The Fear of Becoming Jaded

As I sit here tonight, I'm pondering my review of Clash of the Titans (2010), I wonder how I've changed. I'm concurrently discussing the movie with the friend I saw it with who loved it. As I'm defending my points to her, I'm realizing that not so long ago, I would've left the theater after this movie reeling on its awesomeness; probably using words like, "ZOMG!" and "kewl!".

So, it's no surprise that I've been watching highly praised classic movies and reading everything I can get my hands on in preparation for graduate school, but to what cost? I remember asking one of my music professors from undergrad what it's like listening to new music for someone who's studied Mozart, Beethoven et. al for years. Her reply was that the first time she hears it, she determines its quality, then the second time around she starts getting into it analytically. Granted a ten minute sonata is not quite the time constraint of a two hour movie. But I think I'd like to try to tackle a similar perspective. My feelings on a movie are completely different from ten minutes after I leave to three days after.

I've been comparing viewing this movie to the time I saw Live Free or Die Hard. I remember getting very excited about seeing it, even to the point of getting annoyed with my then roommate who was way ahead of me on the movie analysis track. His constant pessimism to how he thought the movie was going to turn out was a huge buzzkill on my excitement for it. (It turned out, of course, that he was right). This scenario mimics the exact same scenario I was in with Clash with the exception that I might actually be wrong (!).

Rightness or wrongness aside, being someone who plans on spending the rest of my life studying film, am I forever doomed to nitpick every movie? I stand by my points of contention with the movie, but have I forgotten how to let go of my brain and just enjoy what I'm seeing on the screen? Is this an issue of over-analyzing or being spoiled from too many 'classics'? Did I just have a personal opinion about the movie because the original affected me so much? I had no problem suspending my realities for Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) and enjoying that farcical reflection of the past.

Anyone have any tips or suggestions on how to go through film school without becoming Jaded?

That's Right, I Saw It!!!!

With a little time on my hands and a little jingle in my pocket, I found myself with a free Saturday and looking for a movie to see. I know, I know! After my last post, I'm probably the last person that you would expect to see in the theater on any given Saturday. But in my defense, it was a matinee showing and the theater was hardly occupied. So I settled in for what I suspected would be two hours of mindless entertainment. With my expectations low to begin with, I was not disappointed.

The premise behind Hot Tub Time Machine is right in the title. There's this hot tub, and it has the power to take it's occupants through time. In this case, the unknowing travelers, John Cusack, Rob Corddory, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke find themselves whisked back to the 80's in said hot tub time machine after a night of partying at a once hip ski lodge. It takes our temporal travelers just one trip down the slopes and a walk through the lodge to figure out their problem. Popped collars, hot pink ski boots, and leg warmers all mark the times, but when they see a fellow skier popping a cassette tape in his Walkman it makes it clear just how far they are from where they started the previous evening. So with the problem firmly established, and the ramifications of their presence in the past (See the Butterfly Effect for clarification...) they embark on an hour and a half worth of shenanigans to figure out how to get back home with the least amount of damage.

I don't get too hung up on the silly devices writer's use to put their characters in a given situation. Strange coincidences and gimmicky plot devices are all over the place in the movie world. All I really need is a couple of believable characters, a few laughs, and maybe even some gratuitous nudity, and I'm good to go. John Cusack is his usual self, and Rob Corddory is full of one-liners and awkward moments from start to finish. However, the best thing this movie has going for it is Clark Duke. He plays Cusak's Second Life loving nephew. He's out of place with these guys from the beginning. The old fish out of water role is always good for a few laughs. Add to that the fact that he discovers the identity of his father on the trip and he's got a lot to do for a character that I originally wrote off as pure comic relief. Take all that, and throw in a couple of well-endowed ladies with their tops off and you've got everything you need to keep me interested. But unfortunately that's all this movie really did. It gave me just enough moments and just enough laughs to keep me from either walking out or falling asleep. Sure I laughed, and a couple of times, quite a bit. But for a premise with so much promise and built in humor to be had, the writer's here seemed content to rely on gay jokes, and a steady stream of F*#K and a barely watchable cameo by Chevy Chase to get us through to the end. The ending is predictable, and the payoff is less than satisfying, but I was there until the end. I laughed my fair share, and I was able to sit in the theater awake for two hours. Overall not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon. If you're on a student's income, wait for it on DVD, or make sure to hit the matinee. But otherwise, if you've got a couple hours and don't feel the need to fill your brain with heartier fare, check it out. It doesn't suck.