I ended up venturing out of my comfort zone a couple of times this Memorial Weekend. Thankfully neither one is disappointing. On Friday night, we were debating between three movies, as you can see in my tweet below.
Deciding between The Imposter, Cabin in the Woods or Kid With the Bike #whattowatchtonight
— FlixChatter (@FlixChatter) May 26, 2013
Well, it came down to Cabin in the Woods as I’ve been curious about it for a while and the fact that Joss Whedon’s produced and wrote it sounds like it’s worth seeing. This is not so much of a review, but more of my reaction and overall thoughts of the movies. Here goes:
THE CABIN IN THE WOODS (2011)
Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.
Now, I don’t watch barely any horror movies, but even so, the storyline seems pretty cliché. But from the trailer and even the poster, I had an inkling that there’s more than meets the eye here and sure enough it was. I think a lot of people have seen this movie by now as it was quite a hit a couple of years ago, but I’m still going to give a warning in case some haven’t seen it.
[SPOILER ALERT – keep reading at your own risk!]
Right from the start, you could pretty much guess just what is this cabin about. You see people in some kind of scientific facility, going into a control room with a bunch of TV monitors and what do you see no them? The cabin of course! Boy, that realization immediately made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and the goblins haven’t even showed up yet!
Trust me, even the scariest cabin you’ve been on, even those that’s supposedly haunted or whatever, is nowhere near as terrifying as this one. And that is because the whole thing has been rigged. Before you know it, one by one starts getting attacked, though at first I was under the impression that this whole thing is some kind of game, like a much sicker and deadly version of SURVIVOR where each had to do something drastic [kill each other] to survive or something.
Well, I’ll tell you that my reaction to the film kind of fluctuates as it progresses. Sure there are truly scary parts here, albeit some are run-of-the-mill horror stuff where people gather in a spooky basement even if they know they shouldn’t be there, reading and touching stuff they know better not to. But somehow, I kept thinking that the whole thing is human-controlled, which made it somehow less scary to me, and made me ten times more curious just WHO is behind this stuff.
The acting is not much to write home about, apart from the amusing roles of Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as the two main controllers. I haven’t seen them playing such jerks, ahah, but they’re quite convincing. Mr. Thor Chris Hemsworth is the only one I know from the rest of the cast, but there’s nothing extraordinary about the five college kids.
As far as the plot goes, I have to admit it’s pretty creative. So apparently the whole scenario at the cabin is part of an ancient ritual sacrifice that’s happening all over the world. There are footage shown at other facilities and there’s some kind of competitive nature between the various locations.
Now, here’s one main beef I have with this movie:
Just why in the world is a control room with a big red button that says ‘PURGE SYSTEM’ where two of the characters got into is NOT guarded as well as it should’ve been? I mean, if you’ve seen this movie, you know just how crucial and critical that the BIG RED BUTTON does NOT get pushed, whether by accident or not. It’s akin to a button that launches nuclear warheads being aimed at our own neighborhoods, no? Except that this sounds like a far more terrifying way to die than being nuked!!
Another thing that sort of bothered me after the movie is how my expectations about the plot doesn’t quite aligned with what actually transpires on screen. The whole time I was watching this, I was under the impression that ALL the monsters had been man-made somehow. That the people in labs all over the world created those creatures as killing instruments, and they have a system to trap unsuspecting victims that’d become the ‘stars’ of their shows, for a lack of a better word. So the main purpose of this whole ‘game’ is motivated by greed or fierce competition (where the facility that produce the most killings the fastest win). So when that Purge System button got pushed releasing the creatures from their confinements, the people lost control of their own monster creations, and they’re running rampant killing everybody as they’re basically built as killing machines. I feel like it’d be far more sinister when humans actually create those monsters that end up being the root of their own demise. Anybody else feels this way, or am I the only one??
Still, the idea of mixing supernatural things with technology – and the idea that people could actually contain ALL of those goblins and demons and confine them into elevators – is pretty imaginative. I could see why this movie was a hit with the critics (92% on Rotten Tomatoes for a horror flick is impressive!) Director and co-writer Drew Goddard thew plenty of humor thrown in as well to lighten the mood, though it certainly has plenty of blood and gore as well to please horror fans. Again this is NOT my genre, but I do appreciate the unusual storyline and overall it’s pretty entertaining.
 3.5 out of 5 reels |
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FAST & FURIOUS 6
Hobbs has Dom and Brian reassemble their crew in order to take down a mastermind who commands an organization of mercenary drivers across 12 countries. Payment? Full pardons for them all.
