SpaceGypsies

Placeholder for caption that doesn't even suggest a spoiler. You're welcome.

To say that Drew Goddard (Cloverfield, Lost) and Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods is a horror movie doesn’t do it justice. It’s a gross oversimplification of the broader concept. Before I proceed, permit me to clarify that I’m under no delusions like “The Cabin in the Woods isn’t a horror movie”. It most definitely is a horror movie and a fairly gory one at that. People die. Gratuitously. Be sure that Goddard’s decision to conceal the more grizzly details of certain deaths serves only to preserve the viewer’s sensitivity to such things for the biggest punch when it really mattered. Think of it like giving up coffee for 30 days so that on the 31st, when you drink three pots in a single hour, you see God. This isn’t a criticism, mind you. I simply feel compelled to emphasize the bloody nature of this movie to disspell any notion that it will be a Whedonesque flick in the campy Buffy/Angel style of  horror. To be honest, I expected The Cabin in the Woods to lean toward being viscerally sterile. While it isn’t High Tension or Hostel, it’s also not good, clean, prime-time-television fun.

Now that I’ve told you what this movie isn’t, I’ll tell you what it is. The Cabin in the Woods is a heavily layered movie which tells a story that’s far deeper than “these people over here want to do despicable things to those people over there.” Dare I say its an intelligent horror movie. Almost immediately, the viewer is presented with disparate but internally consistent elements. What I appreciated was that the meaning of these disparate elements wasn’t immediately handed to the viewer on a silver platter in bite-sized pieces. I had time to ponder them and develop my own Theory of Everything before the explanations began to roll in. This movie clearly isn’t a Masterpiece Theater mystery and it’s entirely likely that you’ll have narrowed what’s going on to one of two options by the time the puzzle starts filling in. Despite that, quite literally anything can happen until the very last line of dialog.

Fans of horror will appreciate this movie for it’s creative fusion of thematic elements and a sense of self-awareness not seen since Scream (1996). Whedon devotees will recognize this  self-awareness as well as the  rapid-fire, apropos-yet-witty dialog. Also, fans of Dollhouse will love that Fran Kranz got the opportunity to shine (and shine he did!), though fans of Chris Hemsworth (Thor) and Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy) will be disappointed in the scarcity of shirtless scenes.

I really wish I could tell you more about this movie but I can’t without including spoilers. In fact, as I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen a single trailer for this movie, it struck me that any trailer would necessarily either (a) be devoid of spoilers but completely misrepresent the movie or (b) accurately represent the movie while simultaneously negating any need to actually see it. This is a brilliant film so the idea of spoiling anything and, as a result, dampening the initial journey of discovery makes me sad. If you’re inclined to see The Cabin in the Woods, then do so in a theater on the big screen and do it before someone blows the secrets for you. Seriously.

 5 out of 5!

Dear Mr. Lucas,

I would like to thank you for your tremendous contributions to the entertainment industry. Star Wars has a legacy of fans that will truly transcend time and space, and Indiana Jones will forever be a timeless treasure. It seems that you truly want to please your fans with films like Star Wars I, II & III. And it seems you continued to try and make your fans happy with the digitally remastered original Star Wars Trilogy that included unfortunate CGI rendered extended scenes. You teamed up with Mr. Spielberg to make Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which, I assume, was supposed to make fans of that franchise happy as well.

You’ve been met with criticism for your choices lately. Your decision to use CGI characters over the more expensive old school animatronics was met with harsh criticism. Fans weren’t shy about their hatred of JarJar Binks in Episode I and South Park devoted an entire episode to Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, implying that you and Spielberg were “raping the franchise” for money. Now I see you are re-releasing Star Wars Episode I- The Phantom Menace into theaters in 3-D and I’m unfortunately not surprised. After all, isn’t Disney doing the same thing with Beauty and the Beast?

While part of me thinks seeing Darth Maul swing his lightsaber in 3-D would be beyond awesome, another part wonders if this is simply an effort to milk more money out of an already successful franchise. Will the 3-D be realistically used throughout the film as a means to enhance an already iconic experience? Or will we once again be subjected to the same old 3-D tricks that are used as a means to jack up the ticket price? Are you doing this for the money or for the fans? I suppose you’re the only one who knows the answer to that.

