"It's Japanese; How Hard Could It Be?"
I've really enjoyed the past week, but I'm ecstatic about just sitting here right now making spaghetti and doing jack shit.
So yesterday I woke up at Matt's and hung around there for a bit, play arguing over how he needed to take me home before going to work and being retards. I stopped back for a short bit to see Chels off and then Leslie picked me up and we went with Cassie to see Cloverfield.
Surprisingly, I really liked the movie. Normally I can't stand those stupid shaking cam flicks but this one really did pull off the avant garde thing well. One of my favorite features is how well the director stuck to his medium (i.e. digital camcorder of ULTIMATE PWNAGE--serious, that thing survives being thrown around, bled on, bitten, stomped, falling from several hundred feet and explosions). Using the mockumentary style is nothing completely new, as Blair Witch exhibits, but it is something that can be done well apparently. Everything you learn in the movie is exactly what the characters know; if you know more than a certain person, it's only because you have their collective point of views, not because you're omniscient.
It was really cool how seamlessly the backstory led into the monster attack, too. The party scenes are amusing and realistic enough to not be boring, and they fail to crescendo into an expected shift in tone. Plus, it gives just enough information on the characters that we actually give a shit about them instead of just seeing them as monster fodder (which is something I've always liked about a good deal of Asian films). While some people may think that it's too far a reach to think that someone would tape the entire incident, I number one point you to all teh video footage of 9/11 and number two point you to the characterization of Hudd. At only a very few points did I find myself thinking "Why the fuck is he still rolling?" And despite a doing a lot of really challenging stuff, the characters weren't super-heroes; they were just regular Joes who were doing what they could. This sense I think is achieved mostly thanks to using unestablished actors instead of big names. Seeing Orlando Bloom fight orcs is way less satisfying than watching some poor normal schmuck get flattened by falling debris.
As for the creature itself, it was mad cool. I liked that it reproduced automatically (or had miniature clones) so that smaller versions could infiltrate places that would normally be considered off-limits to a hulking gargantuan Godzilla derivative. On that note, I'm also glad the creature didn't look even vaguely like Godzilla. Not that I dislike teh G-man, it's just refreshing to see something new and creative. The one thing I did wish the film had done was not shown the entire monster at once or at least wait till the very end to reveal it. Fairly early into the film (and even in some tv trailers) you can see the actual thing itself which I found sort of anti-climactic. The best element to a good monster movie (or horror film) is a little psychological gem I learned from an episode of Doug: no matter what it actually looks like, your imagination will be worse. Atmosphere is scary, not costumes or CGI.
Despite not hiding the rampaging alien/experiment/whatever, the movie did throw a little "Lady or the Tiger" element into the mix by not explaining anything. The film ends without telling you what the monster is or where it came from on what it wants besides to terrorize NYC. You can reasonably assume that it's been driven off or neutralized or at least kept at bay somewhat because the beginning of the film purports that the tape has been found/claimed by the Department of Defense, but even that is subtle enough to miss or forget about.
One of the things my boss lauded was the use of sound, too. It was pretty amazing how clearly you could hear the screeching, screaming, crunching, explosions and moaning metal. During the scene where the group is inside the apartment buildings looking for their friend, the sound of the blowing wind alone is enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck. While watching I was thinking about how awesome a ride this would make in one of those theater roller coaster things. What would be even neater would be if someone (coughDisneycough) would make a huge "playground" of the set and made you feel like the monster was chasing after you or something. I bet this movie would give you an orgasm in an IMAX.
Briefly, two more things I liked: 1) which of/when the characters died was totally random and therefore more realistic and surprising and 2) the camera was for the most part steady; unless there was a specific reason for it to be flying all over the place, it wasn't.
I could keep going but I won't because I've babbled enough already. So after the movie we were supposed to go to Olive Garden but took a detour to the ER for Cassie's chest pains which thankfully weren't serious. After that we ordered some Freddy's and watched Brother Bear again. We also made a huge vat of cake batter that we just spooned into our fat mouths too. It was pretty awesomely disgusting.
Around 9 or so Eddie and Mike picked me up to head up to West Chester. We swung by Binh's house to hang out with Benji and Angie and then Binh came with us out to a bunch of different places. It was an awesome time; Mike talked to a bunch of girls, Eddie got to see bands, Binh walked around and socialized, I fell asleep at a table in one of the bars and got reprimanded. After that we stopped at Wawa for drunchies and then a sobered Eddie drove us back home.
