It seems a bit silly for me to review a film that came out over a year ago, just because I finally got around to watching it. So instead of a traditional review, I’m instead going to offer up some disorganized thoughts about The Cabin in the Woods. (For the record, I give the film an A.) I didn’t see it in the theaters mostly because we generally don’t go see horror films, both out of personal taste and a general lack of quality. I’ve never been one for the sort of “jump out and get you” scares, but prefer more cerebral horror. Give me Hitchcock or The Exorcist over Saw any day. (We also don’t see a lot of comedy in the theater, but that’s a story for another time.)
Obviously I should have known better, considering the script was by Joss Whedon and one of his frequent collaborators, but the trailers didn’t help the situation. They presented it as a standard “cabin in the woods” type thriller with a sci-fi/conspiracy twist. That sort of thing has been done before. So after it was released I read the plot on wikipedia and it seemed more creative than I had originally supposed, but still not enough to get me to go see it. However, I recently read the script online out of curiosity which changed my mind, and I finally rented The Cabin in the Woods. Here are my thoughts: Continue reading
Epic is almost exactly what you would expect from the trailers. In many ways, it’s a ripoff of Ferngully, minus the obvious environmental message (one of Ferngully‘s most endearing attributes). It varyingly hints at or downright copies elements from that movie, from characters, to story, to design. It also borrows from a slew of other films, including Arthur and the Minimoys, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, The Spiderwick Chronicles and Happy Feet. I knew all of this going into the theater, and had already begun to write my review in my head when something unexpected happened. Epic won me over.
The Love Pirate 