DVD Movie Review - The Cabin in the Woods

The Cabin in the Woods @ Amazon

It’s been years since I’ve watched what Hollywood calls these days, a Horror Movie.  They all seem to be a rehash of the same story lines that surfaced in the 70’s.  Dialogue, plot, and story structure have all been replaced with “more blood.”  So I generally stay away from the horror genre unless it adds something fresh and new to the pot. (Considering most horror films are number “X” in a series, very few offer anything worth wild at all)

 

Joss Whedon has been everywhere recently and considering what they’re saying about him, he can do no wrong.  Well, I’m here to say “The Cabin in the Woods” does nothing to tarnish his record.

Story:

It’s the same old story: 5 teenagers decide to take a weekend and head into the most remote cabin in the world.  Void of civilization, technology, and anything that makes sense.  All hell breaks loose after one couple decides to have sex, and then one by one the group is hunted down by supernatural beings.

Sound familiar?  Well, that’s the plot…or is it.  What Joss Whedon does well, is he can take a dull, outdated story and turn it into something fun and fresh—while still including the essential bits that make it a horror film.  Not to mention, there were parts that were laugh out loud hysterical, and any film that tells a great story and makes me laugh in the process is a keeper in my book.

 

My Thoughts:

 

“The Cabin in the Woods” is just as much horror as it is mystery, and I liked the fact that Whedon doesn’t hold your hand through the film and explain every little thing that’s happening and why.   The scenes switch back and forth between the teenagers at the cabin and working stiffs in an office building.  Along the way, small clues and hints of something else entirely going on are dropped in each scene.  But nothing is really explained until the very end, which if you paid close attention, you can somewhat surmise what the ending will be like.  But like I said, some scenes are outrageously funny and very, very…unexpected.  When you think it’s about to end, the volume gets turned up to eleven.

 

As with the Avengers, Joss Whedon has no problem handling a group of people, as a matter of fact, this has really become his staple now.  The characters are all likeable, because they all have an underlining sense of humor, that’s executed perfectly in the dialogue and how they react to their situations.  I really don’t want to tell you much more, for fear of spoiling the awesome plot, so if you like Whedon’s movies or are into horror, then this is a no-brainer.

 

I am truly surprised that a genre I thought was basically dead can be turned into a movie that will sit on the same shelf with my other favorite movies of the year.  Don’t be afraid to rent or buy “The Cabin in the Woods”; it’s excellent.  Hopefully other directors and writers will start with story/plot/characters first, and then add the blood and guts later—probably not, but one can dream right?

 

Happy Halloween!

 

A Solid 4 out of 5 stars

Book Review - A Dirty Job

Christopher Moore's Website

A Dirty Job on Amazon

Well, last week I gave Christopher Moore’s Sacre Bleu a mediocre review—and rightfully so, considering it was slightly more of a history book, than fiction.  But I didn’t want to give up on Moore.  He has numerous reviews online pointing out how ridiculous and funny his books are, so I decided to jump right into another one of his titles.  And I’m happy to say, that “A Dirty Job” is as funny and ridiculous as you can get. 

 

When I look for a novel to devote precious free time too, I want to be engaged and distracted from real life as much as possible.  If you can do that and make me laugh, then you have something special.  Now, every time I read a book and there’s a humorous line or scene, I might smile or chuckle slightly, but there were scenes in “A Dirty Job” that had me laughing out loud.  Never before has that happened, so I have to commend Moore on a job well done.

 

Story:

The setting is San Francisco and a normal (Beta Male) guy named Charlie, who owns a secondhand store, is about to have his entire world turned upside down.  He’s the kind of guy who is happy going through life without any excitement and is content living out his existence peacefully.  But, when the love of his life has his child and then suddenly passes away, things get weird.  Really weird.  Giant ravens, dark shadows and glowing items start to appear, and Charlie has no idea what’s going on.  He tries to shrug everything off, thinking he’s losing his mind.  So with a new baby girl around, Sophie, a secondhand store to run, and the forces of darkness surrounding him, he tries to do what any Beta Male would do: nothing.  Except that doesn’t pan out too well in the long run.