So, another movie that’s not exactly my cup of tea. I’ve got to admit the high rating from critics and audiences alike got me curious about this one. No, I didn’t bother watching the other five movies in this franchise as I don’t think I’d be at a loss in regards to the story, and I was right.
All I had to do was go to the IMDb page for this movie and after about five minutes, I got enough ‘history’ of Dom and his ‘family.’ Interesting that his name is Dom (short for Dominic), is it to suggest he’s like the Don in a racer ‘mafia’ or something?? [shrug] In any case, so basically Dom (Vin Diesel, still clad in his favorite wife-beater) and his BFF Brian (Paul Walker, the pretty blond former LAPD) was involved in a Rio heist the last time around which toppled some kingpin’s empire and thus left their crew with about $100 mil. The crew are now scattered all over the globe since their run-in with the law, unable to return home. But then Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson w/ the perfect moniker The Samoan Thor) shows up in his posh villa in Spain offers him a chance at redemption in return for his help to catch a ruthless criminal Shaw (Luke Evans). Apparently one of the catch Hobbs threw at Dom was a photo of his lost love Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) who’s supposedly been killed. So the chance of finding Letty again PLUS getting a full pardon for his entire crew turns out to be an offer he can’t refuse.
As this is the first time I encountered Dom’s crew, I’m most entertained by Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) who’re constantly bickering. They’re the comic relief of sort and I love that they’re not above making fun of their whole group. The women are pretty much the killer eye candy, not quite a femme-fatale but at least not the ‘damsel in distress’ type. There are endless fight scenes between Gina Carano and Michelle Rodriguez, but then again what else is Gina to do, we all know acting nor emoting is not her strong suit. The rest of the guys are pretty much only rehashing what they’ve been doing in the last five movies (except for Dwayne Johnson who’s only joined the franchise in the previous sequel Fast Five). The two main players Diesel and Walker are the least interesting people in the whole bunch. Yes I know the rest of the group aren’t exactly magnetic either, but still, those two are pretty dull indeed.
But hey, you go see this movie not really for the stunts and well, Taiwanese director Justin Lin delivers the goods big time with the most ridiculous car chases from start to finish. Seems as if the filmmakers go out of their way to create some extra outrageous stunts, which is ludicrous even by Michael Bay standards. Case in point: two people from two opposite vehicles jumping across a bridge with cars on the highway going 100 MPH, then somehow manage to catch each other midair and landing on the hood of a running vehicle and come away absolutely unscathed. I mean, come on!! The funny thing is, the very same characters were discussing just a few scenes ago about how they got their scars from doing relatively ‘safer’ stunt than this one they pulled off here!! If you’ve seen the latest official trailer, you’ll know exactly which scene I’m referring to.
Luke Evans as the villain Shaw started out quite promising. The Welsh actor is hunky with tons of sex appeal and screen charisma to boot (hence he’s one of my choices to play 007), but I feel like his role is underwritten. He appears cool but lacks menace as there’s not much substance to his character. Plus the ending is rather anti-climactic despite such a bombastic action sequence. Oh, it was fun to see an Indonesian actor Joe Taslim (The Raid) displaying his kick-ass fighting skills as one of Shaw’s minions, though I’m still baffled as to why he was speaking Indonesian at one point in the movie, ahah.
Well overall this movie was worth the price of a matinee showing. It’s still a heck of a lot better than Die Hard 5 and according to my hubby who had to endure the G.I. Joe sequel, it’s a hundred times better than that one, ahah. I’m not about to check out the other five movies prior to this, but you know what, I just might give Fast 7 a shot. Yes, with $310 mil worldwide gross so far, I don’t think we’ll be seeing the end of this franchise any time soon!
 3 out of 5 reels |
What are your thoughts on these movies? I’m especially curious to hear what you think of my reaction to The Cabin in the Woods Let me know in the comments!
FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I watched Cabin in the Woods on Sunday and I thought the exact same thing about the purge button! At the very least it should have been under a locked lid.
Hey I’m glad I’m not the only one thinking that!! That’s cool that you just saw it too Brian, or was it a rewatch for you?
Second watch for me, wanted to show it to some family. They seemed to enjoy it.
Ah I see. Well, I don’t think I’ll be seeing it again, but it was actually pretty good considering I’m not into horror, ahah.
