Want to travel through time to see a comedy that will take you on a laughing trip? “Hot Tub Time Machine,” released in theaters in late March, and starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry and Craig Robinson, is about three pals who be-came distant through the years and sud-denly find themselves in a middle-aged crisis. The three 40-year-old men are unhappy with their adult lives. Adam has been dumped by an-other girlfriend, and his nephew, Jacob, spends all of his time playing video games in his base-ment. Lou is a raging alcoholic, and Nick has a crappy job and an un-faithful wife.

After Lou’s trau-matic suicide attempt, Adam, Lou and Nick re-unite for a weekend get-away to catch up on lost time. The three friends and Jacob head to the Kodiak Valley Ski Resort, where they used to party. The trip seems boring at first, but later the men find themselves partying the night away in the resort’s hot tub.

With headaches from the night be-fore, they awaken the next day in their teenage bodies in 1986. Adam, Nick, Lou and Jacob can see each other as their real age, but everyone else sees them as they looked 24 years before. Concidentally, they arrive during “Winterfest ‘86,” the

weekend that Poison came to town, and the town is swarming with partiers. When the townspeople finally realize what is happening, they are unsure what to do, but know that they must come up with a solution to get the men home.

Engrossed in the era of “Jessie’s Girl,” Poison and President Reagan, the men try not to distort the future, but they are forced to experience some of the same disturbing events they went through in 1986. This means Adam must break up

with his girlfriend and is also stabbed in the eye; Lou gets beat up by the bully who still haunts him; and Nick cheats on his “future wife.” During their time-travel experience, they begin to recognize how much better their lives would be in 2010 if they could rework their path of history.

Adam’s girlfriend dumps him before he can dump her, but he spends the rest of the night with April, a jour-nalist he meets at the

show. This time, Lou finds the courage to fight back against the bully who has haunted him all these years, and Nick pleases the crowd with his performance of “Let’s Get It Started,” a song from the future.

“Hot Tub Time Machine” is a comedy about three men who change their pasts to bring about a better future. This leads to one finally finding the love of this life, another learning to stand up for himself, and the third finally being able to stand his ground in a relationship.

REVIEWSThe Villager, April 26, 2010 5

Have a fun night with a group or solo by playing lazer tag at local arenas

Red Zone Adventures is a multi-level, futuristic, industrial cityscape located in Timonium. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Red Zone offers unlimited laser tagging and 25 percent discounts on parties. This arena also has a glow-in-the-dark miniature golf course, laser maze challenge and lightspace play floor. Red Zone offers something for every age; there is a toddler area as well as a parent area. It is open Tuesday through Sunday. For specials, visit redzoneadventures.com.

Off the beaten playlistby Jordan Dependahl

by Oyinade KoyiVillager staff writer

Laser Nation, located 40 minutes away from the Owings Mills campus in Edgewood, is a smoke-free, drug-free and alcohol-free environment. This arena features the theme of capture the flag. Each laser game is approximately 30 minutes long, including 15 min-utes of preparation. If you’re looking for a longer game, overnight parties are $20 per person with a group of 40 or more; prices will vary for groups less than 40. Children 12 and under can play on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon for $4. For more information, visit laser-nationedgewood.com.

XP Laser Sport, Maryland’s largest dark, fog-filled playing arena, is conveniently located five minutes from the Owings Mills campus. This locale offers 12 game modes, including the new deflector mode. In this mode, when someone tries to tag you, the laser will bounce off you and deflect back at your opponent. XP also offers a full observation deck, miniature golf and free Wi-Fi. Reservations are required on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and can be made online at xpla-sersport.com or by phone.

Castle Laser Tag revisits a time of wizards and knights. The multi-level, blacklit terrain brings more challenges to the game. The rates per player range from $7.95 for a single game to $14.95 for a double game and $20.95 for a triple game. However, for a group of 12 or more, the price is only $6.50 per player. Castle is open to the public Wednesday through Sunday; Mondays and Tuesdays are reserved for private events. For more infor-mation visit castlelasertag.com.

A hilarious trip back in time

What turns a piece of art into a legitimate, notable piece of art? As defined in the Merriam-Webster Dic-tionary, art is “the conscious use of skill and creative imagination.” There is no clause that demands a positive reaction from an audience inorder for a piece of creation to warrant the title of “art,” yet the most notable pieces do just that. Art doesn’t need a happy audience in order to exist, yet good art always makes one anyway. So, what makes any painting, photo, song or dance considered wor-thy of attention from a mass audience of watching and listening strangers? The private, secret language of an artist must be translatable. If not, the creation makes no mark. We are all ambassadors of worth; we give people and ideas la-bels of value every day of our lives, and that can be quite a heavy burden for a producing artist to bear. The question then presents itself: when an artist creates with an audience in mind, does it discredit the creation itself? If the focus shifts from the actual process of creation to the reception of it, what is sacrificed in the shift? The artist obsessed with audience reaction creates for the future instead of the present, working more for the smiles of the fans than the self-satisfaction of true personal expression. James Mercer of the Shins and Danger Mouse, a highly acclaimed producer, recently collaborated in the creation of an exciting new band, Bro-ken Bells. The merging of the two very different artists, backed by respective bodies of incredible work, came out of

left field - no one knew about Broken Bells, and they kept it that way. In a video interview with NME, the two men explained that they began the entire project in secret. In response to the question of whether the artists enjoyed working in secret, Danger Mouse admits that they loved it. “No one had any expectations when it came to what it was supposed to sound like or what people thought of it. We didn’t even play anything for anyone until much later in the pro-cess.” James Mercer admitted that the extremely late reach for feedback scared him, but now, post-Broken Bells debut, he will miss their ability to create in secrecy. Broken Bells’ album, The High Road, deserves notable attention. It is energetic and atmospheric, bounc-ing about in a spacey land of quirky instrumentals and cheap synthesizers, while Mercer’s unique vocals take each song to a new level with unpredict-able melodies. The project stands solid on its own two feet, and doesn’t need audience feedback to shape it because its inspiration and creation was 100 percent authentic from square one. Backed by creepy cool keys, the song “October” begins, “Use your intuition, it’s all you’ve got.” If it’s good, people will notice on their own - they won’t need convincing along the way.

by Kayla RosageVillager staff writer

2208 Hanson Road 410-676-0156

14201 Woodcliff Court 301-352-8413

12400-B Owings Mills Blvd 410-833-6611

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