Mr. Lucas, I hope when you make the decisions to alter your already popular films you are honestly doing it for the right reason…the fans. Your fans have been very good to you. They’ve supported you and spoiled you in a way only sci-fi fans can, with unbridled adulation.  And despite your repeated application of new-fangled Hollywood gimmicks to your beloved films, the fans have stood by you. They’ve forgiven you for JarJar Binks, CGI Jabba the Hut, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. For you are the man who gave them Princess Leia in the Slave Girl costume. Please don’t make us have to forgive you again.

Sincerely,

GreenEggsNSamm

That’s the title of the new sci-fi comedy movie that stars Amanda Tapping and Robin Dunne.

According to Fanshare.com:

Space Milkshake centres around four space workers on a rundown orbital sanitation station, who run into a few problems when they salvage a strange device from a space ship wreckage.

The film, directed and written by Arman Evrensel, is set to be released in late 2012 or early 2013.

With a name like “Space Milkshake” how can it not be good?

October Sky, in which he played the author and real-life NASA rocket scientist, Homer Hickam, provided my first movie encounter with Jake Gyllenhaal (as a lead). A dozen years later, in his Source Code character, Colter Stevens, we find the same kind of everyday guy – someone we might go to school or work with – in difficult circumstances racing to overcome obstacles to pursue his scientific (and personal) desires. To carry the comparison further, both characters have encouraging, supportive females present and have a difficult relationship with their father.

Gyllenhaal’s Homer Hickam blossomed under the tutelage of a beautiful and sweet, though sickly, high school teacher Miss Riley, who (along with his mother) supported his teen exploits into rocket science in the age of the cold war era race to the moon. Colter Stevens, an army helicopter pilot, pursues a different explosive science.

Stevens awakens from the last thing he remembers – flying a mission in Afghanistan – to find himself in the body of another man named Sean Fentress, aboard a commuter train to Chicago. Moments later an explosion detonates, killing everyone on the train. Stevens awakens again, this time inside a pod of some kind, strapped into his seat as he would be on an aircraft. We hear a disembodied voice trying to communicate with him; eventually Air Force Capt. Colleen Goodwin, played by Vera Farmiga, identifies herself and reminds him who he is. The Source Code project allows him to participate in the last eight minutes of another person’s life, sending him on a mission – no choosing whether to accept it or not – to identify the terrorist responsible for blowing up the train because the same party will activate additional devices later in the day. Goodwin urges Stevens to complete his mission as the Source Code thrusts him repeatedly back into the last eight minutes of Sean Fentress’s life.

While the story line and multiple renditions of the same event beg the inevitable comparisons with such recent flicks as Dennis Quaid’s Vantage Point and Denzel Washington’s Déjà vu or even the older Millenium (airplane crash investigator meets time-travelers), Source Code weaves its own, unique tale. Gyllenhaal hasn’t the same je ne sais quoi of those older actors, but this dis-ease in his own skin lends credibility to his jumping into another man’s life. He doesn’t know it all; he *questions* it all – what Goodwin and the “mad scientist” project head Dr. Rutledge tell him, where he is, and what he can or cannot accomplish. He shows no complacency or acceptance of his supposed fate. Between the deft direction of Duncan Moore, the editing and the other aspects of the story – future bombings to prevent (not just resolve the train bombing) and Stevens’ personal story merging with that of Fentress – the repetitive nature of the plot created a great, building tension rather than becoming tedious.

Source Code is a timely, not-too-distant-future sci-fi story that does not disappoint. If you like mystery/suspense as well as sci-fi, you probably will enjoy Source Code. This review is based on a DVD viewing rather than theatrical release.

Hello fellow travelers!

This is a very special week for the SpaceGypsies. We recently discovered Operation Speak Out with your Geek Out and it was something that really spoke to us. We’re proud to be geeks and we’re proud to be fans. And we’re not afraid to show it!

Geeks have spent far too long being teased and stereotyped. But instead of combating negativity with harsh words, Operation Speak Out with your Geek Out proposes that we invite those that pick on us to “sit at our table and share our interests.”

“Let us combat being used as pawns for internet gaffes with the reasons why we’re awesome, why we love what we love, and why it’s good to be a geek.” -Operation Speak Out with your Geek Out

SpaceGypsies is proud to join Operation Speak Out with your Geek Out this week, September 12th- 16th by posting about the things we geek out for and why we’re proud to be geeks.

Do you want to join the revolution and geek out too? Post your geeky story in our comments section this week and let us know what you geek out for!

Never be afraid to let your geek flag fly!

SpaceGypsies