Steve Pink Hot Tub Time Machine

Hot Tub Time Machine

Cast: John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson and Clark Duke
Director: Steve Pink
Genre: Comedy
Rated: MA
Running Time: 99 minutes

Synopsis: Hot Tub Time Machine follows a group of best friends who've become bored with their adult lives: Adam (John Cusack) has been dumped by his girlfriend; Lou (Rob Corddry) is the party guy who cannot find the party; Nick's (Craig Robinson) wife controls his every move; and video-game obsessed Jacob (Clark Duke) won't leave his basement. After a crazy night of drinking, in a ski resort hot tub, the men wake up, heads' pounding, in the year 1986. This is their chance to kick some past and change their futures - one will find a new love life, one will learn to stand up for himself with the ladies, one will find his mojo, and one will make sure he still exists!

Review: Hot Tub Time Machine is a great, humorous and light-hearted film that will have you laughing from beginning to end. Not only is this movie hilarious funny, it is great to watch the transformation to the 80's; you can see the differences in clothes, language and music.

Want to relax and have a laugh? Then Hot Tub Time Machine is for you, just make sure there is no youngsters around.

Release Date: April 22nd, 2010

About the Production
John Cusack and producing partner Grace Loh jumped at the opportunity to work on Hot Tub Time Machine. "MGM was looking for someone to fill the lead role of Adam and help develop his character and storyline," says Grace Loh. "And who better for a movie that travels back to 1986, than one of the icons from the '80s?""
"John Cusack and I really responded to idea - the absurd premises, the characters, and the story of their friendship. And of course, how fun is a throwback to the'80s?"

In approaching Steve Pink to direct, Grace Loh says the decision was a nobrainer. John Cusack and Grace Loh previously collaborated with Steve Pink on such critically acclaimed films as High Fidelity and Grosse Pointe Blank, for which Steve Pink was cowriter and co-producer.
"Steve Pink was perfect for this project," says Grace Loh. "Given our tight timeline, it was crucial for John Cusack and I to collaborate with someone who could jump right in and get started. The shared sensibilities and shorthand with Steve Pink was invaluable to the creative and production process."This project also proved to be a more personal venture for John Cusack and Steve Pink, as their own relationship dates all the way back to Evanston Township High School in Evanston, Illinois. They eventually formed a film production company with Grace Loh called New Crime, but that partnership's origins began as a theater company in Chicago called The New Criminals.
"I've directed John Cusack on stage," says Steve Pink. "But even though this is our fourth movie together, it is the first time I'm directing him on film. It's a different kind of responsibility, but it's great to get to work with John Cusack in a more creative way."

Grace Loh enjoyed the fact that John Cusack and Steve Pink got to work together again.
"John Cusack and Steve Pink have this wonderful history together, much like the main characters in the film," she says, "I've had the pleasure of knowing and working with them both for over 12 years now. It's been a real blast teaming up again, especially with Steve Pink in the director's chair this time around."

And having that first film be an '80s comedy was an added bonus forJohn Cusack and Steve Pink. "Putting John Cusack in a situation where he returns to the '80s, as both a character and as an actor, is especially fantastic because he was such a part of it. It's fun to see him reckon with it all," says Steve Pink. "John Cusack is an '80s icon. We're asking him to take us back to the '80s and be our guide through the nostalgia - both the good and bad. We're in good hands with John Cusack. He can only do this because he's still so well-loved."

Remembering the 80's
The 1980s was a time of frantic change and global growth. Political correctness in life (and in film) was in its infancy. Everyone had to own the "brick" phone and Nintendo. In fashion, we saw an explosion of bright colors, Jordache jeans, L.A. Gear, and side-wearing ponytails. In the music world, MTV was launched and propelled the careers of artists like Michael Jackson and Madonna while making superstars of big-haired rock bands.
"Hot Tub Time Machine revives the era in every aspect," says John Cusack. "In other words, be prepared to be shocked - it's a true throwback to the political incorrectness of the time. It can get pretty raunchy - but in an incredibly fun way."

The actors have their own unique memories of that colorful decade. "You know what I recall most?" Craig Robinson says. "I really wanted a Jheri Curl, and my parents wouldn't let me get one. A lot of my friends had 'em. I remember the day my cousin came over and his curl was just glowing and glistening and dripping. Oh, it was fantastic!"

Rob Corddry recalls it was a quieter period in his life. "I was going to school dances and then spending a lot of time writing in my journal," he says. "What stood out during filming is that when I was with a group of extras dressed up in full '80s garb, I could actually smell Love's Baby Soft."

Clark Duke was born in 1985 and has basically no memory of the '80s, but he says he's made cultural assumptions based on observation. "I think women look better now," he says. "The clothes and the hair were really unflattering. The tall waist thing does not look good on anyone."

