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re: The Cabin in the Woods. TulaneLSU's 2011-12 movie review thread
Posted on 11/16/11 at 7:22 am to TulaneLSU
Posted on 11/16/11 at 7:22 am to TulaneLSU
Our Idiot Brother Most of you fellow members of The Arts Board are quite familiar with the Diogenes who lived in Sinop three centuries before the birth of Christ. Diogenes was, of course, a wild man, one who cared nothing of social graces and truly a bete noire par excellence. In one antidote, a host invites Diogenes to a dinner party. There, Diogenes acts rudely by telling the truth. According to the host, he behaves like a dog, so the host throws him a bone to chew. Diogenes instead gets up, lifts his leg, and urinates on the host.
It is hard to watch Our Idiot Brother without thinking of old Diogenes. But this modern Diogenes lacks the teeth and the cynicism of the original. In their place are love and concern. In the idiot brother, played by the incompetent Paul Rudd, we find a man whose honesty is so honest, that his brand of honesty is gaucherie in a world of dishonesty. When a world is built on what is not true, where we clamor to put masks on everything, even ourselves, the one who sees clearly, with honesty and integrity, is the villain, at least at first. When those who need catharsis are in denial, the one who tries to bring what they need is a pariah. But truth eventually wins, and the pariah becomes the hero.
Unexpectedly, this movie was not a dumb sex-drugs comedy. It was a movie, with funny moments, about a wayward family whose only member who sees the world as it really exists is considered an idiot. That is until their worlds, built on deceit, treachery, and lies, are flipped upside down. And in the end, we see, in the words of Shakespeare, the affable character played by Rudd as "wise enough to be the fool." This movie, however, suffered from a script that waddled like a duck at times and it was too short to adequately develop the many relationships. After a slow, but comical beginning, the movie builds but never reaches a climax of enlightenment or emotion. 5/10
Prom - As a confessed lover of nostalgically sentimental movies, I went into this movie thinking it would whisk me back in time to my own high school years. But, I am sad to report, it did not. The movie tries way too hard to be sentimental and it comes across as a cheaply made movie. The premise is absurd - that prom is the entire point of high school and people look forward to it their entire lives. Unless things have changed, that's not true to real life. The director also tries to make prom night into some sort of Breakfast Club - attempting to be this generation's boundary crosser, showing that all kids in high school put on masks and one day (prom) take them off to see that they're all similar to each other. Judging by the zero other attendees in the theater while I was there, I don't think it succeeded in being a favorite of any generation, not even those who are juniors or seniors in high school, their obvious intended audience. 2/10
Rango As some have said, this is a kid's movie for adults. The themes of self redemption, challenge, and justice are ever present. Set with a Western motif, I have to say it's one of the best Western movies ever made. The computer graphics are believable, the story is tight, the dialogue wonderful, and the characters as spritely as a lizard crossing an interstate. It is also a humorous movie whose wit is matched only by its self knowledge as a Western. It is probably the best movie at the theaters in March. 8/10
It is hard to watch Our Idiot Brother without thinking of old Diogenes. But this modern Diogenes lacks the teeth and the cynicism of the original. In their place are love and concern. In the idiot brother, played by the incompetent Paul Rudd, we find a man whose honesty is so honest, that his brand of honesty is gaucherie in a world of dishonesty. When a world is built on what is not true, where we clamor to put masks on everything, even ourselves, the one who sees clearly, with honesty and integrity, is the villain, at least at first. When those who need catharsis are in denial, the one who tries to bring what they need is a pariah. But truth eventually wins, and the pariah becomes the hero.
