The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Role call!

Dumb girl, who is a wuss, but likes to explore dark corners of a haunted place – Present.
Another dumb girl, who is horny most of the time and wears clothes that are scanty enough- Present.
A dumb boy, who is handsome and well built enough to be the alpha male- Present.
Another guy, who talks weird stuff and thus gets all the promo dialogues- Present. 
Yet another guy, who doesn't have any particular traits, but gets to die creatively- Present.

There we have the perfect dumb college group which goes to the woods to spend their weekend, just to be killed one by one. Don’t we just love it? It is like the Bond movies, basic mathematics! You have the formula- blasts, international level oil conspiracies, deceptive sexy ladies and a spy who speaks less and shoots more. They bring it to us every 5 years and we compare it to the one that came before, which had suffered from the exact same fate. It is never as good as the last one. All said and done, we hoot, whistle and jump when every time they repeat that stuff. Some clichés are necessary. Some things should never change. Even if we criticize people for the way they are and nag them to change, when they do change- we miss them for the way they were. Remember when James Bond shed tears in Casino Royale? It broke the fans’ hearts for all the wrong reasons. 

My favorite genre is horror. It’s ironic but I feel comfortable watching horror films. Nothing ever changes. So we can always sit back and wait for our predictions to come right. There is a pattern and we criticize it. We are pretty familiar with the horror house architecture by now. Stupid decisions are taken and we get to shout out loud at the characters. You feel intelligent, as you feel you would do better int terms of a retreat strategy when your bedroom door slams open in the middle of the night. “Let me see what resources I can optimally utilize to beat this intangible spirit which can kill me any minute”.

What I don’t like is when somebody messes with the stereotypes. The Cabin in the Woods is therefore a source of discomfort.  It has everything in the right place before it starts playing with the plot in a different way, playing with the pure idea.

Pornography and voyeurism are uncomfortable topics when we talk about them to the society. But they have a market. What if they are liberalized and further commercialized? What if the human race gives in to the lust? After all there’s money where there is thirst and hunger. But this is not the first movie to tackle this topic. David Cronnenberg made a disturbing thriller back in 1983, called the Videodrome. And I am sure there are a few more.  It is a good idea. It is a horrific idea. Good for a thriller. But wait a minute, what about the dumb youngsters in the forest? What about the cabin in the woods? Hey don’t blame me; I am as confused as the screenplay.

Then there was some talking about mythology, shoved in were various film references (I bet the cabin in the movie is a tip of the hat to Sam Raimi’s cult horror-comedy trilogy- The Evil Dead). At one point of time I even felt like I was watching the demo of a Japanese video game. All of this packed in a glittery blood red cover of modern, comic book style, graphic filmmaking.

It’s been some time since we saw a good horror caper. Gore and sex have adulterated the genre. Clichés are a thing of the past. Now we have everybody trying to revamp the whole genre. The Cabin in the Woods is one such experiment. Sometimes, the inconsistency of 

thought had me distracted. Too many ideas, not even one well exploited.

Imagine this situation. You finally visit your favorite restaurant on a hard-earned weekend. You order your favorite dish. The place is too busy and confused so they get you something else that’s equally tasty. You are too hungry to complain so you let it be and start enjoying the food. You have just gotten accustomed to it, when the waiter, without a warning, takes your plate away and serves you with something else. It is tasty too, but again- not what you ordered. You forgive him yet again and decide to have whatever you can get, fill your stomach and leave. Sadly, the restaurant has different plans it doesn’t stop switching your dishes. It is their idea of new and innovative service. Pissed off, you leave.

It is not a bad movie, but a bad horror movie. Rather, wrongly branded so. But a good thriller? Sure. Comic-book fans would love it too. After all, it is produced by Joss Whedon, the guy behind this year’s massive blockbuster- The Avengers. These guys surely had it in the back of their mind that they were making a movie about horror movies and not a horror movie itself, but that’s the problem- they had it in the back of their mind.

If only it had made me whimper and made my goose-flesh squirm. On the contrary, my geese had popcorn and flapped their wings off indifference.

IMDB Rating: 7.3/10

My Rating: 2.5/5

Withnail and I (1987)

This film is about two struggling actors whose squalid habitat would make Tyler Durden proud. One looks a bit like Lennon and is poetic, he is the eponymous "I". The other is handsome, upper class, foppish and perpetually drunk, he is the titular Withnail. These two youths take a fun alcohol fuelled journey to the English countryside to holiday in a shack owned by Withnail's uncle Monty. It is a comedy which at some moments will darken your soul.

This is called black humour folks and the only other film I've seen in this league is Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove.