Dressing the 80's
"Wardrobe and production design were crucial to achieving the '80s feel," Grace Loh says. "Our costume designer, Dayna Pink, did an incredible job piecing together every outfit, from main characters to extras."
Dayna Pink (no relation to director Steve) was thrilled to be dressing for this time period. "If you're going to do a period movie, this is the time to do it," she says. "This is a crazy, fun, kooky, colorful, shoulder pads, acid wash, fun kind of project, no matter how you slice it. To me it was the best time in fashion! I said, 'Sign me up!'"

Dayna Pink spent weeks scouring musty warehouses and searching on Ebay for authentic clothing. "I found Sergio Valente tops and Jordache jeans," she says, "really cool, amazing color-block pieces and hand-painted stuff. We were also really fortunate in that L.A. Gear provided the production with reissued '80s shoes. To complete the wardrobe, we culled from a mix of online, rentals and stock merchandise. I also brought in some pieces of my own."

When the buddies unknowingly awaken in the past, they find themselves at "Winterfest '86," populated by some very colorful characters. At first, the guys assume it's some kind of "retro" weekend. Dayna Pink researched ski attire of the time by watching period documentaries but took her designs a step further, adding in a fantasy element. "I imagined if I was Adam and I was on that mountain, what would I want it to look like?' I decided to go with bare skin, crazy bright leggings and big boots. So we have girls wearing bikinis and fur coats on the slopes. The men are in bright purple, one-piece suits with big spiders and logos and headbands. We really had a lot of fun with it," she says.

A Very Unique Hot Tub
It may look like an ordinary hot tub. It may behave like an ordinary hot tub. But the Hot Tub Time Machine is no ordinary hot tub, and mechanical special effects coordinator Clayton Orr was charged with the task of creating the title "character," the very device that transports our heroes into the past. "The script required that the tub do a tremendous amount of things, and we were faced with a lot of logistical challenges," Orr explains. "It had to function in three different modes; first, as a bowl of water, next, as a functioning hot tub for talent and, finally, as a time machine."

It took a period of three months for Clayton Orr and his team to assemble the tub from scratch. When first seen in the film, it appears to be broken and dilapidated. Its only function was to hold water. When it came time for the actors to enter, the team installed a jet system that was augmented with an air pump. "Since the water was only 90 degrees, we added exterior steam to mimic a real tub," Orr states. The set piece was also designed with a glass bottom, so the crew could add lights from below.

The final stage occurs when John Cusack's character, Adam, accidentally sets off the time machine. "We took the tub apart, added propulsion and lowered a pump system that fit into the bottom of the tub. The effect resembles a giant toilet bowl that's constantly flushing. It all worked with just the flip of a switch," he says.

Clayton Orr assures that the set-up was 100 percent safe for the actors and enabled them to "spin around and grab the sides as if actually trapped in a whirlpool."

Turning Spring into Winterfest
The spectacular mountain community of Fernie, British Columbia, stands in for the story's nostalgic Kodiak Valley. A world-class ski resort, the area gets heaped with snow in the winter and is renowned for its fabulous powder conditions. Fernie is located 26 miles (42 km) from the Alberta/British Columbia border and lies tucked away in a narrow valley in the rugged Canadian Rocky Mountains.

From its boomtown status at the turn of the twentieth century to its reputation as the Whiskey Gap during the prohibition era of the 1920s, Fernie has inherited a unique and colorful history. A town with a strong history of coal mining, Fernie was named after mining magnate William Fernie who helped develop the town into the industry's largest centre in the Elk Valley region, after he had reported a major coal discovery in 1897 that led to the formation of the Crowsnest Pass Coal Company.

The locale proved to be both a blessing and a curse for the filmmakers. "It was tough shooting a winter film in May, as we were chasing the snow a bit. But the place had the best layout for what we were looking for in terms of creating the Winterfest street," notes Grace Loh. "So it was just a combination of snow, layout, style and architecture that took us out here."

Grace Loh credits production designer Bob Ziembicki with bringing Fernie's oldfashioned streets to life. "I can't say enough about our production designer, Bob Ziembicki, who essentially created Kodiak Valley out of almost nothing and in zero time. The time travel element was challenging as well in that our sets required a distinct change in their look, both stylistically as well as in age, and on a quick turnaround," she says.
"What I was drawn to was the notion of starting with something real and enhancing it as best we could," Bob Ziembicki says. "Making the present where we start off as dark and depressing and then as we go back in time to '86 things brighten up considerably. We were able to capture the color palette of the mid- 80s, which was probably the most important and essential element both in the production and costume design of this movie."