Hotshots Movie Reviews
Hotshots Movie Reviews by Dan Culberson
“The Change-Up” Gross, Coarse, and Crass
Aug 27th
“Gross, Coarse, and Crass”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
The Change-Up begs the question, “Are you getting as tired of watching these lame body-switch movies as I am of reviewing them?”
Another question that goes begging about this movie is “Did the filmmakers believe they could get bigger audiences to come to this Hollywood cliche of a story by throwing in lots of obscenities and excessive nudity?”
And, finally, “How does Jason Bateman feel about being in one of the funniest movies of the year and one of the worst movies of the year in a matter of only one month?”
Yes, Bateman plays Dave Lockwood, a happily married father of three who is a successful lawyer and close to being made a partner in his firm.
Meanwhile, Dave’s best friend is Mitch Planko, played by Ryan Reynolds, who is a single actor and womanizer, but because the story takes place in Atlanta, you can’t imagine that he is all that successful an actor, can you?
Dave and Mitch have been best buddies since the third grade, and one night they go drinking together, and at the end of the evening they are talking about how they envy each other’s life while they are both urinating in a fountain in a park, and they both say simultaneously, “I wish I had your life.”
There is a statue of a woman overlooking the fountain, the lights go out around the city, the statue’s expression changes to one of a smile, and, of course, you know what happens.
Yes, when they wake up the next morning in their respective beds, even though they look the same to the audience, Dave is now in Mitch’s body and Mitch is now in Dave’s. And then comedy is supposed to ensue, but it doesn’t.
They get together, rush back to the fountain where they hope to undo the switch, but the fountain is gone, having been removed and is going to be restored and placed in a different location.
If they fill out the proper paperwork, the city might be able to tell them in three days to three weeks where the fountain is going to be.
The boys tell Dave’s wife, Jamie, about the switch. She is played by Leslie Mann, and of course she doesn’t believe them.
The Change-Up is gross, coarse, and crass, and I recommend you avoid it.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Crazy, Stupid, Love.” Stupid, Pointless, Waste
Aug 26th
“Stupid, Pointless, Waste.”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
Crazy, Stupid, Love. has too many characters and too many love stories to be classified as having a plot about a “love triangle.”
No, call this one as being about a “love octagon,” and not all of the love stories are pleasant and tasteful.
Here are the characters: Steve Carell and Julianne Moore are Cal and Emily Weaver. They have been married 25 years, have three children, and Emily wants a divorce, because she hs been having an affair with David, a man she works with, who is played by Kevin Bacon.
Ryan Gosling is Jacob, a studly do-wrong who picks up any woman he wants in a bar every night of the week and takes her home for a one-night stand.
Emma Stone is Hannah, a young lawyer who is rejected by the man she is interested in and then sets her sights on Jacob, but she refuses to play his game and forces him to play her game.
Jonah Bobo is Robbie Weaver, the 13-year-old son of Cal and Emily, and he has a major crush on his babysitter, Jessica, played by Analeigh Tipton, but she is 17 years old, and she has a crush on an older man, who is also married.
And, finally, Marisa Tomei is Kate, Robbie’s eighth-grade English teacher who is also out in the dating scene and figures into the stories, too.
So, when Cal moves out of the house and gets his own apartment, he starts going to a bar to pick up women, but his pick-up line leaves something to be desired. He says to one woman, “My wife is having intercourse with someone who is not me.”
Jacob sees Cal, takes pity on him, and decides to mentor Cal in the ways of picking up women in a bar, as well as helping Cal to make other changes in his life-style.
However, Cal still has feelings for Emily and goes over to the house in the middle of the night to take care of the yard and garden without Emily’s knowing that he is doing so.
Meanwhile, Robbie keeps pestering Jessica about his love for her, and she keeps rejecting him, not only because of his youth, but also because of her desire for that older man.
Crazy, Stupid, Love. is just a stupid, pointless, waste.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots”
“30 Minutes or Less” Dueling Pairs of Idiots
Aug 17th
“Dueling Pairs of Idiots”
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
30 Minutes or Less is a comedy about an elaborate plot to rob a bank to pay a hitman to kill the father of one of the characters, so that he can inherit his father’s lottery winnings.
What could go wrong, right?
Well, practically everything, considering that one pair of idiots hatches the plot and gets another pair of idiots to carry it out for them.
When the movie opens, we meet Nick, played by Jesse Eisenberg. He delivers pizzas in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for Vito’s Pizza, whose slogan is the title of the movie. If you order a pizza and it isn’t delivered in 30 minutes or less, then the pizza is free.
So, Nick is dashing through the street in his own beat-up car to make a delivery to two teenage boys, and he is rushing, because if he doesn’t make the delivery in time, then the cost of the pizza comes out of his own wages.
Well, the teenagers have pulled a con on Nick to get a free pizza, but then Nick pulls an even better con on the teenagers to get his money and a tip, too.
Then we meet Dwayne, played by Danny McBride, and his buddy Travis, played by Nick Swardson. They spend the day watching movies and playing video games in the house owned by Dwayne’s father, The Major, played by Fred Ward.
The Major, who is extremely unpleasant, is a retired Marine who won $10 million in a lottery, and when he asks Dwayne and Travis what they do, they say hesitatingly, “We’re business partners.”
They also blow up watermelons for fun, and Dwayne gets an idea for how to make their lives even easier: kill The Major and inherit his home and money.
Naturally, they aren’t capable of doing it themselves, and so after finding a hitman, now they have to come up with $100,000 in order to pay him.
So, putting their watermelon skills to bad use, they kidnap Nick on a false pizza-delivery run, strap explosives to his body, and tell him that he has to rob a bank for them or they will blow him up.
In a panic, Nick gets his roommate to help him, who is played by Aziz Ansari.
30 Minutes or Less is a study in dueling pairs of idiots.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