 

Thoughts:

This book goes beyond absurd and punches bizarre right in the face.  If you like books to stay pretty grounded, then this is NOT the book for you.  And I’m not just talking about angel and demon stuff either.  You get sewer harpies (who seem to have the urge for sex), giant black dogs, squirrel people, outrageous settings; humor where it shouldn’t exist…the list goes on and on.  If you’re the type that doesn’t like foul language or has a problem with books/stories/movies that rip into stereotypes, then again—THIS IS NOT THE BOOK FOR YOU. 

 

Now, if you’re like me, and find humor in almost anything, and can handle a plot that continues to get more and more outlandish the further you read, than have at it.  You’ll love this book.  I initially thought: “Why hasn’t this been turned into a movie yet?”  And after about 10 or so chapters, I thought, “There’s no way anyone could make this into a movie.”

 

When you get about 1/3 through the story, you’ll think you have the whole thing figured out.  Wrong.  Major time goes by: sometimes months, sometimes years and still the plot rages on.  All I wanted to do was continue to turn the page to see what silliness will happen next, and I never was disappointed.

 

The characters, no matter how over-the-top stereotypical they are, are so likable, that you don’t want anything to happen to them.  And the main character Charlie is so nonchalant about even the weirdest things, that it makes the story completely unpredictable.

 

Moore pokes fun at every race/ethnic/religious background: Jewish, Catholic, Buddhist, Asian, Russian, African-American, etc.; there’s no road he won’t go down.  I firmly believe that life is too short to be pulling the politically correct crap, or labeling people with the “racist” card for telling jokes about how they view life.  So if you’re one of those people, do me a favor: get off your high-horse and swallow your stupidity, because you’re only wasting everyone’s (including mine) time.

 

Everything that Sacre Bleu wasn’t; is everything that “A Dirty Job” is.  This novel was exactly what I needed to laugh and forget the real-life problems going on—even if it was for just a little while.  I highly recommend picking this one up if you’re in need of a good laugh.

 

Since this novel was so much fun, I will be spending more time with Moore in the future…my only problem now is: which book do I start next?

 

4 1/2 out of 5 stars (all 4 ½ stars for being perfectly ridiculous—just the way I like it)

Book Review - Sacre Bleu

Sacre Bleu's Amazon Listing

Christopher Moore's Website

The Cover:

Wow!  Isn't that cover just awesomeness?

You know how they say book covers boost sales, by inspiring readers to pick up a lonely book on a shelf and give the summary a look-see?  Well, Sacre Bleu was definitely one of those books for me.  Having a background in Art & Illustration, I couldn’t help but be attracted to the wonderful cover of Sacre Bleu.  I’ve never read anything by Christopher Moore, which could be good or it could be bad.  But with a wonderful cover like the one above, what can possibly go wrong?

 

Story:

It’s 1890 and Vincent van Gogh at the height of his career drew a pistol (no pun intended) and shot himself in the chest.  Then proceeded to walk through a cornfield to a doctor, only for it to be too late and him die.  Did he really commit suicide or was there something else behind these tragic and usual events?

 

My thoughts:

Well Vincent’s friends, one Henry Lautrec and a baker/painter/protagonist named Lucien Lessard are on the case.  At least that’s what the inside cover of the book says.  So we have a story involving the famous Vincent van Gogh, art in general, a murder mystery and a baker who’s looking to solve it all.  This book sounds like its right up my alley.

 

The death of Vincent happens in the first chapter and then gets briefly mentioned again in an afterthought about 2/3 through the book.  It seems the actual mystery and solving of a murder was just to get readers to pick this novel up.  What the book really is about is a young man’s love of his muse.  Or if you keep reading, it turns out the story is one big metaphor about how much Christopher Moore loves artists, their muses and just art in general. 

 

The first couple of chapters introduce you to Lucien, his family and his dear friend Henri (who spends way too much time drinking and hanging with whores).  I was really getting into Lucien’s love of painting and his awesome friends, like Renoir, Monet or Manet, and also really enjoying the relationship of Lucien and his father.  Then the first flashback happened.  It wouldn’t be so bad, if it stayed revolved around Lucien and his story, but then it crept into a history lesson about how Paris was in bad shape during a war.  And then flashback, after flashback, after flashback.

 

From there the book spiraled out of control and jumped all over the place, sometimes not including Lucien at all.  Instead you get art lessons from the Impressionists or stories told through their eyes, and Vincent and Lucien’s story is thrown to the waste side.  What really kept me going is the fact that I have an Art background, so I could relate to all the side stories being told here.  But there’s also a disadvantage to that: I already know most of the history and really had to drudge through it, just so I could get back to Lucien’s story.

