Saturday, January 19, 2008
It Came From Outer Space
Cloverfield is jim dandy. Ever since I convalesced to a Godzilla marathon when I got chicken pox when I was 7 I've loved monster movies. One of my favorite comic books ever was Big Guy and Rusty The Boy Robot, an oversized humdinger from Frank (Sin City, Dark Knight Returns, 300) Miller and Geoff (Hard Boiled, Shaolin Cowboy, conceptual artist for The Matrix movies) Darrow that featured the titular heroes battling a mutant Godzillasaur (or somesuch thing, they never named the thing) while it gleefully laid waste to Tokyo. The thing took hours to read because of Darrow's highly detailed line art, especially the first issue when the beast destroyed Tokyo when Darrow gleefully depicted in hyper detail said destruction. I enjoyed looking at the tiny people getting utterly annihilated in the carnage, and thrilled to sick humor deployed by Miller and Darrow in depicting it. They got it right, and the sickos who made Cloverfield get it right in spades. Sure they didn't reinvent the wheel, but there was something absolutely exhilirating seeing a monster movie from street level, and they pull it off completely. Special kudos to the unknown actors and actresses who make you connect with their characters before they eventually bite the big one; these kids really sell the movie in a way recent disaster / monster movies have not. It's a great thrill ride, and one hell of a cinematic experience.
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2 comments:
Really? Cloverfield really did nothing for me. I thought that while the street level filming was a good idea when I saw the preview, the movie made me motion sick with the constant shaking of the camera. I also have never sat in a movie when after the movie ended it was dead silent. You probably could have heard a pin drop leaving there. I really wouldnt suggest this one to any of my friends, but to each there own.
Of course the movie theater was dead silent at the end of Cloverfield... just like it was dead silent after Star Wars Episode III. What could you say? "Whoohoo?" "Yeeehaaaaww?" No. Cloverfield was a fun apocalyptic downer. My own initital response was an internalized "DAMN!"
I also must have the balance, equilibrium and grace of an athlete because I had no instance at any point in that movie of motion sickness. None. Zilcho.
Anyhoo, thanks for responding.
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