The Cabin in the Woods - Purposefully Cliche

I recently watched The Cabin in the Woods (2012), directed by Drew Goddard, to prepare myself for Halloween. (I normally don't like too many "horror" movies because of how cheesy they can be, but this one was slightly different.) A jock, a nerd, a stoner, a dumb blonde, and a virgin decide to get away for the weekend by going to a desolate cabin in the middle of nowhere. Before which, they were warned by a creepy old man not to go there. Sound familiar?

That's because you've seen it a thousand times in every other scary movie.

However, The Cabin in the Woods played off of these normal cliches in a clever way. I won't explain in detail as to not give it away, but this movie is about ritual sacrifice. It's sort of The Hunger Games with a ritual sacrifice twist combined with every scary movie... If that makes sense.

The plot and writing (Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, who worked together on Buffy the Vampire Slayer) are what really make this movie worth watching. They play upon the stereotypes of scary movies, referencing many things that have been done over and over again. For example, there are spirits, zombies, killer mermen, giant snakes, flying beasts, and many other horrible creatures. All these typical monsters come out all at once in an exciting, gruesome climax.

To be able to play off the irony of the stereotypical characters, they need to be very well cast. Chris Hemsworth plays the role of the alpha male, thick-headed jock well. Fran Kranz is superb as the "fool" pothead, who's theories turn out to be true this time. Jesse Williams, a bit boring as the nerdy nice guy, but it is always harder to play the straight character. Anna Hutchison has the easy character ("easy" in both senses), as all she really does is look good and scream. And Kristen Connolly - the "virgin" - also seems a bit boring at times, but has a little more intellect and character depth.

All in all, I really enjoyed this film. It's entertaining, as most horror movies are, but also has more substance.

Rush: It's Not All About the Cars

Rush, directed by Ron Howard, is every boy's dream. It's got action, it's got sex, and its got cars. It's got a LOT of cars. If you're anything like me, the concept of a "biographical sports drama film" based on race car drivers wouldn't exactly send you racing (hah) to the theaters. And yet, when I saw my friend down on his knees crying and begging me to see it with him, I obliged.

I wanted to hate it. I really did. And yet, although the main plot revolved around a race track, the characters, as well as the biographical aspect of the film, drew me in.

Here's the trailer:

Rush documents the racing rivalry between English playboy James Hunt, (played by Chris Hemsworth) and the cool, calculating German,  Niki Lauda (played by Daniel Bruhl.) I think the main reason I find the movie so interesting is that the two main characters are complete opposites.

                                                               

This is Niki Lauda:                                    

                                       
                                                                                (Niki Lauda)                    (Daniel Bruhl)                                  

• Precise

• Technical

• Level-headed

• Recluse

• Racing = A Science

                                            And this is James Hunt:

                                                                               (Chris Hemsworth)                 (James Hunt)

• Charming

• Daring

• Womanizer

• Hot-headed

• Racing = A Sport

As one can imagine, the dynamic created between these two characters is fantastic. An intense rivalry sprinkled with hints of mutual respect, a little bit of fear, and even a shared eye twinkle here and there. The fact that the characters in Rush are based on real people only add to the of the magnificence whole thing.

Still, the character interaction in Rush wasn't the only reason my eyes stayed glued to the screen. Apparently, race car driving is really, really dangerous. Shot after shot of cars spinning out of control  had me biting my nails anxiously, praying that neither of the main characters would be hurt. I won't give anything anyway because I seriously recommend watching the movie for yourself. Or, if the movie isn't going to do it for you, you can read the real story about the rivalry here.

Part of me was really happy that I didn't know anything about the Lauda/Hunt rivalry before seeing Rush. It definitely kept me on my toes the whole time, because unlike most of the audience, I had no idea what was to come. The other thing I found interesting was that throughout the entire movie I wasn't quite sure who I was supposed to root for. Both Lauda and Hunt were covered so equally that although I stood behind Lauda most of the time, my friend turned out to be rooting for Hunt. In the end, the protagonists were each their own antagonists.

In conclusion I strongly recommend the film. I liked it, and I'm a girl.