 

By the time you do get back to Lucien and his bud, Henri, you’ve lost the bond with him and don’t really care what happens next.  Or at least that’s how I felt.  I finished the book because I wanted to write this review and was really hoping there was something that would happen at the end to justify all the history I read through, but I was disappointed.

 

Christopher Moore’s prose is top notch and his comedy, when it did show up, was refreshing and had me giggling here and there.  But as I see with the rest of his books, it’s his comedy that he’s known for, and this novel just didn’t have enough to keep me reading.

 

I do applaud all the research he did into the lives of such famous artists at that time, but I think the plot got away from him.  If he removed 1/3 of the book and shortened the history lessons, reverting back to Lucien more, I think this would have been a better book.  But really, what do I know?  I just know what I like to read, not how to write a best-seller.

 

In the end, Sacre Bleu has a great idea behind, with wonderful—but not enough—comedy, but Moore let his love of art history get in the way of his story telling.  He even goes so far as to tell you in the last chapter, exactly what was real and what wasn’t.  The sad thing is: most of it was non-fiction—and most of the time real life is boring. 

 

If you’re in love with the writing of Moore or just love Art History, then you might want to pick this book up.  The rest of us should check it out of our local library and see if it’s to our liking.

 

2 1/2 out of 5 stars (1 star both for comedy & research and 1/2 star for the idea)

Book Review - The Prisoner of Heaven

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Website

"The Prisoner of Heaven" Amazon Link

Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Prisoner of Heaven is a beautifully written book that continues the story of The Shadow of the Wind.

 

I’ve read articles where Zafon states that this four part volume (The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven and yet-to-be-released Title) can be read as independent stories, in any order, or as a set.  I gracefully disagree.  TPoH should be read after TSotW.  I believe without the characters fully rendered in TSotW, you will miss and not fully understand their passions and conflicts that move The Prisoner of Heaven forward.  And The Shadow of the Wind is one of my favorite books—if I was stuck on a deserted island with only one available book, I’d hope it to be that one…yes, it’s that good.  If you haven’t had the chance to read it, pick it up without hesitation.

 

Zafon has the ability to compose a 500 page story of a fly crawling up a drape, and have the prose be beautiful, mysterious, engaging, dark, engrossing and humorous.  On top of that, you’d probably leave the volume learning a few new words in the English language.  Even when nothing is truly happening in his stories and his characters are just sitting around discussing life, the pages turn with speed and energy.  There are also lines from every book you will find yourself attempting to remember, and if you can’t, not to worry, there are reviews and sites found on the internet dedicated to picking out these timeless, delightful quotes.

 

The Story:

The Prisoner of Heaven picks up a few months after The Shadow of the Wind, and we find ourselves continuing Daniel’s story.  All the main characters from TSotW are found within the text, even if their name rests within one line of dialogue.  The Sempere & Sons book emporium is going through hard times during the Christmas holiday and Daniel has to juggle his own problems and convictions, along with the book store and the newly engrossing Fermin problem.  That’s right…if you loved Fermin’s wit in TSotW, then you will be pleasantly surprised here, as this book’s story flops from present day Daniel to Fermin’s mysterious past and the events that led him to living on the streets.  The story twists and turns and no character is ever mentioned, without having a big or small part in an event, that shapes Fermin’s and ultimately Daniel’s life.

 

If you loved or just liked (which I don’t think is possible) The Shadow of the Wind, then you’re in good hands with Zafon’s latest page turner The Prisoner Of heaven; everything that was found in the previous novel, is continued here in the latest.  And now that I’ve read TPoH, I can’t wait for the last volume of the series.  I’m sure all the plots, subplots and subplots of the subplots, will be wrapped up nicely in a perfect bow.  And if they’re not—which I highly doubt—it’s the road you’ve taken to the end that counts, not the actual end—right?

 

The Prisoner of Heaven is not as engrossing or subplot driven as its predecessor, but the elegant prose is equal to The Shadow of the Wind.  TPoH should definitely share a spot on your bookshelf; just make sure to save some room for the upcoming last volume.

 

4 1/2 out of 5 stars