THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

Directed by: Drew Goddard
Released: 2012

in a time where virtually every "mainstream" (by which i mean "not direct-to-dvd") horror movie is a remake, this was an extremely welcomed breath of fresh air.  upon seeing the trailer for the first time, i thought "oh great, five kids who you don't give a shit about die in the woods.  haven't i seen this eight million times?" the answer to that question is yes and no.  yeah, we've all seen a million movies where some dopes go into the woods with the intent of drinking and having sex, only to be brutally killed-- but you've never seen it like this.  this is something different.  it's something new, something interesting.  unfortunately, i can't really say much at all without giving the whole story away, and it's something you'll want to be surprised by.  that said, the trailer, while it doesn't give everything away, does offer some insight as to what's really going on.  all i'll say is this: nothing is as it seems, but everything that happens is deliberately calculated and controlled.  despite the title, this is not your typical "cabin in the woods" movie.  8.5/10 

CATFISH

Directed by: Henry Joost, Ariel Schulman
Released: 2010

this is classified as a documentary, but it seems that a lot of people (including myself, to a point) are questioning as to whether or not it's actually real. authenticity aside, this was a very interesting movie that i enjoyed quite a bit. a photographer (nev) meets an eight year old girl (abby) on facebook who starts painting pictures of his photographs. they're not amazing or anything, until you realize that an eight year old kid painted them. he develops a kind of "working relationship" with her, and of course, ends up becoming involved with the rest of her family. her mother, father, sisters, brother and friends all add him on facebook, and he starts to have a long-distance-we've-never-met-in-person relationship with abby's older sister, megan. megan is an amazing musician, singer, a painter herself... then nev realizes something's not quite right. he digs deeper and deeper into this family's life and realizes that nothing is what it seems to be. he and his filmmaker friends travel to michigan to meet the family, and.. you'll have to see it. the filmmaker's use of things like gmail, facebook, google earth, etc. are all weaved into the way the story is told, and it actually makes it quite interesting. it's as if these websites almost become characters themselves. 8/10.