We’re All Gonna Die! Grab Your Video Camera!

Cloverfield. Saw it. Worth the cheap matinee price. Very stupid characters. One giant monster. Many, many, scary large-dog-sized monsters.

My rating - Three out of five monster stars. 76% Fresh from the YA audience.

Amy Biancolli at the Chron: "It's the best damned monster movie I've seen in years — trimmer than King Kong, smarter than The Host. 3.5 out of 4" That is true, if you really like monster movies.

Nice review in the NYT.

The big (or rather only) idea here is that almost everything we subsequently see is the presumably unedited video material shot by Hud, who, though initially reluctant to pick up the camera, develops a mania for documentation once the monster strikes. So consummate is his dedication to his version of cinéma vérité that he keeps the camera plugged to his eye even while he’s running through hailstorms of debris, trying to cross a fast-collapsing bridge and witnessing friends melt down, bleed out and even die.... Rarely have I rooted for a monster with such enthusiasm.

Answers to some common questions:

1. Why did the Statue of Liberty lose her head? Rough sex.

2. WTF was it? Cthulu and his minions are rising from the deep.

3. Will there be sequels? See 2 above.

4. Will the Army have to destroy the city to save it? See first one minute of the movie.

5. Why did they follow Scooby-Doo back to where the monster is to save this guy's probably-dead almost-girl-friend? To make the rest of the movie.

6. I hear people in the theater are vomiting all over the place? Greatly exagerated but it is all hand held camera from someone who doesn't know what he is doing. That is the plot of the movie. If handheld cameras give you headaches or make you feel sick or dizzy rethink this movie or sit in the back and keep an eye on the theater and other people to ground yourself. A warning.