A scene from Hot Tub Time Machine with John Cusack

Hot Tub Time Machine
Starring: John Cusack, Crispin Glover, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Lizzy Caplan, Sebastian Stan, Chevy Chase, Lyndsy Fonseca
Director: Steve Pink

Hot Tub Time Machine is one of those rare movies that can almost be summed up completely by its title. With tongue-in-cheek appeal, the film is everything you could hope for in a spring release, complete with a fun cast headed by John Cusack, and a plot that has brainless hijinks written all over it.

Cusack is Adam, an average guy on vacation with his best friends, who have all become a little bit bored with their lives. Between their problems, including a controlling wife, the video game junkie who never leaves his basement, and a party animal with no parties to go to, the group of men have seen better days, at least until they discover that there’s a hot tub at the ski resort where they’re vacationing, and it’s actually a time machine.

After a drunken night, where they end up in said hot tub, the group of guys are transported back to 1986. Appearing to everyone around them as their younger selves, the guys initially take some time getting used to the idea and worry that they shouldn’t change the future, but once they realize they can do anything, they wonder if they can make their future selves a little happier.

Co-starring Rob Corddry as Lou, Craig Robinson as Nick, and Clark Duke as Jacob, Hot Tub Time Machine is a raucous, slapstick farce peppered with random humour and just a little gross-out comedy.

For this type of comedy, the film is getting above-average reviews, and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was one of many critics who have given the film positive reviews.
As Ebert wrote, “Hot Tub Time Machine, which wants nothing more than to be a screwball farce, succeeds beyond any expectations suggested by the title and extends John Cusack’s remarkable run.”

Or as Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune wrote, “A chlorinated, R-rated Back to the Future, Hot Tub Time Machine accomplishes what Snakes on a Plane did not: It offers a merrily idiotic movie to go with its wilfully idiotic title.”

How to Train Your Dragon
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill
Director: Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders

Dreamworks Pictures is back with another yet-to-be classic animated film, this time set in a mythical world where dragons are real, and a tribe of Vikings prove their heroism by slaying them.

Jay Baruchel voices the young Hiccup, a teenage Viking living on the island of Berk who hopes to prove himself to the tribe. Instead of slaying a dragon though, Hiccup finds himself making friends with one of the beasts who he was supposed to kill.

While he was initially trying to prove himself to his father, voiced by Gerard Butler, who also happens to be the chief of the tribe, Hiccup tries to find a way to convince the other Vikings that they can be friends with dragons. A mistake on his part though may lead to even more trouble, and an attack against the dragons’ home.

Featuring the voice work of America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Jonah Hill, David Tennant, and Kristen Wiig, How to Train Your Dragon opens in both 3D and regular cinemas this weekend, and it’s looking like the best reviewed film of the month, maybe even of the year so far.

Emanuel Levy of Variety called it, “fun and entertaining family fare in which the humour and action are stronger than the core story and blend of creatures.”

“Though the dragons are cool in their various forms and the battle scenes are epic and exciting,” Joe Neumaier wrote for the New York Daily News, “watching two former foes become friends is what really makes the story fly.”

Chloe
Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Amanda Seyfried, Max Thieriot
Director: Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan’s new film, Chloe, is quite a bit different from the other films opening this week. Starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, and Amanda Seyfried, the film is an erotic drama about a wife who suspects her husband may be cheating on her and employs a young escort to test that theory.

Charged with Egoyan’s trademark sex appeal, Neeson plays the part of the cheating husband who is easily lured into encounters with Chloe the escort, played by Seyfried, while Moore plays the jealous wife who may have started something she can’t stop, even as she enjoys every new emotion the turmoil causes.

Earning just 51% over at Rotten Tomatoes, Chloe is dividing critics who have praised the sexually-charged performances, but are have a hard time with Egoyan’s direction.

“Most of Chloe is plodding and drab,” Owen Gleiberman wrote for Entertainment Weekly. “We’re a step ahead of Egoyan’s tricks, and that’s because we’ve seen them — all of them — before.”

But Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer had some praise to offer the film. “Moore, Seyfried and Neeson each boast sufficient sexuality to power a single movie on his or her own, Rickey wrote. “Collectively, they are the erotic dream team.”

