cloverfield: SPOILERS

I went to see Cloverfield last night and after the movie the atmosphere in the theater was not the same as it is after most movies. Most movies people move briskly out of their seats, either gushing about the movie or happily moving on to the next topic in their lives. Not last night. Last night people stood around and grumbled. I overheard a lot of things like "well, I guess that's what you get for only $25 million." or "but we STILL dont know what it was!"

Personally, I loved it. Loved it and would see it again. Here I would like to address some of the complaints people have about it.

the hand held camera induces motion sickness: I do get motion sickness. I used to get it really badly in the car as a child and now I get it on medium sized boats, like that whale watching trip in Maine. But I didn't feel any vertigo or nausea during Cloverfield. However, I did notice that I move my head with the camera. Any time the camera fell on its side I'd find myself with my ear on my shoulder. Still, no motion sickness!

bad like Blair Witch Project: well, I liked BWP. I think it has a lot to do with the circumstances under which you come to see the movie. With Blair Witch, I saw it under pretty unusual conditions. I had been at band camp all week and had been exposed to absolutely ZERO hype. I came in and totally involved myself in the movie. With Cloverfield, I first found out about it walking into the theater to see Transformers. "Ooh, this is the preview we wanted to see!" Followed by a decent amount of conversation about what the monster might be and what we wanted it to be, it created the right kind of anticipation for me. I reeeeallly wanted to know what happened to Manhattan.

they don't say where the monster came from or what it was: well, yeah. the result of those conversations about the monster was that we couldn't figure it out. The more I saw and read about the movie, the more I realized that I really just wanted to find out what happens to the city. What do people do? How do people react? What kind of destruction is there? I think the movie would have been fine without the reveal shot of the still nameless monster near the end. Then again, I don't demand that movies wrap up all loose ends. I'm ok with some uncertainty. I only ask that if they do attempt to explain everything, they make it plausible (::coughcough:: National Treasure and The Day After Tomorrow).

the acting is terrible: yes, I agree. It is. As annoying as the characters were, I liked having an unseen first person narrator giving not only verbal narrative, but quite literally his visual narrative as well. Maybe it's because I'm a product of a video game and blogging generation, which documents in first person and plays in first person. and the hand held camera is essential to this part of the experience.

See EIOCY for further commentary.