Category Archives: Black Dynamite

Movie Review: Hot Tub Time Machine

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In his review of “Shutter Island,” the New Yorker’s Anthony Lane drew upon a quote from Umberto Eco: “Two cliches make us laugh but a hundred cliches move us, because we sense dimly that the cliches are talking among themselves, celebrating a reunion.” Lane was using this to describe a totally different movie, but I think it fits even more perfectly into “Hot Tub Time Machine.”

“Hot Tub Time Machine” is the 1980s comedy made for 2010, both stylistically and literally. It begins in the modern day. The film’s anti-heros, three best friends who’ve hit some rocky times, are typical everyday schlubs. Adam (John Cusack) has to deal with both a recent breakup and his reclusive nephew (Clark Duke) who lives with him. Nick (Craig Robinson) is a burnt out musician, and Lou (Rob Corddry) is an alcoholic who has just hit rock bottom.
Well, the first half of the premise probably made this movie sound a little too serious. Just wait until you hear the next part. The four head up to a now decrepit ski resort to try and relive their glory days. After a night of too much to drink, the boys’ hot tub sends them back to the 1980s. There, they relive all the greatest moments of their life, and those they tried to totally forget about.
“Hot Tub Time Machine” can be described as a different kind of nostalgia. It’s a nostalgic tone that’s both a little mocking, and a little reminiscent. Unlike some other previous homage films such as “Black Dynamite,” “Hot Tub Time Machine” wouldn’t totally fit in as a film in the 1980s. It does contain everything we love about an 80s classic, but with the wisdom of someone living in the year 2010.
However, this isn’t to say that “Hot Tub Time Machine” doesn’t evoke its era well. When it does go back in time, it does everything it can to put you into the year 1986 from the music people listened to, to the kind of shoes they wore. Then, it crams in about a million different 80s movie cliches. There’s the upper class bully, the losing-your-virginity story, and of course, some anti-Communist paranoia. “Red Dawn” style.
It really does feel like all of these different cliches are having a reunion together. It could be that the writers, director, and actors were actually having a fun time with it all, or that this era of filmmaking had a little more depth than ever imagined. Maybe this was just an era where people were making films about the world they wished they lived in, rather than what it actually was.
Even for a film that’s unapologetically dirty (consider this a warning), there is still something very smart behind its stupidity. The film’s humor is a mix of gross out and tongue-in-cheek.
Perhaps the one moment in the film that could actually be described as brilliant comes after the characters have been transferred back to the 80s. Robinson remarks, “must be a…hot tub time machine.” Then he just stares at the camera. Not only have the filmmakers broken the fourth wall, but they’ve also managed to make fun of how films try to incorporate their titles into their dialogue while at the same time creating one of the best title tie-ins I’ve seen in a movie.
“Hot Tub Time Machine” would definitely have been a failure had it not been for a cast and crew who actually knows their way around the subject. I would like to point out that co-writer Sean Anders, who also wrote the awful “Sex Drive,” manages to succeed here by actually putting funny words on a page.
I think the cast really helped make the film even better. You can feel that they took control and made it their film as well. Corddry finally got the breakout role he deserved, and he’s certainly gotten the a-hole personality down well. Robinson always incorporates his smooth talking, but sometimes very angry, personality and turns it into laughs.
Then, of course, there’s Cusack. Here, Cusack seems to play a bit more of a demented version of Lloyd Dobler and any other romantic he played during the 80s. There’s something about his personality that is so endearing. Maybe it’s that he never seems happy yet he’s never a killjoy. I think it might be a little closer to his performance than “Better Off Dead” than in “Say Anything…” What I really want to say here is that I hope Cusack takes more roles like “Hot Tub Time Machine” and less like “2012.”
There is one thing I’ve thought about complaining about in “Hot Tub Time Machine.” However, I can’t bring myself to because it actually works here. That one thing is how much the premise resembles “The Hangover.” It’s also about the result of a night of debauchery and contains the same archetypal characters. But as long as this premise keeps working, I will keep seeing movies just like it. This premise might one day become the cliche to define the 2000s.
“Hot Tub Time Machine” broke the fourth wall in more ways than mentioned before. The sum of the film and its characters is not just homage to the films of the 80s, but rather both the characters and the filmmakers looking back at what that era meant. It fits the style of the 80s into the style of the present. Oh, and most importantly, it’s just the kind of film that you see, laugh at, and then keep laughing at long after it ends.
80s Movies That Likely Inspired Hot Tub Time Machine: Back to the Future, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, One Crazy Summer, The Breakfast Club, Say Anything…, Red Dawn, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, Weird Science, Encino Man (Not 80s, but close enough)