Devon Bostick in 'Adoration'

Ice Age 3: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
It’s back to prehistoric times we go in the second Ice Age sequel from 20th Century Fox. Catching up once again with Manny, Sid, Diego, and Ellie – the quartet of prehistoric critters voiced by Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, and Queen Latifah, this time out the friends are all having, or at least thinking about having, little ones, with Manny and Ellie expecting their first baby.

Meanwhile, when Sid the Sloth gets into big trouble, it’s up to the whole group to find a way to save him. This will of course lead them on a big adventure as Scrat the squirrel competes with a lady squirrel for one of his beloved acorns, and maybe thinks about being with that special sabre-toothed squirrelly someone in his life.

Looking back, Ice Age has been an above average family franchise, maybe not quite as clever or engrossing as the Shrek films, but up there as a memorable and enjoyable series for kids and adults. The series also stands out as something very different from the average animated cartoon, especially in terms of the unique visual style.

The drawback to a sequel for Ice Age is that the series seems to be getting low on fresh ideas, and some of the heart is quickly slipping away from the characters. This film is also much more about the adventure, rather than the story, which unfortunately makes the film feel like it’s being forced along at an ungainly pace.

There are still laughs to be had, and some great moments with Scrat and the rest of the crew, but I was definitely disappointed in Dawn Of The Dinosaurs, and I can only hope that if more films are in the works, someone will have some better ideas for this fabulous group of characters.

Adoration
Atom Egoyan’s Adoration is a convoluted tale of a teenager trying to discover the truth about his parent’s deaths, while the adults around him seem unwilling to reveal the story he craves.

Devon Bostick plays Simon, a sad-looking young man who fabricates a complicated back story for his parents with the help of his teacher Sabine, played by Arsinée Khanjian. Scott Speedman is Simon’s uncle Tom, who has been raising Simon since that fateful day.

While I’m not usually a fan of Egoyan’s films, and I do have a lot of issues with Adoration, I was still impressed by the film. It recycles a lot of Egoyan’s work from other movies, and I’m incredibly tired of his wife Khanjian starring in all of his productions, but Bostick and Speedman are quite good, as is Rachel Blanchard, who plays Simon’s mother.

The biggest problem is wading through the contrived events in Simon’s life, and dealing with the sometimes jarring editing, which sucks some of the emotion from this otherwise taunt drama.

Whatever Works
Writer and director Woody Allen is back in New York, this time with Larry David as his star in a comedic drama about a middle-aged man facing his own, eventual, mortality, while trying out a bohemian lifestyle.

David plays Boris, a reclusive chess teacher with a bigger-than-life, and holier-than-though, personality. Discovering a young runaway on his doorstep, played by Evan Rachael Wood, Boris invites her in, but has a hard time accepting her, even though he reluctantly allows her to stay with him until she finds a job.

Leaping into monologues, breaking down the fourth wall, Boris relates his life to the audience as he contemplates life, his friendship with this girl, and all the trials of bringing people together under one roof.

Co-starring Ed Begley Jr., Patricia Clarkson, Conleth Hill, and Michael McKean, Whatever Works is exactly what you might expect from a Larry David film, or a Woody Allen film for that matter. It’s highly satirical, somewhat mean-spirited, but nonetheless funny and even a little touching. It’s not Allen’s best work by far, but it is an engaging New York story.

Also on DVD this week…

Stan Helsing
From one of the minds involved in bringing us the Scary Movie franchise comes the B-movie horror-comedy about a video-store employee who has to save the day by defeating an invasion of classic movie monsters.

Set on Halloween night, Stan Helsing is nothing short of a disaster waiting for an audience, and that shows in the avalanche of negative reviews.

Kyle Smith of the New York Post noted at least one redeeming quality though. “Mostly the gags are unfortunate and amateurish,” Smith wrote, “but this micro-budget flick at least has a semi-coherent plot and every 10 minutes or so there’s a flash of wit.”

Stargate [Blu-ray]
Last of all, in honour of its 15th anniversary, Roland Emmerich’s Stargate debuts on Blu-ray today. Easily one of my all-time favorite sci-fi films, Stargate launched a massive television franchise, and represents one of Emmerich’s best films.

Starring Kurt Russell and James Spader, Stargate has a group of soldiers, and one historian, leaping through a galactic wormhole to a planet where they find a whole society living in the shadow of ancient Egypt. As the group of travellers look for answers, they also have to deal with the appearance of the Egyptian god Ra, who isn’t happy with their meddling.

