re: The Cabin in the Woods. TulaneLSU's 2011-12 movie review thread

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No. He prefers preteen girls.

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But Reese Witherspoon wasn't in Pretty in Pink.

Two pages and 30 comments by the dude who started the thread. This thread is a huge success.

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The Muppets - Another Hollywood attempt to make money off a franchise. It will work because, unlike most franchise movies, this movie is almost good. I had never seen The Muppets before this movie. I had heard of them, but only as a cultural reference. I knew there was a frog and a pig and some other things, quite uninteresting things, I must say. The movie didn't move me, but the score is good. The story is believable enough, but if they needed money, why didn't they just get the world's biggest plumber supply dealer, Gonzo, to spot them the $12 mil? The two complaints I have with this movie are it, like other franchises because they lack originality, has no staying power. The viewer has a few high emotive moments during the movie, but a day later, the movie is a blank memory. The other complaint is a poor use of Amy Adams. She has more talent than all the other characters, yet she had almost no screen time.

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It's hard to truly give a good review of the thread to those familiar with the Muppets if you are not familiar with them. For Muppets fans this was a really good movie and a good movie to bring the kids to.

I'll give you this, you are the most creatively successful troll in message board history.

Despite the childish palaver here, I am a chaste individual and always have been. Take not umbrage, my friends, the reviews are my gift to the board to enjoy or dismiss and mock as members please. Let the badinage go on!

Arthur Christmas I confess that when I saw the trailer, something I try not to do, for Arthur Christmas, I was not thrilled. It seemed to be a movie that militarized Christmas. Is there anything more anathema to the birth of the Prince of Peace? True, it was done in jest, but even in jest, I thought it to be of bad taste.

As the movie opened, I was uneasily awed by the display of military precision and force used by Santa's elves. The computer graphics, especially of S-1 and the chthonic North Pole HQ, are incredible and its degree of creativity is rare. Had the movie continued on this line, I would have been entertained, but would have left upset that Christmas had been so corrupted. Surprise, as unsurprising as Hollywood has been lately, was knocking at the door, and I left the theater with new ideas and new thoughts. I always consider such movies that have this type of power to be good movies.

Arthur Christmas is chock-full with classical themes we find throughout literature: sibling rivalry, megalomania, progressivism vs. reactionaryism (pardon these neologisms, if they are that), and finding one's calling, a theme that is making a comeback in Hollywood, and which is notably present in the recent Hugo. I think it is this last theme that will be this movie's calling card to me. In one sense, the ending is predictable. I realized it would happen before I walked in the theater, thanks to the trailer, but its predictability did not diminish its force. Speaking of a tour de force, before the movie begins, the viewer is treated to one of the most fantastic and hippest renditions of "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town" ever performed. The kicker? JUSTIN BIEBER performs it!!! My soul, being of paltry capaciousness, was stirred and I was dancing in my seat. The audience was not quite as wild as the one at Never Say Never, so I restrained myself.

"Blessed are the meek," says Jesus, "for they shall inherit the earth." After you uncover all the other wonderful themes found in the movie, I walked away with this wondrous beatitude. Blessed are the ones who are obedient to the Suffering Servant. Blessed are those whose hearts, though pierced and wounded, with grief and shame weighed down, remain pure. Blessed are the ones who walk in the clouds of doubt and ridicule, yet remain obedient to remain pure and of a childlike nature. Arthur's dark night of the soul cannot destroy his faith in what is right. Individuals and joy will win out against numbers and duty every time. Blessed are the ones who carry on the Christmas spirit in a world of doubt and cynicism. Blessed is Arthur.

Arthur Christmas is the best Christmas movie I have seen in the theater. It deserves to become a classic and I think it will. Families and adults alike will profit from a viewing. Blessed be you and your viewing.9/10

your reviews are needed...if for any reason, to quell all the threads about stupid comic book movies & their leaked pictures that these pre-teens talk about constantly

I think often, movie writers deliberately hit on gaseous and vague religious themes because such themes are universal. All art is religious and it is impossible to make a good movie without involving the themes of religion. Religion has been a part of the human makeup since we became conscious, so if a writer wants to move an audience, explicitly religious themes will usually work. Religion is often used by script writers and directors in the cheapest of ways, in ways that require no creativity or thought. Generally, I do not like such movies. Every now and then, however, a movie will become a new creation and deliver to the audience something of great beauty and creativity. The Tree of Life is such a movie (many thanks to Leauxgan for his recommendation). But like I said, such movies are a rare breed because such movies are made to be art, not made for profit. Hollywood is motivated by profit, and there are two things that will always sell: sex and religion. To engage an audience is either to appeal to their base emotions or their virtuous emotions, and often both. Hollywood manipulates our virtuous side, I admit, similarly to televangelists. Profit motivates both, and they will tell glib, unoriginal, and dramatic stories to manipulate and fleece the audience. I prefer my religious themes to move in the movie like a thief in the night. And movies that are explicitly made from a religious point of view almost never do that.

The Earl has returned

I have a couple of questions:

- Have you ever read The Source by James Michener (sp)?

- What drives you to avidly watch movies and write reviews of them? I do the former because it feels like I am collecting them, and I don't do the latter.

- Have you ever thought of starting a blog to put your reviews in?

No.

I enjoy movies and I cannot watch a movie without writing about it. It allows me to process what I've watched.

My words aren't important or thoughtful enough to be read, so why publish them in a blog?

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you could be the next perez hilton except not a flaming homosexual.

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JUSTIN BIEBER performs it!!! My soul, being of paltry capaciousness, was stirred and I was dancing in my seat. The audience was not quite as wild as the one at Never Say Never, so I restrained myself.

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Never Say Never Never would I think I'd say that spending $10 on my Never Say Never ticket was the best value for money of anything I bought this year, but here I am to say that. The movie itself is good. It's an interesting documentary on a kid who is trying to stay a kid in this big world. The music is great. The sequence and timing are superb. But what puts this movie over the top are the fans. That's right. By the end of the movie, 75% of the theater, consisting mostly of early and pre-teen girls were on the ground level with their hands up, screaming and touching the screen as if the movie were a concert. It was exhilarating to be in that number! I confess I too ran down to the floor and began dancing and screaming with the masses.

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The jury is still out.......