Just Got Back From Cloverfield.....

So my wife and I just got back from Cloverfield. I have no doubt that a lot of people who won't see it until this weekend will be asking what this movie is about, so I figured this merited it's own post.

First of all, The Monster. Honestly, I fully understand why a lot of reviewers have a hard time explaining it. It's unlike anything I've ever seen. It's like.. kind of pale and yet... scaly. But also kinda slimy. It's HUGE and holy freaking CRAP it's scary. Seriously, everytime this thing is on screen, everyone in the theater literally screamed. Both my wife and the random lady sitting on my other side visibly gasped and grasped their chair arms every single time. The damage this thing does to New York... it's unbelievable.

Let me make this absolutely, 100% clear. THIS IS NOT GODZILLA. Not even remotely close. This monster would kick Godzilla's gargantuan butt.

Another thing, Cloverfield is remarkably intense. You absolutely feel the full weight of the devastation and absolute horror that is happening to these people. And believe me, these people go through quite a bit.

The movie itself is short. It's just shy of 90 minutes, but I promise your knuckles will be white from grabbing the arm rest, you'll have to remind yourself to blink and you'll need to wipe off your chin because your mouth will be hanging open in absolute awe and horror the entire 84 minutes.

Also, I don't know where these actors came from, I didn't recognize any of them. But, I'll remember their faces forever. Hud especially is one of the coolest characters in a movie ever. Which is strange because he gets a grand total of MAYBE 3 minutes of actual SCREEN time throughout the movie, because he's the one behind the camera. I swear to you, this guy is hilarious. I swear though, he says EXACTLY what I would be saying in this situation though. A quote. "'What the HELL is THAT?!' 'Oh that? That's a huge terrible something.' 'OH MY GOD! What was THAT?!''Oh that? A smaller something. Also terrible.'" (Critter I kid you not, that is a direct quote. Even the 'ALSO'. Seriously, this guy is ME!.)

A WARNING FOR THOSE WHO HAVE YET TO SEE IT!! If you ever get any kind of motion sickness, I HIGHLY suggest you take some Dramamine before this movie. The ENTIRE movie is shot with a hands-on camera. It's very shaky at times due to running away from a GIANT MONSTER, among other things... You have been warned.

Oh, and one last note before I go to bed; this movie... It is unlike anything I've ever seen before. It's not your typical movie. If there has ever been a 'redefining of a genre', this is it. And dang, it's done well.

.... Also the Star Trek trailer was abso-freakinglutely amazing. I heard a lot of people poo poo it. But dang, anyone who's a fan of Star Trek in any kinda way, you're going to be excited to see it. The trailer isn't long and doesn't show much. But what it does show... man it's gonna be good.

The Last Cloverfield Post I'll make .... Until After I See It

Okay, so if it's not clear that I'm excited about Cloverfield by now, you probably aren't aware of who I am, or who you are for that matter. This movie excites for more reasons than I can count. A lot of them are different than what you'd expect though. Yes, it's a monster movie, a J.J. Abrams film, a total guy movie, and YES it has the Star Trek trailer attached to it. Those are all awesome. But I'm more excited about the movies that could potentially spawn from this movie doing well.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, or if it's just me, but the movie going experience these past few years have been absolutely flooded with sequels and prequels and trilogies and out-n-out garbage. It's getting pretty ridiculous and I, for one, am tired of it. I miss original movies that had a cool story, good story telling and actual creativity attached. This is why I've grown so attached to a lot of J.J. Abrams work. Everything he does is so original and ingenious.

Lost. My god, Lost is a breath of fresh air amongst the Sea of Stagnant television that has been this past decade. It's completely original, it's unimaginably engaging. It's smart. And most of all it's creative. Every character is interesting and has an intriguing back story and when a character dies, they die for a reason. Their death MEANS something to you and often sucks REALLY bad. But at the same time it just makes you want more.

This brings me back to Cloverfield. I have no doubt that this movie is going to be more of this creative breath of fresh air to a movie industry that has needed it for some time. I've read a lot of reviews and even the naysayers have to admit that this movie is wholly different than movies we've come to know. I can't help but wonder if the reason it's getting some of the bad reviews it's getting isn't because we've been so over saturated with ridiculously bad plot lines and meaningless characters that we've forgotten about the wonder and mystery that movies are supposed instill.

Anyway, I could go on for a long time about why I'm excited about this movie. But, long story short, I'm excited that if a lot of people like this movie. The big wigs might start to realize that making fresh, creative new movies are a good thing and hopefully we'll see some more in the coming years. Along with that, I came across this little gem of a review. Don't worry, there are no major spoilers. But this guy's perspective on the movie is enlightening and exciting. Check it out here.