Cloverfield -- B+

Are you grading it on the "it made me want to vomit curve" or not?

Mike

I loved that movie.

That figures.

The shaky-cam didn't bother me. Might have been different in the theater.

It's a movie that could have went wrong in a hundred different places, but didn't. No patriotic speeches, no explanations, no soapboxes; none of the crap that plagues this type of movie.

People running from monsters. That's all they needed and that's all they gave. Well done.

Really, really annoying people. Admittedly, at least they die.

K

It gave quite a bit more than that — a linear narrative and three-act structure. Not at all what an unedited recording would look like, and they didn't have the the excuse that [REC] and Quarantine had where the cameraman was a professional video journalist.

If you liked Cloverfield, then I highly recommend Interceptor Force.

Wall-E -- A+
The Unforseen -- C
Speed Racer -- F

Eh. To me, the subtext is what really distinguishes the giant monster movie. As well executed as CLOVERFIELD is, the fact that it's thematically shallower than its progenitors from the 1950s has to be a mark against it.

Mike

I really enjoyed QUARANTINE, probably because the excuse of the pro cameraman allowed me to watch the whole thing without wanting to puke.

If you want to see something that gets as close to "unedited real footage" as you can, check out VIDEO X. You might not like the story but it's some damn nice filmmaking.

Mike