DVD FIEND: HOT TUB TIME MACHINE

Oh yeah, now we're talking! Here, my friends, we have a truly great film! No, it's not Citizen Kane, but this is the type of movie I grew up with and have been waiting for the longest time to be recreated. There were a few flicks that I thought might achieve this, most recently Date Night, but I've been disappointed time and again. Hot Tub Time Machine delivers gloriously, though, and I couldn't have been happier with the results.

Again, I'm not talking rocket science here. The greats of the 80's weren't that by any means. Movies like Bachelor Party, Ferris Beuller's Day Off, Vacation, and Adventures in Babysitting were just hysterical, sometimes raunchy, romps, as well as disguised adventure movies. They also just felt like a good time captured on screen, rather than a paint-by-numbers film that we mostly see these days. That said, I will say Todd Phillips' films have mostly been in tune with that 80's approach, some fantastically so.

I'm straying here, but that's OK, because it's the feeling and joy that this movie gave me that is most important. The story is what it is, the acting works, and the guys are funny and play off each other well. So at the end of the day, saying more about this movie would be silly. It works for me on a cellular level, and it may not for you. It's just a really funny, well-told flick. One that if you dug the movies I've mentioned, then you should check out. I loved it.