Unexpectedly, this movie was not a dumb sex-drugs comedy. It was a movie, with funny moments, about a wayward family whose only member who sees the world as it really exists is considered an idiot. That is until their worlds, built on deceit, treachery, and lies, are flipped upside down. And in the end, we see, in the words of Shakespeare, the affable character played by Rudd as "wise enough to be the fool." This movie, however, suffered from a script that waddled like a duck at times and it was too short to adequately develop the many relationships. After a slow, but comical beginning, the movie builds but never reaches a climax of enlightenment or emotion. 5/10
Prom - As a confessed lover of nostalgically sentimental movies, I went into this movie thinking it would whisk me back in time to my own high school years. But, I am sad to report, it did not. The movie tries way too hard to be sentimental and it comes across as a cheaply made movie. The premise is absurd - that prom is the entire point of high school and people look forward to it their entire lives. Unless things have changed, that's not true to real life. The director also tries to make prom night into some sort of Breakfast Club - attempting to be this generation's boundary crosser, showing that all kids in high school put on masks and one day (prom) take them off to see that they're all similar to each other. Judging by the zero other attendees in the theater while I was there, I don't think it succeeded in being a favorite of any generation, not even those who are juniors or seniors in high school, their obvious intended audience. 2/10
Rango As some have said, this is a kid's movie for adults. The themes of self redemption, challenge, and justice are ever present. Set with a Western motif, I have to say it's one of the best Western movies ever made. The computer graphics are believable, the story is tight, the dialogue wonderful, and the characters as spritely as a lizard crossing an interstate. It is also a humorous movie whose wit is matched only by its self knowledge as a Western. It is probably the best movie at the theaters in March. 8/10
This post was edited on 12/13/11 at 9:25 am
2
Posted on 11/16/11 at 7:22 am to TulaneLSU
Redemption Road What happens when you throw those holy of holies ingredients white Alba truffles, Almas Beluga caviar, Wagyu steak, Matsutake mushrooms and saffron into a gumbo pot and let it cook for on medium for a couple of hours? A nasty, smelly, yucky mess, that's what. And so it is with the overtly evangelical Redemption Road. Thrown haphazardly into this plot are the profound, holy themes of sin, forgiveness, love, freedom, and redemption.
In a not so novel approach to the modern journey genre, we hit the road, not the interstate, for what can be learned on an interstate other than which exit has the next Subway or Exxon?, but on a series of local, backwoods highways. The assumption being that we have to slow down and get lost before we can find where we're going. Along this journey we're spoon fed in excruciatingly boring and predictable detail the regrets of a life not so well lived. All the while, with preachy platitudes sprinkled here and there, the storyteller is giving away the end of the story.
This movie will likely appeal to hipster Christians who think they've discovered some great secrets and thoughts earlier Christians have not. It will also be applauded by those abecedarian Christians who make their testimony into a tale of grave sin, trying to outdo others on the depth of their sin. If one person says, "I smoked 10 pounds of crack and then Jesus saved me," the next guy in line will say, "I smoked twenty pounds of crack! and then Jesus saved me." It will appeal to them because that's what it's about: sinners who, at times, seem to be bragging about how bad they used to be.
This movie offers little new to the genre of the journey from sin to redemption. The producers were clearly thrilled when the black guy from Green Mile and Dillon from 90210 agreed to do the film. But seldom has typecasting had such little effect. The main character, whose name I'm not going to bother looking up, is flat and modern caricature of Johnny Cash. Even in the climatic scene of Pyrrhic victory, I didn't care. The harder he and the director tried to pull the chords of my emotions, the more I was put off and the less I cared because it was so very predictable, so very, very inauthentic.
Are there any positives? There is one good scene at sunset. It truly is a beautiful scene. For large stretches the cinematography is less than inspiring, but there are a few diamonds, if you look for them. Tom Skerritt does an admirable job with the limited potential given to him. And the main message of the movie, that the inability to forgive weighs us down and that only love can free us, is a good message, which is a lot more than can be said for many movies today. The takeaway from this movie is that just because you are dealing with great themes does not mean that you will come up with a great movie. 3/10
The Roommate Watching several cardboard actors following as predictable a script as they come gave me time to wonder how ratings have changed so much in the last decade. How was this movie given a PG-13 rating? The movie is little more than violence and a shallow, dangerous look at mental illnesses. It's a movie that demonizes people who have mental illness. I can't imagine the budget of this film was much more than $5 million. From FPOBA's use of The University of Los Angeles to props made out of paper to a script I could have written in two hours, this is about as cheap a movie as can be made. In fact, as the opening credits came on, I thought I was watching a bad Lifetime movie. My biggest complaint though was that all the characters didn't die in a giant conflagration within five minutes of the movie's start. Then I wouldn't have wasted so much time. 1/10
In a not so novel approach to the modern journey genre, we hit the road, not the interstate, for what can be learned on an interstate other than which exit has the next Subway or Exxon?, but on a series of local, backwoods highways. The assumption being that we have to slow down and get lost before we can find where we're going. Along this journey we're spoon fed in excruciatingly boring and predictable detail the regrets of a life not so well lived. All the while, with preachy platitudes sprinkled here and there, the storyteller is giving away the end of the story.
This movie will likely appeal to hipster Christians who think they've discovered some great secrets and thoughts earlier Christians have not. It will also be applauded by those abecedarian Christians who make their testimony into a tale of grave sin, trying to outdo others on the depth of their sin. If one person says, "I smoked 10 pounds of crack and then Jesus saved me," the next guy in line will say, "I smoked twenty pounds of crack! and then Jesus saved me." It will appeal to them because that's what it's about: sinners who, at times, seem to be bragging about how bad they used to be.
