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

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Cowboys and Aliens: The first time I saw the trailer for this movie, it now seems like a year ago, I was almost sure this would be a comedy. A cowboy movie...about aliens? That's funny. A little dry humor from Harrison Ford, Wilde and Bond's blue eyes to appease the aesthetes, and some CGI for the kids. The trailer gave promise to an action-cowboy-comedy. But much to my surprise, and chagrin, this movie really is a cowboy movie about aliens.

It seems a recent trend to incorporate elements from two apparently disparate movie genres, what with Super 8 bringing together the 80's genre with sci-fi and all the comic book stories that weave histo-drama with sci-fi. It's anything but seamless. Sci-fi needs to remain in the realm of the nerds. Stop mixing sci-fi with bona fide movie genres. It's hurting my soul.

I discussed this movie with Ms. Wilde on Twitter for the past months. She assured me it would be good, but even with her reassurance, I remained skeptical. She promised me a refund if I didn't like it. Well, needless to say, I shall be contacting her for my $5 back. But I really won't, because I don't want to hurt her feelings. For her sake, please do not tell her what I'm about to tell you.

This movie fails on multiple levels. But the biggest and most irritating is ruining what would have been a good Western if they would have focused on a realistic, non-alien antagonist. Seeing cheaply made aliens running about in a landscape comparable to the heights of cinematography established in Open Range was nothing short of absurd. On the positive side, the movie was perfectly cast, even if Harrison Ford's recent grumpy old man routine is growing old. Olivia Wilde and Amy Adams are two of the finest actresses of this generation.

The introduction of Indians into the movie was a time filler and none of the Indians had a character that could make an audience care. The only relationship that has any transcendence is that between Ford and his Indian servant. Even Wilde and James Bond, despite their beautiful blue eyes, do not have much chemistry. I don't even know if I can say this was a good popcorn flick. Would I watch it again? Absolutely. Watching Olivie Wilde on the big screen is worth it and her beauty alone boosts this movie's score by two points, but the movie is still not very good. 4/10

Crazy, Stupid, Love: At first glance, one might conclude that this is a movie about divorce and the tremendous pain to individuals, family, and the community at large that it causes. A deeper inspection, however, reveals that the movie is about romantic love: how we lose it, how we find it, how we fight for it.

Romantic comedies are almost always told through the female perspective, but this movie flips the genre on its head, and we see romance from male eyes. It's quite refreshing, for in it, we see that the ways males approach romantic love are just as crazy, just as stupid, just as irrational as females. The journey to that romantic love brings males to the edges of insanity. What we find in the end, is that through our "wildly unhappy" times, we will find what we are looking for in our soulmate, who, one can only conclude, is a reflection of our own soul.

Men are melancholy beings, and in our melancholy, we become lonely, and in our loneliness, we find unsuitable pleasures that distract us from our loneliness, but do little from making us less lonely. The cure for our loneliness? The theme of the movie? Basically, that romantic love is life's ultimate telos and until we capture it, we will remain restless and yearning. Whether you agree with that philosophy is a matter of debate, but this movie, through a technique that borrows from Greek tragedy (the fall of a flawed character), 19th century Russian literature (emphasis on the character rather than the action and looking seriously at the human condition without being afraid to poke fun at it), and 1980's American sitcoms (a connective, universal conclusion), does a fine job of arguing its point.

My biggest criticisms of the movie are the casting of the males. I don't like Steve Carell as an actor. I cannot get his defining career scene: caught up in a bout of glossolalia in a television studio. He's a worthy slap-stick comedian, but it's hard to see him as anything but that, no matter how hard he tries to break that image. Ryan Gosling isn't very impressive either. I don't think he's handsome enough to pull off the playboy image. The women, on the other hand, even in their roles as support, are perfect. Julianne Moore is a fantastic actress who can play almost any character. Emma Stone, who isn't nearly as attractive as some say, gives another outstanding, if sarcastic, performance. I hope she will expand her repertoire because she has much more to offer. 8/10

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