movies

[oakenguy]

So, finally saw 'Cloverfield'. And it's one of those 'I liked it BUT...' movies. I was never actually SCARED-scared, because a) giant monster and b) giant monster eating rejects from the cast of 'Friends' and c) you know how sometimes you don't see someone for five years and then you run into them three times in a single week and you're like, what are the odds? Sorta like that only with giant monster, and d) and by far the most important, giant monster who looks wayyyy too much like Fin Fang Foom from Marvel Comics, so at an absolutely critical part of the film, a part where the moviemakers obviously want you to be going 'OH NO OH NO AAAAAAA' the only thought in my head was:





And I'm guessing that's probably not what J.J. Abrams had in mind.

On the plus side, great demolition effects--I honestly couldn't tell what was CGI and what was actually getting smashed. The sequence down in the subway tunnel was really well-done. Good build-up, good use of sound and darkness, and ohmigod I think 'Never Turn On the Night Vision Feature' just bumped 'Never Go Down In the Basement' out of the top spot on my 'How to Survive a Horror Film' chart.

And most importantly (to a geek like me), the movie left enough things hinted at but unexplained to keep geeks happily nattering together for years. I've been thinking about the story for hours since I saw it, partly just doing the usual Monday morning quarterbacking of what the characters did wrong ("this really does underscore my need to have a flashlight and comfortable shoes with me wherever I go...and do I need to rethink my feelings on handgun ownership?") but also trying to work out the biology and logic behind the monster(s) and the whole attack. ("If I was a huge monster with a long neck chomping down on a victim from a 90-degree angle, how could I eat him and leave the head behind? Feet, maybe. But the head would only be left if I spat him out. And why would I spit him out? Because while I obviously associated human-shaped things with food, I didn't actually like the taste of human flesh. And *that* would imply trainers without an available source of humans, which in turn implies aliens, which means...") And I can feel tens of thousands of other geeks out there, each coming up with their own theories, and whenever that happens it's a good thing.

But you know what REALLY got me excited at the movies today?

The poster for 'Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay'. Oh my GOD.

Comments

[furtim.livejournal.com]

I automatically identify with the giant monster eating everyone, so perhaps I enjoyed the movie more than you did by being part of the target demographic. ;)