DVD Collectors Online

Cloverfield, a review by Jon

Cloverfield
5 out of 5

This is supposedly a tape found in what was "formerly Central Park" and details the attempts of a small group of people to rescue their friend after a mysterious and sustained attack on New York by a mysterious something. Or you could just say Monster Movie. Like every other monster movie you can think of. So it could be predictable and boring, but director Matt Reeves has done something incredible for modern cinematic entertainment. He's lifted the bar, just a little. This should be considered a milestone.

It starts off in a party and after ten minutes, I was fed-up of the, yes, predictable and boring soap opera unfolding. But this has to be by design to lull the viewer into a false sense of security because then we get the noise and the panic. From then, much of the film is a pure assault on the senses and one of the most original movies to come from Hollywood for a few years. Every now and again it drifts back to the soap opera, and the basic conceit of the camcorder stretches credibility frequently (conveniently films everything required; one heck of a battery, etc), but it always manages to snap back and make you jump and/or squirm (Statue of Liberty! Night vision!).

Hidden in the chaos is a brilliant piece of direction and editing that harks back to old fashioned movie making. CGI in recent years has become lazy, or perhaps because it's expensive, they insist on showing everything. But Matt Reeves positively refuses to show us much more than a tantalising glimpse here or there, bravely making his creature almost shy. This is the sort of audience manipulation that directors like Hitchcock and Spielberg built careers on. Yes, I think it's good enough to stand that comparison. That said the core story is far to simple and old to withstand such a comparison for long. Maybe there's a subtext if you want to find it, but narrative structure is an impossible dream! A lack of backstory obviously builds tension, but also makes for a simpler script.

Visually though, this film is triumphant and stands as testament to the longevity of cinema as viable entertainment in the face of video games. Phew. A few bits actually reminded me of Half-Life , but video games have a long way to go to look this good. With 3D just around the corner and directors with a vision like this to use it, Hollywood is in good hands.

But then the same could have once been said about The Matrix which also benefited from new ideas with no backstory. So please, no sequel. Unless it's bloody good.

(From Cloverfield on June 13th, 2008)

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, a review by RossRoy

WHAT THEY SAY

MY THOUGHTS

Bought that movie after seeing the trailer and because of Kristin Kreuk.. then I read the reviews. Didn't bode too well. But after watching it for myself, I find it's ok. It's good entertainment. Very simple revenge story, some over the top action, some questionable "magic". It's nothing special, but it's nothing too bad either. I thought Kristin Kreuk did a fine job with the role. Robin Shou was fine as Gen. But the rest of the cast? There's an expression in hockey where they will call up young player as "jersey filler". That's how they felt.

RATING

(From RossRoy's Random Viewings on July 3rd, 2010)

Pilot Season 2014-15, a review by DJ Doena

The Leftovers



The Leftovers @ Wikipedia
The Leftovers @ IMDb

Synopsis: One day, one normal day as the normal day before it, 2% of the world's population just suddenly disappear without a trace.
Two years later. The world has changed. Some think of it as a biblical event, some have just learned to accept it and some have joined cults and groups.
No one knows what truly happened that day and if it will happen again.

My Opinion: I watched the pilot but not more.
The whole setting just couldn't get me interested.
Maybe I couldn't relate to it because it is centered around a small mid-western town and the reaction to that event is in all aspects very "bible belt American". At least it feels like it. And that's a world I usually don't tend to bother with.



(From Pilot Season 2014-15 on September 14th, 2014)