Hot Tub Time Machine

If it didn't include the element of time travel, Hot Tub Time Machine would be a virtual remake of The Hangover.  In both movies, a group of middle aged friends frustrated with their positions in life go on a road trip in order to re-live their lost youth, wake up in unfamiliar surroundings, and then desperately try to piece together the events of the preceding night.  Both movies also feature relatively unknown comedians who prove themselves to be masters of crude humour (Zach Galafianakis and Ed Helms in The Hangover, Craig Robinson and Rob Corddry in Hot Tub Time Machine).  Perhaps in order to avoid accusations of plagiarism, the writers of Hot Tub Time Machine decided to throw people of their scent by lifting elements from Back to the Future.  Due to an accident involving a faulty electric panel and the Russian equivalent of Red Bull, the friends travel back to the 1980s and encounter Crispin Glover.  The movie probably contains a few too many jokes about the 1980s, but otherwise - thanks largely to Robinson and Corddry - it is very nearly as funny as The Hangover.  If you don't mind incredibly crude humour, it is well worth a rental.

extra features:
-Deleted Scenes
-Theatrical Promotion Spot
-Production: Acting Like Idiots
-Chevy Chase: The Nicest Guy in Hollywood
-Totally Radical Outfits: Dayna Pink
-Crispin Glover: One Armed Bellhop
-Theatrical Trailer

Ratings:  IMDb - 7.0/10 Metacritic - 63 Rotten Tomatoes - 63%

 

Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

The promotional trailers for Percy Jackson & The Olympians are a classic instance of false advertising.  If you saw the trailer in a theater last fall, the chances are good that you heard at least one other person in the audience groan and whisper "What is the world coming to?"  The trailer created the impression that the movie was campy, ridiculous, and not worth seeing, when in fact the reality is that the movie is campy, ridiculous, and sort of worth seeing.  For example, Pierce Brosnan plays a centaur, the half-man-half-horse creature of Greek mythology.  To watch a former Bond actor prance around on horse hooves is mildly surreal and curiously entertaining.  Lines like "The door to Mount Olympus is at the top of the Empire State Building!" are also amusing.  It may not be the next Harry Potter, but Percy Jackson is not quite the waste of time that its trailer suggests.   

extra features:
-10 Deleted Scenes
-Secrets of the Gods
-Discover Your Powers Quiz
-The Book Comes to Life
-Inside Camp Half-Blood
-On Set with Brandon T. Jackson
-Meet the Demigods
-Composing for the Gods: A Conversation with Christophe Beck


Ratings:  IMDb - 5.8/10 Metacritic - 50 Rotten Tomatoes - 58%

 

The Crazies

Until The Crazies, director Breck Eisner was famous for three reasons: 1) for being the son of former Disney CEO Michael Eisner, 2) for directing Sahara - a job which he landed without any significant prior experience, and 3) for losing $80 million on Sahara - one of the biggest flops in Hollywood history.  With The Crazies, Eisner has partly restored his reputation: the movie is one of the scariest so far this year.  A scene inside a zombie-filled carwash is especially impressive and arguably surpasses anything in George A. Romero's original.

extra features:
-The Romero Template Featurette
-Paranormal Pandemics
-Behind-the-Scenes Featurette
-Rob Hall Makeup Featurette
-Audio Commentary
-Still Gallery


Ratings:  IMDb - 6.8/10 Metacritic - 55 Rotten Tomatoes - 72%