I love Cabin In The Woods!! As for Fast & Furious 6, it was all sorts of silly and ridiculous…. but I really, really, enjoyed it! You’re right too when comparing it to similarly ridiculous action movies like Die Hard 5…. its much better!!
Hi Asrap. Since you LOVE Cabin in the Woods, what do you think of my theory/expectations about it? Curious if anyone else had something else in mind as they’re watching the movie.
Ahah yeah, Fast 6 is quite fun, but more on the BRAINLESS fun 😀
I can totally see why you thought the monsters were man-made and how it bothered you, but I didn’t see that way when I was watching. I like the “conspiracy” idea that there’s always some secret society controlling aspects of peoples lives. I didn’t think it was scary too, but it was a lovely homage… almost parody… on horror movies.
Well that’s just it. To me, it’d have been an even more demented ‘conspiracy’ if the monsters were man-made controlled by this secret society. You’re right it wasn’t actually all that scary once the monsters are all out, more gross and disgusting than scary. I think the whole scene of them in the basement before the zombies show up is scarier to me as it’s so suspenseful.
See, I thought the opposite of the button because it is the movie about these kind of movies. They always have something like this in them. Of course, we have to have a button that’s so poorly secured any bloody fool could get to it ;-). If it wasn’t there, we (the followers of such fare) would pine for it otherwise.
And F&F 6, which I saw yesterday with my kids, was exactly what I expected — there’s a reason you have ludicrous and Ludacris literally in the film! Entertaining, though (along with the longest landing strip in the history of NATO, Spain, or the planet being the centerpiece location for a finale! Still, made the time pass quickly.
BTW, the more previews I see for ‘After Earth’ and I’m thinking I’m going to be looking back at F&F 6 with fondness. YMMV.
Fun read, Ruth. Thanks.
Ahah, you’re too funny! Yeah I suppose they’d have to put out some incredibly idiotic thing out there in horror movies, but it’s a shame really as I thought this one was pretty creative. I enjoyed it despite having a totally different expectations about the plot, ahah.
Ahahaha, Ludacris and ludicrous together in a movie. LOVE that! They should’ve marketed it that way 😀
Cabin in the Woods is amazing!!!! Give it 4 Ruth give it a 4!
Ahah, well 3.5 is actually pretty high given the quibbles I had on it. So the movie lined up with EVERY expectations you have about it? I had something totally different in mind as I was watching it, so when it was finally revealed, I was actually a bit disappointed, ahah. So I take it you didn’t have any issue w/ the whole Purge button not being secured at all? I thought that was pretty dumb.
Yeah I loved the film and am a massive fan of what it went for. As for the Purge button they didn’t think anyone could escape so why have guards posted on ever control panel?
Two very different films here Ruth! I really enjoyed Cabin in the Woods, thought it was really clever and a lot of fun. I think Michael, above, has pretty much hit the nail on the head about the whole purge button thing. It’s kind of playing on the tropes of horror films that people make really stupid decisions that don’t make any sense. I also think it’s creepier that all those monsters weren’t man-made and that they’re real, but it would have been a really interesting idea if they had been man made as you suggested.
Hope you had a great weekend Ruth!
I always like to keep my viewings eclectic Chris 😉 I guess I don’t watch too many horror flicks so it could be why I had the most issue w/ the Purge button thing, ahah.
I suppose it IS terrifying that those monsters ARE real but to me, it doesn’t seem all that different from other horror flicks that way. If they were man-made, I think it changes the whole perspective, y’know. I suppose the demons are the ones playing ‘the game’ on the humans, with such a specific rules on how to execute ’em to keep the ghouls and goblins satisfied.
Hi, Ruth:
I caught ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ several weeks back on Epix and was pleasantly surprised that as the story progressed it became something a lot better than I had thought it would be.
Yes, there were lots of slasher standards and cliches, but as the cast moved away from the Cabin, the fun begins! More than half the laughs and cool effects come from the underground complex. And some need to ponder how to keep Cthulhu, Godzilla and Satan satisfied.
Franz Kranz surprises in many ways as the stoner extension of his character, Topher in Whedon’s ‘Dollhouse’ from years back. Also enjoy how the sacrifices have to be arranged and executed in a certain order.
“Good work, Zombie arm!”
Wow, a lot better than you thought it would be? Ahah, I must’ve had too high expectations then 🙂 I guess I wasn’t disappointed per se, I think the story is still better than what I imagined a lot of horror flicks would be these days, it’s just my ‘misaligned’ expectations, as it were, kinda dampened my appreciation for it somewhat. Franz Kranz was pretty good, I’m glad he had the bigger role here instead of Hemsworth actually. I figure Whedon-ites probably appreciate this movie more than me as they recognize all the references/homage from his older shows.
Hi, Ruth:
The ads and trailers seethed with standard, above ground slasher flick fare. With a tinge of ‘The Evil Dead’ added for flavor.Once the scenes from underground started popping up. I know I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. With old hand veterans Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford and his “Mer-Man” and Amy Acker (‘Angel’) supplying a lot of unintended laughs.
Also casting Sigourney Weaver, the last person one could imagine for this kind of film, as ‘The Director’ was a stroke of inspired genius!
I’m totally with you on Cabin in the Woods. It was fun enough, but there were a bunch of problems with the script and the finale was pretty much 100% exposition 🙄 I didnt think it was halfway as clever as people made it out to be. 3.5 out of 5 is a perfect score for it.
Sad you failed to connect with the awesomeness of Fast 6 though. 😀
Hi there Fogs! So true about the exposition finale. To be honest I wasn’t really paying attention at that point, well aside from being amused by Sigourney Weaver as the director, ahah. I thought it was silly too that even SHE wasn’t immune from being a victim to those demons. To me, if the creatures had been robots that ran a mock, it would’ve been more compelling somehow. Ah well, I guess I should just rest my case on that front, ahah.
Oh I think Fast 6 is pretty awesome. 3/5 is not bad really, I mean I gave Die Hard 5 a 1/5 (when it could’ve been a 0.5, ahah). I might give Fast Five a shot and that’s saying something given how much I couldn’t stand Vin Diesel and Paul Walker 😀
I was wondering how much you would get out of Cabin in the Woods since you’re not much of a horror person, but im glad you liked it. For me it was one of my favorites of 2012. Also i appreciated seeing Amy on screen even though she didn’t have much to do
And i haven’t seen Fast & Furious 6, but i did see Fast Five and thought it was pretty good. I wll probably end up seeing it on dvd
Well I didn’t hate it 🙂 No, actually it was quite fun, but again, I expected something entirely different so I couldn’t really LOVE it, y’know. That said, it’s pretty imaginative and I could see that a lot of people are pleased with it. I wasn’t too impressed w/ the limited screen time of Amy Acker to be honest, I mean I didn’t really remember her, sorry!
I think the whole F&F franchise is perfectly fine to see on a rental. It was worth the matinee price but not more than that.
Thats fine. I still hope perhaps in a more fleshed out role she might impress you,but i realize she may not appeal to everybody.
Really fun read Ruth! I thought Cabin in the Woods was pretty good but not amazing a some thought. I thought everything was pretty run-of-the-mill up until the wild and frantic ending. I completely get what you’re saying about taking the human threat out of it but I have to admit the ending was my favorite part. There were so many horror movie all homages in that final sequence. We see villains and creatures and killers that we’ve seen in countless movies and I thought it was a hoot. But in the end it still didn’t raise this to greatness in my book. OH, and I’m really anxious to hear your thoughts on “Kid with a Bike”. It’s so good.
I wouldn’t recommend seeing any of the other FF movies except Fast Five. It’s an absolute blast Andy in sequence on it is incredible. I did like this one. I wasn’t as crazy about Gibson’s comedy (it seemed like the only thing he had) and I just LOVE Carano (I think she could take out most of the men cast members). Tough and beautiful! But it’s a very honest picture. I like that it doesn’t pretend to be anything at all other then a full-blown action movie. And that mid-end credits scene! Woo Hoo!
Thanks Keith! Oh no, not exactly amazing, though it seems we’re in the minority as most people seem to adore that film. Ahah yeah, to see ALL those goblins and ghouls coming out of the elevators and feasting all at once are actually quite a hoot! I mean at that point when the security guards went ‘Oh S***!’ it was hilarious and took the edge off. I guess it’s more of a horror comedy and perhaps I was over-thinking it a bit about the whole plot, ahah.
I’ll get around to The Kid with a Bike eventually.
As for the FF franchise, yeah I have no interest in seeing the others besides Fast Five. He..he.. I’m so jealous of Carano for her super boyfriend, ahah, man maybe Henry likes it rough 😉 Y’know, I actually laughed when I saw Mr. Transporter at the end there, I bet they’re gonna make him be related to Shaw as they’re both Brits.
Ahhh you may be onto something. It was pretty clear that his motivations seemed rooted in revenge!
Well it’s not that hard to figure out, I mean they seem to have a lot of similarities to Die Hard movies in terms of ridiculous stunts and plots. Remember Die Hard 3 they had the villain as Hans Gruber’s brother? 😀
Yes! The suave tongued Jeremy Irons.
I thought it’s pretty cool to have two British thespians with memorable voices (Rickman and Irons) as brothers. I guess I could see Statham as Evans’ brother too, they’re both quite bad ass 😉
Wow, definitely two movies I didn’t think you’d enjoy there Ruth, ha ha. I thought Cabin in the Woods was a lot of fun, it’s more of comedy to me than horror since I’ve seen so many horror movies in my younger years, it’s nice to see a movie that’s mocking the genre. As for the PURGE SYSTEM thing, like Michael and Terry already mentioned, it’s there just to remind fans of the genre that they’re still watching a horror movie. Horror movies always have things you’d ask, why didn’t they just…? It’s very funny to me and I loved it!
I enjoyed Fast and Furious 6 or Furious 6 or whatever they called it, I still thought the previous film was better. Although Luke Evans was probably the best villain in the series since all the previous films didn’t have any strong villains at all. You should check out Fast Five though, it’s more of a caper action film, while this one they decided make it into a espionage type. I’m curious as to what kind of genre the 7th film will be. They should stop after 7th one though, Vin Diesel is almost 50 years old and most of the actors in the series are in their late 30s or 40s; so they won’t be “cool” anymore in a couple of years.
Ahah yeah I know, I surprise myself sometimes 🙂 Cabin in the Woods is definitely more of a comedy horror, so I guess it’s to be expected to have a bunch of idiotic scenarios, ahah. I guess the writers are well-aware of the silly-ness of horror flicks and that’s good!
You said Evans was the best villain of the series?? WOW, how bad were the others?? I mean no offense to Evans but I didn’t think he was anything special and I quite like the guy, mind you. Vin is almost 50 years old?? Well he certainly doesn’t look it, but y’know I never thought of those guys as cool anyways, just the cars, ahah. But yeah, I hope they’re done with 7, man I can’t believe it even made it THAT far!
The villains in the previous films weren’t bad per say but they didn’t really do much except shown up once or twice in the movie just to remind the audience that the film does have a villain. If I remember correctly, the first film didn’t really have a true villain until the last 20 minutes or so when the writers prob realized they need to have an action scene to close out the film and turned on of the characters into a full blown antagonist. At least in this one, Evans’ character actually is trying to do something menace and the team has to stop him. Also, he looks good driving the Aston Martin, I think he’s already auditioning for a Bond gig.
Ah I see. Well in that case, Evans is already eons better than the others for sure. There’s even a quick scene at the prison where he seemed to be channeling The Joker or something w/ his sinister stare as he was sitting w/ his hands together. But overall he doesn’t quite rate as an iconic villain to me.
Oh yeah, he’s VERY suave and sexy driving those fast cars. I do hope they’d consider him as Bond. Even the scene of him with Letty is a hundred times sexier than the scene of her with Dom, ahah. He’s believable that gorgeous girls would fall for him in seconds!
Oh no he’s not the iconic villain at all but for this series, he was quite memorable. To be honest if you ask me who were the villains in the last three films, I couldn’t even remember them.
Just a wishful thinking that Evans would be on the Bond producers list of the next 007. I don’t think he is, partly because he’s openly gay and of course some Bond fans won’t like a gay man playing Bond. Also, they won’t want to risk a multi billion dollars franchise by casting a gay or non-white actor, it’s sad but unfortunately that’s how it is in our society.
Remember the outrage over Craig, just because of his hair…as you say…sad.
Oh my, I never even thought about the “purge” button not being guarded. I must have been in full fangirl mode or something. I love that movie.
Ahah, you must’ve been Brittani. So I take it you’re one of the Whedonites? 😉
I love CABIN IN THE WOODS. it’s one of my faves now! And I am not usually into horror. It was pretty popular when we showed it in March. I’m with Brittani, I never even thought of that. Although their society seems to run on fear and blind obedience…if they were told, don’t touch this button, they wouldn’t do it.
F & F 6 is probably a rental for me. I’ve seen the first two F & Fs and I feel like that’s probably enough to get the general idea 😉
Paula, you saw two of the worst ones in the series, ha ha. Well i thought the first one wasn’t that bad but the second and third film were pretty awful. You should watch Fast Five before seeing Fast 6. 🙂
LOL I see, Ted. Well, I will give Fast 5 a try then.
One of your faves in terms of horror or all genres?? That’s cool as you’re not into horror like me. Well, I suppose the people in the facility won’t touch that button on purpose, but seeing how ‘open’ that button is, what if one of the guards doze off and accidentally landed on that thing?? Ahah, again I think I’m overthinking this but the outcome of that Purge button is just so darn brutal I’d think they’d have a bit more security, y’know 😀
I don’t blame you about renting any of the F&F movies Paula. I don’t think visually it was a ‘must-see’ on the big screen anyway.
One of my faves in general…I know, it’s my only horror favorite. I get what you’re saying with the button…that would be major OOPS! I’ll probably rent Fast 5 and 6 due to Ted’s recommendation 🙂
It’s interesting you said: “But somehow, I kept thinking that the whole thing is human-controlled, which made it somehow less scary to me, and made me ten times more curious just WHO is behind this stuff.”, to me the super natural which cannot happen is a lot less scary than human controlled shenanigans which can and does happen in the real world!
I really liked the movie, it seems cliche because it is a twist on the entire genre, I can see a lot of horror fans either liking or disliking it for that, personally I think it’s more of a dark comedy with some horror scenes in it than a typical horror movie. I saw it in the theatres and really enjoyed it.
Hi there, welcome to FC! Ahah yeah, I suppose that’s true that the supernatural stuff is definitely scarier than human-controlled ‘shenanigans’ as you put it. I just think it’d be more… I dunno, tragic I’d say, IF humans had been behind all of these killings of random groups that go to that cabin. I mean, of course real demons are scary, that’s a given, but I think people’s ability to be so cruel to one another for the sake of profit/competition, what have you, can be just as blood-curdling and disturbing.
Nono, I agree it’s scarier when the motive is human! Because even if the org behind the sacrifices is mislead, it’s doing it for what it thinks is a noble goal, which makes them not really evil.
What I really liked about the Halloween series (before Rob Zombie got involved), is that Michael Myers is a supernatural human with no explanation who kills his family in Everytown, America. Yeah by the end of Cabin in the Woods when the portal to the old gods was opened up, they were a lot less scary than the human controlled baddies for the sacrifices, which was the greatest weakness of the movie IMO.
Ah I see. Yeah, the ancient gods at the bottom of the facility doesn’t seem all that menacing to me, and I also thought Sigourney as the director lacks that sinister menace to her. I mean she’s supposed to be all powerful [I’d think anyway] but yet she falls victim to one of those demons just like the rest. Overall though, I thought the concept is quite imaginative, I guess I was just picky as it didn’t align with what I had in mind, ahah.
I enjoyed The Cabin in the Woods immensely, I think it subverted the horror genre well; its arguably the hardest of them all to do something new with. Haven’t seen Fast 6, but I did enjoy 5 to my surprise after only ever watching the first. It seems to be a Duracell franchise. Upvoted via Reddit too just FYI 😉
Hi Kevin! That’s great man. I could see why tons of people LOVE this movie, it is pretty creative. You’re right, horror movies don’t step out of the box too often.
Might give Fast Five a shot then. Hey thanks for the upvote, mate!
Nice double feature!! 😀
I loved Cabin in the Woods! So creative and hilarious. And yes, many have already addressed the BIG RED button issue. It is a straight up satire of the genre, while embracing it lovingly and creating a unique spin on it. I am a huge Joss Whedon fan (can not wait for Much Ado About Nothing–Whedon and Shakespeare?! Perfection.) so this was a win for me.
Fast & Furious has my unabashed love. For many reasons I state in my review, but I love it. Pure, mindless entertainment. And Justin Lin is the real reason why it has succeeded. He has some serious skills and knows how to weave a hell of an action flick.
Later! 😀
Hello again nedi! Yeah I suppose I’m late to the party so only now that I discover the BIG RED button thing, ahah. It is hilarious, though I didn’t realize it was a satire until after. I’m curious about Much Ado as well, though I’m not exactly a Whedonite 🙂
Unabashed love for F&F eh? Well I think I’d agree with you about Lin, I didn’t realize he also did the Tokyo Drift one. Since Paul Walker is not on that one, I might also give it a shot, ahah. I wonder what he’ll do next when he’s done w/ this franchise.
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I had some problems with The Cabin in the Woods too, but I liked it more on a second viewing. I’ll see Fast & Furious 6 soon, and I’m glad to hear it’s better than Die Hard 5. Of course, it’s not *that* hard to be better than that film. 😉
Well I don’t think there’ll be a second viewing for me. I’m surprised I even got thru the whole thing, even though towards the end it wasn’t as terrifying as I thought it’d be. Somehow seeing ALL those demons in one place – in an elevator bank no less – seems rather, I dunno, silly?
Ahah yeah, not that hard at all to be better than Die Hard 5!
I don’t think I’ll ever watch a F&F film. They just don’t appeal to me at all.
About CITW, I have to say I was really disappointed. I thought it was a mess, and I didn’t find it particularly funny nor scary. Wasn’t a big fan of the “twist” either.
Hey, I hear ya Fernando. For the longest time I was never into it either but at least this one didn’t suck, ahah.
Interesting to hear from someone who aren’t fond of CITW. I thought it was good but not spectacular. Funny how a lot of people didn’t find hardly any issues w/ it like I did. As I mentioned, I had expected a different ‘twist’ at the end.
Maybe someday I’ll be forcedto see a F&F movie, who knows?
And about CITW, I had heard a lot about how it was so clever and groundbreaking that it ended disappointing me.
Well, there are plenty of eye candy in F&F if you’re a guy, ahah. For me though, there’s only Luke Evans 😉
Well y’see, I don’t often agree w/ people’s opinion of what’s ‘groundbreaking’ or whatever. So that didn’t really affect me.
For me, I love Cabin in the Woods, I think it’s a brilliant film. You made a great point about the purge button, and someone above has posted the kind of opinion I would comment about that issue (it being a parody of horror films). But at least you (kind of) enjoyed the film 🙂
By the way, The Imposter and The Kid with a Bike are also amazing. Cabin in the woods and Kid w/ a bike actually got into my Top 10 Films of their respective years. While Imposter was on my Top 20 last year 🙂
As for Fast & Furios 6…it’s also not my cup of tea. And yeah, it became quite a big deal here in Indonesia, considering it features Joe Taslim. Sold out in almost every theater in my city last weekend :s
Hi Fariz, yeah I guess now that I know CITW is more of a parody, it makes a lot more sense, ahah. Oh I definitely will see The Imposter and The Kid with a Bike, those are two indies I’ve been curious about. Nice to see both tops your yearly list!
Ah, so Joe Taslim is like a big star in Indo eh? I’ve never heard of him until this movie, ahah. I only knew Iko Uwais from The Raid, I think he’s been cast in a Hollywood movie as well w/ Keanu Reeves. I want to see that one too!
Totally agree on Cabin in the Woods Ruth. The concept was great and it was quite entertaining, all-be-it, ridiculous at times. The tone was uneasy for me and didn’t get get the balance right but I also gave it 3.5 which is still a respectable score. I loved the ending in particular but I wouldn’t rave about it, the way many people did.
Hi Mark! It seems that a lot of films just can’t live up to their great concepts. I don’t have an issue w/ the tone, I mean it was hilarious in parts which helps ease the tension for me. I’ve come to accept that my expectations just didn’t align w/ the filmmakers’ by now, but yeah, it wasn’t as ‘original’ as people made it out to be.
Geez…that image is pretty scary. I like gory movie but wow…what an image!!
I’d loved to see Joe Taslim in that movie, never been a fan of the movie….I couldn’t even finished the first one let alone number 6…but I really want to see him in English speaking movie.
MAYBE, the director wanted him to speak in his native language at one point or maybe it slipped his tounge 😉
Ahah, even YOU think it’s gory, Nov! Well it’s actually not that scary to me, more like gross and definitely VERY gory.
I think you’d be pleased w/ the screen time of Joe Taslim. He definitely showed his fighting chops! I’m sure the audience in Indo is happy to hear him say an Indonesian phrase 😀
Well, seeing some other genres out of our comfort zone sometimes good, though I can’t remember when was the last time I saw horror 😀 I don’t know if I will see Fast Furious 6 in the cinema, the only thing interests me is Joe Taslim but I am not that fond of the genre. Maybe I will when I have the chance, who knows. Still you got me curious about that Indo line he said
I don’t think I’ll be seeing another horror flick anytime soon Andina, but this one is more of a horror satire. Joe Taslim is pretty cute eh, it’s just funny to see a guy from Palembang in a Hollywood movie, ahah. I’m pretty sure he said ‘hantam mereka!’ Still not sure to whom though 😉
Nice post Ruth. Although I can highly recommend The Imposter 🙂
Glad you watched a horror/ish film and liked it. The whole satire thing of it is what makes it so good. Showing all the usual cliches and mistakes was a very clever thing.
