THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

There’s a certain curiosity to be had before going in to see The Cabin In The Woods - one that asks the question as to whether it actually does strip the horror genre of its tight cheerleader uniform before grabbing it by its long blonde hair and pulling its head off as promised from its marketing campaign. The combined writing effort of Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy and Angel and writer of Toy Story) and Drew Goddard (writer of Cloverfield), who also directs, there was certainly the promise of a fresh take on a tired format. And it certainly doesn’t fail to deliver - providing us with a smart and reflexive genre film whilst remaining freshly entertaining and full of laughs.

It all starts off with every possible cliché known to man: a jock, a nice guy, a stoner, a whore and a virginal type all venture off for a cabin holiday in the middle of nowhere. They stop off at the traditional creepy gas station and have the usual foreboding crazy gas man act all crazy at them before leaving him behind as the obvious last post of civilisation. They get to the cabin and you instantly picture their blood all over the walls as everything just screams YOU ARE ALL GOING TO DIE!!! Please - stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

But The Cabin In The Woods is much more sophisticated than that. Revealing much of the ulterior plot quite early on in the film, it uses that to riff off the unfortunate events that befall our generic heroes and in turn flip our generic expectations, thus keeping the film continuously fresh despite using the common tropes of horror films. With a tongue firmly in its cheek, it isn’t afraid to use the plot devices that it is mocking in order to propel the story and it falls very firmly into the category of self-referencing films that are being released at the moment (see my review on 21 Jump Street).

However, despite its intelligence it never gets too smart for itself and isn’t afraid to break out the big guns for what quite frankly is one of the most batshit insane third acts I’ve ever seen in any film. There’s plenty of humour and gross out moments to satisfy the teenage audience Hollywood is so desperately trying to please these days - but it doesn’t stoop to the juvenile level of the Scary Movie franchise to get the laughs. The large part of the cast play out their roles to an acceptable standard, with a couple of stand out performances and one completely unexpected appearance - but the large part of the entertainment is down to the fantastic script and solid direction grounded in a firm understanding of the genre they are satirising.

Don’t think there aren’t any scary parts though; there were moments where I did jump a little and a few moments where the tension is ramped up to great effect. And like all good horror films, there is an underlying message or fear that’s in the subconscious of society - but I’ll let you watch it and figure it out because if I were to go into detail, it would spoil some of the twists and turns in this great genre mashing mental film.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA

At a time where the cinematic mainstream is overrun with fast paced and over edited, attention grabbing quick fire films, it’s very refreshing to delve into smaller and often foreign films that slow down the pace and meditate on the themes it is addressing. Nothing I have seen in recent times has done this more than Once Upon A Time In Anatolia - the latest film from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Running at 150 minutes, the film follows a haphazard group of police officers and officials as they drag a weary perp around the Anatolian Steppes in search of where he committed an undisclosed crime. However, this narrative is merely a backdrop for a cinematic meditation of middle-aged men and how they deal with crisis, as well as a musing on the beauty of life in a world full of violence and monotony.

Let me say from the outset that this film isn’t going to be for everyone. It’s pacing is so slow it makes 2001: A Space Odyssey look as fast as the Transformers films - it sets to try your patience just as the perp tries the patience of the officials as they search for the crime scene. But as the saying goes: good things come to those who wait - your patience will be rewarded with a rich and engaging experience through some of the most beautiful photography ever committed to celluloid and with one of the most subtly clever scripts that really lets each individual audience member take away something different.

But through all of its metaphysical and philosophical musings, this is still a genre film. Firmly set up as a police procedural film, we are introduced to each of the characters as they discuss the banal procedure they are undergoing as well as the goings on in each of their lives. Conversations ranging from food to prostate infections crop up throughout and each character grows very delicately as we learn more about them piece by piece. As the procedure progresses, so do the characters, and it’s all so closely tied in with the pacing of the whole thing - everything here is working together in harmony.

But not only are the script and cinematography pitch perfect, the writer/director has also managed to garner incredible performances from his predominantly male cast. Each individual tic from the actors adds the crucial third dimension to each character, making them stand out from one another and fully drawing you into their deathly dull procedure. You feel as though you’re there with them, and that’s what all good films do. They transport you into their world and make you empathize with their characters.

But ultimately, at the end of the long journey - followed by an extended coda once they return to town and a wide open ending - it’s what you personally feel about the film, which is what makes the experience so enriching. I mentioned in an earlier review that films essentially strive to reveal a particular truth about the human condition, what Once Upon A Time In Anatolia does is allow you to find that truth for yourself.

21 JUMP STREET

I’m not going to lie; I really wasn’t expecting to like this film. I had a couple of hours to kill and my cineworld unlimited card was just itching to be used so I went in and chose the film that was starting first. So imagine my surprise when I found myself laughing along to what has to be one of the freshest comedies of recent times.

The opening sees Schmidt (Jonah Hill) in full clad Eminem gear - bleach blond hair and all - get rejected by the head cheerleader he asks to prom in front of the lead jock, Jenko (Channing Tatum) in an all too familiar high school prom date rejection scene. However, that is where the similarities to such films end. 4 years on, and the pair meet again at police academy and become friends. Now fully-fledged policemen, they are far from the action they expected on park patrol where high-speed chases are at an all time low. After a show of gross incompetence, and because they still look young, the pair are busted to an undercover unit to infiltrate a local high school to uncover a drug ring.

So far so average, and with a few laughs in this opening I was getting ready for a let down, but it actually gets better. And here’s why: as they give some smart remarks and backchat to their new squad lieutenant (played by a fantastically cast Ice Cube) about their new assignment, he yells at them and says, “embrace your stereotypes!” That’s what the film does. It embraces all of the generic clichés and fully understands them in order to subvert the usual expectations of not only the buddy cop genre, but the high school movie genre as well. The most notable example is the fact that Schmidt is now the cool kid and Jenko is the nerd hanging out with all the science kids.

But what really makes the film work is the comic timing between Hill and Tatum. I never would have pegged Tatum as a comedy actor and Jonah Hill hasn’t really done anything of comic merit since the overrated Superbad - so seeing the two of them on the poster made me a bit more confused than anything. However, it actually works fantastically well and is what really carries the film through its predictable narrative. You see; it isn’t the narrative that makes the film fresh, but the comedy that is woven into it. And this comedy is very 21^st century. Cynical and self-referencing, it embraces the style of its predecessors whilst sharply mocking them. There is even a cameo from Johnny Depp - and a fantastic one at that - which seems fitting seeing as it was the 80’s TV show this film is based on that pretty much kick started his career.

So ultimately, while it isn’t setting the benchmark for originality in its storytelling, 21 Jump Street is a solid entry into the comedy buddy cop genre. Where the story is predictable and on the odd occasion the comedy divulges in gross out humour (probably to appeal to the younger teen audiences), it also delivers enough genuine laughs from a very strong comedy pairing to make up for all its flaws and provide a thoroughly enjoyable experience that’s probably going to be one of the best comedies of the year.