12 through 15...

I was thinking of updating this with every ten films I watched but then figured that would be a lot to have to write up all the time in one sitting... So I figure I'll try to stick to every five. In fives is ok but I think I have some for of OCD which left me irritated by the fact that I had reviewed up as far as 11 films! Why 11? Why not either go up in fives or do a review on 12? I thought it was odd doing the first 9 too but then I always have been a little weird...

I also think I might be depriving myself of too much sleep with this challenge as i'm only allowing myself to watch these flicks when everything else with the day is done and I have gone to bed. Considering i've been working late to get my new tattoo studio up and running it means i've been staying up til half 1 most nights... i'll have to sort out a better way to do this... Or go insane. I think that would be a funny way to wrap this up...

Anyway, before I get too far off point, lets get to the films...

12.) Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) Dir: Steve Pink

I'd not originally wanted to watch this film because I thought the premise was a little bit too ridiculous even by my standards. However after watching so many God-awful gash films, I thought it would be a nice break to watch something the IMDB classed as a Sci-Fi Comedy. This popped up when perusing the list of most popular IMDB Sci-Fi flicks so I decided to give it a go despite earlier reservations.
I have to be honest, I actually quite enjoyed the film.
Maybe this is simply on the basis of how many gash films I had watched building up to this. By this I mean that they were SO bad that HTTM couldn't be seen as anything other than good really.
The film starts pretty much like every other film John Cusack has ever starred in: He's divorced or recently gone through a break up of some sorts, or has lost contact with the woman he loves (2012, Serendipity, High Fidelity.).
The newly single Cusack and his token black friend (AKA the "Ernie Hudson syndrome") decide to take their token crazy bald friend away to a holiday camp they enjoyed in their youth in 80's after said crazy bald friend tries topping himself. Cusack decides to allow his live-in nephew to join them on this trip.
However upon arriving at the camp they find it has fallen into a state of disrepair.Shock. They check out their room and discover they have a hot tub just outside. Upon checking it, the hot tub is knackered. Somehow later though it appears magically repaired and working, none of them thinking this is odd, jump into the hot tub and they have a all night (Homo-erotic) party.
The following day they all go skiing but find it odd that when they reach the bottom of the hill they are using, everyone is dressed like something from the 80's... They realise that they have somehow travelled back in time to the 80's and are initially worried that they will bump into their younger selves and cause a terrible paradox with the same matter occupying the same space (They dont phrase it like that but c'mon, thats what we're aaaaall thinking right). Then they see their reflections and realise they have jumped back into their younger selves with the exception of Cusacks nephew who wasnt born at the time:

This bit of the film is the bit that really bugged me. I can understand sometimes after a pretty heavy night on the sauce, some people might just get up, dressed and head straight out without washing or cleaning or anything like that so they wouldnt see their reflections when getting dressed. However none of them seem hungover and you're telling me seriously that not ONE of the 3 guys who were around in the 80's had actually taken the time out to prepare themselves by looking in the mirror that morning? Fuck.Off.
Anyway thats not the main point. They have to try and redo everything exactly the same as they did the first time around to avoid rewriting the future. This doesnt go according to plan and many, MANY changes are made. To much hilarity.
Despite all these flaws you might think I am pointing out, the film does have some very funny points, like a guy in the modern age they know only has one arm, so when they see he has two in the 80's they desperately try to look out for when he loses the arm. Loads of different situations tie in with that.
The crazy bald guy as well, realising that his life is shit in the modern day goes about setting stuff up so he lives a more comfortable life.
The black dude in the modern day knows that his wife has been cheating on him but after all the changes they make to history, when he gets back to the modern day, he's rich and powerful and she never cheated on him. This still bugged me though because he remembers the other reality and knows that she DID. Grr.
Big plus for this film? Lizzy Caplan is in it:

Isn't she swell? I love her.
This was also the second film on the trot I had seen that had Johnny from the Karate Kid in it! Granted, in this its a relatively minor role but considering the part he plays ties in with a good "gayness between straight mates" joke, it's still a pretty good part!
Oscar worthy this aint, but if you had an hour and a half to kill, you could do a lot worse than watch this. And hey, who out of us wouldnt want to go back in time and found things like Google ourselves?! I just dont see it likely that a Hot Tub will take us there...
Rating 4/5