Zachary Quinto and Chris Pine in Star Trek

Star Trek
Look it up in the dictionary, and one word sums up the entire Star Trek experience in a nut shell. “Trek: To make a slow or arduous journey.”

Few franchises have put fans through so much, with as many mixed returns, as Star Trek. And yet, the films and countless TV series have made words like phasers, warp speed, and tribbles, colloquial expressions heard throughout the galaxy. Forgiving even half of the terrible films put out in the name of Trek, it’s still easy to spot the franchise’s golden ideals, and clever concepts, which actually explains why we reboot wasn’t such a bad idea in the first place.

Director J.J. Abrams, who worked his magic with Mission Impossible 3, reinvigorates the Star Trek universe with a fresh faced young cast, headed by Chris Pine as the one and only James T. Kirk. Boldly going with him is Heroes star Zachary Quinto as Spock, Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura, and John Cho as Hikaru Sulu, to name a few.

Bumping the action up to a whole new level, the new film shows the origins of the first Enterprise crew while a Romulan captain by the name of Nero, played by Eric Bana, plots the destruction of Earth and Starfleet.

What may surprise some people is the rivalry that is given new life in this reboot, which has Spock and Kirk at each others throats. of course, considering how different these characters are, that makes a lot of sense. Kirk is the freewheeling adventurer, while Spock is an emotionally reserved, logical scientist.

As fans no doubt know, it is this rivalry that will lead to a great friendship, this time it comes together as they work to save the day from this Romulan threat.

What I found amusing about the film was the way it has been promoted. The studio has focused all the attention on the cast and the visuals, rather than the story, probably in the hope that would-be fans won’t be turned off by the inherent geekiness of the storyline. The only problem I had was that this made the trailers disappointing, at least to me, as I just wanted to see what the story was going to be about. As it stands, the trailers make the film look like fluffy special effects, and pretty faces.

Critics have come out well in favour of the new franchise title though, and are giving it glowing reviews.

“I can name exactly three and a half things Star Trek gets wrong,” James Rocchi wrote for MSN Movies, “and I can name about a thousand that Abrams and his cast and crew get absolutely, pitch-perfect, elegantly right.”

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times was one of only a few critics who pointed out some of the big flaws in rebooting the franchise.

“The Gene Roddenberry years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action,” he wrote.

Adoration
Atom Egoyan’s latest film is a convoluted tale of a teenager trying to discover the truth about his parent’s deaths.
Devon Bostick is Simon, a sad-looking young man who fabricates a complicated back story for his parents with the help of his teacher Sabine, played by Arsinée Khanjian. Scott Speedman plays Simon’s uncle Tom, who has been raising Simon since that fateful day.

While I’m not usually a fan of Egoyan’s films, and I do have a lot of issues with Adoration, I was still impressed by the film. It recycles a lot of Egoyan’s work in other films, and I’m incredibly tired of his wife Khanjian starring in all of his films, but Bostick and Speedman are quite good, as is Rachel Blanchard, who plays Simon’s mother.

The biggest problem is wading through the contrived events in Simon’s life, and dealing with the sometimes jarring editing, which sucks some of the emotion from this otherwise taunt drama.

TIFF 2002

Among the recently announced Gala presentations, Antwone Fisher, which is directed by Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington, will join David Cronenberg‘s Spider, Peter Kosminsky‘s White Oleander, writer/director Brad Silberling‘s Moonlight Mile, celebrated South Korean director Im Kwon-taek‘s Chihwaseon, and Canadian director Atom Egoyan will be honored with the Opening Night Gala Presentation of Ararat.

Other film treats include the Perspective Canada series which will open with Deepa Mehta‘s Bollywood/Hollywood, the Masters series, which highlights work of internationally acclaimed filmmakers, the Real to Real documentary series, and many more. One new addition this year is the Visions spotlight which, according to a Film Festival press release “focuses on innovation – spotlighting works that enter new cinematic territory, use unconventional approaches to storytelling, or employ new technologies in distinctive ways. Visions features international filmmakers pushing the boundaries of contemporary cinema.” To date, only a portion of the Festival’s details have been announced, but a press conference is being held in late August to announce most of the other information regarding this year’s festival. Stay tuned to The GATE for a range of coverage from the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival.