Escape to the Movies: Cabin In The Woods

[Kahani]

Also yea, how exactly did Chriss look so much younger in this

Well firstly, because he is. As Bob said, Cabin was actually shot a few years ago, before Thor. Not 5-10 years admittedly, but since 10 years younger would make him 17 I suspect there may be a bit of exaggeration there.

Secondly, makeup. Hollywood hasn't spent decades dressing middle-aged women up as teenagers without learning a thing or two about making people look younger.

 

[Lvl 64 Klutz]

Not reading the comments, since I know the average forum-goer is usually not as good as Bob at not spoiling movies, so I apologize if this has been said already:

I really don't think the big spoiler warning is all that necessary up front. As Bob mentioned, the only thing he really mentions was already in the trailer.

 

[Triaed]

Bob, it is great seeing you so stoked about a movie.
I am going to drop everything I am doing and go wa...

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

OK, I'm intrigued. I'm not going to watch the review before seeing this movie.

 

[flaviok79]

Moviebob, lease make those messages after the video stay on screen a little longer. I like to read them, but pausing the video with tablet controls is awkward and frustrating.

 

[Nurb]

There's no shakey-cam is there?

 

[Gxas]

This isn't a horror movie. This is more than that.

It's not shock horror or torture porn. It's not just blood and guts and shit like that.

Go see it, seriously, I don't think you'll regret it.

Is it like the 'House of Leaves' of the film world?

That presented itself as a horror but was actually more of a satire of the academic world and how worthlessly annoying it is.

In a sense. It pokes fun at the horror genre, but it doesn't really say, "This shit is retarded, just look at it" like other satire movies have tried to do.

It takes itself seriously, while still satirizing. It's a brilliant combination of the two.

 

[RJ Dalton]

I'm just going to say it: I don't like Joss Whedon. I don't like the way he writes characters, I don't like how insufferably smug his "wit" is, I don't like how interchangeable any characters from any of his works are with any characters from any of his other works and I especially don't like how, rather than having actual relationships, all his characters ever seem to do is posture with each other.
Case in point, Captain America's line in the Avengers trailer: "Big man in a suit. Take that away and what are you?" Now, I'm not big on the comic history, so I can't comment on that, but based on what I've seen of the movies, I can understand Cap not liking to Tony Stark much. Cap is a responsible, properly morally aligned relic from an age when politeness was much more strongly expected of people, while Tony is a smug, self-satisfying businessman whose attempts to learn genuine responsibility haven't quite taken effect yet. Yes, I can see the two not quite getting on well at first, but based on the way he was portrayed in his movie, I cannot see Steve Rogers saying something so fratboy douchebaggy as "Big man in a suit. Take that away, what are you?" As if he need to prove something to himself by demeaning Stark.
That is, however, the only way that Joss Whedon knows how to write character interactions.

 

[shadowstriker86]

*Spoiler Warning*

Spoiler

its a rube goldberg machine

 

[Rad Party God]

A modern high budget horror movie that doesn't suck?


I need to see this.

 

[Daria.Morgendorffer]

I'm just going to say it: I don't like Joss Whedon.

It's the same problem with the "You're a dick" line from X-Men. He substitutes a marginally clever (at best) witticism where actions would work much, much better.

What I hate about Whedon is that I never really feel suspension of disbelief in his writing because there's self-referential, and then there's being self-referential while at the same time pointing out "oh, look at how CLEVER this is". That's how I feel constantly when I watch anything that Whedon has anything to do with, that people who find it amusing, entertaining, whatever "get it" and the rest of us, well, it's like getting told "you had to be there" as if referring to something that happened at a party the "cool" kids said you weren't "cool" enough to be invited to anyway.

(Not that I think there's anything particularly wrong with you if you like it...I know really cool Buffy fans, and I know really douchey Buffy fans. More power to you for liking what you like. Just don't be down on me for not liking what you like. It's just a turn-off to me when writers do that sort of thing and don't find it "mind-blowing" that Whedon thinks he's making soup just because he puts a bunch of stuff in a pot and starts stirring.)

As for this movie? I've read the spoilers, and frankly it strikes me as a

**SPOILER**
Rube Goldberg plot device. It's an awfully complicated setup to do an awfully simple thing. I have a word for that. And that word is "contrived".
**END SPOILER**

 

[Daria.Morgendorffer]

*Spoiler Warning*

Spoiler

its a rube goldberg machine

Gah! Beat me to it!

 

[MovieBob]

I'm sorry Bob, but I don't trust you since Sucker Punch... just kidding

And since Red Tails. And i'm not kidding, i find Bobs movie tastes to be quite questionable at times.

 

[Callate]

If you like horror movies, do not miss Cabin in the Woods.

I guess the only question I would have is "What if I hate horror movies?"

I'll note that Ebert's review says Whedon calls this movie "a loving hate-letter to horror movies." It's quite possible you'll appreciate this movie more for disliking horror movies, depending on your reasons for feeling that way.

Without giving anything away, let me just say there's a certain underlying theme of revulsion with the kind of people who cheer for horror movie victims to die. Parts of it definitely work as conventional horror, but that's just the veneer.

It really is a very enjoyable movie, and I agree that it's well worth seeing.

 

[Varya]

I'm sorry Bob, but I don't trust you since Sucker Punch... just kidding

And since Red Tails. And i'm not kidding, i find Bobs movie tastes to be quite questionable at times.

Honestly, I haven't even seen Sucker Punch, I'm just tired of that being brought up as some sort of "proof" of Bob's bad taste. I can't say I know a single person who dosen't love a movie I hate and vice verca. If Bob gives me one bad recomendation a year I can live with that. And he's usually good at explaining why he loves/hates something so if he loves a movie because it has boobs and pirahnas, I know we're on the same level, whilst if he loves it because he likes Beavis and Butthead I know it's not for me. So far, Bob's taste is very close to mine, even if I tend to enjoy things he is "jaded" against. But as I said, even if there once in a while is a miss, I can live with that, it doesn't mean he looses all credibility as a critic, he's here to give his oppinions after all, not mine.