13.) The Man From Earth (2007) Dir: Richard Schenkman

This film I stumbled across by accident while looking for Sci-Fi blockbusters on IMDB.
It's a "made for tv" film but is based on quite an interesting concept (It also has the Candy Man and one of the guys off "Star Trek: Enterprise" in it) in the sense that its based on the idea of a man living since the age of the cave men to the present day.
It's incredibly low budget so dont go expecting any flash backs throughout the film but it's really rather well written.
John Oldman (Pun in the surname) is a university professor who has just had his last day at work and is moving on not just in the work sense. He's completely moving away from the area. His colleagues/friends (One of whom seems to have a rather inappropriate relationship with one of his students that none of the other professionals seems to mind) obviously want to know why. So John goes on to tell them about how he doesnt age so every time people start to notice he has to move away. He's actually roughly around 14000 years old, was friends with Van Gogh and was also a major biblical figure. He goes on to clear this up though: He never intended to be seen as any sort of magician, just wanted people to respect each other more and treat each other with kindness...
Almost the entire thing is filmed in the one room over 90 odd minutes as the scientists talk about the possibility or likely hood of what John is saying being true. There's a little bit of shonky acting but the actual driving force for the story kept me entertained. Dont go looking for this though unless you really like the sound of it. Wait til you see it on FIVE USA one day or something...
Rating 4/5


14.) Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009) Dir: Gareth Carrivick

I absolutely LOVED this film. Its an utter stroke of genius with a tiny budget. I couldnt believe I hadnt heard of this film before! Especially as it has the "IT Crowd"s Chris O'Dowd in it!
Three mates in a pub drinking. One is obsessed with the notion of time travel. The other is also a geek but the other one (The guy out of Shameless) is their more "normal" mate. Chris O'Dowd gets approached by a woman (Anna Faris) who tells him she is so honoured to meet him as he's going to be big stuff in the future. She would know as she is effectively doing Jean Claude Van Dammes job as a Time Cop.
Chris chats to her for a bit until she says she has to leave and then goes back and tells his mates thinking they were playing a prank on him. They werent. Then every time they go into the toilets they come out in the same pub but in a different time period.
Again this is another one where effectively its all set in one location, within the one room. They change the set slightly depending on the time period but you can tell this wasnt a massive budget flick!
It's a comedy. Not laugh out loud funny but one you cant help but enjoy as they try and dodge around Time Paradox's and try not to bump into their past selves...
Rating 5/5


15.) Alien Trespass (2009) R.W. Goodwin

I admire what this film was trying to do. Honestly I do. It's trying to make a comedy that sort of... lovingly mocks or pay homage to the B-Movies of the 50's and 60's. Styling it all like the retro films but with modern actors and filming techniques.
Unfortunately this doesnt stop it from being unfunny gash.
The main character is Will from "Will and Grace" playing a professor whose body is... possessed by an alien who has come to Earth acting as some sort of intergalactic cop trying to track down and kill a Goata. It's a monster that will basically wat you, leaving behind a pile of watery jelly, which will help it replicate itself and then eventually take over the planet.
The moster is appalling, intentionally I might add, but it still just doesnt work for me. It just looks too fake. If they had filmed the entire thing in Black and White I think it would have worked better.
Its cast... they really struggle too. It's like they're trying to act like people in B-movies would have acted back in the day but they just cant seem to pull it off since thats not how they would have been trained. It's just terrible. I really wanted this to be good and despite how I didnt enjoy it at all, its far from being the worst thing I have ever seen. Simply for the effort the writer and director went to I applaud it.
Still gash though.
The supporting cast are poor... and the music... Christ the music just really gets on your tits! I mean, if they had managed to pull off a retro look a little better then the music might have worked better with it but instead to me at least, it just seemed like someone played a random B-movie soundtrack over the top of the film instead of having something original composed for it...
Avoid unless you're with friends and WANT to take this piss out of it...
Rating 2/5


Well, that's us up to speed for now! Glad you lot are liking these reviews or enjoying my challenge so far! Lets get some more comments on the go though people! More suggestions too! If you see something on the TV you think I might not have seen, let me know and I'll check it out and see if I can fit it in :)


Til next time! PEACE!