Hopefully, by now anyway, you've heard of the movie Cloverfield. It was introduced to us by a brilliant viral marketing campaign that didn't even tell us the name of the move, just gave us the severed head of the Statue of Liberty crashing through downtown New York.
As the months went by more but not much was revealed to us. But it all came down to this; a giant monster tears the hell outta New York and some twenty-somethings have to survive it. And I know what your thinking, " Oh. A monster movie set in New York? Clearly this is an allegory for the terrorist attacks on 9-11."
And you'd be right.
This wasn't a monster movie, even though there's one in it and you get to see it, it is a survival horror/drama movie. The monster is the inciting incident in the lives of these young adults. It changes their lives in an instant. It forces them to re-asses what is truly important to them; the relationships they have and those they want to form. This is a character driven piece that explores the effects of random terror and tragedy on the human condition. It's intercut with excerpts from a happy day the main protagonist of the story spend with a young woman. The conceit is the film is real and was filmed on a digital camera owned by the central character. There was a tape already in the camera, this tape was one he used to film the day he fell in love with a young woman.
So, if you want to see a squad of plucky pretty people come together to save the city don't go see this one.
But if you want to see a movie about people having to deal with terrible events, random and senseless death, and after its over has the audience quietly shuffling out wondering what it was they just saw then go see this one.
I would say I loved this film, except that I literally had to grit my teeth to keep from vomiting on the people in front of me. The shakie-cam was that bad. My wife was so motion sick she had to close her eyes and look away from the screen for long periods of time. So, for her it was more of an interesting radio drama with a lot of heavy breathing, running noises, and screaming.
As it stands, I like it. I think it's a great allegory for the terror attacks on New York and is the first in what I think will be a long line of Monster Movies that are set in New York.
I recommend it, but honestly it can wait until you can get it through Netflix.
As the months went by more but not much was revealed to us. But it all came down to this; a giant monster tears the hell outta New York and some twenty-somethings have to survive it. And I know what your thinking, " Oh. A monster movie set in New York? Clearly this is an allegory for the terrorist attacks on 9-11."
And you'd be right.
This wasn't a monster movie, even though there's one in it and you get to see it, it is a survival horror/drama movie. The monster is the inciting incident in the lives of these young adults. It changes their lives in an instant. It forces them to re-asses what is truly important to them; the relationships they have and those they want to form. This is a character driven piece that explores the effects of random terror and tragedy on the human condition. It's intercut with excerpts from a happy day the main protagonist of the story spend with a young woman. The conceit is the film is real and was filmed on a digital camera owned by the central character. There was a tape already in the camera, this tape was one he used to film the day he fell in love with a young woman.
So, if you want to see a squad of plucky pretty people come together to save the city don't go see this one.
But if you want to see a movie about people having to deal with terrible events, random and senseless death, and after its over has the audience quietly shuffling out wondering what it was they just saw then go see this one.
I would say I loved this film, except that I literally had to grit my teeth to keep from vomiting on the people in front of me. The shakie-cam was that bad. My wife was so motion sick she had to close her eyes and look away from the screen for long periods of time. So, for her it was more of an interesting radio drama with a lot of heavy breathing, running noises, and screaming.
As it stands, I like it. I think it's a great allegory for the terror attacks on New York and is the first in what I think will be a long line of Monster Movies that are set in New York.
I recommend it, but honestly it can wait until you can get it through Netflix.
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