This film is also about two struggling actors whose squalid habitat could be described as truly pitiful. In fact their entire existence seems pathetic as they fail to get work and pass their days drinking themselves into premature liver failure. One is anxiety prone paranoid who lets his friend dictate his life, the other is Withnail, a high-brow alcoholic. They embark on a disruptive journey to the English countryside full of drunken mishaps. It is a tragedy that will at some points make you laugh.

And that is why Withnail and I is a cult British film. The interpretation of the events in the film lies solely in the eyes of the viewer. And despite being billed as one of the greatest examples of black comedy  I believe that was the intention. One of the many stories about its production is about the determination of the director to not use any of the takes that made his crew members laugh. Another story mentions that the film was almost shut down three days into production because one of its producers thought that it had no discernible jokes.

Have you seen Inglourious Basterds? Do you remember the scene where Lt. Aldo Raine asks a German to point out where the Nazi artillery and snipers are located on a map and when he refuses has him beaten to death in front of two other soldiers. Another soldier is shot in the back and the last soldier when as by Lt. Raine immediately divulges the information. This scene is funny. It made me laugh. It made the characters laugh. But if you really think about it this was a very uncomfortable scene and this terrified soldier should not have made us laugh. Withnail and I is like that, there are scenes that are hilarious and instantly quotable, but there are so many moments that make you chuckle which just shouldn't.

In my mind it also raises a question. At what point does amusing become depressing and vice versa? Would this still be a black comedy if the exact same events had taken place but his time the characters were injecting heroin into their bloodstreams?

This film also presents us with some fascinating characters. If you're not looking for character study then you can find the characters make marvelous caricatures. And behind them is great acting and clever writing. Richard Griffiths (Uncle Dursley form the Harry Potter movies) gives a cracking performance as Uncle Monty (hmmm...me thinks a connection there is). And Richard Grant's Withnail is unforgettable. Watch this film. You'll either like it or love it. Don't get fooled by the gloom of my review though, this film will definitely make you laugh.

IMDB Rating: 7.7/10

My Rating: 8.5/10

Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

In a not very happening town, on a not very happening street, lives an eleven year old boy called Bobby Garfield. Bobby-o wants a bicycle that his single mother can’t afford. But every kid is hasty about becoming a grown up and every grown up is understanding. So Bobby-O tries his best. His mother is cynical, therefore never happy. And Bobby has to make do with an adult library card as a birthday gift. The relationship as you must have guessed by now is going downhill. The approaching of teenage makes things worse. Enter, an old man, who takes the word “strange” as a compliment. Mr. Ted is their new neighbor and also the most enigmatic personality Bobby-O has ever met.

No I have not revealed anything. It would take more than that to reveal the thick plot of Hearts in Atlantis, a film that almost tricks you into thinking that it doesn’t have any plot to it.

The film has enormous names to boast of. Anthony Hopkins plays a major character and the movie itself is based on Stephen King’s collection of novella of the same name. Had I revealed these trump cards before, you wouldn’t even have cared to read the review any further. But that is where we miss the point, don’t we? Does a film become great just because of the names associated to it? Or does it become great because those great people had some belief in the story? Something clicked in Stephen King’s mind when he wrote those stories. Something clicked in Hopkins’s mind when he was presented with the idea. Now there’s a reason to watch a movie.

A mention of Stephen King’s name raises a question- is it a horror movie? Well that depends on your interpretation of the word ‘horror’. Is it all about seeing the ghost beneath the bed? Or is it about thinking of the ghost beneath the bed? The latter one is the kind of horror that King specializes in. The concept of horror in this movie is a little more profound. The fear of losing to time, the fear of realizing that our heroes are human, that our parents make mistakes too and that nothing is permanent. Not even our home. It may never be the place you dream of going back to.

Anthony Hopkins gets into the skin of Mr. Ted and becomes a mystery to us, right from the moment he pops up as the new neighbor. His eyes tell a different story in every movie. This time they are hiding something, something terribly painful and horrific. The movie then invites you inside, makes you feel welcome, hands you a hot cup of evening beverage and settles down to tell a story that might not be very new, but engaging and moving nevertheless. Important relationships are explored here. Painful realizations, reinforced.

To dump this movie into a particular genre would be unjust. It is a piece of storytelling you might want to indulge in when you are alone, on a rainy Sunday evening. Your state of mind just might give you a new comprehension.

Hearts in Atlantis, just like Kubrick’s The Shining, focuses more on the stuff that is not supernatural. It understands King’s writing and creates memorable images from the most trivial of instances. Isn’t that how memories are made in the first place?

It is not a great movie, it’s far from it. But there’s nothing wrong with it.

