THE CABIN IN THE WOODS
USA 2012
Directed by Drew Goddard
Written by Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon
Starring Kristen Connolly, Fran Kranz, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Chris Hemsworth
SYNOPSIS: It's THE EVIL DEAD meets THE TRUMAN SHOW! As a group of nubile teen monster-bait head unsuspectingly into the woods towards their certain doom, a pair of office drones (Jenkins and Whitford) keep track of the proceedings via high-tech video surveillance, while simultaneously moving all of the horrific set-pieces into position. Who these men work for, and what their motivation is, is initially shrouded in mystery.
THOUGHTS: Kudos to the marketing department for holding back from revealing the final act in the trailers, which contains most of the film's best moments (which I similarly won't spoil here). While they would undoubtedly have drawn in a much bigger audience, they would have also ruined the delightful surprise.
On the Metatextual Horror Seriousness Scale, this lands somewhere between the genuine thrills of SCREAM and the outright parody of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN. Let's say it's kissing cousins with SHAUN OF THE DEAD. But while SHAUN raised the stakes to balance out the comedy, similar attempts feel hollow here. I had compassion for Shaun and Co, but the CABIN gang never escape the cliches that they are meant to embody, and thus I never felt invested in their plight (or, consequently, scared).
It is, however, bloody, fun, and clever, and that goes a good distance with me. Similar to other "twist" films like THE GAME, I'm not sure that it would hold up on multiple viewings, but if you're a fan of teensploitation horror flicks, or just love to make fun of them, there's a good time to be had here. A great date movie for somewhat anarchic couples.
RATING: 6 (LIKE)
THE RAID
Indonesia 2012
Directed and Written by Gareth Evans
Starring Iko Uwais, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy,Yayan Ruhian
SYNOPSIS: Rama (Uwais), a rookie cop in Jakarta, is part of a team that goes on a "raid" (Hey!) of an apartment building run by the ruthless crime boss, Tama (Sahetapy). Things don't go as smoothly as planned, and as the police officers end up fighting for their lives against the machete and gun wielding slum residents, they learn that no ones motivations, whether cop or criminal, is precisely what it seems.
THOUGHTS: There's been a lot of hyperbole thrown the way of this film; "The best action movie since Die Hard!" proclaims the State Theater in Ann Arbor, where I went to see it. I can't go quite to that extreme (What? Is Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon chopped liver?!), but I will say that it is one of the most mercilessly brutal films I've seen in some time. As a showpiece for Pencak Silat, the martial art style native to Indonesia, the sustained violence reaches such apocalyptic intensity as to briefly skirt the edges of horror.
Besides the obvious martial arts influences, Wales-born director Gareth Evans shows a love of genre cinema circa late 70's and early 80's. The vibe and pacing is a mixture of Walter Hill's THE WARRIORS, John Carpenter's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13, and the apartment raid sequence from the beginning of George Romero's DAWN OF THE DEAD. The pulsing synth score, a collaboration between Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese for the American release, further emphasizes this link to the past.
The story, what there is of it, is the usual twisty nonsense, easily ignored beneath the deafening roar of shattering bones and splintering wood. If you end up feeling compelled by it, more power to you, but like the center-stage building it serves no better purpose than to provide a flimsy framework for the bloody ballet at hand.
The film, quite simply, kicks ass; there is no more accurate way to describe it. If onscreen violence is your catharsis, you'll find few films more purging than this.
RATING: 7 (LOVE)
While THE SOPRANOS started out as a slightly better than average collection of gangster cliches with half-hearted artistic aspirations, it grew exponentially in quality with each subsequent season, culminating in a masterful finale with season six. How good is it? So good that it made THE WIRE sweat a little bit in its race to claim the title of "Greatest TV Show Of All Time".
The ending, as in the final scene, is highly divisive, but I for one loved it. Without giving anything away, it's a cryptic and ambiguous ending that serves perfectly as everything for everyone, if you only allow it to. I'll definitely be giving this series the marathon treatment at some point in the future, having been so long since I've seen any of the earlier seasons.
I've come to a strange realization - Paul Thomas Anderson, one of the 90's film directors that I was more indifferent to than most, is probably my current favorite of his graduating class. Why? Because he's the only one who grew up. While Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson keep peddling their reductive metatexts, PT has been expanding his range and ambitions.
Had a conversation with Anna about what classifies a work of art as either Feminine or Masculine in nature. No conclusions were made, nor evidence cross-referenced, but my current shorthand is this; Masculine narratives are ones in which problems are surmountable.
Gary Ross, the director and co-writer of the megahit THE HUNGER GAMES, is playing hardball with production company Lionsgate over his fee to return for the sequel, CATCHING FIRE. Here's a free tip for Lionsgate: The Hunger Games is entertaining in spite of, not because of, Gary Ross' direction. I can't think of one single moment in the film where I said "Wow, that's a great shot!" or "This is paced really well". The audience will be there no matter who directs it, so just get someone who knows where to point the camera, and the momentum of the story should carry it.
Watched the pilot for JUSTIFIED. Cute, but it needs to get a lot better very quickly for me to continue with it. Always good to see Peter Greene in something every few years.
The start of the week finds me slightly debilitated by an onslaught of pollen that has clearly been genetically engineered by the government as a biochemical weapon against seasonal allergy sufferers, then "accidently" released into the atmosphere; a strain removed of all pain, remorse, or fear, that absolutely will not stop until I am dead, or at the very least, throughly annoyed.
To ease my pain, I've been reading George R.R. Martin's third book in his SONG OF ICE AND FIRE series, A STORM OF SWORDS (that does not roll off the tongue with ease). As if the story weren't already moving as slow as molasses in a frozen tundra, Georgey-boy keeps introducing new characters into the mix, even though they all seem to fill very similar archetypes, e.g., a world-weary knight fallen on hard times who has a disturbing attraction to a pre-teen girl. It's scratching my world-building itch, but as literature it leaves quite a bit to be desired. I'm guessing this works, and will work, better as a TV show, which I cannot wait to see.
Speaking of television. . . Finished off DEADWOOD, which ends on bit of a low note (thematically, not quality-wise). Much like the people up-in-arms about the ending to their precious MASS EFFECT series, the finale of DEADWOOD makes me want to bring criminal charges to the responsible parties (Though, unlike MASS EFFECT, the creators of DEADWOOD didn't know that their series was ending). Major Dad makes for a powerful heavy in season three as prospector George Hearst, who crushes anyone getting between him and "the Color" (or, "Gold").
Started BOARDWALK EMPIRE and BIG LOVE. Both entertaining, and both feature a lot of my boys; actors such as Harry Dean Stanton, Bruce Dern, Shea Whigham, and Michael Shannon. But while Boardwalk comes off as an entertaining, violent romp, it does smack of "paint-by-numbers" gangster story, whereas Big Love has something a bit more unique and engaging. I'm looking forward to continuing with both.