I’ll get around to The Imposter pretty soon Tyson.
He..he.. I knew you’d be happy that I saw a horror movie. You’re right it’s kinda horror-ish as it’s quite hilarious and some of the victims are kinda asking for it, esp. the dumb blond! 😀
An Australian TV show I watch, Underbelly (real life gangster story) the blonde girl was in that, so I was intrigued to see her in a big US movie. She did well, and wasnt bad to look at 😉
Ah right, I forgot she’s Australian, and so was Hemsworth. Not sure if it’s intentional to put the two Aussies together as a couple in that movie.
Woah! I’m impressed you actually watched Cabin in the Woods, the gore level was pretty intense in this one. I didn’t think of the purge button thing, but yeah you are completely right. Even with that I loved the movie – as a horror fan I saw so many shitty films in the genre over the years when something so clever and fun like this one comes along it’s truly a miracle. Plus I loved the unicorn bit 😛
Ahah yeah, I’m surprised I got through it, too. You’re right the gore level is off the charts, esp towards the end. The unicorn bit is awesome, it’s sooo beautiful amongst all the disgusting goblins and monsters, ahah.
Great read, ruth. I liked Cabin In The Woods a bit more than you (gave it 4 out of 5). It actually never occurred to me about the purge button until I read your review. I guess at the time, it just fitted with the tone of the film, and I found it funny and just went along with it. For a horror film, it’s not actually that scary, but I do love it.
You need to see Fast 5. 🙂 Forget the rest. Fast 5 was the first one I truly enjoyed in the series.
Thank you! Well, people have set me straight about the Purge button that it was apparently intentional to include something so idiotic as the movie is a satire, ahah. You’re right it’s not as scary, it’s not one of those horror flicks that REALLY get under your skin. The ending is just so bombastically gory though.
Ahah ok, I’ll give Fast Five a try then.
There are certainly many elements of Cabin in the Woods that are worth discussing and analyzing. In my review of the film, I argue in favor of the thesis that supports that the film is a satire on the horror genre, which we all know is riddled with cliches and gratuitous gore.
If we really think about it, the way the film was promoted and presented to us tells us is a horror film and this is why we think of it as such. We might even be convinced it is a horror film about 2/3 of the way in, but when the sci-fi aspects are revealed, and over the top mayhem ensues, are we really watching a horror film, or a satire on horror?
My money is on Drew Goddard trying to poke fun at the genre, playing with our expectations, displaying every ridiculous element of horror and breaking it down for our amusement. If we think of it like this, then it is an experiment of sorts, and an imperfect one at that.
As for F&F 6….I stopped with the second film in the series. If you compare the first one with this latest iteration you will probably notice how the series has grown out from the original idea into something completely different, more epic, louder and more expensive to make. It will always be a pass in my book from now until F&F 99.
Hi Niels! Yeah, now I wish I had seen it when it first came out, ahah. It’s good that the movie sparked discussion instead of being so vapid and gratuitous like a lot of movies in the horror genre, ahah. I actually don’t think of it as a sci-fi though, more of a horror comedy I think. Regardless though, I think the writers succeeded in creating a satire as it seems like a lot of people were in on the joke (well except me but then again I don’t watch a lot of horror, ahah).
As for F&F, well people here kept saying how the franchise kept getting better, so I might give the 5th one a shot but steering clear of the earlier movies.
I loved Cabin in the Woods and especially that set up makes it not as scary. I’m not a horror fan movie, but loved it. Never thought that the monsters were man made though 🙂
Fast & Furious I’ll be checking out this weekend. Looking forward to seeing it.
Quite the 1-2 combo there, Ruth. Nice to see you step out of your comfort zone for an action-filled weekend. 😀 I haven’t seen any of the Fast & Furious films since the original, but I may have to give the new one a shot. Glad you enjoyed Cabin in the Woods, too, as I thought that one was a lot of fun.
BTW, hope you do check out The Imposter and The Kid With a Bike sometime soon. Both are on my shortlist of favorite films from last year.
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You’re right about the bid red button but I thought Cabin in the Woods was all sorts of silly and I just loved it how spectacularly gory and crazy it got once they got under the surface! Fast and Furious 6 was cool for the action but I though it took itself a bit seriously. I’d recommend going back and watching the first.
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