Cloverfield - believe the hype
As a J.J. Abrams fan from way back, I was probably going to be interested in Cloverfield anyway. And I thought the viral marketing stuff was pretty brilliant. It's always fun when the internet fan boys start hyping things way ahead of time. Kristin and I haven't been going to many movies lately, but we are trying to rectify that in the new year. We added a movies line item to our budget, that's how serious we are. Ha ha.
Anyway, it was desperately cold on Saturday and I had been working on computer stuff for most of the day, so we decided to head out into the arctic chill and go to the movies. Surprisingly enough, Kristin was up for seeing Cloverfield. It was basically between that and Juno, a film we both still really want to see.
First of all the bad news. One of the reasons I haven't gone to the movies much lately is that audiences suck. The movie theater was almost empty, but that didn't stop several supremely annoying teenage girls from talking at inopportune points during the movie. Quieter passages mean pay attention, numbskulls. It's called character development. But what can you expect from suburban kids whose idiot parents probably gave them $100 for the weekend and said "Go entertain yourselves". I think I'm going to have to stick to art houses because I have to say during "There Will Be Blood" you could've heard a pin drop (if such a thing were possible over Jonny Greenwood's magnificent score) because everyone was into the movie and paying attention. Okay, I'll get off my soapbox.
It's a testament to Cloverfield that although I knew the party scene at the beginning was just establishing material before all hell breaks loose, I still was totally into what was going on with the characters right up until the big bad appears. (Extra points for anyone who can connect that last phrase and Cloverfield).
There is already lots of commentary on the movie online, so I won't repeat all the stuff other people have said. Suffice it to say, there is a genuine feeling of menace throughout the movie and it feels more real, whatever that means. It is hard to stay detached. So in that sense, the handheld camera really works. It makes you nauseous a few times, but it works. I also really like the fact that the footage is taped over a much happier event for two of these characters that happened a few weeks earlier. For more on that, I'll refer you to an awesome post from Brett McCracken called Godzilla for the YouTube Age.
To be honest, I kinda want to see it again. Preferably in a much more packed theater with people who are actually into the movie. Because that is the kind of movie going experience this is supposed to be.