IMDB Rating: 6.8/10

My Rating: «««««

Moon (2009)

As you might have guessed from the title of the movie it's set on the moon. "Sarang" is a lunar base for mining helium-3 at the far side of the moon and it is manned by a sole crew member Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell). An artificial intelligence assistant named GERTY (voiced by Kevin Spacey) is his only companion. We are told helium-3 is an energy source and it is found in abundance on the moon. Sam is serving out a three year contract with Lunar Industries Limited and is down to his last two weeks. Sam Bell has a wife and a two and a half year old child back on Earth. Soon conflict arrives, but not in the form of an alien bent on eating him but something far more (pause here for effect) human.

This is the debut feature film of Duncan Jones (Source Code) and it's incredible to see what he has done with a budget of 5 million dollars. Interesting side note: Duncan is the son of a certain David Robert Jones also known as David Bowie; Duncan himself used to be known as Zowie Bowie. The direction was crisp and clear. Sam Rockwell as the only human to appear for most of the duration of the film delivers an incredible performance and never fails to lose our attention. That is a testament not only to his acting abilities but also the script and it's terse yet dramatic tone which gave me goose bumps. This film could have been transformed into the regular science fiction explosion fest with the wrong people (Michael Bay) but I'm very thankful that the director made it the way it is, small and quiet. It could be argued that that film was cheated out of an Oscar nomination or two, as both the acting and the writing were superb. But then again this was the year the Academy failed to nominate Matt Damon for his role in The Informant and it awarded Best Original Screenplay to The Hurt Locker over Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.

Three other aspects worth mentioning here: the cinematography, the art direction and the music. It will surprise you to know that in this day and age of CGI madness a science fiction film was made using mostly models and some good camerawork. The music was supplied by Clint Mansell (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan). Mansell's claim to fame is Lux Aeterna from the film Requiem for a Dream is used by every jackass who wants his play or movie trailer to sound dramatic and morose. The soundtrack is just perfect for the film as it escalates the drama without distracting the audience. Another noticeable Oscar snub. Does the Academy hate the British? Maybe it tried to be apologetic by giving four awards to The King's Speech the next year.

This film has been lying dormant in my computer for about a year and I'm a little angry at myself for not watching it earlier. I recommend it highly for those who appreciate the thoughtful sci-fi films like 2001, Blade Runner or Sunshine.

IMDB Rating: 8/10

My Rating: 8.5/10

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

Moonrise Kingdom was released over two months ago in the United States. I waited in anticipation for a film that was touted to be the best film of the summer. But I'd forgotten that I lived in India. I would be lucky to see a film that did not rely on explosions to fuel its plot forward. I was relieved to find out yesterday that it had finally arrived to cinemas in India and rushed to watch one of the first shows.

The story takes place on an island; a rustic, colourful setting that accentuates the story and its charm. The plot begins with a boy running away from his summer camp and a girl fleeing from her family. We find out that they have been corresponding for a year and this escape has been planned. A rescue party  comprising of the girl's parents, a policeman, the camp's scoutmaster and his scouts fan out and search for them. Hilarity and romance ensue. I do not want to reveal any more of the plot as I'm afraid that it will harm your viewing experience.

The adults are played by a star studded cast, the sort of cast only a summer superhero movie could afford. Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and Harvey Keitel. The above line represents millions of dollars worth of acting power and billions of dollars worth of entertainment value. But you'll forget all of those people as soon as you see the young lovers. Played brilliantly by Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman the two young protagonists run the show. Their characters are so well written that you wish to know what happens to them a few years down the line. And the actors playing them are such natural actors that you wish to know what happens to them a few years down the line (and you hope that they don't turn into Lindsay Lohan).

Everything else about this film is as exceptional as the acting and the writing. The camera-work and the director's use of colours and symmetry add a warmth and charm to the film which makes everything seem natural and true. Moments of childishness rather than bringing out the jaded adult bring out the carefree playfulness in us. I even found myself wishing that I had run away with camping equipment as a kid. Sam, the boy scout, puts established badasses like Han Solo to shame by virtue of sheer ballsiness. And the music. It just ties the film together. Quirky and zany, the music is simple and effective. If I had to sum up the film in one word it would be "charming". The charm of the film lies with its story and characters and the way it all flows seamlessly. Seriously, I would not change a single thing about this film. I'm looking forward to viewing more of Wes Anderson's work.

P.S. - My new favourite cinema theatre is PVR Cinemas at Phoenix (Pune). Nine screens and tasty snacks, what more do you need?

IMDB Rating: 8.3/10

My Rating: 9/10

Worth going to the theatre for: Yes, definitely yes!