Cloverfield
I'm one of those suckers who's been anticipating this film ever since the teaser popped up last summer. After the long wait, I finally saw it at a midnight showing last night. Judging from the groans that came from the people leaving the theater, I think I'm probably one of the few who enjoyed the movie. ^_^;
First of all, a lot of people seem to have problem w/ the shaky handheld-camera aspect. My friend was pretty much suffering from motion-sickness during the entire movie, and I can see how it might not be for everyone. But if you're used to first person shooter games, it probably won't affect you that much...my eyes were completely adjusted after the initial 5 minutes. Yes, it's been done by Blair Witch before, but this is at a much grander scale, and it has a better story and the execution is far more superb.
So if you can stomach the shaky cam, go check it out, cuz it's seriously one thrilling cinematic experience. You're literally there in the middle of a giant monster invasion (which does remind me of the creature from The Host like so many have pointed out, but I find it resemble the gone-berserk forest god from Princess Mononoke even more). The fx is subtle and nicely done. It's just refreshing to see a creature flick from the POV of regular folks trying to survive.
And, it doesn't end when the movie is over. If you're like me, who's easily intrigued by JJ Abrams' insane viral marketing campaigns, you'd inevitably wake up the next day wondering what the heck the monster was all about. You'd then proceed to look it up online and find, guess what, a bizillion backstories littered all over the net, including a website for a fake Japanese drink product called Slusho! that is somehow tied in to the monster. There's even a manga short story made for it! Love him or hate him, JJ is one of the few filmmakers today who truly understands pop culture. Cloverfield wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the success of youtube, myspace, blogs, etc. This sadly means that I will probably get sucked back into Lost once again, after having stopped watching since that infamously stupid Bai Ling episode. I'm easily manipulated like that. ^_^
First of all, a lot of people seem to have problem w/ the shaky handheld-camera aspect. My friend was pretty much suffering from motion-sickness during the entire movie, and I can see how it might not be for everyone. But if you're used to first person shooter games, it probably won't affect you that much...my eyes were completely adjusted after the initial 5 minutes. Yes, it's been done by Blair Witch before, but this is at a much grander scale, and it has a better story and the execution is far more superb.
So if you can stomach the shaky cam, go check it out, cuz it's seriously one thrilling cinematic experience. You're literally there in the middle of a giant monster invasion (which does remind me of the creature from The Host like so many have pointed out, but I find it resemble the gone-berserk forest god from Princess Mononoke even more). The fx is subtle and nicely done. It's just refreshing to see a creature flick from the POV of regular folks trying to survive.
And, it doesn't end when the movie is over. If you're like me, who's easily intrigued by JJ Abrams' insane viral marketing campaigns, you'd inevitably wake up the next day wondering what the heck the monster was all about. You'd then proceed to look it up online and find, guess what, a bizillion backstories littered all over the net, including a website for a fake Japanese drink product called Slusho! that is somehow tied in to the monster. There's even a manga short story made for it! Love him or hate him, JJ is one of the few filmmakers today who truly understands pop culture. Cloverfield wouldn't have been nearly as effective without the success of youtube, myspace, blogs, etc. This sadly means that I will probably get sucked back into Lost once again, after having stopped watching since that infamously stupid Bai Ling episode. I'm easily manipulated like that. ^_^