This movie offers little new to the genre of the journey from sin to redemption. The producers were clearly thrilled when the black guy from Green Mile and Dillon from 90210 agreed to do the film. But seldom has typecasting had such little effect. The main character, whose name I'm not going to bother looking up, is flat and modern caricature of Johnny Cash. Even in the climatic scene of Pyrrhic victory, I didn't care. The harder he and the director tried to pull the chords of my emotions, the more I was put off and the less I cared because it was so very predictable, so very, very inauthentic.
Are there any positives? There is one good scene at sunset. It truly is a beautiful scene. For large stretches the cinematography is less than inspiring, but there are a few diamonds, if you look for them. Tom Skerritt does an admirable job with the limited potential given to him. And the main message of the movie, that the inability to forgive weighs us down and that only love can free us, is a good message, which is a lot more than can be said for many movies today. The takeaway from this movie is that just because you are dealing with great themes does not mean that you will come up with a great movie. 3/10
The Roommate Watching several cardboard actors following as predictable a script as they come gave me time to wonder how ratings have changed so much in the last decade. How was this movie given a PG-13 rating? The movie is little more than violence and a shallow, dangerous look at mental illnesses. It's a movie that demonizes people who have mental illness. I can't imagine the budget of this film was much more than $5 million. From FPOBA's use of The University of Los Angeles to props made out of paper to a script I could have written in two hours, this is about as cheap a movie as can be made. In fact, as the opening credits came on, I thought I was watching a bad Lifetime movie. My biggest complaint though was that all the characters didn't die in a giant conflagration within five minutes of the movie's start. Then I wouldn't have wasted so much time. 1/10
This post was edited on 11/16/11 at 7:31 am
Posted on 12/13/11 at 12:57 pm to TulaneLSU
quote:
Our Idiot Brother Most of you fellow members of The Arts Board are quite familiar with the Diogenes who lived in Sinop three centuries before the birth of Christ. Diogenes was, of course, a wild man, one who cared nothing of social graces and truly a bete noire par excellence. In one antidote, a host invites Diogenes to a dinner party. There, Diogenes acts rudely by telling the truth. According to the host, he behaves like a dog, so the host throws him a bone to chew. Diogenes instead gets up, lifts his leg, and urinates on the host.
It is hard to watch Our Idiot Brother without thinking of old Diogenes. But this modern Diogenes lacks the teeth and the cynicism of the original. In their place are love and concern. In the idiot brother, played by the incompetent Paul Rudd, we find a man whose honesty is so honest, that his brand of honesty is gaucherie in a world of dishonesty. When a world is built on what is not true, where we clamor to put masks on everything, even ourselves, the one who sees clearly, with honesty and integrity, is the villain, at least at first. When those who need catharsis are in denial, the one who tries to bring what they need is a pariah. But truth eventually wins, and the pariah becomes the hero.
Unexpectedly, this movie was not a dumb sex-drugs comedy. It was a movie, with funny moments, about a wayward family whose only member who sees the world as it really exists is considered an idiot. That is until their worlds, built on deceit, treachery, and lies, are flipped upside down. And in the end, we see, in the words of Shakespeare, the affable character played by Rudd as "wise enough to be the fool." This movie, however, suffered from a script that waddled like a duck at times and it was too short to adequately develop the many relationships. After a slow, but comical beginning, the movie builds but never reaches a climax of enlightenment or emotion. 5/10
Prom - As a confessed lover of nostalgically sentimental movies, I went into this movie thinking it would whisk me back in time to my own high school years. But, I am sad to report, it did not. The movie tries way too hard to be sentimental and it comes across as a cheaply made movie. The premise is absurd - that prom is the entire point of high school and people look forward to it their entire lives. Unless things have changed, that's not true to real life. The director also tries to make prom night into some sort of Breakfast Club - attempting to be this generation's boundary crosser, showing that all kids in high school put on masks and one day (prom) take them off to see that they're all similar to each other. Judging by the zero other attendees in the theater while I was there, I don't think it succeeded in being a favorite of any generation, not even those who are juniors or seniors in high school, their obvious intended audience. 2/10
Rango As some have said, this is a kid's movie for adults. The themes of self redemption, challenge, and justice are ever present. Set with a Western motif, I have to say it's one of the best Western movies ever made. The computer graphics are believable, the story is tight, the dialogue wonderful, and the characters as spritely as a lizard crossing an interstate. It is also a humorous movie whose wit is matched only by its self knowledge as a Western. It is probably the best movie at the theaters in March. 8/10
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