On the Persistently Moving Picture

[tealin]

Advice:

If you are prone to motion sickness, DO NOT SEE CLOVERFIELD. At least, not in the theatre. Save the ten bucks and go read a Godzilla comic on a tire swing for a few hours instead, you will have much the same experience. It's a well-made different sort of take on a creature movie that is worth seeing if you like that sort of thing, but if nausea accompanies you on whirly rides, wait for it to come out on DVD.

That said, if you watch long enough to get to know who the characters are, the remaining 2/3 of the movie is a surprisingly comprehensible radio play. And you gain a keen appreciation for the sound design and engineering on the movie which you probably wouldn't have with your eyes open. In fact you probably aren't actually missing all that much, all things considered ... but then, I wouldn't know.

... should have seen Sweeney Todd again ...

Comments

[fordanglia.livejournal.com]

There were warnings signs posted at the local cinema about that film. Apparently 50 people left the first showing due to motion sickness.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I almost didn't go see it because it knew it was all shakycam, but my ticket had already been bought...

[fordanglia.livejournal.com]

I would have happily seen another film, but I know I would have gone home thinking, 'damn, I should have seen Cloverfield'. There's really no escape from that movie.

[verselus.livejournal.com]

That's what I heard. I'll heed the warning and wait for DVD. That way at least I can watch it in 10 minute spurts and walk away when I need to.

Supposed to be a pretty good movie I hear though.

[fani.livejournal.com]

Save the ten bucks and go read a Godzilla comic on a tire swing for a few hours instead, you will have much the same experience.

OMG LOL Quote of hte day

[thearchduchess.livejournal.com]

Question - how gory is Sweeney Todd? I can do blood but not gore and have an overwhelming urge to see anything Sondheim/Depp.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was really quite good, and knowing how hard it is to make a comprehensible movie that flows well in normal circumstances, the fact that they managed to make it so and still maintain the feel of an unedited home recording is really admirable. I'm sure it'll be fine on DVD, it's just when it fills most of your field of vision that it gets to be too much.

[laurick.livejournal.com]

Lol, I'm a longtime lurker who's also currently living in Burbank. I went and saw Cloverfield yesterday at the Burbank AMC and your review is word-for-word what I would have said. We ended up leaving about five minutes after the monster showed up, in deference to our stomaches. :oP

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I was expecting literally barrels full of blood splashing about the screen and, like, actors wading through it up to their ankles, and Kill Bill-style spraying, so I might not be the best judge. It was surprisingly moderate, to me, but there is still a lot of it. It's about as gory as your average CSI; maybe less than some of them, and very stylized. I'd say the ratio is about 90% blood and 10% gore .. there's a brief scene near the end with a few body parts and a pile of bloody skeletons, and that's about it as far as actual gore goes. Generally the Sondheim/Burton/Depp alloy is strong enough to override practically anything in my book. :) I wrote a review a little while ago if you want to know more...

[rblake77.livejournal.com]

I'm gonna wait and see Cloverfield on video.

As for Sweeney Todd, I'm so glad Depp has the whole pirate thing behind him. I like "Pirates" and all, but I wanted to see him do something else.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I don't really regret seeing it (though we'll see if my tune changes at 3 this morning when I'm trying to finish the work I had to do this weekend) ... it was very cleverly made, and I have a lot of respect for the filmmakers. You have to really know what you're doing to make a movie look like it's not a movie and still be so engrossing and engaging. And comprehensible to the voluntarily blind. :) And, I think, it's an important movie, in its own small way, just for the way it was told.

[everbeat.livejournal.com]

For the first 20 minutes, I was okay, not that bad, getting used to the characters, but after the first "shake" and everyone freaked out, I couldn't take it. So I covered my face for 20 more minutes. Once I took the jacket from my face, they were in the subway, I knew that from my friend, but all I saw were blotches of white.
So I left the theatre and ran to the restroom, had a seizure, basically wet myself, couldn't see, couldn't hear, and stayed in there for ten or fifteen minutes. I came out and waited for my friends to come out and heard everything else that happened.

I decided to wait until a friend buys the DVD to know what happens. :)

There was no midnight showing of Sweeney Todd for me unfortunately.

[lizetm.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but I loved the film. Maybe it does have to do with the fact that I'm into these kinds of films, and people who aren't are probably not going to like it ... but I think that even if you're not into these kinds of films, that you should give it a shot. Its the best time I've had at the movie in a very long time, and I couldn't be more satisfied as a viewer with it ... it was worth the $7.50 I paid. :D

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry if I came across as overwhelmingly negative, but I was still slightly nauseous when I wrote that entry and meant it as a warning rather than a review – the movie is very good. Not only is it entertaining and well-made but I think it's an important movie too, in its different but successful way of telling a story, especially as the type of story it tells is more commonly told in a drastically different style ... in a category with Memento, Blair Witch Project, and Tristram Shandy. It was worth the price of admission and the time spent watching and/or listening to it, I just found myself utterly unable to continue looking at the screen after twenty minutes or so for fear of losing the dinner I'd just enjoyed. Please understand I also got slightly motion sick while watching Two Towers in the theatre and have been known to get a bit queasy riding in the passenger seat of a car while looking out the front window as well. My complaints with Cloverfield are purely physiological, and I look forward to actually seeing it when it comes out on DVD.

[lizetm.livejournal.com]

I understand. IDK, I'm just the kind of crazy person who likes to do things like ride a roller coaster over and over again in the same hr, so maybe that's why it was somewhat fun for me.

I didn't know Memento was sorta like this. People have told me to watch that so many times I've lost count, but I haven't yet. :/

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Memento is different in the way it's told, not the camera work – basically its schtick is that the main character has short-term memory loss so it's told in ten-minute segments backwards ... you only know as much as he does about what's going on at present, but by the end you have pieced it together whereas he has not.

I can appreciate this about it; unfortunately I don't like the story it tells no matter how well-told it is. That's just personal taste, though.

You, dear LJer, have a stomach of iron. I salute you.

[lizetm.livejournal.com]

Ah, ok. Hmmm, I'll still have to check that out some day. *puts it in the to-watch list*

Hehe. What can I say, I'm a chicken at everything but not when it comes to velocity and fun .... I don't like altitude much though. XD

[lullabee-lj.livejournal.com]

There's also a few closeups of fairly nasty-looking wounds, but mostly it's all blood.