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Some people may think, after reading this article thus far, that I have been somewhat harsh on these films. They are just high-schoolers, after all. Those people would be correct, if the festival was based on solely the above three films. I wasn’t even planning to critique these movies.
Then this first place movie came along Titled “To Escape”, this film, made by a freshman, wowed me. Walking out, this was the only one I was thinking about, and still am as of now. This filmmaker has a future in this business, and I sincerely hope that he realizes it. I won’t summarize it for you, but instead encourage you to go watch it for yourself. It has excellent, dark cinematography. It contains no dialogue whatsoever. It leaves so much for the viewer to figure out for himself, and yet so very little to. The characters even wear inexplicable masks to keep a sense of mystery around who they are, to hide emotion, or simply to suggest that these two people could be anyone. Even the music is perfect. This film was nothing short of incredible for what it was.

Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry.
Directed by: Steve Pink.
Running time: 100 minutes.
Rated: R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language.

     This will be somewhat of a short review, as there isn’t really too much to say about “Hot tub Time Machine” without spoiling one of the funniest movies out there. There are moments in here that had me laughing for a solid minute. It’s nasty, irreverent, foul-mouthed, and insensitive, but it manages to have enough wit to avoid coming off too stupid. It doesn’t take itself very seriously and it’s just a fun time at the movies.
      The movie is essentially about four friends that haven’t really hung out since a crazy weekend in 1986, and so they get together at the same ski resort and bring one of their nephews along for the ride.
      Finding nothing but boredom at the once thriving resort, they all pile up naked into a hot tub and get taken back in time to that crazy weekend. 80’s references and enough profanity to shame “Superbad” ensue. And it works.
      Many critics have compared this to “The Hangover” from last year, but they share no more in common than just being extremely funny and interesting without being very challenging mentally or emotionally. This is the kind of stuff you go watch with buddies and not parents or anyone over 40 or so.
      My only real complaints with it were that some of the jokes did fall a bit flat, and there were some parts that were somewhat excessive, but as a whole, “Hot Tub Time Machine” is a blast to the past worth experiencing. And oh yeah, in case anyone cares: my next review will be on "Kick Ass" I think and I have not been this pumped for a movie in a very long time, if ever. It looks unbelievably amazing to me so I may have a biased review.

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				Some people may think, after reading this article thus far, that I have been somewhat harsh on these films. They are just high-schoolers, after all. Those people would be correct, if the festival was based on solely the above three films. I wasn’t even planning to critique these movies. Then this first place movie came along Titled “To Escape”, this film, made by a freshman, wowed me. Walking out, this was the only one I was thinking about, and still am as of now. This filmmaker has a future in this business, and I sincerely hope that he realizes it. I won’t summarize it for you, but instead encourage you to go watch it for yourself. It has excellent, dark cinematography. It contains no dialogue whatsoever. It leaves so much for the viewer to figure out for himself, and yet so very little to. The characters even wear inexplicable masks to keep a sense of mystery around who they are, to hide emotion, or simply to suggest that these two people could be anyone. Even the music is perfect. This film was nothing short of incredible for what it was. Hot Tub Time Machine Starring: John Cusack, Clark Duke, Rob Corddry. Directed by: Steve Pink. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated: R for strong crude and sexual content, nudity, drug use and pervasive language. This will be somewhat of a short review, as there isn’t really too much to say about “Hot tub Time Machine” without spoiling one of the funniest movies out there. There are moments in here that had me laughing for a solid minute. It’s nasty, irreverent, foul-mouthed, and insensitive, but it manages to have enough wit to avoid coming off too stupid. It doesn’t take itself very seriously and it’s just a fun time at the movies. The movie is essentially about four friends that haven’t really hung out since a crazy weekend in 1986, and so they get together at the same ski resort and bring one of their nephews along for the ride. Finding nothing but boredom at the once thriving resort, they all pile up naked into a hot tub and get taken back in time to that crazy weekend. 80’s references and enough profanity to shame “Superbad” ensue. And it works. Many critics have compared this to “The Hangover” from last year, but they share no more in common than just being extremely funny and interesting without being very challenging mentally or emotionally. This is the kind of stuff you go watch with buddies and not parents or anyone over 40 or so. My only real complaints with it were that some of the jokes did fall a bit flat, and there were some parts that were somewhat excessive, but as a whole, “Hot Tub Time Machine” is a blast to the past worth experiencing. And oh yeah, in case anyone cares: my next review will be on "Kick Ass" I think and I have not been this pumped for a movie in a very long time, if ever. It looks unbelievably amazing to me so I may have a biased review. B
		CARDINAL NEWMAN/URSULINE FILM FESTIVAL Before I begin, please note that the four films mentioned hereafter will be available to watch on youtube by the time you read this, but I can’t remember the channel by name so I just recommend searching the title of each film individually. At this first annual event, a grand total of four films were shown, and the whole thing was over in an hour and a half, which if one knows the usual length of these things, one knows that that is to long as fire is to cold. However, I am told that after this year, it will become more popular and more films will be shown, which would be a treat. This thing was a blast. Every movie was from 3-5 minutes long, and was required to put a cap on cussing, sex, nudity, and harsh violence. Then, after the screening, cash prizes were given to each film, with $25 bucks as the last place prize, and $100 for first. Note to all people skimming through this: IF YOU ENTER GOOD MOVIES, YOU GET MONEY. The fourth place picture was entitled “How to prepare for the SAT’s”, and it was fine. Not bad, not particularly memorable, but fine and enjoyable. Its strength was in its editing and inside references, but the whole thing was essentially a couple of buddies screwing around on camera with a theme that allowed parody of several academic subjects. It had a few funny moments, but it had a loose structure and was poorly made, coming off haphazard. Look, I’m not trying to discourage the makers of this picture, but they needed a bit more of a script. The third place film was “Unfortunate Fortune”, and I honestly thought that this deserved second place here. Both second and third place were “close”, as we were told, but this one was much more accessible, and funnier to a wider amount of people. It followed two friends, one having opened a positive fortune cookie, and one a negative. It is comprised entirely of small scenes of both extreme fortune and extreme instances of stuff that was bad. Very bad. It was funny. My only complaint was that it seemed self-aware at times, with one actor repeatedly glancing at the camera, but it went nowhere. I would have preferred some consistency or elimination of shots like that. The second place film is “Johnny Mambo”, a weird, offbeat whodunit about a stolen painting with a valuable disk inside. A guy named Johnny Mambo, reminiscent of Batman, is hired by a guy named The Dude (NOT Lebowski) to find the guy who stole the picture. All three characters are played by the same guy, using varying accents. What was funny for me, however intentional or otherwise, was that each character changed their accents from scene to scene, creating a wild randomness to a plot based in a world where everyone looks exactly the same. Enjoyable stuff.