Dear Blog, I know it has been far too long since I've written. I hope you can forgive me for my laziness/no discipline/no one is reading this so why bother writing lack of posting. I hope I can do better from here on out. Love, Kim
A dreary Sunday afternoon tends to mean one thing to me: time to throw some soup ingredients into my beloved Crockpot (this week's soup: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/02/original-taco-soup-crockpot-recipe.html) and head off to the Kaufman Astoria movie theater for a double feature. On tap this week: Hot Tub Time Machine and How to Train Your Dragon.
Hot Tub Time Machine, much like Snakes on a Plane, gets a good deal of chuckles from the moment the title is mentioned in a line of dialogue (Let's face it "Mother fucking snakes on this mother fucking plane" is the best part of that movie.) HTTM, however, is executed much better than SoaP. Let's face it...I'm a sucker for anything that pokes fun at the 80's.
I think it was a brilliant move to cast 80's Icons John Cusack, Chevy Chase, Crispin Glover (especially with the Back to the Future-esque plot). There is a cameo by Johnny from the Karate Kid. Really, all that is lacking is an appearance by Annabeth Gish, Molly Ringwald, or Phoebe Cates. Now THAT would have been awesome. Craig Robinson, Rob Corddry, and relative newcomer Clark Duke (who will be seen later this month in "Kick Ass") complete the ensemble and all have great moments. I am especially a fan of Robinson..there is just a way in which he delivers his lines (be it here or as Darryl on "The Office") that always makes me chuckle.
While I enjoyed the movie, I also feel like it didn't really reach its full potential. I think they could have done more with the fact that when they were transported back to the 80's they were also put back into their bodies from the 80's...there was definitely more comedy that could have come out of that. There was the great moment where they realized this, and then not too much was done with it after. However, the running gag of how Crispin Glover's bellhop, who has one arm in present day, will eventually lose his arm IS executed perfectly. There are the obligatory boob and fat/ugly guy ass shots, but most of the raunch in the movie comes from projectile puke/poop/bodily function jokes. I also thought, given the plethora of 80's people in the cast, they could have gone further with some of the self aware winking at the audience jokes. I didn't think it was as funny as The Hangover, given there was never a moment I (or the audience) was laughing so hard that I missed the next line of dialogue or I had tears streaming down my face, but I DO think it had more heart. B-
Given my skill at planning double features, HTTM let out in the perfect window of time to scurry into the next 3-D showing of Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon (for which I had brought my handy spare 3-D glasses from a previous 3-D outing). First thing I have to mention: the 3-D trailer for Toy Story 3 is freaking fantastic. I can NOT wait for it. In fact, I had a bunch of good trailers before this one...Despicable Me and Shrek 4 were also standouts.
The bottom line with HTTYD: if you are going to see this movie, you absolutely need to see it in 3-D. The animation, especially in the flying sequences, combined with the 3-D is spectacular. The movie is a theme park ride in the making. Pixar definitely has competition when it comes to the animation quality...Dreamworks gets stronger and stronger animation-wise with every movie they put out.
The voice cast was strong. Gerard Butler (who must be glad this came out so soon after the dreck that is The Bounty Hunter. Not that I have seen The Bounty Hunter. But please...it has dreck written all over it, and I have a very high tolerance for shitty romantic comedies. But...I digress) is in his element as Hiccup (Jay Baruchel)'s overbearing father. Craig Ferguson also surprised as the dragon fighting teacher (and I spent most of the movie trying to figure out whose voice it was).
Where Pixar will always have the edge for me is in the strength of their screenplays. HTTYD is a simple story, and it's one we've all heard before...misunderstood boy connects with a creature and finds his purpose and self worth outside of what his overbearing father expects of him and still gets the girl and saves the day. Now, the fact we know this story doesn't make it any less effective. I still laughed, I still cheered, and yes, I still cried. But unlike recent Pixar gems like Up and Wall-E, this screenplay very much played to children and lacked the wit and sophistication of its Pixar counterparts. Again, not that there is anything wrong with that...for me it is just what keeps most Dreamworks Animation movies from taking it to the next level. But HTTYD is still a wonderful movie, especially for the kiddos and anyone who has dreamed of being able to fly : -) A-
All in all, a very enjoyable afternoon at the movies. And I had a delicious dinner waiting at home for me.