Movie Review: Black Dynamite

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Something very interesting happened while I was watching “Black Dynamite.” For about an hour, I understood what it was getting at, and what it was trying to do. At that, it was doing well. What I couldn’t help but wonder was: where’s the big punchline?

Then, it came. And then I saw that “Black Dynamite” was not just an homage, nor was it a product, it was a twisted, brilliant little movie of its own.
“Black Dynamite,” a film released last year, is a throwback to the ever influential Blaxploitation genre of the 1970s. As the name suggests, it was a genre that exploited black stereotypes (as well as violence) for the sake of entertainment. In the latest addition, Black Dynamite (Michael Jai White) is a former CIA agent who knows Kung Fu.
After his brother, an undercover agent, is murdered in a drug deal gone wrong, Black Dynamite gets his license to kill back and seeks revenge. In the process, he cleans the streets of drugs and uncovers, a deep, and possibly very lethal, conspiracy.
“Black Dynamite” is more than just an homage to Blaxploitation cinema, it is Blaxploitation. This movie could’ve been released amongst films like “Shaft” and “Foxy Brown” and blended in just fine. It transports us back to a simpler time, when it was still acceptable to call a white person “honky.”
Before I go further, I will admit that I’m only loosely familiar with Blaxploitation films. I know more about them through reputation than actual viewing. Having said that, “Black Dynamite” could capture more than a genre; it even captures an entire era. While watching it, I felt reminded of the underrated “Grindhouse.” Both are films that could easily fit into their eras as they both mimic the little things of the films they emulate such as the lighting and even the sound effects.
On that note, “Black Dynamite” has a score that sounds like the great, smooth Funk of Isaac Hayes. That warm glow of the light makes for a light-hearted, utterly entertaining work of film. Meanwhile, the often grainy, documentary-like cinematography, was common in shoe string budget exploitation films.
Now, as I mentioned earlier, lets talk about that little turning point. “Black Dynamite” goes from purposefully silly exploitation to a sort of over-the-top ridiculousness that becomes almost sublime in a scene where Black Dynamite and his men figure a conspiracy out. In one way, it’s mocking ridiculous explanations for twists in films (I’ll never look at the white board scene in “Shutter Island” the same again). In another way, it hops from one point to another in such a form that only someone with a knowledge of film both great and bad could ever come up with. You’ll be astounded not at the fact that you couldn’t come up with it, but that anyone could ever think of something like this in the first place.
I would definitely credit much of the film’s success to Scott Sanders’ 70s style direction. But much credit should be given to the screenplay, which is co-written by star Jai White. It remains totally in the era and manages to make several running jokes (such as the repeated use of the phrase “jive turkey”) fresh throughout. Despite the film’s extremely short running time, it still manages to get most of what it sets out accomplished. There were a few strands, like a corrupt congressman character, that remained somewhat unsolved at the end. Then again, this is a tribute to imperfect cinema.
“Black Dynamite” is the kind of film I could see myself watching several times and not tiring of it. In its goal of not only evoking a past era, but becoming a part of it, it succeeds admirably. Oh, and I forgot to mention that odd yet almost audacious thing it does with a certain former President of the United States. Guess you’ll just have to find that out for yourselves.