Pasta's a-boilin'.
So yesterday I woke up at Matt's and hung around there for a bit, play arguing over how he needed to take me home before going to work and being retards. I stopped back for a short bit to see Chels off and then Leslie picked me up and we went with Cassie to see Cloverfield.
Surprisingly, I really liked the movie. Normally I can't stand those stupid shaking cam flicks but this one really did pull off the avant garde thing well. One of my favorite features is how well the director stuck to his medium (i.e. digital camcorder of ULTIMATE PWNAGE--serious, that thing survives being thrown around, bled on, bitten, stomped, falling from several hundred feet and explosions). Using the mockumentary style is nothing completely new, as Blair Witch exhibits, but it is something that can be done well apparently. Everything you learn in the movie is exactly what the characters know; if you know more than a certain person, it's only because you have their collective point of views, not because you're omniscient.
It was really cool how seamlessly the backstory led into the monster attack, too. The party scenes are amusing and realistic enough to not be boring, and they fail to crescendo into an expected shift in tone. Plus, it gives just enough information on the characters that we actually give a shit about them instead of just seeing them as monster fodder (which is something I've always liked about a good deal of Asian films). While some people may think that it's too far a reach to think that someone would tape the entire incident, I number one point you to all teh video footage of 9/11 and number two point you to the characterization of Hudd. At only a very few points did I find myself thinking "Why the fuck is he still rolling?" And despite a doing a lot of really challenging stuff, the characters weren't super-heroes; they were just regular Joes who were doing what they could. This sense I think is achieved mostly thanks to using unestablished actors instead of big names. Seeing Orlando Bloom fight orcs is way less satisfying than watching some poor normal schmuck get flattened by falling debris.
As for the creature itself, it was mad cool. I liked that it reproduced automatically (or had miniature clones) so that smaller versions could infiltrate places that would normally be considered off-limits to a hulking gargantuan Godzilla derivative. On that note, I'm also glad the creature didn't look even vaguely like Godzilla. Not that I dislike teh G-man, it's just refreshing to see something new and creative. The one thing I did wish the film had done was not shown the entire monster at once or at least wait till the very end to reveal it. Fairly early into the film (and even in some tv trailers) you can see the actual thing itself which I found sort of anti-climactic. The best element to a good monster movie (or horror film) is a little psychological gem I learned from an episode of Doug: no matter what it actually looks like, your imagination will be worse. Atmosphere is scary, not costumes or CGI.
Despite not hiding the rampaging alien/experiment/whatever, the movie did throw a little "Lady or the Tiger" element into the mix by not explaining anything. The film ends without telling you what the monster is or where it came from on what it wants besides to terrorize NYC. You can reasonably assume that it's been driven off or neutralized or at least kept at bay somewhat because the beginning of the film purports that the tape has been found/claimed by the Department of Defense, but even that is subtle enough to miss or forget about.
One of the things my boss lauded was the use of sound, too. It was pretty amazing how clearly you could hear the screeching, screaming, crunching, explosions and moaning metal. During the scene where the group is inside the apartment buildings looking for their friend, the sound of the blowing wind alone is enough to raise the hair on the back of your neck. While watching I was thinking about how awesome a ride this would make in one of those theater roller coaster things. What would be even neater would be if someone (coughDisneycough) would make a huge "playground" of the set and made you feel like the monster was chasing after you or something. I bet this movie would give you an orgasm in an IMAX.
Briefly, two more things I liked: 1) which of/when the characters died was totally random and therefore more realistic and surprising and 2) the camera was for the most part steady; unless there was a specific reason for it to be flying all over the place, it wasn't.
I could keep going but I won't because I've babbled enough already. So after the movie we were supposed to go to Olive Garden but took a detour to the ER for Cassie's chest pains which thankfully weren't serious. After that we ordered some Freddy's and watched Brother Bear again. We also made a huge vat of cake batter that we just spooned into our fat mouths too. It was pretty awesomely disgusting.
Around 9 or so Eddie and Mike picked me up to head up to West Chester. We swung by Binh's house to hang out with Benji and Angie and then Binh came with us out to a bunch of different places. It was an awesome time; Mike talked to a bunch of girls, Eddie got to see bands, Binh walked around and socialized, I fell asleep at a table in one of the bars and got reprimanded. After that we stopped at Wawa for drunchies and then a sobered Eddie drove us back home.
Pasta's a-boilin'.