Author: broderic

I don’t know if the hype of Cloverfield turned me against it right from the start or if it’s just something I don’t like. I do know that it made me sick. Even forewarned and sitting two rows from the back, I got a headache watching it. I wasn’t nauseous but maybe should’ve been. The shaky-cam effect meant to put us there but also made me sick.

The movie is a purported tape from some guys camera documenting his going away party and the monster attack on New York City. It’s a home video and like your typical home video, you want to forward to the good parts. The establishing scenes at the party and at the dude’s apartment I wish I could’ve fast forwarded through. Then when the monster attack was unleashed, I wish I could’ve fast forwarded through them as well.

The monster was the big secret in selling the movie. What was it? What does it look like? Under my headache when it showed up, I was underwhelmed. At first it was Cthulu. Then it was Dr. Zoidberg. Finally, in all it’s glory in the money shot of the movie, it was those landstriders from The Dark Crystal. Admittedly, I was nursing my headache so I might be wrong in my descriptions.

Anyway, all through Cloverfield I found it similar to the Korean monster film, The Host. I wasn’t fond of that film as well.

I think that when they do Cloverfield 2, it should be from the perspective of the army. And it should be a conventional film. That way we can find out what happened in the end. Also, I predict that a film will show up on youtube splicing some random dudes into the action. It would look just as real and perhaps be an even better story.

2 of 5 stars.

There are some movies that I want to see, but need someone else to suggest it so that I can honestly say, “I wasn’t the one who said we should watch it.” And under my breath, I sigh, relieved that my secret wasn’t found out. Most of the time, these movies are romantic comedies. It’s inexplainable as to why I can watch movies from this genre knowing all the while that the majority of them are just pablum.

Last Sunday, my mom wanted to watch 27 Dresses. With wanting to catch the pretty Katherine Heigl on screen, I agreed. At least, I didn’t suggest it.

It’s the standard romantic comedy fair.

Girl loves the right boy who’s completely unattainable for her and the wrong fit (Ed Burns whose eco-friendly businessman I can’t ever imagine acting the way he does).

Girl meets the wrong boy who’s the right fit. She argues with the wrong-right-fit boy and they are steadily drawn to each other. This mutual attraction blossoms to full on passion after drunk karaoke. The wrong-right-fit boy breaks her heart over a little misunderstanding (okay. a bigger misunderstanding), but the right-wrong-fit boy doesn’t do it for her either. She’s really in love with the wrong-right-fit boy. They express their feelings towards each other in the end.

Also, in the plot was the sister who stole right-wrong-fit boy away. And the quirky sidekick who’s name in the script should be Judy Greer as this actress has cornered the market for this type of role. The sister is played by Malin Akerman who makes a living being the so-called hottie, but isn’t anywhere near good to look at. Give me Heigl any day.

Simple. It adheres to the romantic comedy conventions that you know this would be better seen on cable, on TBS, during next summer.

Yet, it wasn’t all that bad. No matter how dumb the setup is or how much of a cliche the movie gets, it was saved by James Marsden. The last year seemed to be Josh Brolin’s year in film, but I would argue that Marsden makes for a strong claim for Best Film year 2007. If Brolin is the drama guy, Marsden is the goto comic, sappy, hunk. He’s charming in this film, finally getting a chance to play the lead and win the girl. That big ol’ smile of his helps make his cynical wedding reviewer melt Heigl’s heart. Maybe this will be his year. Hurray for cyclops!

This was the better of the two movies that I watched that day. At least it didn’t make me sick.

3 of 5 stars.