like pointing out why Ricky Ricardo didn’t leave or bitch-slap Lucy after all those screwball moments she had in I Love Lucy, or how Ben Stiller didn't feel that, um, piece of bodily-fluid land on his ear after "floggin’ the dolphin" in There’s Something About Mary. Because they’re freakin’ comedies! That is all.

UPDATE (April 1): Actually, here's a more specific I Love Lucy example: In that episode where Lucy (after getting into a huge fight with Ricky over who forgave first in a previous argument) is wrapped up in bandages inside her bedroom to pretend she was hit by a bus, and Ricky and Fred Mertz stage a fake fire in the apartment so that Ricky can come in and rescue Lucy, and all will be well between them... Wouldn't Lucy have asked a loud "WHAT THE F**K?" when she exits the bedroom, only to see that the apartment was completely unscathed? Wait to think things through on your plan, Fred. And by Fred, I mean the show's scriptwriters.

PREDATORS... Check out the newest trailer to this Robert Rodriguez-produced flick...which is the latest installment in the classic sci-fi action/horror franchise. I first saw this preview in front of Repo Men last Saturday. Speaking of Repo Men, Alice Braga—who was Jude Law’s main squeeze in that movie (and also the gal who both saved Will Smith's life and almost got him killed in 2007's I Am Legend)—will also be in Predators. So will Topher Grace, Laurence Fishburne and Adrien Brody. Interesting cast... Well, except for Grace. This film looks like it has potential. I never saw any of the two Alien vs. Predator movies, FYI. I'm pretty sure I'm not missing out.

Predators comes out in theaters on July 7.

YESTERDAY, I saw the gory action thriller Repo Men (starring Jude Law and Forest Whitaker), and I’m still pondering about how I feel about the ending. Was it a neat twist? Or was it totally f**ked up that the audience was watching a friggin’ dream during the entire final half of the movie? This reminds me of that one Family Guy episode where Stewie finally manages to kill Lois...only for us to find out that this was actually happening in a fantasy Stewie had while wearing a pair of virtual reality goggles. And Brian the dog told him afterwards that this plot device was cheating the audience, much like how the ending to the final episode of HBO's The Sopranos screwed over the fans (I never watched the TV show...but I heard that this episode concluded with a cut to black in the middle of an intense scene). What were we talking about again? Oh yea— Repo Men was okay. I wait for the day when people can actually get ear transplants (like in the movie) that come with a built-in socket where you can plug in an earphone. You heard right.



I also watched She’s Out of My League (for free, that is). I like how the screenwriters took advantage of the whole "romance flick ends with guy and girl making up at an airport" cliché by actually having the main dude (Jay Baruchel...best known for his role as one of Seth Rogen’s douchie friends in Knocked Up) work at an airport. This movie was a’ight as well... Alice Eve and Lindsay Sloane are hot. ‘Nuff said.

IRON MAN 2... Check out the newest trailer to this upcoming blockbuster, which comes out in theaters on May 7. This trailer was released online right after the Academy Awards last Sunday. War Machine is lookin’ cooler and cooler with each new footage that gets released...though it’s a bit odd that Scarlett Johansson doesn’t speak at all in this preview. Hopefully her dialogue will be as good as she looks in Iron Man 2, though that may be asking for too much. I liked her in Lost in Translation and The Island though.



Below are my customary screencaps from the trailer, in case you couldn't tell.







Images courtesy of Marvel Characters, Inc. / Paramount

82nd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS... Congrats to Kathryn Bigelow and the rest of the crew behind The Hurt Locker for tonight’s 6 Oscar wins, including one for Best Picture (duh)! Pretty much the only Academy Award that Avatar truly deserved was for Best Visual FX...which it received. And props to Christoph Waltz on winning the Best Supporting Actor award for Inglourious Basterds, and Sandra Bullock on winning an Oscar for The Blind Side. She won a Razzie Award (for All About Steve) AND an Academy Award on the same weekend. Good for her.



Did District 9 win anything tonight? No? Oh well. It’s still kewl in my book.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND... I watched Tim Burton’s latest flick today, and with the exception of some moments (most of them towards the end) in the movie, I was disappointed. After being immersed in the awesome world of Pandora that was created by James Cameron in Avatar, I was underwhelmed by Burton’s depiction of Wonderland...possibly because the visual FX in Alice in Wonderland was pretty poor. I read an article late last year about how Burton was in a rush to complete this latest reincarnation of Lewis Carroll’s classic tale in time for opening weekend... I didn’t know he was in that much of a bind. Just watching this movie made me realize that Avatar should at least win the Oscar for Best Visual FX tomorrow.



Acting-wise, there was nothing special to note in the film. Johnny Depp’s portrayal as the Mad Hatter pales in comparison to his funny portrayal of Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies...despite the bizarre look Burton gave to the Hatter in this flick. Speaking of Pirates of the Caribbean, there were lots of moments in Alice in Wonderland where I (and most likely a couple of other people in the theater audience) couldn’t hear or understand a damn thing some of the characters were saying (some of this due to Danny Elfman’s music score playing essentially nonstop throughout the movie). This problem was also prevalent when I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest in 2006 and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005. These two flicks were also let-downs.



Helen Bonham Carter’s portrayal of the Red Queen was the one positive thing that stood out from Burton’s movie (FYI, Carter and Burton are domestic partners in real life. Just thought I’d share). It might be attributed to her huge honkin' head in this film. Mia Wasikowska, who plays Alice, is very attractive...but performance-wise? Think Jake Lloyd as Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace to know what I’m about to say.




One last note... What’s up with that song that played during the end credits of the movie? It totally didn’t suit the film. To give props to James Cameron again: At least he was shrewd enough to have Celine Dion incorporate James Horner’s main love theme from Titanic into her song "My Heart Will Go On", and again have Leona Lewis incorporate Horner’s love theme from Avatar into her song "I See You" (which, admittedly, still seemed out of place at the end of the sci-fi epic, haha). And Linkin Park and Steve Jablonsky collaborated on the score for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen...with the song "New Divide" being the main music theme for the Michael Bay sequel. Anyways. That is all.