Saturday, January 19, 2008

stop shaking!!

I went to see "Cloverfield" tonight. Ever since I saw the preview I have been fascinated by its apocalypse subject and the style of realism they are going for. I think they are trying to go for a 9/11 type of feel and I think they have succeeded. JJ Abrams sure knows how to build up a scene. I thought the movie was very interesting and probably very close to what real people would do if there was a 30 story tall monster ravaging their city. I wouldn't say it was a great movie though because I dont' think there is anyone that can see it more than once. The handheld camera style is soo incredibly shaky and dizzying, it didn't help that I came in late and had to sit in the 4th row, half way through the movie I was about to throw up so I had to get up and move to the stairs in the upper section and sit there. I am really impressed that the people sitting in the first row didn't do a group retch during the movie (it was a full house).

As for the plot, I am not sure what to think of the main character's actions, are they heroic or idiotic? If someone really close to you, say your parent or your spouse is trapped in a building and bleeding to death next to a giant monster that is going to kill everyone, and knowing that if you go back for them, you probably won't make it, would you go back for them? I know it is easy to be heroic now and say "of course I am going back" but if you were really in the situation, can you do it?

Thirdly, if you plan on going to see the movie, don't go after you just ate because there is a good chance it is all gonna come back up, go an hour earlier so you can sit in the very back rows to prevent motion sickness. I think this reflex that associate dizziness and throwing up is very annoying. I think probably in ancient times, dizziness probably meant you ate something poisonous so it is beneficial to throw it up. But in the modern age, say if you were trapped in a spinning helicopter trying to escape certain death, throwing your guts out really isn't the best thing to do.

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