I finally found someone to go with me to the free showing of Cloverfield last night, at the Grove. I didn’t know it, but KROQ 106.7FM was hosting the screening. Young showed up at 6:30, half an hour late due to traffic. Shouldn’t be an issue right? We pull into the parking lot at 7:30, right as the movie is supposed to start! I guess I should of expected that, but still, an hour to go 20 miles is rough. For some reason, the movie theater was violating it’s own rule, and let us in after the movie started, at 7:36 . Apparently, we missed the set up of the video presentation, and the framing technique of the movie, but it certainly didn’t feel like we missed much.
We had to sit up front which I usually dislike, but for this movie I think it helped. By not being able to see everything at once, it added to the sense of fright and confusion that the movie is trying to pull off. The movie felt like a theme park attraction, like Star Tours at Disneyland or the old Back to the Future ride at Universal Studios. Being jerked around, led from one plot location to another. The first half hour is slow, just scenery and people set up, but it allows us to get a feel for the characters, and the mood they are in. This was annoying, as it felt like a waiting to be canceled sitcom, but payed off for me once things started.
Once the disaster starts, it’s a thriller of a movie. We see the monster, several times throughout the movie, from different angles. Even so… I’m not sure I can describe it by seeing the movie once.
I was left waiting for more. I wanted to see more. I want to know what is going on in the outside world, away from the confusion and mess in the disaster. What people 1000 miles away are looking at and thinking.
However, that’s not Cloverfield. Maybe on the DVD extras they can have that, or a History Channel documentary “Cloverfield Incident: 20 years ago”. Also, I don’t know what Cloverfield means. The best I’ve heard is that it’s the military code for the entire incident/disaster, but I don’t know.
 All in all, I enjoyed the movie, and I think I’ll probably see it again, just to sit in the back of the theater and get a different view.
Spoilers to come later.
I went to see Cloverfield on Friday with Lia, and we weren’t impressed. She got sick from the camera movement, but I did warn her about it. It just wasn’t that great for us. A monster movie, yes, but that’s about it.